NES Completions thread 2022 - 564/677 (bonus games - 83/100)

[the_wizard_666 | 1,325]

So since Princess Tomato is my "slow" game for now, I needed a "fast" game to break it up a bit.  As such, I decided to go outside my wheelhouse and try out Al Unser Jr. Turbo Racing.  It's pretty decent so far, although if you play as Al you start with max stats, which seems to be a bit game breaking in the early phases...but since I don't particularly care about building up from scratch, I'm going with it.  So far, so good...two races down, another 14 to go (at least according to AdamL).  And while I only managed a solitary point in my first race, the second one I managed to come in first place, which ranks me at #1 overall so far.  If I can keep that up, I may actually knock out my first NES racing game ever!  That said, I have no clue how tough the game'll get in the later races, so it may or may not be a doable victory.  I didn't see any conditions in the Pastebin file though, so I'm assuming it's just come in ranked #1 at the end of the 16 race season? 

[the_wizard_666 | 1,325]

Nightly progress report:

Princess Tomato - Just finished Chapter 4, which puts me near the half-way point of the game.  Still a decent adventure game, but I've played so many better ones.  I feel like this is gonna be another one-time completion that I never touch again afterward.  Still, I'm enjoying the run so far.  Should have it within a day or two, depending how much time I devote to it.

Al Unser Jr. Turbo Racing - This one's a pleasant surprise all things considered.  I don't particularly like racing games, and racing games with seasons are especially off-putting for someone who could give a crap about the genre (and sport for that matter).  That said, the tracks are reasonably short, and the game progresses fairly smoothly so far.  I've already got a pretty sizable lead in the standings despite only having three races under my belt - two of them were first-place finishes though.  I've got a feeling I could probably quit a couple races down the stretch and still maintain my lead, provided I can build up a good one early on.  I mean, if #2 can't catch me with first-place finishes, why bother racing at all?   That said, I'll probably still play through...seems the races so far are all a mere six laps, so they end after only a few minutes of gameplay.  And the game itself has been a pleasant surprise.  Again, I'm no fan of racers, but this one's decent.  Kinda glad I tried it out.

[scaryice | 588]

I've been playing Portopia, but I'm currently stuck (and I don't want to just spoil it) so I might just move on to something else.

[the_wizard_666 | 1,325]

6 hours ago, scaryice said:

I've been playing Portopia, but I'm currently stuck (and I don't want to just spoil it) so I might just move on to something else.

Where are you stuck at?  I would've knocked it out myself by now, except I already beat it last year and wanted to save it for someone else to experience.  There's a few things that aren't intuitive at first, but make perfect sense once you do it.  If I can remember how to get you un-stuck, I'd gladly help

[nerdynebraskan | 356]

Young Indiana Jones Chronicles is done.

[the_wizard_666 | 1,325]

As is Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom.  Not a bad game, but yeah, not something I can see myself ever playing through again.  Still, it's an above average adventure game...there's just zero replay value once you've finished everything.

[the_wizard_666 | 1,325]

So for Mystery Quest, are we requiring four loops to get the final ending, or is it like other Taxan games and requiring only one?  I ask because it appears that typically it has to be done in one loop, unlike their other games which give passwords for a later completion.  I would say that would suggest requiring all four, rather than just the one loop, but I wanted to confirm this.  I'm probably gonna do all four loops anyway so I don't have to worry about it in the future, I just want to know when to notify the thread. 

[the_wizard_666 | 1,325]

Well, one loop of Mystery Quest is done.  Three more to go...

Honestly, the game sounded pretty daunting at first, but man, it's WAY easier than I was expecting.  It's just long and tedious, rather than difficult.  Not sure if the loops get harder though...

Anyway, I'm assuming the four quests are required, but figured I'd mention it anyway just in case.  Again, I'm gonna play to the full ending, but the game itself is nowhere near as difficult as some of Taxan's other games.

[the_wizard_666 | 1,325]

End of night status report:

Mystery Quest - Well, I'm just about to start the third castle on the second loop.  It's not a terribly difficult game, but it's definitely a long one!  I'm pretty much just doing a castle and whatever stretch I have to traverse to get to the next one, then taking a break.  I could probably knock out all four loops in a day or so, but it's not exactly the most engaging game to slog through in one go.  It's definitely better than some other "loop me a bunch to get the actual ending" games though, which really makes me wonder how it has such a high point value.

Al Unser Jr's Turbo Racing - Knocked off a couple more races.  Six down, ten to go.  Oddly enough, I'm more than twice the number of points ahead of the second place racer, so my goal of being able to forfeit a couple races near the end and still winning is looking realistic.  This one's another one that has me surprised it's worth so many points.  I mean it's not a huge slog with only 16 races, and it isn't really difficult either, especially if you start as Al instead of building a racer from scratch.  I figured out that if you can run a race without issues, you can pretty much run turbo the entire lap, and then pit out to refuel.  Doing this, you never run out of fuel, and you stay a few seconds ahead of second place...I had one race where I finished a full 19 seconds ahead of second place. 

Anyway, I'll probably finish both of these within the next couple days.  Neither is terribly difficult, it's just a matter of finding enough time to knock them off.

[the_wizard_666 | 1,325]

Also just did a revamped Points Per Game list, counting anyone with at least 10 completions, which is basically 11 of the top 12 gamers, to satisfy my own curiosity.  And since there were only two games since the last update, I added those values in as well.  Here's the results (previous calculation in brackets to show progression).

the_wizard_666 - 7.2 (6.2)
NESfiend - 6.9 (6.9)
Gaia Gensouki - 5.8 (5.3)
PII - 5.1 (4.9)
guitarzombie - 4.8 (4.7)
Khromak - 4.5 (4.4)
Red - 4.3 (4.3)
Bearcat-Doug - 3.6 (3.6)
Philosoraptor - 3.5 (3.5)
scaryice - 3.4 (3.2)
nerdynebraskan - 3.0 (2.3)

Biggest gains were had by me (1 point),  Nerdy (.7), and Gaia (.5).  I think most of the rest only had a couple games difference in total between the last time and now, but it does show a general upward trend all around, with nobody's PPG dropping...which makes sense as the low point games start disappearing from the list.  Anyone with an average under 4 that continues to contribute will be almost guaranteed to see a PPG rise, but it does interest me how much of a change there has been so far.  Now if we can get a few new names added to this list as well...some people that either have only contributed a small number of games or haven't started to contribute yet...would be nice to see more than me and Nerdy posting regularly

[scaryice | 588]

11 hours ago, the_wizard_666 said:

So for Mystery Quest, are we requiring four loops to get the final ending, or is it like other Taxan games and requiring only one?  I ask because it appears that typically it has to be done in one loop, unlike their other games which give passwords for a later completion.  I would say that would suggest requiring all four, rather than just the one loop, but I wanted to confirm this.  I'm probably gonna do all four loops anyway so I don't have to worry about it in the future, I just want to know when to notify the thread. 

We had required all 4 in the past, so I guess we'll do that for this year as well (since you're doing it anyway). But yeah, there probably should be some consistency there.

[scaryice | 588]

18 hours ago, the_wizard_666 said:

Where are you stuck at?  I would've knocked it out myself by now, except I already beat it last year and wanted to save it for someone else to experience.  There's a few things that aren't intuitive at first, but make perfect sense once you do it.  If I can remember how to get you un-stuck, I'd gladly help

 

It's ok, I don't mind struggling for a while. I did make a little more progress last night.

Spoiler

I realized you had to examine the dresser to find Kouzou's photo.

 

[the_wizard_666 | 1,325]

6 hours ago, scaryice said:

 

It's ok, I don't mind struggling for a while. I did make a little more progress last night.

  Reveal hidden contents

I realized you had to examine the dresser to find Kouzou's photo.

 

Awesome!  I'm always glad to hear that!  It was a pretty cool game, with a neat twist ending that I'm sure you'll enjoy when you get there

[the_wizard_666 | 1,325]

Well, I'm now done loop 2 of Mystery Quest.  Kinda wish they'd changed shit up a bit, at this point it's just an effort in memorization.  Interestingly, since you lose all your power-ups at the start of each loop, the only difficult part seems to be right at the start.  Once you get the power up in the first castle that kills enemies quicker, the game becomes a piece of cake.  It's just getting to that point that causes even the slightest challenge. 

[the_wizard_666 | 1,325]

So after doing a few more races, I had a lead of over 50 points, with 6 races to go.  Just to see how it went, I quit out of every remaining race.  Ended up winning the season and getting the ending, so Al Unser Jr's Turbo Racing is done!  Looks like you only have to win around 10 races or so to be guaranteed the win.  A decent racer, nothing special, but not terrible either.  I'd play it again, but probably not to completion.  It's cool how it tracks your stats at the end though...like it'll tell you your total career wins and championships if you play through multiple seasons, so to me, if I had the game as a kid I probably would've played the crap out of it, as there's definitely some replay value...but overall, the tracks weren't anything crazy and you could pretty much coast through most of them and still come out ahead. 

[nerdynebraskan | 356]

Kickle Cubicle is done.

[the_wizard_666 | 1,325]

Well good thing I didn't start it then Was briefly considering it after knocking of Al Unser, but opted to do a couple more castles in Mystery Quest instead.  I'll probably have that one knocked off tomorrow too, so I still have to figure out what's next on the docket

[the_wizard_666 | 1,325]

So next on the docket is Krusty's Fun House.  I just knocked off the first of the five zones, and I'm liking it so far.  It reminds me of Lemmings, but not nearly as tough.  At least, not yet.  I'll probably chip away while it remains fun, but yeah, it's already better than any of the other Simpsons games...not that that says much

[nerdynebraskan | 356]

7 hours ago, the_wizard_666 said:

So next on the docket is Krusty's Fun House.  I just knocked off the first of the five zones, and I'm liking it so far.  It reminds me of Lemmings, but not nearly as tough.  At least, not yet.  I'll probably chip away while it remains fun, but yeah, it's already better than any of the other Simpsons games...not that that says much

The first floor is a breeze. The second is kinda rough. The third, fourth, and fifth are brutal. It is definitely the best Simpsons game of the 90s, besides the Konami arcade, but I would like it a lot more if you could save or get passwords after each room. It's outrageously unfair to have to beat 10ish stages on five lives, and you will be restarting many floors if you are dedicated to beating it. 

[the_wizard_666 | 1,325]

1 hour ago, nerdynebraskan said:

The first floor is a breeze. The second is kinda rough. The third, fourth, and fifth are brutal. It is definitely the best Simpsons game of the 90s, besides the Konami arcade, but I would like it a lot more if you could save or get passwords after each room. It's outrageously unfair to have to beat 10ish stages on five lives, and you will be restarting many floors if you are dedicated to beating it. 

On the plus side, it's easy enough to figure out each room once you solve it the first time, so it's more likely just a battle of attrition.  I tend to be pretty decent at those

Anyway, just finished another loop of Mystery Quest.  Three down, one to go.  Oddly enough, the score maxes out near the start of the third quest.  Was on a no-death run until shortly into the loop, when I derped my way into a water hazard.  But yeah, the "double score" power ups are a bit OP IMO if you're shooting for score.  I'll likely finish the final loop later on today, just have some stuff that needs attending to before I can devote much time today.

[PII | 1,886]

Bram Stoker's Dracula

 

Edited April 30, 2023 by PII

[nerdynebraskan | 356]

Ultimate Basketball is done.

[the_wizard_666 | 1,325]

Congratulation

You Have Over Come

Your Greatest Challenge.

Now You Are Powerful Wizard

 

Mystery Quest is now in the books.  Engrish aside, the game wasn't terrible, just...damn, why bother looping four times when the game doesn't get any more difficult?  There's no new challenges to overcome, the maps aren't shuffled, nothing.  Just "beat the game four times and we'll give you an ending."  I'd probably play this one again though, it's decent fun...but not much point in looping it four times, that just strikes me as overkill.  The last loop I didn't even bother with the maps anymore...I just knew the routes well enough by that point that it wasn't even a challenge.

[the_wizard_666 | 1,325]

So I had a fun little idea here...basically, I took a look at the remaining list, and there's a TON of games that I'm likely not gonna play this year due to already having personally beaten them.  Not ruling them out entirely, but if I do touch them it'll be near the end of the year, to give others a chance to play them.  That said, some of them are highly underrated, so if anyone's trying to decide what to play, maybe a few things I mention may help spark someone else to achieve them.  Some are dead easy to knock out, while others are tougher than the points would show, but all would be worth playing (with maybe a couple exceptions).  So without further ado, here's what's left that I've already completed at some point on my personal list:

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes Of The Lance (7 points) - This one's not as bad as it's reputation, however it's definitely not a great game.  That said, it has the ability to save literally anywhere, at any time, basically functioning like a save-state system before that was ever a thing.  So there's no reason you shouldn't be able to knock it out in a few hours with a bit of effort to get the hang of the controls, and a map to guide you through.

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Hillsfar (8 points) - Another one that's more tedious than difficult, but there's really not much to it.  On the PC it was basically a tool to help grind levels between Gold Box games in the Forgotten Realms series, and really isn't much of a "game" in it's own right.  Why it was ported to the NES is beyond me.  That said, there's four completely different storylines (one for each character class) to go through, so unless you've done all four (like me), there is always another unique run through the game.  Not great, but easy points nonetheless.

Alfred Chicken (4 points) - This game is almost criminally underrated.  It's fairly short, and for the time it was released, it was pretty lacking...but on the whole it's a decent, if unoriginal, platformer.  This one I actually recommend, and am honestly surprised it's still up on the board.

Back to the Future II & III (10 points) - This one was an old childhood favourite, and is another one that's a better game than it's reputation.  That said, it's entirely too long.  When I beat it, I left my NES on pause for almost a week to get it done.  Unlimited continues make it doable, but it's still a LONG grind.  I'll never play through the game to completion again, but I still enjoy firing it up from time to time.  Just wish there was a save feature of some kind in it.  Anyone looking to tackle it, it's definitely a grind...and if you intend to tackle it blindly, I would suggest giving up on that dream entirely.  It's just too long and cryptic to go in without at least a map.  Some of the puzzle rooms also require pixel perfect platforming and a ton of luck, so prepare to be frustrated immensely.

Bandit Kings of Ancient China (8 points) - This one's actually one of Koei's best overall.  I'd also recommend checking out the historical novel Water Margin, which the game is based on.  Like most of Koei's games, it's a long grinding slog, but also a guaranteed win for anyone who knows what they're doing.  I may replay it for fun at some point, but not any time soon.

Barker Bill's Trick Shooting (8 points) - How is this an 8 point game?  It's not hard, and it's one of the best Zapper games out there.  This can be done by anyone with a light gun and an hour or so (if that).  Some of the easiest points left on the board!

Battle of Olympus (9 points) - I'm honestly surprised this one is such a high value game as well.  It's not particularly difficult, it's not cryptic like some NES action-adventures...I'm guessing most people just aren't aware of how good the game actually is.  This one is one of my highest recommendations!

Bucky O'Hare (3 points) - This is the opposite - the low point value hides the fact that it's actually a pretty tough game overall.  Still though, it's a popular game for a reason - it's pretty freakin' great.  Shocked it's still up, but more because of play value than anything.  Great game!

Castle of Dragon (6 points) - This one feels a lot like the game Astyanax, except buggier and less refined.  It's not particularly difficult, but even though I enjoyed it (and even positively reviewed it in the old NA ezine), I find it hard to recommend to most gamers on it's merits.  That said, it's more a battle of attrition than a test of skill, so I'm sure someone with an afternoon to kill and an itch to try something different can do a LOT worse than this one.

Castlequest (8 points) - Here's the deal.  The game spots you 50 lives, and came packed with a map showing the entire route through the castle, and it's STILL considered one of the more difficult action puzzlers on the system.  And that consideration is NOT wrong.  That said, the game itself is fun.  Just don't expect to throw it in on a lark and get it done.  It's not difficult to trap yourself and have to start over from scratch.  Happened to me a bunch even WITH the map.  But again, I would recommend this to literally anyone.  Great game.

Conan (7 points) - Quite possibly the single most cryptic game on the NES, and one that was ported incredibly poorly, turning one of the most highly regarded C64 games into one of the most reviled NES games.  That said, I found some sort of perverse enjoyment when I finally got through this one.  Not one I can recommend outright unless you, like myself, love shite games, but one that I feel deserves a bit better than it's received over the years.  That said, use a guide, or watch a longplay, if you want to get through this one.

Darkman (7 points) - A solid, yet unremarkable, action game.  I enjoyed it, and would recommend it based on that, but don't expect anything groundbreaking here.

Defender of the Crown (7 points) - A very light strategy game.  I remember renting it in my youth and absolutely loving it.  As I got older, I found the strategy a bit lacking, but the overall presentation is fairly unique.  Worth checking out, but don't expect great depth here.

Destiny of an Emperor (9 points) - One of my favourite NES RPGs, and the only non-Wizardry RPG I've beaten multiple times for fun.  Set in the Three Kingdoms era of China (Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Dynasty Warriors, etc), so anyone with an interest in the novel or the other games set in the time period will enjoy this.  I can't really recommend this one more highly, it's just that fucking good!  Just be aware of at least one game breaking glitch - even if you want to play blind, I'd consult a guide to find out what it is and what to avoid.  I have never personally encountered it, but I'd hate to get 2/3 of the way through the game and hit that.

Dirty Harry (7 points) - I got this one when it was sold at a video store during my teen years, shortly after discovering the movies.  The first level seems pretty daunting, but it's 90% of the game, after which it goes from an action-adventure to a straight up "go right" action game.  I also feel that if they hadn't put the entire monologue at the end of the game in digitized speech, they might have had the resources to make the game a LOT better.  Still, it's alright, not great, but not terrible.  Points are pretty much right on the money here.

Dragon Warrior II (7 points) - I'm pretty sure someone's already working on this,  but if not, someone should be.  The entire series is great, though I've only knocked off the first two games personally.  This is just such a massive improvement in pretty much every conceivable way over the first one that I'm honestly shocked it's still on the list, and is worth more than 3-4 points. 

Faria: A World of Mystery & Danger (9 points) - Not a bad game, but nothing spectacular either.  I'd give it a recommendation, but it's also not something I'm likely to ever revisit.  Indeed, I don't really remember much about it at all, other than it wasn't terribly difficult and was pretty generic overall.  Still, not what I'd consider a 9 point game, so it's definitely easy points for someone wanting to slog through it.

G.I. Joe: The Atlantis Factor (5 points) - While visually it can't hold a candle to the Taxan game, I can honestly say that the overall game is a huge improvement in my opinion.  Branching paths, optional characters, each character having their own abilities, etc...the game itself is a great one.  Surprised it's still up there.  Fun fact - I still can't beat Destro, so I have no idea what (if anything) you unlock for beating him.  I may go through it again in the future, but it's a great game, and I'd much rather someone experience it for the first time.  Highly recommended.

Gemfire (5 points) - If you've never played strategy games, this one is a fantastic starting point.  There aren't an overabundance of things to do like in some of Koei's games, which makes it a great entry point in the genre.  It's a decent game, but as a genre pro, it's also pretty lacking as far as what I enjoy in my strategy games.  I definitely recommend it, but only if you haven't cut your teeth on bigger, better strategy titles elsewhere.

Genghis Khan (8 points) - Ol' Temujin has a great game named after him.  The third Koei game released, it takes what Nobunaga's Ambition and Romance of the Three Kingdoms did right, and absolutely blew it up.  I'd say it's the best of the three. On top of that, while those other two games feel archaic and dated, Genghis Khan actually feels pretty solid overall, even after playing better and later released games.  Definitely holds it's own, and is up there as one of the best Koei games.

Ghostbusters (6 points) - The fucking stairs kill this one.  I seriously love the game, right up to the point you enter Zuul.  There's a way to glitch your way to essentially unlimited lives on the stairwell, which is the only way I've managed to get my ass to the top, so it's doable, but even with that, the damage to my thumbs was just brutal.  Someone's gonna have to do it eventually, but I definitely never want to play this to completion ever again.

Gold Medal Challenge '92 (8 points) - Honestly, this game shouldn't be so high.  It's long, sure, but it's got a battery backup.  And honestly, it can be beaten in a couple hours, no saving needed.  You don't even have to get good at everything, you just need to not be terrible at most events and you should be fine.  A relatively easy 8 points for anyone who wants to go for it.

Goonies II (7 points) - Another "how is this still on the list" candidate.  Not much to really say here. Great game!

High Speed (6 points) - There's some RNG that can be manipulated here to get the ending a bit easier.  Can't remember exactly what it was exactly, but basically don't power off between attempts.  Aside from that, it's pinball.  You've gotta have some skill here, but it's not terribly difficult once you figure it out.

Incredible Crash Dummies (5 points) - Another solid platformer.  Nothing spectacular, nor ground breaking, but it's a fun game worth playing through. 

Life Force (3 points) - I feel like this should be higher points, but also that it shouldn't still be on the list.  It's a great game, but also a tough one.  These are NOT gonna be easy points, but I'd still recommend it to anyone.

Might & Magic: Secret of the Inner Sanctum (10 points) - Quite possibly the largest RPG on the system.  You only really need to do around 5-10% of the stuff in the game to actually beat the game, but honestly, if you like dungeon crawlers, this is one of the best of all time.  Not for everyone, but it's highly recommended to anyone who likes this style of RPG.

Mutant Virus (8 points) - My pick for the hardest game still on the list that I've previously beaten.  Despite being significantly shorter than BTTF2+3, it still remained powered on for about the same amount of time when I was playing it.  It's also pretty brutal on the thumbs.  I love the game, and it's definitely one of the most unique games on the NES, and one of the most rewarding to finish, but man, it's difficulty is just brutal!  I also can't recommend it to anyone who doesn't have ecclectic tastes like myself.

NES Play Action Football (9 points) - Incoming controversial opinion: This is, without a doubt, my personal favourite football game on the NES.  Granted, it's probably nostalgia based, as my uncle owned a copy and I never experienced Tecmo Bowl until adulthood...but that said, it's also more of a simulation than Tecmo's games ever even tried to be.  And I love that about it.  Down side to it is having to beat seven games that run for about an hour of real-time.  On the up side, you get passwords after each win, so you don't lose progress if you have a bad game.  Give it a whirl!

Nobunaga's Ambition (5 points) - Quite possibly the most archaic strategy game on the system.  I love Koei, but this game (and indeed, the series) just doesn't do it for me.  On the plus side, on the lowest difficulty you can cheese 90% of the opponents simply by sending assassins to take them out, then buying their territory afterward.  I can count on my fingers the number of actual battles I had to fight.  This is an exercise in tedium however, so I just can't recommend the game to anyone.

Overlord (1 point) - The only single point game remaining.  If you play the game "properly" it's quite possibly among the most difficult games on the system.  However, when I found out about how you can just go and slap the enemy's base right from the start, I had to try it out.  It took a couple attempts to get my piloting skills up, but after only an hour of attempts I managed to take it out and beat the game.  It's literally a 5 minute game if you know what you're doing.  Surprised nobody's just knocked it off to get rid of it...but I'm also curious to see how long it'll stay on the board before someone gets sick of seeing it there

Rampage (3 points) - Another war of attrition.  I had this game as a kid, and not only was it the first game I beat without the Game Genie, it's also the first game I used the Game Genie on to make it harder.  It's a decent game, but it's an absolute slog by the end of it.  Set aside an afternoon and it's doable, but you'll be sick of it long before 128 levels go by.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms (6 points) - While it's archaic, it's still fun to play through.  It's hard to go back to after playing part 2 though, so if you plan to do them, do this one first.  Keys to victory are the use of fire and manipulation of the enemy by stepping on and off your rice pile.  Not something I plan on revisiting, but definitely worth checking out if you haven't played later Koei titles.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms II (7 points) Honestly, I'll probably knock this one out eventually.  I usually run through the game one or two times a year.  It's literally one of my all time favourite games for any system, not just the NES.  But still, if someone is intrigued by the game, or the genre, I would be remiss if I didn't recommend it, as it's in my opinion Koei's best release on the console.

S.C.A.T.: Special Cybernetic Attack Team (6 points) - This one's a weird one.  I have it on my list, and most likely did it with @Dr. Morbis years ago, but I can't for the life of me remember a damn thing about the game, other than it being a two player simultaneous game.  I don't think it was bad, I just don't have any recollection of it.  Makes me wonder if I beat it while dealing with one of my many concussions

Sesame Street: 123 and Sesame Street: ABC (2 points each) - Lumping these together since they're pretty much a gimme for anyone who wants to scratch something off the list.  Are they good?  Hell no.  But they're guaranteed wins.

Silent Service (6 points) - I rented this one as a kid and enjoyed it.  When I got older and had access to the manual, I enjoyed it even more, because having not had access to it, there was functionality I was completely unaware of that made the game much more enjoyable.  It hasn't aged the greatest, but it's a solid game, if you're into that sort of thing.

Spider-Man: Return of the Sinister Six (7 points) - I rented this a couple times when I was a kid, and only got past Sandman once (made it all the way to Hobgoblin's level on that run).  Years later, I spent a ton of time getting the hang of the game.  The controls aren't the greatest, but it's easy enough to get used to them.  Tough, but short and doable.  Yet another mediocre game that does nothing to stand out from the pack, but also not terrible.

Stanley and the Search for Dr. Livingston (6 points) - This one is an absolute gem of a game in my opinion.  I remember renting it when I was a kid, and while it was tough, I always enjoyed it.  I'd recommend using a map though.

Ultima: Exodus (9 points) - Okay, I know the game isn't the greatest, but it's not difficult or terrible enough to be a 9 pointer IMO.  Very easy too if you use two parties.  One to level up enough to get the pirates to appear and take the ship, the other to get to level 2 and leave there for the rest of the game.  Why?  Because as long as you don't advance to level 3, you fight the beginning enemies through 99% of the game - you know, the ones you can defeat with the 0 MP spells.  And since HP and MP are bought through stats and not gained through levels, there's no need to progress any higher than that.  By the time you start getting to areas with harder enemies, you'll have powered up your MP to max so you can wipe them out easily anyway, and each step you take restores MP, so you'll never run out.   It's a slog, but not a hard one.

Ultima: Quest of the Avatar (10 points) - Another 10 point RPG that is absolutely a gem of a game.  The best of the NES trio by a mile.  Sadly, it's also a lengthy one, which is probably why it's a 10 point game.  Still, I highly recommend this one.

Uncharted Waters (7 points) - I absolutely love this game.  Don't let the publisher fool you - this is NOT a strategy game, it's an RPG, and a damn good one.  Highly recommended!

Wall Street Kid (8 points) - This one is criminally underrated.  As a stock market simulator, it's entirely unique on the system (and is not exactly commonplace outside of the NES either).  Probably shouldn't be higher than a 6 IMO, it's not hard, but it's a bit of a time sink.  No two games play out the same either...after the first couple days, things get pretty much unpredictable.  I definitely recommend it.

Wizardry: Knight of Diamonds (9 points) - One of my personal favourite NES games.  Got it in my teen years and I can pretty much beat it in my sleep.  If this is still on the list in a few months, odds are I'll take it out.  If you're into dungeon crawlers, it's a great game!

Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord (8 points) - This one I have far less experience, as I got it much later than KoD.  Still, it's a solid game that I'd recommend...it's just not quite on the level of it's sequel.

EDIT: Accidentally hit "post" when working on this...descriptions are forthcoming...fucksticks.  On the plus side, I can save my progress so far by saving the edit

Edited February 24, 2022 by the_wizard_666

[PII | 1,886]

Stanley: The Search For Dr. Livingston

I realized this time around that the club can be used like a baseball bat to hit back enemy projectiles..  I had never bothered to use it much before because it seemed to do the same damage as the machete..

 

Edited April 30, 2023 by PII