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GameTek/Incredible Tech. |
October 1991 |
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Sports |
1-2
Players |
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This is actually a good
adaptation of the television show, even if the designers
took liberties with the source material to make it more
exciting as a video game. You'll swing from ropes,
climb up steep walls, and (my personal favorite) knock
the gladiators off platforms with a padded stick.
You'd think they were being dropped into lava, from the
way they scream on the way down! |
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Nintendo/Rare |
November 1988 |
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Board Game |
1-4 Players
(Alt) |
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You've probably played a lot
of board games in your life, but you've never seen one
as full of energy as Anticipation. The object of
this title is to guess what the computer is drawing as
it connects a series of dots. It doesn't sound
that exciting at first, but when you watch the playful
animation and hear the upbeat music, you'll change your
mind pretty quickly. |
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Acclaim/Rare |
November 1990 |
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Sports |
1-2
Players |
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The NES was old and
gray (well, even grayer) by the time this port of the
Midway arcade game was released. You might think
that because of this, Acclaim wouldn't put much effort
into this conversion of Arch Rivals, but they've
actually done a good job with it, thanks in no small
part to the prolific and talented game developers at
Rare. Sure, the graphics are compromised, but both
the gameplay and cut scenes after every basket are still
intact.
FAST
FACT: Tyrone from Arch Rivals, Kuros from
Wizards and Warriors, and Quirk from the GameBoy puzzler
of the same name all appeared as a crime-fighting team
in the animated series The Power Team. Think of it
as a low-rent Captain N and the Video Masters, and
you'd be on the right track. |
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Activision/BPS |
December 1989 |
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Action/Strategy |
1-2
Players |
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Nothing livens up
the stuffy old game of chess like a cast of mythological
creatures battling to the death. At least, that's
what Electronic Arts must have been thinking when they
created Archon for home computers. The NES
conversion by Activision and Bullet Proof Software
suffers from rough sound effects and music, but offers
all the action, strategy, and, er... frustration of the
original game.
TO BE
CONTINUED...? Talk about being late to
the party! Archon made its NES debut five years
after the sequel, Archon 2: Adept, was released
for home computers. Nearly fifteen years after the
NES game, an unofficial sequel to Archon called Wrath
Unleashed was released for both the Xbox and
Playstation 2. |
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Taito |
August 1987 |
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Action |
1-2 Players
(Alt) |
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Taito's futuristic
and addictive update of the arcade classic Breakout
wasn't meant to be played with a standard NES
joystick. Fortunately, you're not going to need
one. Arkanoid comes packed with its own
controller, a dial which gives players the exact
precision they'll need to keep the ball in play and
strike it at precise angles. Now that's bringing
the arcade experience home!
FAST
FACT: The good news is that Arkanoid on
the NES originally came with a dial controller for
optimal play control. The bad news is that the
peripheral is incredibly difficult to find twenty years
after the game made its debut on NES. If you want
to make the most of Arkanoid, you'll have to hunt down a
dial controller... it doesn't play well with anything
else. |
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Sammy |
June 1990 |
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Action/Adventure |
1 Player |
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Take Zelda (no, not Link... I
mean Zelda, as in the princess), give her a bow and
arrows instead of a sword, then put her in a world more
linear and less puzzle-oriented than her own, and you've
got Arkista's Ring. That's not to say that
Arkista's Ring is as GOOD as the Legend of Zelda games,
but you'll enjoy it anyway, despite the ugly graphics
and uninspired levels. |
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Jaleco |
March 1990 |
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Action |
1 Player |
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Only on the NES
could a scrawny high school freshman be transformed into
a mighty, axe-wielding barbarian... and only the
designers of Astyanax could take all the fun out of this
concept. This game is full of drab colors, cheap hits,
and obnoxious bosses. The only things Astyanax
DOESN'T have are things players might actually want,
like deep gameplay and memorable enemies.
FAST
FACT: Some video game characters are
named after great gods and heroes of Greek legend.
Astyanax got his name from a small baby who was thrown
from the top of a castle during the Trojan War.
It's a fitting title, considering that most players
probably shut the game off after the first
stage. |
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SNK |
August 1987 |
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Action |
1 Player |
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She may be a Greek
goddess, but you'll find that it's awfully hard to fall
in love with Athena after you've played her video
game. Athena is a side-scrolling platformer that
borrows heavily from Super Mario Bros. However,
UNLIKE Super Mario Bros., Athena is poorly designed,
with lousy animation, sloppy gameplay, and an endless
procession of cute but mercilessly cheap
foes.
TO BE
CONTINUED...? The Athena character went
on to become Athena Asamiya, the star of Psycho Soldier
and The King of Fighters. Psycho Soldier broke
ground by being the first solid-state arcade game with
music performed by real singers. The King of
Fighters is known for being the first versus fighting
game to bring together characters from several different
series, including Fatal Fury and Ikari
Warriors. |
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