Adventures of Dino Riki (Nintendo)

Adventurs of Dino Riki

Hudson Soft

Hudson Soft, 1987

By all definitions, the Adventures of Dino Riki is a shmup. The screen scrolls vertically and you manuever your character around the screen, destroying anything that gets in your way. 

I remember this game making me all sorts of frustrated when I was younger due to it's difficulty level. I recently sat down to play it again after a very long time to see if it was just me and my skills back then or if this game truly is a pain in the butt.

You take control of a little caveman, Dino Riki. He has the ability to move left and right, as well as up and down on the screen. One button lets him jump while the other lets him attack. You start off the game with rocks. As you can imagine these rocks don't offer much in the way of firepower and have a limited range. You can pick up icons in the game that will boost your weapon. The axe is the next weapon in line, then a boomerang and finally a torch. 

The axe flies forward like the rock, but goes a greater distance. The boomerang has a wider range of attack as it doesn't stick to a straight line like the rock or axe. The torch is the most powerful weapon and when used it covers an even great area, spread out in front of your character. Caution though as when you are hit you are downgraded one weapon. Get hit while you have the rock and you lose a life.

There are other items you can pick up in the game that will help aid you on your journey. Wings give you limited flight and speed boosts do just what they should. I never cared for the boosts however as it seemed as if the game already ran at a faster speed that I was comfortable with. Speed up your character too much and it's near impossible to control, especially if you have to navigate your way through a level by jumping.

The gameplay in itself isn't bad. Again, it's basically your standard fare vertically scrolling shmup game. What makes the game so difficult, at least to me, is the fact that there are sections where you have navigate your character by jumping on lillypads or ledges. Keep in mind the screen is always scrolling so you can stand still very long before you have to make your next jump. Get too close to the top of the screen and you can't see where you are jumping to, nor can you see the oncoming enemies or their bullets.

If you could take away the jumping aspect of the game I may find it to be more enjoyable to play, but as is it's very difficult. I'm sure there are Game Genie codes that you could use to make yourself invincible, but I've never checked. 

The game has 4 worlds, with the first three (thankfully) having checkpoints. The last level is very long and if you die at any point, you must start over from the beginning. At the end of each level is a boss, usually a dinosaur or other giant monster. If you have a controller with turbo, you'll find the game is a little easier. However this game should offer the best of gamers a real challenge. Not one of my favorite Hudson games, but still a worthy addition to anyone's NES library.

Baseball (Nintendo Famicom)

I'm not a huge fan of sports video games, in fact until recently I only owned a few select sports games. Over the past few weeks however I've started picking up various baseball games, both domestic and import games. Perhaps it's my love for watching baseball or my baseball card blog that has sparked the interest, but I figured why not share a few of these games.

I thought about doing a top 10 list, but it's so hard for me to rank games like that so I'll just stick to a single post for each game. I wasn't sure where to start either, so why not head to the 3rd generation and start with Baseball?

This is the Famicom version of the game obviously. The game was originally released in Japan in 1983 as part of the "pulse" set. This picture label of the game was released in 1985. Developed and published by Nintendo themselves, I thought this would be a pretty decent 8-bit game. Afterall, the game that shares the same name on the Game Boy was pretty good. Sadly I was wrong.

The game does support two player, head to head action...which I guess is a good thing. This game did not have any licensing from Major League Baseball or the Players Association, so all you get to chose from are a few generic teams represented by different letters of the alphabet.

There is only one game to play and that is your traditional 9 innings. No options to spice up the gameplay or to even shorten the length of the game.

This the main screen you'll see whether you're batting or pitching. It's pretty basic with your in field diamond and your infielders. Notice there is only one umpire and he's behind the plate. He'll magically appear in the field where there is a play at one of the bases. Your score and ball/strike count legends appear in the lower left corner of the screen.

Controls are pretty basic when it comes to pitching and fielding. The players will run to the ball when it's hit. If it's a pop fly, you can basically just let the computer guide your player underneath the ball for the out. However when it's a line drive to the outfield, you will have to direct you player to the ball. Then you'll have to wait and wait some more for the sluggish outfielder to pick up the ball. Right on the D-pad is 1st base, up is 2nd base and left is 3rd base. Pitching isn't complicated either. Press a direction on the D-pad and press B to throw the ball. Don't worry about walking too many batters or striking them out as the computer will most likely nail every pitch you make.

Get used to seeing this Home Run screen. Not because you are the one hitting all the HRs, but because the computer will probably bury you. My game started off pretty good, then in the 3rd inning I gave up a solo HR and then a 3 run HR. I eventually hit a HR of my own to come within 3 runs...then the massacre began. It was so depressing I turned the game off in the 7th inning because there was no way in hades I was going to win.

Yes, you read the score correctly. I was getting beat 26 to 1 in the top of the 7th inning. Maybe this is why I really don't like sports games...because I suck! Yeah, it was a pretty bad outing by me and my team...but I at least was able to enjoy the game. I can't say I'll be re-visiting this game much in the near future, it's still a fun reminder of how far baseball video games have come in the last 20 or so years.

Pocket Zaurus: Juu Ouken no Nazo (Nintendo Famicom)

Pocket Zaurus: Juu Ouken no Nazo

Bandai

Bandai, 1987

One of the things that I enjoy about the Famicom is the sheer amount of games that are available for the console. Many of these games can be purchased for just a few dollars and even if you're buying them from an overseas seller the shipping usually isn't too bad since the carts are small and light.

From time to time I'll take a chance on a game, especially if I'm already buying something else as another game doesn't usally effect shipping too much. Enter Bandai's Pocket Zaurus: Juu Ouken no Nazo.

Going into this game I knew nothing about it, only that it was a side scrolling action game. I grabbed this quite awhile ago and it was shelved immediately, only to recently be played for the first time. Judging from the art on the cart's front label I was looking forward to playing the game. Seeing the little dude holding a large boomerang I thought may this could be Power Blade-esque? 

Nope. The game plays nothing like Power Blade, one of my favs on the NES. You control what appears to be some type of green dinosaur boy. You walk left to right and can attack with a short range projectile attack. You'll notice at the bottom of the screen is a large black area that lists your lives, health and score. Throughout the game other words will appear here, but since I can't read Japanese I have no idea what it half the text is saying. 

After doing a little research it appears that the words that pop up are a type of quiz. I think it may effect the story (which I still can't figure out) and you can earn power up items with correct answers.

I played for about a half hour and while it wasn't boring, I couldn't quite get in a groove. It just seemed like your mediocre NES era action game. Nothing special to stand out in a crowed library for the system.

The 2nd level started off as a side scrolling shmup and instantly I thought maybe the game had potential. This part of the game felt a little like Fantasy Zone, however the shooting part was short lived as it wasn't long before I was flying over the ground and my character jumped out of his round little ship. I tried to keep playing the game and figure it out, but after continuing a few times I just lost interest. I'll revisit the game again at a later date to see if I can get any further, but for my first playthrough let's just say the grade I give the game is "I" for Incomplete.

Transformers: The Headmasters (Nintendo Famicom Disk System)

Transformers: The Headmasters
Takara
Takara, 1987

If you follow my toy blog then you'll know I'm a pretty big fan and collector of Transformers. When I first learned that there was a Transformers game released for the Nintendo Famicom I was beside myself. Then I played the game. Let's just say it's easily one of the worse video games I've ever played. Even this Transformers fan can't make excuses to enjoy the game...even though I wanted to like it.

If Takara didn't learn their lesson with their first Transformers Famicom effort, The Mystery of Comvoy, they tried again. This time however they released a game on Nintendo's Famicom Disk System and went with the Headmasters theme.

The game looks and plays a lot like the original, but this time you control Rodimus Prime instead of Ultra Magnus. The game does let you choose which planet (level) you'd like to play. I remember you had Cybertron, Earth and a few other planets to choose from, but if I'm being honest the game is so bad it doesn't matter which planet you go to as they all leave a lot to be desired.

If there are any redeeming qualities for this game over The Mystery on Comvoy, it's that you have a health meter. No more one hit kills. You also get to play as the other Autobots that you rescue and being that it's a Disk game you can save at certain points in the game. Of course these redeeming qualities only come into play if you can make it anywhere in the actual game! Just like it's predecessor, this game is tough as nails and pretty unforgiving. This is one of those games that'll make you want to hurl your controller across the room in frustration.

After about 10 minutes I had to call it quits. When a game is so difficult that you can't make any progress it just sucks out all the fun. I tried and tried and tried. I really wanted to like this game, but I just can't recommend it at all. Maybe as a display piece if you're a Transformers fan (it isn't the easiest game to come across), but if you are just a fan of video games all I can say is stay away, very far away! If you want to play a good Transformers video game, my recommendation is the Playstation 2 "Armada" game or the War for Cybertron games on the PS3/Xbox 360.

Holy Diver (Famicom)

Holy Diver

Irem (1989)

One thing about having a lot of games in your library is it's easy to forget what you have at times. Holy Diver for the Nintendo Famicom is one of those games that simply got lost in the shuffle. I picked up this game years ago when it could be had for a reasonable amount. I had heard it was a Castlevania ripoff essentially so I was intrigued to say the least.

I settled for a loose cart of the game. I love how small and compact the Famicom carts are. The name and cover art alone were enough to entice me to give the game a try. I've heard the game's story pays homage to several 80's heavy metal bands such as Dio, Slayer, King Crimson and Ozzy Osborne. Since the games' store is in Japanese I can't confirm this, but I could care less for the story as it's the gameplay that I'm most interested in.

Irem is one of those game developers that I wasn't as familiar with back in the NES days. I was never a fan of R-Type, the only other game from Irem that I had heard of. However Holy Diver is one of those sleeper type games that deserves to be played by a wider audience. I knew once I put the cartridge in my Famicom A/V console and the title screen loaded I was in for a treat.

To me it's pretty apparent that this game borrows a lot of ideas from Castlevania and while some may say it's a direct ripoff, I feel as if the game has it's own charm and frustrations. Your character attacks with some sort of magic projectile attack. In addition to being able to attack horizontally, he can also attack vertically. This comes in handy in many areas. As you progress through the game you'll also pick up items that grant you additional magic upgrades. This magic consumes various levels of Mana. There is a gauge just below your health bar in the upper left corner of the screen. I've learned that you have to be smart when using your Mana as it doesn't replenish all that quickly in most cases. Enemies will drop small blue crystals that give you 2 points of Mana, but many of the spells will require 4 or more Mana points.

When you pause the screen you'll see the items you've collected as well as the magic spells at your disposal. You start off with Twin Fire, this spell gives you an extra projectile to attack your enemies with. It only uses 2 points of Mana for each attach. When you press the Select button on your controller you'll essentially turn your magic on and off.

The game looks beautiful despite your character lacking much in the color department. I should add that the normal gray/white color of your character changes to shades of blue when you have your magic activated. The animation is pretty smooth and the colors are vibrant. There is some parallax scrolling such as the beginning of the 2nd level. Do these winged creatures remind you of the ones from Altered Beast? 

Unlike the sluggish Simon Belmont in the first Castlevania game, your character in Holy Diver is a bit more fluid. I feel like the jumping motion isn't as stiff, though you still can't jump onto or off of steps or staircases.

Level design is pretty cool from what I can tell. I still haven't been able to get past the 2nd stage, but it appears the level design gets a darker look the further you progress. Lets make no mistake about it, this game is hard. Throw your controller on the floor and yell at the screen hard. However it's fun. Despite me not making it very far, I kept coming back for more. Thankfully you have unlimited continues, however the levels are broken up into 3 sections and if you continue you start back at the very beginning of the level. There are several religious undertones in the game so it's no surprise this game never made it to the NES.

Holy Diver isn't a perfect game, but I think it's a lot of fun. I hate to see that the game is now close to $100 on the secondary market, but I've seen a NES fan translated reproduction online. I believe it's also going to be one of the games on the forth coming Retrobit plug and play console. This game needs to be played in some fashion so when you get the change give it a try...and another...and another. It's a frustrating game, but give it some time and I think you'll enjoy it as much as I.

Tokyuu Shirei Solbrain (Nintendo Famicom)

Who didn't like the NES growing up? I have vivid memories of playing my Nintendo as a young kid and when it was time to head down to the local Toys 'R Us to buy a new game it was indeed a special day. Long before video game reviews were the norm, many people I suspect would buy a game based off a rental they made had previously made or by the box art of the game alone. The NES library had some wild artwork and one of the games that drew me in was Shatterhand.

As a kid I thought this looked pretty awesome. Today...yeah it has a bit of that cheesy element going on, but I've seen worse. Being that Shatterhand was one of my all time favorite NES games, I was thrilled when I found out several years ago that in Japan Shatterhand was a slightly different game. Based off a sentai show, Super Rescue Solbrain, the game looks different but pretty much plays the same.

I love the blue Famicom cart with its sentai character on the front label. It took me awhile to track down even a loose copy of this game for a reasonable price.

Developed by Angel, a now defunct subsidiary of Bandai. Solbrain features a different opening scene from Shatterhand. Instead of a dude wearing shades, a t-shirt and jeans you get to control a Power Rangers looking character.

The game starts immediately on this construction yard. Unlike most games of the time, instead of attacking your enemies with a gun or other type of weapon you get to punch your way through the level. Your character can jump, kneel and punch. After pressing the B button 3 or 4 times, your quick jabs turn into a slower, but more powerful punch. As long as you are standing in one place your punches will continue to be the slower variety.

Once you defeat the boss at the end of the opening level, you are taken to a level select screen. This reminded me of Mega Man in that you can pick the order of the levels you take on. Notice the level in the upper right hand corner. This is a carnival level, exclusive to the Famicom game. In Shatterhand, this level was replaced with a submarine level. Nintendo was known for it's censorship and I imagine the boss of the carnival level is why this part of the game was changed for it's North American release...

...you fight two women that leap around the room. Sorry for the blurry picture, I was trying to snap the picture quickly, so fast that my camera didn't have a chance to focus. It's been awhile since I've played Shatterhand, but from what I remember I found this carnival level and it's boss to be more entertaining that the submarine level.

As you progress through the level you'll find white boxes that you can punch open to reveal a few different things. Greek letters can be collected to aid you in your fight. When three letters are collected, a drone is created and hovers over you. Depending on the combination of letters, your drone may attack with a grenade, boomerangs, a laser, fire or another form of attack. Trying to remember the different combinations to create your favorite drone can be tough. 

Also found in the boxes are orange boxes with a "P" in the middle. This is basically the game's form of currency. The amount of "money" you have is shown in the bottom left corner of the screen, just below your health. At times you'll find a large white box with a "P" in the middle. If you continue to punch it you'll get several of the orange currency boxes, larger boxes when your punches turn to the stronger version. Be careful however because some white boxes may contain a grenade that will explode once revealed.

The currency can be used to replenish your life, power up your attack or buy another life. You'll find white boxes on the ground with a number value on them. The money you collect on each level does not carry over to the next level so you might as well spend it when you can.

My personal favorite drone type to create is this one that hurls a grenade in a downward fashion in front of you. This one is created when you collect 3 of the Greek "b" letters. I should also mention that regardless of the drone you create, if you press down and A & B together, your drone will hover directly over your character and pick you up and flies you straight up into the air. This is a feature that I never knew of until my recent play through.

If you have a drone and collect a different collection of 3 letters, your current drone will simply be replaced with the new one. However if you collect the same 3 letters as the drone you currently have, it will be replaced with a larger, more powerful hand held weapon. In the case of collecting 6 "b" letters, you'll get a bazooka like weapon. I was able to make quick work of many enemies, even a few bosses with this weapon. This new firepower however is on a timer and will eventually run out and be replaced with your drone again.

Once you are able to complete all 5 stages, your selection screen shows a what appears to be a missile silo. I hope you are ready for a challenge because this level is tough!

By now I hope you have a cheat sheet handy of which combination of letters creates which drone because you are going to need some offensive help! There are many hazards on the level and the enemy characters are strategically placed to give you a fit. I got the grenade drone once or twice and it helped me make it through what I thought was the half way point. I had to fight the same boss again from the opening level of the game. Once I took him out, the level kept going. It wasn't long before I died and I expected to start right where I beat the boss...but nope! The game sent me back to the beginning of the level. Argh! I hate it when games do this.

Overall I love this game from beginning to the end. The difficulty curve isn't too bad. It's not punishingly hard, but it's not a cake walk either. Most of the enemies do follow a pattern, as do the bosses. Thankfully the enemies don't regenerate if you backtrack a little to pick up that item they drop. There doesn't seem to be a limit to the number of continues so that does help the replay ability of the game.

The game isn't that different from Shatterhand, minus the carnival level. With the high price tag of the game I can't really recommend it unless you are a huge fan. Go and pick up Shatterhand if you want to play the game. I hate the term "hidden gem", but it's a game that seems to be overlooked and it's a lot of fun to play.

Rampage (Sega Master System)

Rampage

Bally Midway
Activision (1989)

   

Growing up in the 80's I was a Nintendo kid. I never game Sega the time of day. I only knew one person that even owned a Master System as most of my friends and myself owned an NES. Years later I would eventually realize that I missed out on a lot of great Sega stuff and I started working backwards from the Dreamcast to the Master System. If only I knew what I was missing!

One question that I still have to this date is why did Activision go with red colored packaging when the majority of the Master System releases all had the uniform white design theme?

Finding Master System games locally is a challenge. Every once in awhile I'll get lucky at one of the retro game shops, but usually I have to resort to buying online. The problem with that a lot of times is 1) I can't inspect the game itself to see if it meets my strict guidelines and 2) the prices tend to be a little higher. I actually found this complete copy of Rampage in someone's store on eCrater of all places...and for a very decent price.

I loved playing Rampage in the arcades with my brother or with my friends, so of course I was excited when it got a home release. I had it a long time ago on the NES, but it's been so long I can't really make my own comparison versus the Master System version.

The premise of the game is rather simple. Take your giant monster, climb up and down buildings, punching them up, eating people and smashing helicopters and tanks to clear the city. 

You get to control one of three monsters, George the Ape, Lizzie the Lizard or Ralph the Werewolf. I remember the arcade version having some sort of story and each level was introduced with some sort of newspaper headline. The Master System version lacks any real story, but seriously so we really need an excuse to bust up buildings and turn them into rumble?

I've always enjoyed this game, but sitting down to play it again the other night I realized how repetitive the game can be, especially playing by yourself. The Master System version does support simultaneous 2 player action, however the game couldn't keep my 4 year old daughter's attention for very long! 

I'm not sure if it was me being rusty or just my inexperience using the Master System control pad, but I had a very hard time getting any of the monsters to climb the buildings. Standing on the edge of the building, one would normally press up on the direction pad to start climbing. Most of the time however my monster just stood there, taking damage from the army men lobbing dynamite at me. When I could get up the building, it was oh so satisfying laying my huge fists into the building.

Occasionally while punching a building items would appear that when grabbed would replenish your health. You have to be careful as not everything helps you. Neon signs on buildings or toasters will electrocute you, making you fall off the building taking more damage when you land on the ground. It is rather satisfying grabbing army people as well as civilians and eating them. Do this enough and you can see your health fill back up rather quickly.

The NES version lacks the character Ralph, so for that reason alone I give the Master System version a slight edge. Unlike the arcade version which starts you off in Peoria, Illinois; this version has you in San Francisco, CA to start the game. I don't know how many levels or days there are as I just couldn't bring myself to keep continuing the game.

Graphically the game looks great. I know there isn't a lot to look at outside of a few buildings, some small army guys and your characters. Personally for an 8-bit home conversion I find it to be very appealing to the eyes. There really isn't music during the game play, which I thought was a little odd. The sound effects, while not great, get the job done.

Overall I found this to be a solid conversion of the hit arcade game. As of this post the game isn't that expensive and can be had on eBay for anywhere between $15 and $20 complete. Because this game appears on so many platforms and on so many game compilations, I can really only recommend this game for die-hard fans or for people that collect for the Sega Master System.