Kemco/Seika

January 1990

Action

1 Player

There's no better way to describe this game than to call it "well-rounded".  While on a mission to free diplomats from the grip of a terrorist organization, you'll sneak agents into vantage points, pick off bad guys with a sniper rifle, rappel into buildings, then confront the terrorists face to face.  Intricately detailed graphics make Rescue even more exciting!

Data East

September 1987

Sports/Fighting

1-2 Players

So you've finished Mike Tyson's Punch Out!!, and you're looking for another boxing game to fill the void.  No matter how desperate you are to get back in the ring, you don't want to do it with Ring King.  With its overhead viewpoint and frustrating, obfuscated control, Ring King couldn't be more different from Punch Out!!.  It can, however, be a whole lot worse.

Technos

January 1990

Action/Adventure

1-2 Players

It's a fighting game!  It's an adventure game!  You get a little of both in River City Ransom, a true NES classic.  When you're feeling outnumbered by the game's armies of high school students (and you will!), you can visit strip malls and purchase wild martial arts attacks to help even the odds.  This already fun fighter gets even better as your hero powers up.

Mindscape/Beam

January 1990

Action/Racing

1 Player

This is a strong conversion of the advanced arcade racing title by Atari Games.  The graphics may not be as crisp or as bright, but the road rolls by just as quickly and smoothly as it did in the original.  Roadblasters plays as well as the arcade game, too, with tense racing action and plenty of enemies to blast.  Its only real flaw are low-octane sound effects and music.

Virgin/Sculptured

November 1991

Action/Adventure

1 Player

Based on the Kevin Costner film from the early 1990's, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves is an adventure game with a clumsy interface and the world's brownest graphics.  If you're not irritated by the slippery control and obtuse gameplay, you'll almost certainly be bored to tears by the Robin Hood's dull color palette.  Prince John may have been evil, but he was never quite this bad!

Data East

December 1989

Action

1 Player

Drop it!  In fact, throw this one as far away as possible, because you're definitely not going to want to play it.  If you're thinking that Robocop is a conversion of Data East's testosterone-drenched arcade shooter, you're very wrong.  Instead, it's a similarly linear but far less enjoyable action game with low-to-the-floor production values and horrendous graphics.

Data East/Ocean

April 1991

Action

1 Player

Steel-plated police officer Robocop has a new enemy... the highly addictive drug "Nuke".  He won't stop until both the narcotic and the pushers selling it are wiped out in this side-scrolling action title.  While Robocop 2 is an improvement over the previous game, the much too cartoony graphics and sluggish, slippery control make it clear that it wasn't improved enough.

Ocean/Probe

August 1992

Action

1 Player

Funny thing... the Robocop games on the NES improved as the films continued to get worse and worse.  Anyway, Robocop 3 is faster than the previous games, and the graphics are vastly improved, with dark, moody backgrounds that better fit the license.  Robocop even has a wider selection of weapons, but the game still isn't up to par with the system's best shooters.