Dungeons, check, dragons, check (Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes of the Lance)

Game: Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes of the Lance
Released: 1991
Status: Beat it.
Rating: 4/10

Well, it's pretty bad. A 4 might be too generous, but I had a little bit of fun with it. It controls pretty poorly. Jumping is wonky, fighting is random and cheap. I can't tell if I'm doing something wrong or the game is doing something wrong. It doesn't look very good either. I think by 1991 they could make games that look better than this. I mean DragonStrike only came out a year later and it looks really good for a NES game. Even if the graphics were improved, it was just kind of boring looking. Everything is gray and black. I mean I know we're in a dungeon, but there could be something that has color in it down there. It's a little confusing to figure out what everybody's role is at first, but it's kinda fun having to use different characters to do different things. Oh yeah, and what's with the last boss? One hit kills him. Kinda anticlimactic.

How to train a dragon (Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: DragonStrike)

Game: Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: DragonStrike
Released: 1992
Status: Did not beat.
Rating: 7/10

Strike a dragon, you might get struck. It's an overhead shooter of sorts, but you can turn in any direction and even backtrack to get enemies you missed, which you will need to do if they are part of the objective. You fight other dragons and sea creatures and ships and giants and so on. It's pretty darn fun actually.

I liked Gomez's scavenger hunt better (The Addams Family: Pugsley's Scavenger Hunt)

Game: The Addams Family: Pugsley's Scavenger Hunt
Released: 1993
Status: Did not beat.
Rating: 7/10

I just didn't like it as well as the first Addams Family game. There is still hidden stuff, but you don't have to really collect anything except candy. Which is tasty, but not as intriguing. This game is harder from an action standpoint. Many bosses, lots of enemies and very little life. Some people might like this one more for those very reasons though. Just not me.

Status check one two one two (The Addams Family)

Game: The Addams Family
Released: 1992
Status: I beat it!
Rating: 8/10

Man, this game was a breath of fresh air. I don't know why I never heard about this in my youth. I thought this game was a lot of fun to play. It was difficult to figure everything out, but it was fun trying to. You roam around as Gomez trying to free your family from your money hungry lawyer who has imprisoned them. Lawyers really are the ultimate bad guy. You must collect 1 million dollars along the way. You are free to explore around the mansion and must do so to find items that you need to progress. So it's like having Zelda like item collecting in a side scrolling game. I'll take it.

Inaction (Action 52)

I am not able to get this game to play on any emulators. I have been assured that it is complete crap. But damn if I didn't want to find out about Cheetahmen. I guess I'll have to wait for Cheetahmen 2 somewhere in the C's.

I think this planet is moving (Abadox)

Game: Abadox
Released: 1990
Status: Not beaten
Rating: 6/10

Well, you are some space man with a gun as big as you, fighting the alien horde. That's a good start for a game. Abadox is a perfectly okay space shooter. It just isn't anything really special. Sure you get to fight bloody eyes and pterodactyls, but it just isn't as polished as some other shooters from the same era. Your character is way to big making it way to easy to get hit. Shooters are hard enough when you have a small ship they're shooting at, a giant guy in a huge space suit...not a good plan.

A boy and his bird (8 Eyes)

Game: 8 Eyes
Released: 1990
Status: Man, when I set out to do this I thought I'd beat more games. But a lot of these games are hard and crappy. Not a good combo.
Rating: 3/10

Well, it tried. Not very hard, but it did try. It tried to be like castlevania peppered with mega man and added the dynamic of having a bird companion that you can control separately. But it didn't really work. The controls are really clunky making it difficult to accurately hit your enemies with your sword or bird. That'll really kill a game. I can forgive a lot, but bad controls just make things frustrating and in the end frustrating is not fun.

720 degrees of Kevin Bacon (720°)

Game: 720°
Released: 1989
Status: Class 3 baby!
Rating: 6/10

Skateboarding is awesome! Lets see Tony Hawk do a 720... Oh wait. Well, let's see Tony Hawk do a 720 in turquoise clothes with a hat with the brim popped. Yeah. 720 is fun for a bit. The controls are decent when you know what you are supposed to be doing. It has four different events: Downhill, Jump, Slalom and Ramp. Though for the life of me I can't figure out how to do a trick on the ramp. In real life or this game. After passing all four events you move on to the next class. In each class you can buy new equipment for yourself. But watch out for the bees. take to long to get to the next event and a swarm of bees attacks and kills you. It reminds me of my youth; always on a timetable because of the swarm of bees chasing me down.

Half a dozen peices of crap (Caltron 6 in 1)

Game: Caltron 6 in 1
Released: 1992
Status: You're just lucky I played any of them Caltron.
Rating: 2/10

Crap, crap, crap.
Cosmos cop. Flying forward, things shooting at me, must escape outside of defense area of Galaxy Headquarters. Boring.
Magic Carpet 1001. Ah yes, classic side scrolling shooter involving archers on magic carpets, bees and witches. Shooting myself in the face 1001 times is more fun.
Balloon Monster. Same idea as Buster Bros. but no exotic locales for background and cheap patterns to bubbles which make game impossible or impossibly stupid.
Adam and Eve. Joust? I'm not sure what Adam and Eve have to do with a guy flying around with a balloon attached to his head trying to pop the balloons of snakes which are flying around.
Porter. Well, puzzle games can be hard to really screw up. Porter is alright. You have to push boxes on top of switches to go to the next level.
Bookyman. You are some strange little bug trying to cover the entire board with paint? Like pacman kinda. Strange animals happy to see me.
Let me think of six games you could play at home that would be more fun than these six games. Dirt Eater: Eat as much dirt as you can in 1 minute. Challenge your friends!
Brain Softener: Put your head in the microwave and turn it on, see how many brain cells you can lose.
Stool Softener: Eat an entire box of laxatives and see how long you can spend in the bathroom.
Stair Fall: Fall down the stairs.
Glass Eater: The sequel to Dirt Eater!
Hara-kiri.

Go world runner, go (The 3d Battles of World Runner)

Game: The 3d Battles of World Runner
Released: 1987
Status: Do not want to beat this game
Rating: 4/10

Well, the name alone should tell you that this is a strange game. You are a little blue/green man in a jumpsuit running through a checkerboard world avoiding little slime things and pillars and other dangerous things. At the end of each level there is a boss fight where you levitate off the ground and begin shooting projectiles. The game is hard. You have 3 lives and when you die you have to start at the beginning again. So it is brute memorization. This game was published by Square and is a good indication of why they almost went under before the release of Final Fantasy. Ah such humble beginnings.

Three to get ready (1943:The Battle of Midway)

Game: 1943
Released: 1988
Status: Have not beat this game
Rating: 8/10

This game is a lot of fun. It improves in every conceivable way over its predecessor. The fighting is fun and varied with bigger enemies. You get different weapons and special weapons. You can power up your plane. The music is good. The graphics are a big improvement and landscapes are good. You get a cool little picture when you beat a level. This is how a sequel is done. If at first you don't succeed, make this game!

Two for the Show (1942)

Game: 1942
Released: 1986
Status: This game can beat itself, I'm not taking anymore harassment.
Rating: 4/10

WHY ARE YOU BEEPING AT ME?! Ya know, there's something about music, even in these old games, that can make it or break it. Part of some of the classic games being so good is that everything about them including the music is fun and good. This is not the case here. Beep, beep, beep. That's the soundtrack. One tone sporadically resonating over the pow, pow, bang of you shooting down enemy fighters.

The gameplay is alright if not dull from just having the same enemies over and over again. And you fly over such varied terrain as blue(ocean I would assume since your carrier is out there) and green(isles in the Pacific I guess). I don't think I want to play this anymore, and neither should you.

One for the money (10-Yard Fight)

Game: 10-Yard Fight
Released: 1985
Status: beat on high school and college difficulty
Rating: 3/10

Well it could have been worse. Not much worse, but it was playable. I beat the two easiest difficulties on the first try and chose not to go on out of boredom. Even the super speedy countdown timer seemed slow once you were playing for 5 minutes. The graphics were bad, but I'll let that slide since it was one of the original lineup of games released for the NES. But it just isn't fun. The opposing team kicks you the ball and you move down the field in the square formation (ya know I don't know a lot about football, but come on).

You can try to pass, but it will usually get intercepted cause my guy doesn't pass were I want him to. But you do fine if you run with the screen clunking along so you can make it to the goal line where you are greeted by some strange cowboy logo.

If you play your balls right, you end up with a super victory screen which is black and says "Your on your way to the Super Bowl!" Oh my god, I'm so excited please kill me. Now Super Bowl difficulty was just too brutal so I can only speculate what the screen looks like if you beat it on that mode. But, my guess is it would say, "You just won the Super Bowl and beat this game. No, you may not have your money or your time back. Please play again!"

The List

Alright, I'm gonna try to keep this up as best I can, here is the list of all of the games and they will be linked to all of the posts. Games in green are ones that I beat and the ones in red I didn't beat. The white ones at the bottom are just to show what's coming up.

10-Yard Fight 1985 Nintendo [1]
1942 1986 Capcom [2]
1943: The Battle of Midway 1988 Capcom [3]
3-D WorldRunner 1987 Acclaim Entertainment [4]
6-in-1 1992 Caltron [5]
720° 1989 Mindscape [6]
8 Eyes 1990 Taxan [7]
Abadox 1990 Milton Bradley Company [8]
Action 52 1991 Active Enterprises [9]
The Addams Family 1992 Ocean Software [10]
The Addams Family: Pugsley's Scavenger Hunt 1993 Ocean Software [11]
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: DragonStrike 1992 FCI [12]
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes of the Lance 1991 FCI [13]
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Hillsfar 1993 FCI [14]
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Pool of Radiance 1992 FCI [15]
Adventure Island 1988 Hudson Soft [16]
Adventure Island 2 1991 Hudson Soft (NA/EU)Mattel (AU)[17]
Adventure Island 3 1992 Hudson Soft [18]
Adventures in the Magic Kingdom 1990 Capcom [19]
The Adventures of Bayou Billy 1989 Konami [20]
The Adventures of Dino Riki 1989 Hudson Soft [21]
The Adventures of Gilligan's Island 1990 Bandai [22]
Adventures of Lolo 1989 HAL Laboratory [23]
Adventures of Lolo 2 1990 HAL Laboratory [24]
Adventures of Lolo 3 1991 HAL Laboratory [25]
The Adventures of Rad Gravity 1990 Activision (NA) Mattel (AUS) [26]
The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends 1992 THQ [27]
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer 1989 SETA [28]
After Burner 1989 Tengen [29]
Air Fortress 1989 HAL Laboratory [30]
Airwolf 1989 Acclaim Entertainment [31]
Al Unser Jr.'s Turbo Racing 1990 Data East [32]
Aladdin 1994 Virgin Interactive (EU) [33]
Alfred Chicken 1994 Mindscape [34]
Alien³ 1993 LJN [35]
Alien Syndrome 1988 Tengen [36]
All-Pro Basketball 1989 Vic Tokai [37]
Alpha Mission 1987 SNK [38]
Amagon 1989 Sammy Studios [39]
American Gladiators 1991 GameTek [40]
Anticipation 1988 Nintendo [41]
Arch Rivals: A Basket Brawl! 1990 Acclaim Entertainment [42]
Archon 1989 Activision [43]
Arkanoid 1987 Taito [44]
Arkista's Ring 1990 American Sammy [45]
Asterix 1993 Infogrames (EU) [46]
Astyanax 1990 Jaleco [47]
Athena 1987 SNK [48]
Athletic World 1987 Bandai (NA)Nintendo (EU)[49]
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes 1992 THQ [50]
Aussie Rules Footy 1991 Laser Beam Entertainment (AU) [51]
Back to the Future 1989 LJN [53]
Back to the Future Part II & III 1990 LJN [54]
Bad Dudes 1990 Data East (NA)Ocean Software (EU) [55]
Bad News Baseball 1990 Tecmo [56]
Bad Street Brawler 1989 Mattel [57]
Balloon Fight 1986 Nintendo [58]
Banana Prince 1992 Takara (EU) [59]
Bandai Golf: Challenge Pebble Beach 1989 Bandai [60]
Bandit Kings of Ancient China 1990 Koei [61]
Barbie 1991 Hi-Tech Expressions [62]
The Bard's Tale 1991 FCI [63]
Barker Bill's Trick Shooting 1990 Nintendo [64]
Base Wars 1991 Ultra Games [65]
Baseball 1985 Nintendo [66]
Baseball Simulator 1.000 1990 Culture Brain [67]
Baseball Stars 1989 SNK [68]
Baseball Stars II 1992 Romstar [69]
Bases Loaded 1988 Jaleco [70]
Bases Loaded II: Second Season 1990 Jaleco [71]
Bases Loaded 3 1991 Jaleco [72]
Bases Loaded 4 1993 Jaleco [73]
Batman 1990 Sunsoft [74]
Batman: Return of the Joker 1991 Sunsoft [75]
Batman Returns 1993 Konami [76]
Battle Chess 1990 Data East [77]
The Battle of Olympus 1989 Brøderbund (NA)Imagineering (EU) [78]
Battle Tank 1990 Absolute Entertainment [79]
Battleship 1993 Mindscape [80]
Battletoads 1991 Tradewest [81]
Battletoads & Double Dragon 1993 Tradewest [82]
Beauty and the Beast 1994 Hudson Soft (EU)[83]
Bee 52 1992 Camerica [84]
Beetlejuice 1991 LJN [85]
Best of the Best: Championship Karate 1992 Electro Brain (NA)Loricels (EU)[86]
Bible Adventures 1990 Wisdom Tree [87]
Bible Buffet 1993 Wisdom Tree [88]
Big Nose Freaks Out 1992 Camerica [89]
Big Nose the Caveman 1991 Camerica [90]
Bigfoot 1990 Acclaim Entertainment [91]
Bill and Ted's Excellent Video Game Adventure 1991 LJN [92]
Bill Elliott's NASCAR Challenge 1991 Konami [93]
Bionic Commando 1988 Capcom [94]
The Black Bass 1989 Hot-B [95]
Blackjack 1992 American Video Entertainment [96]
Blades of Steel 1988 Konami (NA/EU) Mattel (AU) [97]
Blaster Master 1988 Sunsoft [98]
The Blue Marlin 1992 Hot-B [99]
The Blues Brothers 1992 Titus [100]
Bo Jackson Baseball 1991 Data East [101]
Bomberman 1987 Hudson Soft [102]
Bomberman II 1992 Hudson Soft [103]
Bonk's Adventure 1994 Hudson Soft [104]
Boulder Dash 1990 JVC [105]
A Boy and His Blob 1990 Absolute Entertainment [106]
Bram Stoker's Dracula 1993 Sony Imagesoft [107]
Break Time: The National Pool Tour 1993 FCI [108]
Breakthru 1987 Data East [109]
Bubble Bath Babes 1991 Panesian [110]
Bubble Bobble 1988 Taito (NA/EU) Mattel (AUS) [111]
Bubble Bobble Part 2 1993 Taito [112]
Bucky O'Hare 1992 Konami [113]
The Bugs Bunny Birthday Blowout 1990 Kemco [114]
The Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle 1989 Seika [115]
Bump 'n' Jump 1988 Vic Tokai [116]
Burai Fighter 1990 Taxan [117]
BurgerTime 1987 Data East [118]
Cabal 1990 Milton Bradley Company [119]
Caesar's Palace 1992 Virgin Interactive [120]
California Games 1989 Milton Bradley Company [121]
Captain America and the Avengers 1991 Data East [122]
Captain Comic - The Adventure 1989 Color Dreams [123]

The longest journey...

...blah, blah blah.

My name is Kenny Glenn and I am an addict. My drug of choice is video games. Now I'll be truthful, I am not as big of an addict as a lot of people out there, but I've got a sizable appetite. So here's what I've decided to do: I'm going to play every Nintendo game ever made. The key word here is play because while I love video games and especially old ones, I am not a sadist. Well, I'm doing this so that might be debatable, but I'm not completely crazy. Here is what I'm gonna try to do:

1. Play through every game for the Nintendo Entertainment System starting with 10-Yard Fight and ending with Zombie Nation. My list has 761 games though there might be a few missing that I might try to stick in there.
2. Report here what the game is about and if it is worth anyone ever playing or if it should just get lost in the annals of video game history.
3. That's it, take it or leave it.

So okay, lets talk about some more guidelines. I have played a lot of these before and therefore have opinions of some games already formed. I will still play these games again and try to give a fair assessment of it without my nostalgic value swaying it one way or the other. A lot of these games are really long or really hard or both. While I will note which games I beat, I will not be attempting to beat them all. Alright, sound good? Lets do it then!