Retro Game of the Day! Batman - Return of the Joker
Batman - Return of the Joker by Sunsoft, original release on the NES in 1991. Ported (up) later to 16-bit as well.
Here's another game I have been meaning to write about for awhile. As usual I have to proclaim that Sunsoft was absolutely one of my favorite developers back in the day, their games usually oozed with such craftsmanship in their presentation. Maybe they weren't constantly the deepest, most enthralling experiences, but they were always very fun to play and they looked and sounded great. ROJ was no exception, though (and this is silly) the box art always bothered me. Appropriate for a 1970's comic book cover, for certain - which should make it more than appropriate in this case - but the Batman in this game was quite far removed from That Bat, and something either grittier or techier should have been used. Maybe something more like this, at least..
But, whatever. If there's one thing that ultimately matters least about the game at the end of the day, it's the box design, so I don't mind!
Anyway, the game was a follow-up to Sunsoft's previous movie adaptation which released a couple of years earlier. Like that one, this game took several liberties with the Batman mythos; actually ROJ almost completely has nothing to do with Batman whatsover, it's almost as if the developer had little knowledge or consideration of that character/world in the first place. Comics purists would be miffed, but there was a very nice action game here anyway and that more than made up for the lack of "playing it straight," besides how many garbage games have we seen that tried to stick to the license at the cost of actually being well-produced?
That being the case, this is a straightforward non-Batmannish adventure with some awesome sights and sounds (especially for 8-bit!) that played an enjoyable, if formulaic action contest. You walk to the right, ascend towers, collect powerups, shoot enemies, and topple bosses. There's even some side-view shooting levels. It all looks great and it's a ton of fun, and while non of it was "fresh," it was a solid job all around.
The thing that will stand out in my memory the most is the graphics in this game (if I've not mentioned them enough in this review by now!) But it is worth going over and over, because they are some of the most beautiful you will ever witness coming out of the NES' PPU. I don't know if I can honestly think of a game which, punch-for-punch, could have matched this game's technical prowess. There's a lot of darkness and some pretty drab color choices, but overall the entire game was a spectacle. Huge detailed characters, tons of frames of animation, giant elaborate mecha. I was not expecting this, Sunsoft really brought their A-game.
A true classic which is seldom mentioned. NES-heads, this one's for you.
Disney's 
Well how about this! When I was a kid, DuckTales was the beginning installment in their long-running (modern) Weekday Afternoon cartoon shows. It sounded like it would be very juvenile, but the show was a combination of excellent animation and storytelling (and they weren't trying to sell toys, if you can believe it!) When the NES adaptation was announced, I still expected it to be a cheap tie-in kid's game; what surfaced instead was as excellent character action-platformer, among the best to ever show up in the 8-bit period.
Essentially what we had here was a somewhat dumbed-down version of a 
The worlds are all very well realized, Capcom's staff was absolutely in their stride when they developed the game. Wonderful detailed graphics were complemented by one of the happiest, bounciest soundtracks you ever did hear. People still rave about "
This is one of the true classics from "back in the day," and sadly it will stay buried there due to obvious licensing issues. A true gem from Capcom's past, the game may be a bit short and easy but it's an enjoyable action game from beginning to end. Don't miss this.
Welcome, Reader, to one of gaming's best-kept secrets. 
The quick story is that much of the original dev team from Capcom Strider (arcade version) split from their studio of origin and went over to the far-lower-profile Mitchell (creator of 
He's got a lot of the same moves, attack patterns, the level designs all feel quite similar. No nifty sword-wielding here, as Osman is all about the punching and kicking however, but he does it with style. Overall the game feels a lot more well-crafted than it's predecessor, with nonstop challenge, more lush graphic design, and a much less stuttery presentation (Strider always felt, to me, like it was having a hard time keeping up with itself).
For a number of reasons, this game flew below the radar, and no one ever really gave it any time in the press. That's a shame, as this game is an excellent action tour-de-force and any period gamer will eat it up. Go find it, play it, and know.
A favorite of arcade maniacs everywhere, DOT was released a year after the landmark film (and original 
DOT was a very unique machine in its day. You stepped into the cabinet enclosure, which was unusual (this was more common for sit-down racing games) and engaged in over-the-shoulder combat with a rival who faced you, head-on. The game graphics were projected onto a transparent overlay which was backed by a hi-rez cardboard image, something also uncommon (well, this feature also did show up in 
The game had a tricky control setup - you used a dial to "aim"you attack disc, and a special controller to move your character around the larger levitating disc. A little awkward but it was different and novel. Between the whole setup the experience was very immersive for the time, and this cabinet (and game) absolutely stood out from the crowd.
I remember playing this for the first time as a (very) young kid at my local arcade, I fed it a quarter and got into it right away - I was doing quite well, too, but I swore I could smell something burning in the cabinet and it freaked me out, so I ran out of there and forfeit my game.
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The first Ikari was a pretty straight-forward military themed action shooting game. Advance up the screen, blast troops, dodge enemy fire. Basic, but fulfilling. Compared to rival game .gif)
The new game takes place in a futuristic fantasy setting, instead of fighting enemy soldiers you are tasked with blasting vampires, mutants, and monsters. That's fine; unfortunately, most of the designs just look strange and everything animates very sloppily. Worse yet, the gameplay generally feels sluggish and loose. You keep playing "just to keep playing," but the motivation to keep going and see further levels never really gets terribly compelling..png)
Still, it's not a horrible game. History has not been kind to the Ikari franchise, but honestly there were not 
And here we have one of the HARDEST GAMES KNOWN TO MAN. Alright it's not that difficult, but the kiddy looks of this game are extremely misleading!
Pocky & Rocky is essentially a "walking shooter," for lack of a better term, in which you control a girl and a Tanuki (raccoon-ish creature) rather then, well, spaceships. You walk around and blast, blast, blast. This game is actually a nonstop flow of continuous firepower - let up and your game will quickly end.
A strange choice to be released over here, though this kind of cutesy anime style is definitely quite conventional now, 20 years ago it wasn't exactly mainstream so much. Combined with the play style and difficulty, it seems an odd choice to release for the Western Market; perhaps if they reskinned it as a proper Contra clone then it could have gone down in the history books more successfully.
Don't let my tone dissuade you however - despite the underappreciated theme, what you have here is honestly a demon of a 2-Player game (and it's quite a blast to play!) There is great attention to detailed lavished over the entire presentation, and those who partake will find themselves enjoying one of the true hidden gems of the SNES lineup. For shooter fans, or just solid 16-bit action game fans, Pocky & Rocky is gold!
Whaaaaat's this now? Spider-man in a video game - can it be true, I say rubbing my eyes? Well, once upon a time it actually was a bit of a novelty, believe it or not. And even though most of his pre-3D escapades were not very good, they were usually worth checking out because, you know, it was Spidey.
Here we had a classic example of "hey let's make another beat'em-up." I guess it's kind of a no-brainer to take superheroes and stick them in the fighting genre, though kinda disappointing when they play it so vanilla. The character of Spider-man generally has a lot of charm and personality - in a game like this, though, he just walks and punches. Not too exciting.
To break it up, at least they have a couple of platforming segments where the camera pulls back; it's nice to have a little variation like that once in awhile and at least get a sense that they were interested in trying 
Graphically, this was pretty good in its day. Not fascinating, but quite colorful (if a bit awkward looking). The cast of characters was sorta strange (Namor the Sub-Mariner? Why not?) but at least they crammed tons of Spidey villians in there for good measure.
Overall, not a bad fighter in it's day, if a bit underwhelming and shallow. Come on Sega, where's your heart! If anyone could have the potential to make a crazy-fun Spider-man arcade adventure, you know it would be them.
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Ohhh, boy. This has to be one of my favorites from when I was a little kid. I think I was seven years old when I got this for my birthday or something. I saw a picture of it in the newspaper insert for Child World or something, and rushed my parents "It's ORANGE! It's so cool! I 
G&W DK played a fairly different variation of the original arcade game, but I didn't mind. In fact, I might have enjoyed this one quite a bit more (it didn't hurt that you could take it everywhere with you, which was something very special those days!) You guided Mario up two screens of girders and construction equipment, avoiding (what else) barrels and the occasional cable-carried girder. Go up ladders, jump over obstacles, try to rescue your lady. New to this version was grabbing 4 keys to "unlock" rivets that supported Donkey Kong's platform. Grab each one and he'll fall, and then the round resets (only faster!)
The whole affair looks incredibly primitive by current standards, but to a kid in the early 1980s this was magical. The game was dripping with character (each "frame" of Mario emoted a different feeling.. fear, triumph, uncertainty, glee, etc). There was a special challenge to make it to 30 points on your first man and then you could double your scoring. Also - it had a watch!