The Game Over Club: Pantheon of Pain

The Game Over Club: Pantheon of Pain: I must be a sucker for pain. Cause' I play a lot of tough games. I mean a ton of them. But unlike others who bitch and complain how unfa...

Pantheon of Pain

I must be a sucker for pain. Cause' I play a lot of tough games. I mean a ton of them. But unlike others who bitch and complain how unfair a game may be I dig in my heels and have another go. Adventure Island? Nice place. TMNT? Those are my boys. Ninja Gaiden III? Been there, done that. Contra? I got your rifle right here.

So many tough games on one system!

So what are the hardest of the hard games on the NES? Why do players (of all ages really) say "that's NES tough" to designate the difficulty (and level of difficulty) of newer games? Yeah, the Nintendo was notorious for brutal difficulty, the kind that slaps you in the face, pours salt on your wounds and kicks you downhill...into a nest of bees. I've been there man. And I want to tell you some of my heroic deeds. I may not be the best looking dude around, hell, I'm not even the most intelligent. But I do know how to beat games. Let's take a look at my "gamer cred".

In my lifetime I've beaten these games (multiple times mind you):

• Double Dragon III
• Ninja Gaiden series (1, 2, 3)
• TMNT
• Ghosts N' Goblins
• Silver Surfer
• Battletoads (with warps and no warps mind you)
• Adventure Island
• Contra
• Super C (which I think is the tougher Contra game)
• Adventures of Bayou Billy
• Batman
• Mega Man ( I think this one is even tougher than the third installment)
• Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!

Hudson had a thing for extremely difficult games

I'm sure there's more but you get the idea. Still, there's a lot of other games I want to beat but simply can't wrap my head around them. Like Alpha Mission, Star Voyager, Destination Earthstar, Adventures of Dino Riki, Knight's Quest and many, many more. But I keep chipping away. Little by little I add another cart in the defeated pile. But for what reason? To impress my fellow gamers? I dunno, maybe. To be honest its a constant battle within. See, as a kid I had a burning desire to be the best at something. Anything really.

Whether it was sports, the arts, or academically it didn't matter. When I was turned on to the NES at a young age (around 6 but it went full viral when I was 7) I knew then and there I wanted to be the best at the NES. And not just one game. All of them! Any game that was thrown in my lap I wanted to be able to tell my friends "I can beat that, no sweat!" and then do it. Now almost 23 years later I still have that passion. It's one of those things that defines me (although it isn't my entire life by a long shot). 

"as a kid I had a burning desire to be the best at something. Anything really."

Another reason why a few years back (2009) I started to keep a record of all the NES games I've beaten. It's a fun little thing to look back and see what you've accomplished in a year. Hell, you can check my other thrashed games list right here on my blog! I think I'll keep on playing these tough games for another 23 years. I'm a sucker for pain.

-Will ^>^

The Game Over Club: Karate Kid (NES) Thoughts

The Game Over Club: Karate Kid (NES) Thoughts: LJN. You know it. You probably hate it thanks to the Nerd. But not ALL  of the company's published work is garbage. They really do get...

Karate Kid (NES) Thoughts

LJN.

You know it. You probably hate it thanks to the Nerd. But not ALL of the company's published work is garbage. They really do get a bad rap. Yeah, Uncanny X-men is a pile of shite, but Jaws, Nightmare on Elm Street, and Friday the 13th are damn fine offerings.

The Karate Kid is one of LJN's earliest games released on the NES too. And while you may think that the game is just based off the original movie, it actually only has one level dedicated to the first film. The rest of the game is based directly off the second movie with Daniel-san.

More like Karate Kid Part 2

Sure the graphics aren't all that great. But I would say it does the job of what is there. I would like to point out that Daniel's clothes change each and EVERY level. So that is a neat bonus. Plus, his wardrobe actually matches with what he actually wears in the movie. It's true! Also, the bonus screens look really nice, especially the fly catching bonus screen and the ice breaking game.

The fly catching bonus level is actually a lot of fun!

The only thing really challenging about the game are three things (and they're all cheap mind you);

1. Getting hit by the enemy sends you flying around like a pinball
2. Level 3 is super annoying because of the wind pushing you back
3. The spear men 

If you can manage your crane kicks and drum punches wisely you can breeze past level 1 and 2. Things get trickier when you add in the wind factor and relentless enemies in level 3. Finding a way past the spear men is another challenge entirely. I find that jumping into them (like Mario would to a Goomba) knocks the spear out of their hands, and you can pummel them accordingly.

At only four levels the Karate Kid is a short game with sub par graphics, excellent music, and annoying in certain parts. I like the variety of all the bonus levels (there's 3 or so in total). Although the addition of a two player fighter just thrown in there is weird, either way I like the Karate Kid. Check it out.