Millipede

Name: Millipede
Year: 1988
Publisher: HAL Laboratory
Developer: Atari
Genre: Arcade
Hours Played: 2
Beaten: N/A

Centipede was a wildly successful arcade game released in 1980.  A single-screen shooter in the vain of Space Invaders or Galaga, Centipede broke new ground (no pun intended) by having the game take place in a garden instead of space, and filling the screen with harmless, stationary objects (mushrooms) that obstruct your shots at the enemy (spiders, fleas, and the titular centipede).  The object is to destroy the centipede as he travels down the screen, and shooting him causes him to split into smaller centipedes.

The game was successful enough to see a sequel, Millipede, in 1982.  Besides introducing a couple new elements (DDT bombs, new enemy behaviors), the game was mostly the same, and never enjoyed the popularity of it's predecessor.  While Centipede was ported to all the consoles and computer systems of it's day, Millipede only managed a handful of ports.

And yet, it was Millipede and not Centipede that Atari chose to port to the NES in 1988.  Prehaps they figured that sinse their wasn't that much difference between the games, it only made since to pick the "superior" version.  Whatever the reason, the NES port of Milipede is a little... lacking.

The biggest problem here is the playing field.  Millipede for NES only uses about two thirds of the screen, leaving the rest as a green border.  It's truly baffling; the NES is capable of fairly accurate graphics for Pac-Man, Galaga, and Joust, but apparently the bugs and mushrooms of Millipede were just too much for it?  The game feels like a port of a computer version, rather then a direct arcade port.

And... that's it.  Honestly, I've run out of things to say about this game.  It's an awful-looking port of a moderately playable arcade game, and I can think of literally hundreds of NES games I would buy over this one.

Graphics & Animation: 0 (Awful)
Millipede was never exactly the most graphically impressive game, but it was at least colorful and appealing; this is just abysmal.  I usually try not to compare NES game to games for other systems. but com'on - Centipede for the Atari 7800 looked better then this, and this is a sequel game on a more powerful console!

Music & Sounds: 1 (Bad)
The arcade sound effects are pretty accurately recreated here.  Unfortunately, the game has no music, not even when you start or end a level.

Controls & Level Design: 3 (Average)
The controls are a little slippery, and the levels just repeat endlessly, but that's all in keeping with it's arcade heritage, so I can't fault it too much there.  Unlike the original Centipede, Millipede adds a grayed out effect to the bottom of the screen to make it clearer where your ship's boundaries are - a useful (if not as visually appealing) touch.

Story & Presentation: 0 (Awful)
HAL game this game a scaled down presentation, similar to the title screens of Donkey Kong and Balloon Fight on the NES - and this was three years later. I hate to keep repeating this, but... Centipede on the Atari 7800 looked better then this!!

Length & Replayabilitiy: 0 (Awful)
I complain about arcade games like Joust and Pac-Man for being just one level that repeats over and over and over, but at least those were good quality ports.  This is abysmal.

Total: 4 (Bad)

Xevious

Name: Xevious: The Avenger
Year: 1988
Publisher: Bandi
Developer: Namco
Genre: Shoot'em Up
Hours Played: Countless
Beaten: N/A

(Note: the official NES title of this game is "Xevious: The Avenger", but it's just a port of the original Xevious.  This kind of embellishment was a common practice for NES ports of arcade games.  It's especially odd in this case, since "Xevious" is the name of the planet, not the main character.)

Xevious is a vertical scrolling game originally released in 1982.  While it might not seem impressive at first glance, it's hard to explain just how influential it was at the time.  Although it wasn't the first vertical shooter, it was the first one to become well known, and it holds up surprisingly well.

The basic concept of Xevious is pretty easy to understand. You fly over a lush alien planet covered in forests, landing strips, and water, and try to destroy the enemy's vehicles and bases without getting destroyed yourself.  You start with the only two weapons in the game, a standard gun, and a bomb.  The gun is for airborn targets and the bomb works on land targets.  Both kind can fire back at you, and many airborne craft with attempt to ram you, as well.  Every so many levels there is a giant mothership (considered one of gaming's first bosses), which fires a barrage of bullets but can be destroyed with a single well-placed bomb.

While it all sounds simple enough, Xevious is a surprisingly difficult - and complex - game.  While most shooters of this type (Legendary Wings, 1942, etc) can be mastered with enough practice and memorization, Xevious has just enough elements of randomness to ensure that the enemy placement is never exactly the same on any two playthrus.  The result is, unlike most NES action games such as Mega Man, you'll never be able to get by simply learning the enemy patterns and reacting accordingly.  What's worse is that Xevious isn't scared to play dirty.  While enemy patterns seem fairly standard in the first few levels, as you progress, the game will throw at you everything from screen-sized multi-blasts, to heat-seeking bullets that chase you around, to enemies that fly up from the bottom of the screen (a serious violation of vertical scrolling conventions!).

Like most arcade games of it's ilk, Xevious continues indefinitely, but instead of simply repeating the same levels (a la Pac-Man), the game remixes and multiplies the enemy placement.  You know how after you beat Super Mario Bros, you get to play the game again, only all the Goombas are replaced with Buzy Beetles?  Imagine that, only instead of a congratulations screen, the game just cycles back to world 4, and for every Goomba there's now three Buzy Beetles and a Latuika.  Once you've progressed far enough, the game becomes the world's first bullet hell - I tried playing with save states, and literally reached a point I couldn't get past even while cheating.  That's my definition of a tough game.

All in all, Xevious is a well-crafted game that was ahead of it's time.  Every time you play it, it throws something new at you.  While it's considered a seminal shooter in Japan, it's never quite gained the same notoriety in America, and that's a shame; as far as endless shooters go, it doesn't get any better then this.

Graphics & Animation: 3 (Good)
Xevious does a whole lot with very little.  Using only a handful of colors and designs, the game is able to produce some pretty intricate landscapes for you to fly over - a refreshing change of pace from the endless starfields of most shmups.

Music & Sounds: 1 (Bad)
The good? The main theme does a nice job of evoking suspense.  The bad?  There's only two songs i the entire game - the main theme, and the tune that plays when you start a new life.  The music's iconic, but it gets old fast.

Controls & Level Design: 3 (Good)
The controls are very tight in this game, and the Solvalou (your ship) always goes where you want it to.  The dual-layered level design (air and ground targets, requiring two different weapons) still feels clever even thirty years later.

Story & Presentation: 1 (Bad)
There's a cool little effect in this game where, instead of announcing when you've made it to a new level, you instead fly over a large expanse of forest.  It's a cool little way of subtly letting the player know you're in new territory.  Other then that, there's not a lot of presentation to be had here.

Length & Replayabilitiy: 4 (Excellent)
This is one of the first video games I ever owned, meaning I've been playing it for about as long as I can remember, and in writing this review, I still came across new tricks and enemy types I'd never seen before.

Total: 12 (Average)

Joust

Name: Joust
Year: 1988
Publisher: HAL America Inc.
Developer: Williams Electronics Inc.
Genre: Arcade
Hours Played: One Hour
Beaten: N/A

Williams Electronics, a company known primarily for making pinball machines, dipped it's toe into the arcade game market in the early eighties; perhaps it's no surprise that one of their first hits, Joust, involves bouncing around obstacles at high velocity.

In Joust, you play a knight riding atop an ostrich (or in two-player mode, a stork) battling even knights riding vultures above a volcano.  In true arcade fashion, all the action takes place on one screen, and you get around by rapidly tapping the jump button to flap your wings.  The mechanic is similar to the swimming controls in some video games, but there's also a momentum element; if your ostrich touches the ground, he'll brake into a run, and you end up running into platforms and careening all over the place.  The goal is to take out the enemy knights, which is done by touching them when you're higher then you are; if you collide dead on, you'll bounce off each other, and if they're higher then you, you'll lose a life.  The frantic pace of the game is part of the appeal; ideally it should be easy to always hover at the top of the screen so you're unbeatable, but the slippery nature of the controls and constant clutter of the screen ensure that you're always bumping around  and trying to reposition yourself.

The first two levels serve as basic training; there's safety platforms over the lava to make thing a little easier.  After level two, the platforms disappear, and fiery hands will appear to yank you into the lava if you get too close.  Defeated knights drop eggs, and if you don't destroy them in time, they hatch into more powerful knights.  As the levels progress, platforms disappear; while this is meant to make the game harder, it actually gives you less obstacles to bump into, making things a little easier.

Joust game demands you pay constant attention to your surroundings, and it's pretty challenging and fun, if not a bit repetitive.  It's a solid arcade game, but as a complete package it's pretty lacking.  If you're a fan of Joust, I highly recommend Nintendo's own Balloon Fight, which improves upon the formula in several ways, and even adds a second game mode that's reminiscent of Flappy Bird.

Graphics & Animation: 2 (Average)
There's not a lot going on, but what's here is pretty good.  The characters boast an impressive amount of colors per sprite (six, as opposed to three as in most NES games) and the volcano floor is well detailed.

Music & Sounds: 1 (Bad)
It's not that the music is terrible; their just isn't any music, aside from a little tune on the start screen.  No music when you die, no music at game over.  The sound effects when you flap your wings are satisfying, but not anything you consciously notice when you play.

Controls & Level Design: 2 (Average)
Joust is the sort of game where the tricky controls are intended to be part of the challenge, and Joust straddles this line perfectly.  Despite careening all over the place, it still always feels like your fault when you die... well, at least in the case of the controls themselves.  There's no invulnerability when you respawn, so if you appear in the wrong place you can lose a life before you have a chance to do anything.  Also, the pterodactyl is extremely random and can spawn right where you're hanging out, again costing you a life before you have a chance to react.

Story & Presentation: 2 (Average)
There's some nice presentation here: the title screen gives an appropriately medieval feel, and the "welcome to Joust" screen adds a little epicness to the proceedings. When the lava pit becomes accessible, the platforms above it actually catch fire and burn, which is a very nice touch.  Like the rest of the game, it's well executed; there's just not much of it.

Length & Replayabilitiy: 1 (Awful)
This is definitely one of those "play it over and over again for a high score" kind of games...  unless you're a humongous fan of Joust, this just doesn't justify a fifty dollar price tag.

Total: 8 (Average)

Galaga: Demons of Death

Name: Galaga: Demons of Death
Year: 1988
Publisher: Bandi
Developer: Namco
Genre: Shoot'em Up
Hours Played: Countless
Beaten: N/A

(Note: the official NES title of this game is "Galaga: Demons of Death", but it's just a port of the original Galaga.  This kind of embellishment was a common practice for NES ports of arcade games, as developers wanted to distract consumers from the fact that they were paying for a game from 1981)

In 1978, Taito released Space Invaders, revolutionizing the video game world with the first game where you shot at things that shot back.  In 1979, Namco released Galaxian, which mimicked the Space Invaders formula but added a feature where enemies could capture players' ships.  Then in 1981, Namco perfected the formula with Galaga.

Space Invaders seems to be the better remembered game (even those who have never played a video game have heard of Space Invaders), but Galaga is the game (along with Pac-Man) that sit in the corner of every pizzeria in America, and for good reason. For those that have never played either game, the concept of Space Invaders is simple: an alien warfleet marches back and forth across the top of the screen, and you steer a spaceship back and forth across the bottom of the screen, firing at the enemy and avoiding return fire.  Galaga takes this concept and expands upon it in every way: enemies (which are now bugs instead of spaceships) fly in at the beginning of each level (instead of just appearing in formation) and periodically dive-bomb you; extra points are awarded for killing ships in  mid-flight.  Enemies will occasionally mutate mid-level, turning into more powerful bugs that are worth more points but revert back if you don't kill them in time.  Like Galaxian, command ships have the ability to "capture" your ship; reclaiming it gives you a double ship with double firepower (making it the shoot'em up genre's first power-up), but it's a difficult technique to pull off and can result in wasting an extra life.  Every third level is a bonus round, in which enemies fly through but never take formation or open fire, and you have limited time to hit as many as possible.

All in all, Galaga was a groundbreaking game and remains fun to this day; it can still be found wherever arcade games are featured (usually sharing a cabinet with Pac-Man), and I always put in a quarter or two whenever I come across it.  That being said, I never would have shelled out fifty bucks for this, not in 1988 and not now.  Even back then, Namco and Bandi could have easily fit this on a cartridge alongside Pac-Man or Xevious (like Nintendo did with Donkey Kong Classics), making it a great value for your buck; instead, they released a full-price game in which you've seen everything the game has to offer after five minutes.

Graphics & Animation: 2 (Average)
The graphics in Galaga are bright and crisp; the bugs are well-animated as they cavort across the screen. However, other then the bug mutations, which add a little variety to the proceedings, you've seen everything Galaga has to offer in the graphics department after level one.

Music & Sounds: 2 (Average)
The starting music in Galaga is iconic and memerable; it's also the only song in the game.  The sound effects are authentic and sastisfying; once again, everything here is solid, there's just not a lot of it.

Controls & Level Design: 2 (Average)
The most important thing about controls in a video game is that it should always feel like your fault when you're killed, and that's definitely the case here; you've never lose a life due to irresponsible or intuitive controls.  The minimal power-ups (there's only one, and you have to fight to get it) make the game feel more about skill then luck or hording power-ups.  It does possess the early shoot'em up cliche of having a "safe spot" - hang out in the bottom right hand corner of the screen, and the enemies will almost never touch you.  Whether this is a flaw or a crucial part of the strategy is a matter of debate.

Story & Presentation: 1 (Bad)
The presentation here is good enough - the game definitely feels like it's taking place in space - but the story is non exsistance.  Outside of the manual, there's absoltuely no context for why you're shooting insects in outer space - I don't even technically know that they're alien bugs, I just assumed.  A text crawl with a couple of sentences of information at the start of the game would have went a long way to giving some context to the proceedings.

Length & Replayabilitiy: 1 (Bad)
As I keep stressing, Galaga is a a great game - there's just not a lot to it.  Like Pac-Man, it's a blast in the arcade, but at home in front of your TV there's not much incentive to pick this over Mario or Zelda.

Total: 8 (Average)

Mega Man 2

Name: Mega Man 2
Year: 1988
Publisher: Capcom
Developer: Capcom
Genre: Platformer
Hours Played: Countless
Beaten: Countless times

Mega Man 2 is widely regarded, by critics, fans, and even it's creator, as the best game in the series.  To a modern audience, it may be hard to see why - "you can't even shoot up!", you may complain - but for old school video game fans, this is action platforming distilled down to it's essence.

Everything in Mega Man 2 is about precision.  You can only shoot forward, but your bullets travel the entire length of the screen, meaning that as long as you've lined up and timed your shot correctly, you're going to hit it.  There's a lot of tricky jumps, but unlike Super Mario Bros, Mega Man has no acceleration - jumping from a standstill is the same as jumping from a run.  This is crucial for platforms that appear and disappear at a moment's notice.  Running to the right as fast as possible is never the best strategy - the game rewards you for thinking about the enemy's patterns and plotting out the best strategy.

As with other games in the Mega Man series, the first eight levels can be played in any order.  The first eight levels are each dominated by a "robot master" (level boss), and everything in the level is themed around them (e.g. Air Man's level is set in the clouds, full of moving platforms, and patrolled by robot birds).  Although you can beat the levels in any order. besting a robot master grants you use of their weapon, and since different enemies are weaker to certain weapons, it adds a layer of strategy to what order you tackle the levels in.  After all eight levels are completed, Mega Man faces Dr. Wily's multi-leveled Skull Castle, where the disparate elements from different levels (as well as a couple new things) all come together to create the ultimate challenge.  It gives you the sensation that the game has been testing you and preparing you for the battles that lie ahead.

To say that Mega Man 2 was and remains one of the most popular NES games is an understatement.  The game has inspired cartoons, comic books, fan games, original songs, and even laments on how hard it is.  If you're a fan of jumping, shooting, and walking to the right, and you want to see just how far those three simple concepts can be stretched, this is the game to play.

Graphics & Animation: 4 (Excellent)
The graphics are superb; everything is bubbling with creativity.  In the last game, the enemy robots looked like robots built with specific functions in mind.  Here, it's the exact opposite; you'll fight robotic frogs, monkeys, prawns, baby chicks, and so much more.  The design team does a great job of taking something from nature and then adding bolts and joints in just the right place so you can still tell it's a robot.

Music & Sounds: 4 (Excellent)
Mega Man 2 is famous for having some of the best music in gaming, let alone for the NES.  Like all Mega Man games, every level has it's own music, and almost all of them are unforgettable.  The music alone has inspired everything from remixed music to rock covers with original lyrics to original songs with original lyrics about the game.

Controls & Level Design: 4 (Excellent)
The level design here is the strongest in the series.  The developers have this uncanny knack for introducing a new enemy, obstacle, or gimmick in an environment where you can easily understand what it does, and then they keep combining it with other obstacles to keep you on your toes.  The controls, a hallmark in the series, always reinforce the feeling that any death or hit was caused by your ineptitude and not a problem with the game.

Story & Presentation: 3 (Good)
The worst thing I can say about Mega Man 2 is that it doesn't have as strong as a story or theme as some of the other games in the series.  I've never been quite sure what the plot is here; the intro screen suggests that this set of robots were built by Dr. Wily directly to fight Mega Man, but other sources (including the credits of this game and Mega Man 3) suggest that this was another batch of robots designed by Dr. Light that Wily turned.  Unlike Mega Man 1 or 6, I have no idea where most of these levels are suppose to be taking place.  Still, each robot master has a strong theme within his own level, and there's great cutscenes to help you get into the action.  Like Mega Man 1, the ending sequence has a melancholy sense of a solider coming home after war, and it's fantastic.

Length & Replayabilitiy: 4 (Excellent)
Technically, Mega Man 2 is the second shortest game in the series, but you'd never know it from playing it; it just feels like such a complete experience.  Everything about the game design (the trial and error, learning enemy's patterns, the large health bar that always leaves room for improvement) encourages players to keep coming back and getting better.  Mega Man 2 is also the only game in the series to feature two difficulty levels, Normal and Difficult.  While this decision has been poo-pooed by many Mega Man diehards (largely due to the fact that "difficult" is the original Japanese version and "normal" is an easier version for us dumb Americans), as a kid, having an easier option to start with helped me get into the series, hone my skills, and really appreciate it instead of being alienated by the high entry level of some NES games.

Total:19 (Excellent)

Kickle Cubicle

Name: Kickle Cubicle
Year: 1988
Publisher: Irem Corp.
Developer: Irem Corp.
Genre: Action Puzzler
Hours Played: Countless
Beaten: Yes, without cheats

Kickle Cubicle is an action/puzzle game released in 1988, based off of a Japanese-only arcade game of the same name.  You play the role of Kickle, an earmuff-wearing snowman who traverses four worlds to save Fantasy Land from the clutches of the evil Ice Wizard (a snowman with a bucket on his head).  Each world is made up of one-screen ice islands, which you destroy by collecting all the magic bags on the screen.

At first, Kickle Cubicle looks like a Pengo clone - kick ice blocks, grab all the magic bags and clear the level - but the game soon turns into an Adventure of Lolo-style puzzler.  The puzzles never get too mind-bending, but you also have aggressive enemies, a timer, and melting ice blocks to deal with.

Fantasy world is bright, colorful, and goofy.  Each world is named after it's denizens - Vegetable Land, for instance, is populated by talking vegetables.  Some people may complain that each stage looks exactly the same - every level in the game is made out of ice, after all - but the pallet does subtly change between worlds, and there's always new enemies and gimmicks being introduced, even in the last world.

Graphics & Animation: 4 (Excellent)
The graphics are everything you could want in a NES game - bright, colorful, detailed, and varied.  A lot of effort went into making distinct sprites where it wasn't strictly necessary. Each time you beat an island, rescued dinizens (vegetables, fruit, etc) circle around Kickle, and it's shocking how rarely the sprites repeat - almost like you're playing Bubble Bobble.  Also, there's four different princesses you rescue - one at the end of each island - and they're completely distinct from one another.

Music & Sound: 2 (Average)
The music is fine in Kickle Cubicle, catchy even, but there's not much of it.  There's the level music, the boss music, and a couple ditties for game overs and clearing levels.  It's fine, but you'll hear it over and over.

Controls & Level Design: 4 (Excellent)
The main controls in Kickle Cubicle are walking around (top-down), freezing enemies, kicking ice blocks, and  building ice barriers.  The controls are intuitive and responsive.  There's a lot of nuances to the controls (for instance, it's possible to redirect a block that's bouncing between two springs, but only if you kick it during the split second before the spring hits it), and like any good action puzzle game, Kickle Cubicle will make sure you fully explore each and every one before your quest is over.

Story & Presentation: 3 (Good)
The plot of Kickle Cubicle is so much silly nonsense - ears of corn, candy canes, and other inanimate objects plead for your help, princesses are kidnapped, you fight pirate chickens - but the game does a nice job of filling you in.  Characters talk to you between levels, the game over screen changes after every world (with the most recently rescued princess providing words of encouragement), and there's a detailed cutscene at the end of each word showcasing the boss's lair.

Length & Replayability: 3 (Good)
There's a lot of game here.  Four worlds, with over fifteen stages and a boss in each world, and once you beat the main game there's a 30-stage bonus game focusing on more difficult puzzles.  Unfortunately, replayability is the Achilles' heel of most puzzle games - once you know how to solve all the puzzles, there isn't a lot of reason to come back.

TOTAL: 16 (Good)