HAL/Human

January 1991

Action

1 Player

Tron meets ancient Japanese theatre in this side-scrolling action game that's a lot less original than it sounds.  You'll run through each stage, whipping a bizarre assortment of enemies with your blood red mane of hair and battling tiny (but extremely wily) bosses.  It's familiar territory to anyone who's played Ninja Gaiden or Castlevania.

Data East

November 1986

Fighting

1-2 Players

The game considered to be the first tournament fighter is also the worst one you'll play on the NES.  All the martial artists look exactly alike, bearing a striking resemblence to that android guy from Star Trek, and the control scheme is as confusing as the programmers could possibly make it.  You'll have more luck translating an alien language than figuring it out.

LJN

November 1987

Action/Fighting

1 Player

As you might expect, The Karate Kid is a fighting game, full of thugs you've got to clobber with Daniel-San's signature attacks.  It's also kind of mediocre, with primitively drawn characters and flat levels.  What saves it are the bonus stages spread throughout each round.  These mini-games, inspired by famous scenes from the film, look great and are fun to play.

Data East

January 1988

Action

1 Player

Think of Karnov as Mario's homely third cousin from Russia.  Karnov's world is grittier than Mario's, replacing the squishy mushrooms and the silly turtles with more threatening enemies from Greek mythology.  The heavyset Russian firebreather also has a wider selection of items to find and use, but the game lacks the brisk pace and the polish of Mario's adventures.

FAST FACT:  The portly Russian circus performer Karnov was Data East's favorite video game character, appearing in not only his own game, but the side-scrolling beat 'em up Bad Dudes as well.  He was also the lead villain in Fighter's History and its sequels.

Taito

January 1992

Action

1 Player

A better name for this one would be "Kick-stlevania".  Kick Master copies the slow pace and the spooky music of the first Castlevania game... heck, even the main character's pretty similar.  Instead of a whip, however, you use an arsenal of kicks that grows as your warrior increases his experience.  It's not as good as the geniune article, but still a pretty decent knock-off.

Irem

September 1990

Puzzle

1 Player

You're a little snowman wearing overalls and earmuffs.  When your home's overrun with baddies, you take care of them the only way a snowman can... by turning them into ice blocks, then throwing them into the frigid sea to use as bridges to reach tasty ice cream bars.  Kickle's a fun and charming puzzle game that starts out easy, but really roughs you up toward the end.

Nintendo

July 1987

Action

1 Player

Kid Icarus has got the unmistakable look and feel of a Nintendo game, complete with silly music and expressive cartoon characters.  However, the gameplay isn't quite up to par with Nintendo's true classics... it's rigid, simplistic, and even frustrating due to the vertically scrolling levels that leave a gaping wide hole under our Cupid-like hero at all times.

Kemco

April 1993

Action

1 Player

Oh, those wacky clowns.  They're always out rescuing their families from evil wizards when they're not entertaining us at the circus.  They also spend a lot of time running through brightly colored but sparsely detailed stages, throwing water balloons at dangerous animals while having to contend with all the usual video game cliches (bosses, bonus rounds, etc.).

TO BE CONTINUED...?  Kid Klown starred in several games after his little-seen NES debut.  The first was Kid Klown in Crazy Chase, a Super NES platformer with an isometric viewpoint and a unique objective.  The jovial juvenile had to outrun the steadily burning fuse of a bomb while dodging all manner of comical traps.  Two more Kid Klown games were released for the Playstation, including a tepid puzzler and a sequel to Crazy Chase with enhanced graphics.