• Tag Archives Ocean

  • Darkman (NES, Game Boy)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    DARKMAN
    Ocean Software
    Game Boy
    1992

    http://darth-azrael.tumblr.com/post/163297998718/videogameads-darkman-ocean-software-game-boy

    Darkman is based on the Sam Raimi film of the same name and was released for the Nintendo and Game Boy in 1991. It was also released for a number of home computer platforms, including the Commodore 64, Atari ST and Amiga. Given this game is a movie license you probably aren’t expecting much and you would be right not to.

    Darkman is a pretty average 2D platform game of the type that was extremely common on the NES. It does have one unique aspect in that you have to take a picture of a gangster between each level in order for you to get the appropriate mask to impersonate them. The better you do during the picture taking part, the longer you have to complete the next level. Other than this one unique feature, nothing really stands out about Darkman.

    If you are a fan of the movie and a fan of 2D platform games then it might be worth checking out. Otherwise, there are far better games of this style available on the NES and Game Boy. This game seemed to fare a bit better on 8-bit computers but even there don’t expect much more than an average platform game. Cool cult movie, interesting concept, rushed execution on the game to make a fast buck as is typical of most movie licenses.

    The above ad is for the Game Boy and NES versions. Screen shots are shown in the ad but only for the Game Boy version.





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  • Pugsley’s Scavenger Hunt (NES, SNES, Game Boy)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Pugsley’s Scavenger Hunt (NES, SNES, Game Boy)

    The Addams Family: Pugsley’s Scavenger Hunt was the 3rd Addams Family game to be released and the second that was available for the Super Nintendo. This particular iteration was also available for the NES, Super NES and Game Boy.

    It is a fairly typical side-scrolling platform game with an Addams Family theme and featuring Pugsley as the main character. The goal is for Pugsley to find items scattered about the various levels. One unique feature is that the game is non-linear in the sense that the player can choose the level by choosing what door to enter in the house. It was a fairly difficult game, made harder by the fact that the SNES version didn’t have a save or password feature (the NES and Game Boy versions did).

    For some reason, the NES version of this game was not a port of the same game on the SNES but a port of the previous Addams Family game, originally just titled The Addams Family, released for the SNES, Genesis, Amiga and Atari ST. The same levels were featured (if scaled down) and the same enemies, items and gameplay were also there. It just used Pugsley instead of Gomez as the main character. I have no idea why they did this but I suspect it was a timing/marketing issue. The games were only released about a year apart so it might just be that the NES port of The Addams Family for the NES was ready around the same time as the SNES and other versions of Pugsley’s Scavenger Hunt. It probably made more sense to market them together as the same game. This was near the end of the life of the NES anyway.

    Other than the difficulty criticism and the lack of a password/save feature for the SNES version, the game was generally reviewed positively with the SNES version being the best (despite the lack of the save/password feature). The excellent graphics are particularly notable. Personally, I would skip it unless you are a big Addams Family fan. It’s ok but there are far better games out there.

    The above ad is from Volume 3, Issue 3 of the Super NES Buyer’s Guide.


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  • Robocop 2 (Game Boy)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Robocop 2 (Game Boy)

    The first Robocop was one of the arcade games at the Jr. Store (similar to a 7-Eleven) near my house that I dropped many quarters into. They always had two arcade games there that rotated out periodically. I liked both the game and the movie. The second game and second movie were really both more of the same but I never liked them as much. I guess they just didn’t add enough that was new.

    There were three different versions of Robocop 2 depending on the system it was developed for. This ad is for the version for Nintendo and Game Boy which was developed by Ocean who also did the Commodore 64 port. Robocop 2 like the first Robocop game is basically a side-scrolling action game that loosely follows the plot of the movie. It was a pretty mediocre platformer. The first seemed to have both better graphics and gameplay while the second just seemed much more rushed.

    Oddly, while this seems to be an ad for both the NES and Game Boy ports, it shows screen shots from the Game Boy. You would think they would show screen shots from the NES version since they would theoretically look superior. Possibly the Game Boy version was done first but I’m not sure.


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