Mega Man 4

Name: Mega Man 4
Year: 1991
Publisher: Capcom
Developer: Capcom
Genre: Platformer
Hours Played: Countless
Beaten: Yes, without cheats

Mega Man 4 is often regarded as one of the "bad" Mega Man games - generally placing just after 6 and 1 in terms of people's general dislike for it.  Yet it doesn't have the unforgiving difficulty of the first game, or the poor level design of the sixth game, or even the odd control quirks of the third.  So why the poor reputation?

The answer is because, for better or worse, Mega Man 4 marks the point that the series became paint by numbers.  After the careful fine tuning of 2 and the unique storytelling chops of 3, the rest of the series from here on out would follow a careful formula: an opening cut scene introduces a new villain, Mega Man beats all 8 robot masters, tackles the new villain's castle and beats him, Dr. Wiley is revealed to be behind it, Mega Man tackles an all new Skull Castle and beats Dr. Wily. Again. Rinse and repeat.

You may be tempted to give Mega Man 4 a pass for this - after all, it's the first game to use this formula, right? (Assuming you don't count Dr. Wily's "surprise" betrayal in 3) But even here, it feels like the developers were more interested in trying to remake Mega Man 2 then they were in innovating.  Once again we have a water-theme villain (which until this point was only seen in MM2), a villain who shoots fire (1 and 2), an earth-theme villain (okay to be fair I think they all have one of those)... heck, with Bright Man they literally reused Flash Man's weapon and didn't even bother renaming it.  The last stage of the game also seems extremely familiar to those who've beaten Mega Man 2, right down to entering a dark room for the final boss, and having the lights come on in a lab when the fight's over.

The most controversial addition, however, is the Mega Buster, Mega Man's new default weapon. By holding the fire button for a few seconds, Mega Man can release a larger, more powerful shot.  This addition appeared in all the subsequent Mega Man games, and even other series, such as Mega Man X. Many fans feel this made the game "too easy" or took the emphasis off acquiring the bosses' weapons.  Is this true?  Well, yes and no.  Your standard weapon IS more powerful, not because of the charge shot (which only does x3 the damage of a normal bullet) but because the game no longer restricts you to only shooting three shots at a time.  Why even bother with the charge shot when you can pump an endless barrage of bullets into your enemy?  As for using the boss weapons, the issue is that Capcom greatly reduced the amount of damage that Robot Masters take from the the weapon their "weak" to, meaning their's less point in figuring out the correct weapon to use.  The result of all this is the easiest levels but hardest robot masters (and hardest boss rush) in the series up to this point.

All that being said, I would by no means call Mega Man 4 a bad game.  The music, while not as memorable as 2 or 3, is still leaps and bounds over most music on the NES, and the graphics are actually better then ever.  Mega Man 4 boasts the best opening cutscene (the only time we see Mega Man's origin recounted), the best "weapon get" screen, and the most colorful minibosses of the entire series.  There's even a couple moments of innovation: hearkening back  to the original Mega Man, there's two "adapter" items (one is a grappling hook, the other is Item 1 from MM2), and they're hidden in the robot master stages; finding them actually takes a little creative thinking, which I really enjoyed.

Graphics & Animation: 4 (Excellent)
Capcom was clearly trying to outdo themselves in the graphics department, and they succeeded: the over-sized cartoony enemies from three are even bigger and cartoonier here, there's more giant mini-bosses then ever, and the cutscenes (including the "get weapon" scenes) are the best in the series.  You'd be hard pressed to find a better looking game on the NES.

Music & Sounds: 3 (Good)
There's not as many "get stuck in your head and stay there forever" songs in this game as their are in the previous entries, but there's still some good ones (even years later, I can hum you Skull Man's music), and once again the sheer amount of different tunes in a single NES cartridge is impressive all on it's own.

Controls & Level Design: 3 (Good)
The controls here are tight, and for the first time ever, Mega Man doesn't fall off ladders if you pause and unpause the game.  In older games, Mega Man couldn't have more then three bullets on the screen at once, due to technical limitations of the NES; here, they resolved that problem, but didn't tweak the difficulty to account for it, meaning you can spam the fire button in a way not possible before.  The levels are a little lackluster as well, relying too heavily on minibosses then before - Ring Man's level stands out as an especially egregious example, with four minibosses and only a handful of obstacles otherwise.

Story & Presentation: 4 (Excellent)
Regardless of what everyone else at Capcom were doing, the art department was clearly under the impression they were working on the greatest Mega Man game ever, because everything in the presentation and cutscenes shines here.  While the opening cutscenes in the next two games would focus on setting up plot and red herring villians, the intro here is all about Mega Man himself, and gives us the more characterization about him then the other five games combined.

Length & Replayabilitiy: 3 (Good)
Technically the longest Mega Man game to date, but definitely not as replayable as some of the others.  The hidden items do add a little replayability to the game, though.

Total: 17 (Good)

Dr. Mario

Name: Dr. Mario
Year: 1991
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo
Genre: Abstract Puzzler
Hours Played: Countless
Beaten: No, watched video

Nowadays, when people talk about "puzzle games" (what I refer to on this site as "abstract puzzlers), they're referring to games like Tetris or Candy Crush, where you're tasked with arranging colors or shapes into like groups.  What sets these games apart from true puzzle games (games where you're solving actual puzzles) is the random factor: true puzzle games tend to feature puzzles created by programmers with a set solution, where abstract puzzlers tend to focus on dealing with random elements.

Dr. Mario is an abstract puzzler in the column-matching subgenre; pairs of colored objects fall from the sky (in this case, medicine pills with two segments), and it's your job to arrange them into columns or rows of four to clear them.  The twist to Dr. Mario is that at the start of every level, there are "pieces" (in this case, cartoon viruses) already on the playing field, and using the pills to clear them takes you to the next level.

The problem here is the game never quite "clicks".  It doesn't work as an abstract puzzler, because the game is focused on clearing stages and proceeding to the next level; you're never able to get into the groove or trance that comes from endless games like Tetris.  And it doesn't work as a traditional puzzle solving game, because the puzzles you're given to solve (clearing each board) are randomly generated, so they're never that interesting.  Candy Crush managed to take the endless puzzle play of games like Bejeweled and turn it into completing levels, but they did so by giving each level a unique twist: a specific board shape, chocolates to clear, ingredients to collect, etc. In Dr. Mario, the only variation from level to level is the amount of viruses to clear, and it gets old fast.

There were a lot of attempts at column-matching games in the late eighties/early nineties; most of the unsuccessful ones (Hatris, Columns, Yoshi) now languish in obscurity.  Dr. Mario, for some reason, has managed to stick around as a game people remember liking.  Maybe it's the colorful graphics.  Maybe it's the amazingly catchy music.  Maybe it's just because it features Mario in doctor cosplay.  Whatever the reason may be, Dr. Mario is definitely one game not as good as you remember.

Graphics & Animation: 2 (Average)
The graphics are pretty good in Dr. Mario.  The sprites are oversized and colorful.  Three viruses (one for each color in the game) march in the bottom right of the screen, and everytime you make a match, the corosponding virus takes "damage" (falls down and wiggles his legs).  It's an extra touch that adds a lot of charm.

Music & Sound: 4 (Excellent)
The music in Dr. Mario is some of the best on the NES, and second only to the classic Tetris theme in terms of best music in a puzzle game.  It's pretty well remembered by NES fans, and I'm betting it's the main reason behind why Dr. Mario is remembered so fondly.

Story & Presentation: 3 (Good)
Dr Mario has a pretty nice presentation.  Besides the obvious doctor theme, there's also a nice checkerboard theme that's found on every screen in the game.  Non-nonsensical cutscenes play when you beat certain stages, and the game has an "ending" (another non-nonsensical cutscene) that differs depending on what speed you beat the game on.

Controls & Level Design: 1 (Bad)
The controls here have that Nintendo polish to them: pills always land where you intended them to, and there's a lot of room for finesse (slipping pills into tight corners).  The problem here is the level design, or more specifically the space you're given to work with.  Go ahead and set the game on a higher level, then tell me if you feel like it's a reasonable challenge to clear the viruses with the amount of space given; on level twenty (the final level), a single mistake can cost you the game.  That would be fine if there was no time limit, a la Candy Crush, but on the higher levels you only have a second or two to place each piece!

Length & Replayability: 0 (Awful)
The bottom line is that Dr. Mario feels like a chore to play.  Having a mode with pre-designed (not random) virus configurations could have went a long way to making this game more playable.

Total: 10 (Average)

Qix

Name: Qix
Year: 1991
Publisher: Taito
Developer: Taito
Genre: Arcade
Hours Played: Countless
Beaten: N/A
High Score: 183,668

(Note: it is my understanding that Qix for NES repeats endlessly and has no ending; however I have been unable to verify this. If I discover otherwise, this review will be updated accordingly.)

Qix (sometimes written QIX and pronounced "kicks") was first released to arcades in 1981, and subsequently had numerous ports and sequels.  Due to it's highly abstract nature, it can be a little hard to sum up in a couple of sentences, but I'll do my best:

The idea behind Qix is that the screen is separated into two areas, the border and open space.  Sparks patrol the border, and in open space lives the Qix, a geometric pattern that darts around sporadically.  Sparks can't hurt you in open space, and the Qix can't attack you while you're in the borders.  The idea is to draw lines to extend the border and shrink open space.  It's a little hard to explain it succulently, but at it's core Qix is a game of chicken.  Stay in the borders too long and the sparks get you; stay in open space too long and risk a random charge from the Qix.

It's important to point out that Qix is a very difficult game.  Like many of it's arcade ilk, it was designed to be a quarter muncher; give plays a fun couple of minutes and then shove them out the door for the next player.  The result is that everything's on a timer.  You can technically take as long as you want on each board, but every time the timer hits zero another spark spawns in the borders, making the level exponentially more difficult.  As you progress through the levels, the game throws more curve balls at you: a second enemy type in the playing field, two Qix at once, and eventually (and most cheap) the sparks start to follow you out on your tether, making them a threat even in open space.  It's like the later levels in Pac-Man when you're no longer able to eat the ghosts; it feels a little unfair.

Qix was popular enough to receive numerous ports and sequels, but not popular enough to be remembered alongside games like Pac-Man and Space Invaders.  The strange and unique concept made it more of a novelty for most gamers, but those looking for a challenge won't be disappointed here.

Graphics & Animation: 1 (Bad)
It's an abstract game, so you can't ask for a lot in the graphics department.  My biggest complaint is how little of the screen is used for the actual game; couldn't they have put the stats at the top of the screen and doubled the playing field?

Music & Sounds: 2 (Average)
The only music in the game is during the title screen.  The original arcade game made an obnoxious noise while drawing that's absent from this version, but that's probably a good thing.

Controls & Level Design: 2 (Average)
The controls translate to the NES perfectly.  One button lets you draw normally and the other button draws at half speed for extra points. I've played some Qix ports where you have to hit the button right when you want to start drawing, but in this version you can keep it depressed even when you're on the borders; this improves the game vastly.

Story & Presentation: 2 (Average)
If you've ever played Taito's GameBoy port of Qix, you know that there's cutscenes between levels where Mario dresses up as racial stereotypes (bull fighter, snake charmer, etc).  Sadly, there's nothing like that here.  There is, however, a great demo (if you wait at the title screen) that gives you a tutorial on how to play the game, complete with enemy introductions.

Length & Replayability: 1 (Bad)
When it comes to one screen arcade games, Qix is one of my favorite; but when you compare it to lengthy NES games like Super Mario Bros 3 or Final Fantasy, Qix is a tough sell.  I've complained about this before, and I do understand it's a limitation of the technology (and that battery back-ups were expensive), but a feature that saved your high score would have went a long way towards making these kind of games more replayable.

Total: 8 (Average)

Yoshi

Name: Yoshi
Year: 1991
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Game Freak
Genre: Abstract Puzzler
Hours Played: Countless
Beaten: N/A

I hadn't played this game since I was a kid, and I remembered it being decent but forgettable; no Tetris, but better then Dr. Mario.  Well, I'd like to apologize to the good doctor, because this game is absolutely terrible.

The idea is simple: you have only four columns in which to arrange four types of famous Mario enemies (Boos, Bloopers, Goombas, Piranha). Two stacked on each other makes a match.  The gimmick is there's also top and bottom halves of Yoshi eggs.  Line up a top and bottom, and a Yoshi hatches for extra points.  Stack enemies between the two halves and you get even more.

The first problem is, for a game in the vein of Columns, the gameplay is pretty boring.  Only having four columns to maneuver in adds some challenge, but only needing two characters to make a match means you can clear out the well pretty fast.  The egg hatching mechanic doesn't add much to the game; I tried playing once where I made the biggest combos possible, and a second time where I completely ignoring the eggs.  My level was higher in the second game, but my score was almost identical.

The second and much bigger problem is the game's AI.  There was a fad in the nineties to make video games "intelligent", meaning the game adjusted the difficulty during play to meet your skill level.  That sounds pretty cool in theory, but what it usually translated into is you'd start to do really well and then the game would throw a ton of crap at you to take you out.  It always came off as unfair, and it was the predecessor of the "forced fair" tactics still found in Mario Kart and Mario Party games today.  Yoshi makes heavy use of this tactic; if you're doing too well, the game will temporarily speed up and increase the number of falling enemies, as if to say "here, deal with this!"  Since there's four columns and four enemies types, the biggest annoyance is getting two enemies of the same type at once.  So when the game decides to start throwing trios of the same enemy at speeds too fast to react to, it kind of feels like getting the finger for doing too well.

The bottom line is that Yoshi feels like a chore to play.  Five minutes of boring, too-easy gameplay, followed by thirty seconds of unfairly challenging gameplay, does not equal a good game.  It's hard to believe in today's oversaturated world of mobile puzzle games, but in the nineties everyone was still desperately trying to create the next Tetris and no one quite knew how to pull it off.  This is definitely one of the weaker attempts.

Graphics & Animation: 2 (Average)
The best thing about this game is the graphics.  The Mario enemies present have never looked better, and it's the first time we ever saw Yoshi (the character) on the NES.

Music & Sound: 1 (Bad)
Remember how Dr. Mario was an average, kind of boring game, but they still gave it fantastic music that sticks with you way afterwards?  Yeah, not so much here.  I've been playing the game all day and I can't even hum you a note.

Controls & Level Design: 0 (Bad)
Instead of controlling the falling enemies directly, you shuffle the board around from below, giving you pretty precise control of where you want things to land.  That's good controls.  Bad controls is getting slammed with six or seven waves of enemies because it's impossible to place them in time.  Either change the controls or change the speed, but stop punishing me for making progress!

Story & Presentation: 1 (Bad)
Remember in Yoshi's Cookie for the NES, how they tried to give the game personality by making it look like a bakery and having Mario in a chef's outfit?  Yeah, there's nothing like that here.  The menus look exactly like the ones in Dr. Mario or Tetris... it's just very uninspired.  There are at least cut scenes if you play Game Type B... they tell the very exciting story of Yoshi eating a different power-up each time.  Pac-Man had more interesting cutscenes then this.

Length & Replayability: 0 (Awful)
There's not much to do here except play a very poor excuse for a puzzle game.

Total: 4 (Bad)