Games Thrashed: 2016 Edition

Oh another year is upon us. And it's time again for another NES challenge. For those that don't know I basically beat new NES games and try to top what I did the previous year. No re-beats (games I've defeated time and time again. I'm looking at you Contra, Double Dragon, and Super Mario Bros.!) While I didn't get nearly as many new endings as I did in 2014, I'll try to topple last years mark. 

Previous Years:

2011: 17
2012: 7
2013: 23!
2014: 27!!
2015: 7
-----------
Total new games defeated: 81

Not bad in a 5 year span.

JANUARY:

Picked this one up boxed for $30 bucks at Liquidation Zone. The place is my one-stop-shop for all things retro gaming related (the owner John cuts me some nice deals!).

The gaming community has this consensus that Jekyll and Hyde is one of the most difficult (and brutally unfair games on the system). AVGN and his pal Bootsy can't even finish it (although Mike Mattei has I believe). Come to think of it, neither can Rerez, Spooney1, AlphaOmegaSin, as well as both Game Chasers.

But, Matt Ezro, a.k.a. the LJN Defender beat it. Not only that, he bested the game and got the good ending! That is, you must guide BOTH Jekyll and Hyde to the church.

And now I can be on that list! I bought the game today, popped it in, and finished it by night's end. By now I should have my "video evidence" on my channel for my ENDING QUEST series. Which is great! I had a ton of trouble don't get me wrong. But in some way I kinda like this game. Now if only I can find a copy of Nightmare on Elm Street! Candidate for RETRO GAME OF THE YEAR.

APRIL:

Wow, I had this game as a kid growing up and I finally managed to beat it! Not only that, I won on the highest difficulty! Pro mode is quite the challenging feat, and I bested the Edmonton (Oilers) team as Montreal (Canadians) 5-4.

Great game that I've beaten on Junior (easy) Mode, but never on Pro. Candidate for RETRO GAME OF THE YEAR.

This is one nice game. I think I would have appreciated it more if I played this one as a kid. But nonetheless, its got great music, graphics, controls well, big (and imaginative) bosses, cut scenes with most excellent dialogue, and you get plenty of variety with the different magical transformations.

Really sweet game (if a bit short) for the time period. Check it out!

Been playing this game a lot lately. And now since first playing it in the early 90s, I've finally beat it! I played as the Elf (who else?) and managed to get to level 79 (the cutoff point where you get your last password) and from there you have to get to level 100 in one swoop.

Needless to say, it was a daunting task. But after studying plenty of let's plays, and speed runs, I had the knowledge to succeed. If I were to try to beat this game again I would probably use the Valkyrie.

Candidate for RETRO GAME OF THE YEAR.

Definitely not the greatest nes game I've ever played. Beat the game even though the last level is quite the frustrating bit of platforming. Sadly, I don't think I'll be picking this one back up anytime soon. Which is unfortunate, because I loved the movie as a kid.

And why can't you use the rocket pack anytime you want? I get the limited fuel and all, but still...the last level you don't even use the jet pack (which is the whole point of the game and movie) so why bother?!

This is another game I've been playing since my early teens. Now I can finally lay this game to rest. Wizards and Warriors II should have been the best game in the series. Sadly, you just take WAY too many cheap hits from everything!

It seems like every enemy shoots projectiles, and homes in on your location to deal damage to you. If only the developers had scaled back enemy respawns, as well as the amount of damage they do this game would've been an instant classic. I will always prefer the first game to the sequels. Such a shame.









MAY

I thought I would never see the day where I would beat this one. Lo and behold I finally buckled down and practiced hard. Remembering my time spent with this one as a young kid around 8 years old or so, I managed to get pretty far into the game.

Well today is the day! I finally beat the damn game almost 25 years ago since I first rented it from the local country store. And I'm glad I did. Some trouble arose in level 4. My first man lost (fully powered up of course) and had to start from scratch. Level 5 came around and that was when I hit the wall. Continue after continue, life after life lost.

But I studied (especially those flying brains, and pheonix birds) and attempted routes I wouldn't normally take. Made it to the final boss, and kicked its ass! So glad to put this one to rest!
RETRO GAME OF THE YEAR CANDIDATE

While the game "technically" has no ending, I did finish it. Scoring over 50,000 points, seeing all locations, and even riding in the boat. Very good game that grew on me as I played it time and time again.

Another nostalgia heavy game right here. After almost 20 years of playing this game I finally finished off Sabu and his evil gang! The maze itself was always the tricky part, and I finally looked it up on an online FAQ.

Left, left, middle, right. And that was it! Interestingly enough, the Japanese version has your buddy crying in his sleeve as you shake hands, but the American version has none of that and just abruptly ends. Ha ha.

November:

For the life of me I can't remember if I beat Pro Wrestling or not. I do remember beating it with the use of the Game Genie. So, I'll say this one is a new beat. I played this game with both of my brothers way back in '92, or '93. (We received the game for Christmas that year). Derek's favorite was King Slender (with his patented Back-Breaker), and Matt's fav was Fighter Hayabusa (with his Back-Brain-Kick). 

So after losing the initial bout with him due to a time limit loss, I got an automatic rematch and finally defeated Great Tiger! Of course with the use of Star Man via a 20 count. Awesome game, and even better with 2 players head-to-head. ***1/2 star game.