Ninja Gaiden Trilogy Review

The Ninja Gaiden series had some of the greatest games on the NES.Ninja Gaiden trilogy has all three of these games with slightly improved graphics.The controls are a little quirky, and the graphics aren't that much better than the NES version, but the games are great nonetheless.This is a must-buy for fans of the series.

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Tecmo Secret of the Stars Review

Excellent old-school RPG, and by old school I mean don't go expecting this game to push the graphical limits of the SNES.The gameplay is great as long as you don't expect it to be something fancy.It's a very basic - almost NES era - style RPG, but that's a good thing.

I had this game for a while, but I sold it along with most of my SNES collection a few years ago when I was in need of money, but I nabbed it from Amazon's marketplace for $12, so I'm happy :)

If you can find this game for like $10-$15 definitely give it a try.Who knows, maybe it'll end up on the Wii lineup someday.

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Bad News Baseball Review

...is that it's great!It is very simple baseball, but not to a fault.Some of the player attributes are fairly detailed; for example, your fielders have three seperate attributes, which determine how fast they run, how well they catch at each position, and arm strength.So sticking an outfielder at second base for added power will cause him to make lots of errors, and it's unwise to put a weak thrower at third base, regardless of their speed fielding skill.I like the strategy here, because a lot of the talented fielders tend to be weak hitters, and vice versa.So you've got a bit of flexibility as to what style of baseball you'd like to play.

Hitting is an exceedingly simple one-button exercise in timing.If you're swinging for the fences, however, you can wait a little longer and pull the ball, as the field tapers at the foul poles quite a bit.Wait too long, though, and you'll miss.These pitchers can throw pretty fast, too, so it's easy to get suckered by a change-up.

One minor quibble is that the AI is weak in spots.The hitters swing at everything that comes across the plate, regardless of speed.You could throw ten fastballs of over 100 mph, then follow with a 60 mph change-up and the AI will always be waiting on it.I don't think I've ever thrown a called-strike against the computer.It will fish for the same pitches consistently, however.

It sometimes makes poor choices in the field, too, like chasing a ball with the wrong fielder (and leading the right one out of position) or always going for a forceout on sacrifice bunts, even if they could easily cut off the runner on third.There's no infield fly rule, either, so you can easily exploit that for a double play if you're a big-fat-cheater.Some of the throws will be off-line, too, though that's actually kind of realistic.

It does some things very well, however.Your cutoff men are almost always in position to recieve outfield throws, for example.You need 'em, too, because your outfielders will occasionally (and realistically) miss very long throws, such as from deep-center to home.With practice, you can get your outfielders in position to make catches almost as frequently as the AI.Pitcher fatigue is managed very well, too.And it's tracked by the password system.

And there's plenty of humor to keep it interesting.When players make errors they're either bowled over, Charlie Brown-Style (love the "DONK" sound!), or hopping from foot to foot, bobbling the ball. The umpires are rabbits, who like to relax with a nice, hot bath during password screens.And the homerun cinematics, which vary frequently, are fun to see.

There's also a girl's league, accessible by code, for additional challenges.A minor quibble is that the female players turn male in the cutscenes, but that's not terribly important.

Fantastic game.Simple, engaging baseball.

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Tecmo Baseball Review

Considering this game was released almost 20 years ago it holds up well for a baseball game.While it lacks the bells and whistles of career mode & stat tracking that the 2k baseball series has, it compensates by being....well....fun.

Take the reins of your team and guide them against each of the other teams in your league.After, compete in one last game against a team in the opposing league.

While there is no MLB of MLBPA license, real MLB cities are represented, along with players that reflect the teams of the time.If memory serves me correctly, you could trace the Tecmo players to parallel MLBers of the time.

Graphics still look good today...in the eyes of this NES fan anyway (I received my NES for Christmas in 1988 as a lad of 7).When the ball is in play, the graphics look similar to Nintendo's original "Baseball."However, the pitcher/batter interface provides excellent 8 bit graphics.

Expect a high scoring affair, and don't get too frustrated when your opponent smacks numerous homers.In all the games I played as a child, I never tossed a no-hitter.Darn Clay Buchholz of the Boston Red Sox for showing me up.

Take a blast of nostalgia and pick this game up.How many NES consoles still even work?Mine died from overuse over a decade ago.Boy that was a sad day...

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NBA Basketball Review

This game has got to be the best basketball game on the NES hands down. Not only is the game very well balanced in its gameplay, the game has all the NBA Teams and rosters from the 1991-1992 season. On top of that the players abilities are based on their abilities in real life and their are tons of stats when you play in season mode. This has to be one of the deepest sports games on NES along with Tecmos other NFL sports title. I never thought I would say that about an NES game. This game I consider to be the precurser of all nba games like NBA Live, NBA, and dare I say NBA 2k7. For 1991 this game was way ahead of its time. I definitely recommend this game for collectors it's a must buy. I also recommend this game to any NBA basketball nut or any gamers looking for great quality old school basketball.

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Tecmo Super Bowl Review

Ok, let's start with a disclaimer:If you didn't like Tecmo Super Bowl for the NES, then you aren't going to like this game.So there it is.

If you DID love Tecmo Super Bowl for the NES, then this game is a logical purchase for you!

Updated with the 1993 rosters (as of August 7th 1993), better graphics, and less flicker problems that plagued the NES version, this is literally the same game as the NES version.

The gameplay is almost the same...you'll find yourself rolling the first 4-5 weeks, notice the difficulty start increasing, and by Week 12 or 13 you'll have a heck of a time running OR passing.Fortunately, so long as you have a good defense, it's really easy to stop the computer.I think the most they've scored on me using the Steelers (and I mean, the Steelers are useless on offense in this game) is 14 points.The real joy of this game has always been playing head to head with another player.

You must judge this game against the others from that era (doing it against today's Madden games is just ridiculous), and in that comparison it's one of the best.You've got the full season, pro bowl and exibition options.Pretty basic.

The only reason I marked this game down a star is all the similarities with the NES game.Now, the next 2 (Tecmo Super Bowl II and III) allowed things like FA and trades, and definitely made the game much deeper.In fact, Tecmo Super Bowl II is one of the harder SNES games to get your hands on because of limited production, and if you were looking to get one, go after it instead.

Tecmo Super Bowl is a fun game to play and a great trip down memory lane.If you're a retro gamer and you love football, this is a must own and a very reasonably priced game to boot.

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Ninja Gaiden Review

For those of you that are "new gamers" and don't remember this series, this first game was one of the defining entries in the NES system and one of the reasons why the NES is considered one of the greatest systems ever. You play the role of Ryu Hayabusa, a ninja, and battle your way through levels and eventually must take the two demon stones away from Jaquio, the main bad guy.
The graphics were ok, but what made the game different were the animated cut scenes inbetween the "acts" (a.k.a. stages). I don't know if this was the first game to use them, but because of this game, many games thereafter did. The gameplay and controls are for the most part awesome.
Let me tell you, though, THIS GAME IS HARD. Time and time again, I have stated that the old NES games (at least the ones from 1985-1990) were made to [beat you]. This game is one of the reasons why. There's no spoonfeeding here; it takes a lot of patience and effort to defeat this game.
Overall, this is a CLASSIC. Simply fantastic. While the passwords in the Ninja Gaiden Trilogy (...) provided a relief for the game, it's still nothing in comparison to playing the original NES version... no passwords. Fun and difficult, the way a game was meant to be.

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