kramer4077 :  
 
          I love when a review is done this well. Great job, Kramer!! 

supercool22 :

        Thanks, Man. If you like the way I write the reviews be sure to check out my other ones. Most of them will be for NES games but I do some for Sega as well. Always glad to know people enjoy em

Barathemos :   I hope you did! Let me know how it went and what ya think. And thank you for reading the review.

Tag Team Wrestling: The Review

       So I've played my fair share of wrestling games on the NES and let me tell ya, there's not much gold in them thar hills. This was the first wrestling game I had when I was a kid. I was maybe 6 or 7 at the time when my parents brought in a box full of Nintendo zappers, power packs, those old grey hook up pieces for the tv/vcr adapter, and of course a bunch of random games thrown in as well. I practically dove into the box, stringing the cords out everywhere, no doubt annoying my parents at the same time. But then I noticed the cartridge of Tag Team Wrestling right in the middle of the pile. Looking at the cover I wasn't sure what to make of it. You had a great image of two teams and the rivalry they have for each other. I remember my brother saying "could be good, could be bad. It's Data East so ya never know." With a shrug. I was a huge wrestling fan though and I couldn't be so passive about this. Quickly and excitedly I shoved the cartridge into the Nes, slammed down the lid and hit power. What came next haunted me for years to come. This hopeful gem turned out to be a nightmare. So what am I rambling about ? Yeah, let me tell you about Tag Team Wrestling... 

      : Graphics - 4  ::   Press power and you're greeted with the title screen giving you the options for 1 and 2 players. It's basically all text so nothing to really judge on so far. The game starts you out right away with your first match as soon as you press start. Everything is just bland, bad, and boring. That's right the three unholy B's of gaming. Seriously, the crowd looks like a heap of rubbish polluting the area around the ring. The ring itself isn't that badly done. There is a camera man who pretends to capture the action but we all know he's just moving it back and forth because there's nothing new to see here. That's right and that's how it's going to stay. You never play as anyone else unless you play two player mode. Not only do you never play as anyone else but you ALWAYS face the same opponents. The only change is that your wrestlers secondary color on their outfits change. Same with the enemies. They even took the time to add in two play by play men to resemble the wrestling you'd see on tv. The camera man actually looks great because of the detail and focus they put on the camera, honestly though I would have preferred if they just threw out the audience, the commentators, and even the camera guy, despite how cool his camera looks. At least if they done that they could have put a little more into the character animations for the various moves. Or maybe threw in a couple more teams. I gave the graphics 4 drop kicks out of 10. 

     :: Sound - 5  ::  The sound effects aren't that bad actually. I like the sounds of the sprites when they get hit sometimes. It sounds like they're going to get sick, which is appropriate because the horrible color pallet's are about to make me sick! Oh right enough about the graphics. Sorry about that. The music isn't that great either, mostly because it's just two songs. one for when you win or lose and one for the match itself. The music during the match is actually cool. I don't know why but I love it for a wrestling game. It just sounds so perfect for it's place. The ring bell sound is pretty awful as well but not as bad as the hysterical counting of the referee who just appears out of no where when there is a pinning move. These sounds just might be the definition of lack luster. I give the sounds 5 flashing rings out of 10.

     :: Addictive - 7 ::  You might be asking yourself why I'm giving this game such a high rating. Well before you think I'm going soft on this abysmal waste of space let me explain myself. When you first start playing you're likely to just get smacked up and thrown about like a rag doll. But sooner or later you start to understand the horrible control scheme and you begin to get ahead. But then the opponent just turns red and moves faster than humanly possible to unleash the pain on your can. Enter the Strong Bads. These guys are your opponents for every match as stated before. Being the resident bad guys they love to cheat. The Strong Bad's are going to be cheating more and more often as you progress through the game. So get used to it or give up. I strongly recommend that you give up. So why haven't I? I don't know maybe I'm a masochist or something for the Nes.  *trudges on* Anyway I started to get the hang of the controls and before I knew it I was about to kick the snot out of those vile scum bag cheating pieces of trash known as the Strong Bads. Until they turn red of course. When they turn red and get mad you're butt's toast. In later rounds this happens so often that you'll start having to attempt pins just to turn them back from red. Even still you're going to have a problem with them. Believe it or not I'm not finished yet with how addictive this game can get. You start out doing the same move over and over because you've no idea how to work these controls. But slowly you figure out that you hit by pressing A then cycle through a move list of an impressive amount of moves! And that's where it started getting addicting. Before I knew it I was performing brain busters and  back drops like a pro. And knowing these moves is a big part of kicking the snot out of them Strong Bads. I'm a bit worried now as sometimes I start to enjoy this game. I give the addictive quality 7 back breakers out of 10 

   : Story - X :: So here's the story. You're an up and coming tag team called the Ricky Fighters. Every night they throw you against the same team for a handful of matches and the better team gets a trophy. This happens over and over while you occasionally change the colors of your uniform. Riveting tale, aye? Yeah there's no story here, Broski. Just move along. 

  : Depth - X :: What we have here, is an extreme lack of depth.. But what were you expecting? This is a wrestling game, just move along. 

   : Difficulty - 8 :: At first it's just impossible as you get your tail handed to you over and over mostly because you're trying to learn the buttons and while you're doing that the Strong Bads are exploding with anger for no apparent reason and kicking the snot out of you. It's despicable.. But after a bit you get the hang of things and you'll some what enjoy the move list. The real problem here is how often the opponents start turning red in later matches. It's just ridiculous and never fails to straight up tick me right off. I give the difficulty 8 Neck Hangs out of 10.

  : Overall - 5.5 :: Yeah all in all I think Tag Team Wrestling is just barely deserving of it's 5.5 rating. The game does have some incredibly bad parts to it, but there is also a few unique and nice things as well. The wrestler sprites themselves aren't that bad, but they're not good either. The game play is unforgiving and infuriating, but after a bit it starts to grow on you. One song's bad, the other one is good. The sounds aren't to bad and the referee's count always makes me laugh. I'll admit that I enjoyed it a little bit. But I still hate it! Please do yourself a favor. Play this once or twice to understand what I'm talking about then just move on to better games. There is always Pro Wrestling for the Nes and of course World Championship Wrestling on the Nes as well. Go play one of them, they're a thousand times better off than this load of bull scat. 

Toobin' :The Review.

        Toobin' is an amazing adventure across the world's greatest rivers and even some that are simply out of this world! Avoid the dangers through the Colorado river as you steer your way around various obstacles and enemies who're out to spoil your fun. (Bummer, Dudes!) Navigate through currents and tides that speed you up. (Far out, Man!) Collect and use tin cans to throw at obstacles and certain enemies like the fishers, hunters and bandits while reaching out and snagging bags of "tater chips" and beach balls to build up your score. The bags of chips could also be money, but why would anyone collect money while tubing down a river? But things quickly get out of control in this adventure as Biff and Jet race straight into some groovy whirl pools warping you further across the globe than you ever thought a righteous, laid back hipster like your self could ever reach in an inner tube! Do you have the gnarly skills to guide Biff and Jet through this wicked adventure in Toobin'?

  :: Graphics! - 7 ::  The graphics in Toobin' are pretty simplistic but that's not always a bad thing especially when the over all game play is so great! The character sprites are simplistic and with out any real detailed animations outside of the arms moving. You're supposed to be some hippy dippy toobin' dude named Biff I guess, but to me he looks like a long lost brother of King of the Hill's Boomhauer. (Dang ole, no way, Man!) Each themed level is unique with it's own back grounds and obstacles, the Arizona level has cactus plants to avoid or destroy with your tin cans. The Egypt level has pyramids along the beaches and  crocodile's in the river. The Yukon level has ice bergs and penguins diving at you. All of the enemy sprites are detailed pretty well in that you can easily discern them from one another. Not to mention level two's little surprise at the end of it.. I won't spoil it either but it may be "Universally" frightening. You'll be surprised already at how different the levels can be, but because there are so many levels you'll undoubtedly notice that some of them are just recycled and changed up a little. But that doesn't hurt this game's image at all. I give Toobin' 7 whirl pools out of 10 

   : Sound! - 8 :: The sound track or music for Toobin' is simply amazing. I love the various tunes this game kicks out and it really gets you into the different rivers and the game itself! As stated before with so many levels to navigate through you're bound to pick up that some of the tunes are recycled as well, but they're not recycled enough to annoy you or anything. Some of the tunes will no doubt remind you of other games out there too if you've the ear to notice them. The sound effects are not as great though. They're not really bad, mainly simple. Not that simple is a bad thing but it can lead to very bad things. For example the Yukon stage you have to navigate around ice bergs and dodge penguins, but the most annoying thing about the level isn't the enemies or the obstacles. It's the sound the penguins are making. This sound will drive you crazy and could even cause you to fail because you're losing sanity at the ridiculous chitter chatter of these birds. Your best bet is to just grit your teeth and be extra careful and get it over as quickly as possible. For that level alone I dropped the rating a digit, so I give the sound 8 mind blowingly annoying penguins out of 10

  :: Addictive! - 9 ::  Toobin' is just a rush! The game play is different from most games and is quite unique. It's very easy to pick up the controls of this game quick enough to get sucked into it's brilliant game play. Navigate your hipster down the river with the directional pad or arrows and throw your tin cans with A and B in their respective directions. With so many unique level themes and designs you'll be coming back again and again to find out what's next. Along with trying to find all the hidden bonus items such as the rare beach ball or the letters that are hidden through out the game to spell out the word "Toobin'" you're sure to become enthralled with it. I'm hooked and for the first time I find myself getting excited about going for the score points. Add on the kickin' tunes this game pumps out and you're addicted! I give the addictive game play 9 Bags of tater chips out of 10! 
   
   ::  Story - 2* ::  There is no real story line here at all, but the game play and the various levels really kind of make one up on it's own. So maybe there is a story after all? Well let me explain. You start off in the Colorado river and you're sucked into a whirl pool at the end of it. At the beginning of each level you also seem to come out of one of these notorious pools of mystery. So I hypothesize that the story here is that you're trying to survive this wild ride through out space and time down the greatest rivers in this world and maybe even alternate realities! I subject my evidence for this theory with the Jurassic level's design, and the Space ship like design of later levels. I'm sure there are plenty of skeptics out there that would just consider these strange happenings as coincidence or something. But perhaps their minds are not as open to experience what could be the most in depth, strangely unique and simply out of this world story that has ever been done. Unfortunately I cannot prove that so instead of rating it a 10 I'll give the story 2 floating water mines out of 10...With an asterisk mark of course. 

   ::  Depth - 5 ::  There isn't much to do here really outside of throwing cans and avoiding objects in the waters. But the game does offer more with it's various splits in the paths that you can take, forcing you to make split second decisions on with way to go. Add in all the hidden bonus items which are found by hitting certain obstacles with your tin cans. There is plenty of levels I'm not sure how many as I haven't really beaten it yet. I made it to the haunted river level and game over'd there. That was about 15 levels.. I hear the rivers are quite deep on Mars.. I give the depth 5 tin cans out of 10 (that's about fifty cents depending on which state you reside in.) >.> 

   ::  Difficulty - 8 ::  The difficulty is pretty nice here. In the first few races you'll be getting used to the controls and probably having to practice a little bit to get through the second level. By the third level you'll sail through with not much of a problem outside of the bandits shooting at you. Sooner than later though you'll come to understand that this is one of those games that you have to remember the course and the best rout to take to get through with out losing a tube. With 15 levels this can get a little difficult to do unless you have some photographic memory capabilities or something. (Found out I was on the last level this whole time!) After you get the hang of things though most of the time you'll be losing your tube due to cheap shots like speeding up and smacking into a cactus or a tree limb because of rapids. Or forgetting about some of the surprises in some levels. I give the difficulty 7 killer tornadoes out of 10

  :  Overall - 8.5 ::  I really enjoyed myself playing through Toobin'. It's one of those rare unique games that you just can't get enough of. From the decent sound track to the outstanding game play Toobin' doesn't fail to deliver on the goods here and is a clear example of how simplistic graphics and mood setting music combined with an awesome score system can result in such an utterly addictive gem for the NES. I highly recommend all gamer's, beginners and pro's alike to give it a shot. As a matter of fact if you're still reading this, or maybe you're just blurring your eyes and finding a way through the maze via the spaces between words. GO PLAY THIS GAME NOW! 

  Castlevania, Bloody Adventures: The Review.

            In the cold dark hours of the night Simon Belmont approaches the entrance to the ancient decrepit castle of Dracula. It's a story retold a thousand times. A young brave warrior of light squaring off against the unholy forces of evil in all their revelry. Guide Simon Belmont through various levels of non stop classic Castlevania game play! And if you're fortunate enough to have survived the horrors of Dracula's castle and slay the demonic vampire in the wee hours of the morning you'll watch as the forces of evil have been vanquished once more. Once more the castle crumbles and collapses to the foundations! So this is a first for me, reviewing a hack for an NES game. But I'm a huge Castlevania fan, and I don't mean the modern games either. I'm talking mainly NES versions. But the Genesis and SNES didn't have bad Castlevania games either. But enough of that. Lets talk more about this game. I liked it, no I really liked it. Castlevania Bloody Adventures plays out just like the very first Castlevania game. (Obviously, it's a hack after all) But I'll get into all that a little later, as for now lets talk about the mechanics of the game. The graphics, sound and story stuff ya know.

 Graphics: 7  Bloody Adventures is a pretty decent hack of the original Castlevania so expected the graphics are going to be just as great as the original. They did a great job with the various level designs, all based on the classic Castlevania once again but with a darker more Gothic styled build. Surprisingly, yes it's possible to make Castlevania more Gothic like in appearance. But it's not as visually impressive for some reason. Your character sprite has changed from the usual Belmont from Castlevania, this time he's sporting black and red. Some of the enemies sprites has changed as well. Not to badly, but the Medusa looks a little worse in my opinion. The intro with Simon Belmont entering the castle grounds on the original is just a tad bit more appealing, because of the color swap for the sky the intro almost looks like it's on a black and white screen for Bloody Adventures. Oh and the areas with water are now replaced with blood! (You don't say!) I give the graphics 7 sets of twin mummies out of 10.

 Sound: 10  All the sounds are about the same from the original Castlevania game so no problem here! You'll be enjoying that brilliant theme again. The sound effects are the same as before demonstrating a classic case of "If it's not broke, don't fix it!" So yeah, not really much else to say there. If you love the classic Castlevania music you'll love the sound track in this game as well. And I really love the classic Castlevania sound track! I give the sound 10 flying Dracula heads out of 10!!

 Addictive: 7  Well this game is pretty fun, and it's a lot easier than the original version, that's always good for a hack because you don't have to go through all that mind blowing frustration that is Castlevania. Either that or my skills have improved vastly as if by magic. Which I highly doubt has happened, irregardless of how much vizzed soda I've consumed!. I give the addictive game play 7 bloody flail whips out of 10

 Story: 4  For those of you who do not know the story for the classic Castlevania games.. Is that even possible? Well just in case, here goes. You're a descendant of the Belmont bloodline who're all cursed to return to vanquish the evil that is Count Dracula every time he returns. That's the basics anyway. I give the story 4 Stop clocks out of 10

 Depth: 3  Yep, there's just bucket loads of story and depth to this game. *nods* sure is.. If you haven't guessed I'm being sarcastic of course. The game is shorter than the original and just a bit easier, while that is a pleasant change and I was thankful enough for it. It didn't do anything for the depth of the game. Now granted I have only played through it once so there might be a bit more to it, and if that is the case I'll come back here and edit the review and let you know A.S.A.P! I give the depth 3 Throwing axes out of 10

 Difficulty: 6  The difficulty isn't nearly as infuriating as the classic but it's still there. It's the perfect balance of difficult but not to difficult. Some of the worst places are the few places you can be knocked back into a pit and of course the bosses. And that's another thing. There isn't close to as many pit traps in this one as the original which is so far out! Trust me, the first time you fall into one of those traps because of a hit and you find yourself on a safe platform under it you'll be thanking the designer. The bosses are all nicely done and thankfully there is a pit trap to trick the hunch back into falling in while fighting Frankenstein's monster. He's probably the easiest boss here. I give the difficulty 6 Medusa head's out of 10

 Over all: 7.5  So what do I think over all ? Well it's nice. The game is a very decent hack of an already outstanding NES title. The music is just awesome and perfect for the game. The sound effects are decent and the same. The enemies are only slightly changed mostly in just color swaps. The game is easier and a tad bit shorter. So all in all it's a great game. But I can't help but notice that when I'm playing it sort of makes me want to play the classic version in which case I'm going to do right now! I give the over all rating 7.5 zombies out of 10. That's right, seven and a half. But at least it's the top half! With that I leave you now, for Dracula has returned and it is both my destiny and my curse to vanquish him. Once and forever!

  Pro Wrestling!  - The Review.       

          Welcome to the V.W.A sports arena! Tonight we promise to bring you the very best in good ole 8-bit NES professional wrestling action. It's a full night of back breakers, body slams, pile drivers and brain busters! Oh my! We're bringing you the hottest names in the V.W.A roster history. Grappling greats such as Fighter Hayabusa, Star Man, King Slender, Kin Corn Karn! Giant Panther, and The Amazon. They'll be squaring off in a tournament for the V.W.A  Championship Title and trophy! Sunday, SUNDAY, SUNDAY!!!.. Would have been an awesome entrance for Pro Wrestling on the NES had there been the capabilities, but then again who wants to read all that slowly scrolling down your television set? Not I. Instead we're greeted with a title screen that for some reason always reminded me of the circus, and baseball of course. Anyway. I'm not sure if this was the first wrestling game released for the NES but it's definitively one of the best wrestling games released for the system. Pro Wrestling was part of the NES black box sports series, and features some pretty amazing things for a game of it's time. I still remember finding my first copy of this in a thrift shop where I used to buy video games when I was a kid. And the feeling of how stupid my brother and I felt for picking up WrestleMania the week before this because it was WWF. Big mistake there. After picking up this gem for the Nintendo I started to realize that the cover art was like a book, never a good judge for a game. So what's all the hype about, you're asking? Well for the most part a lot of the glory is sort of subtle here. It's there, it's brilliant, it's what makes the game. But it's so well done that you don't really think about it while playing the game. Lets just jump into the review and I'll explain it all there. 

      Graphics:7 The graphics over all are pretty decent. Being one of if not the first wrestling game on the NES (this was actually the first wrestling game on for the NES) They put a tremendous deal of effort into the game's design. From the crowd to the camera man that moves around following the action in the ring. The wrestlers themselves and the referee are all designed well. Each character sprite has a different skin tone which is pretty cool visually, and a nice way to differentiate one wrestler from another. They all have their own unique heads as well as moves! The moves look great for it's time. The animations for the various moves have two to three different animation frames, that mixed in with the sound effects culminates into a rather pleasant experience for the player. The referee follows your progress through the match and will even run and dive on his stomach to count a possible pinning situation. The animations for him is just perfect. I especially like the way he will have to run from across the ring sometimes which will give you a split second longer to try and kick out of a pin. The title screen looks like a circus add or something with it's banner and different colors. The character selection screen is greatly detailed as you get to see a nice pic of the wrestlers. I give the graphics 7 Mongolian Chops out of 10

      Sound:6  The sound's not to bad, but it's nothing spectacular either. At the title screen it's the same musical piece as on many other sports games in the black box series. Which is another reason it reminds me of the circus.. And baseball. The character select screen has it's own little tune as well, which is nice for a change. In ring the song is just a two minute loop of the same thing over and over. But thankfully you won't focus on that so much as you'll be trying to execute your devastating grappling holds to conquer your opponents. The sound effects for the hits and slams and other various moves are decent but sound like stock noise. My favorite being when you brain buster someone, I swear it sounds like an 8-bit rendition of throwing a bucket of water on someone. Then there is the referee's counting, which is all just bleeps and bloops but is done well enough that you can swear you almost hear him. The crowd goes wild of course when ever you pull off one of your characters signature moves. Of course you have to be playing one of the good guys to make the crowd "pop" with a signature move, but they also go nuts at the end of a match as well. I give the sound 6 Flying Knee Smashes out of 10
     
     Addictive:9 Wow! Yeah this game is so addicting, you've no idea! Especially two player mode. Which I believe is where this game achieves the most memories. I could spend hours at a time playing through matches with a friend on this when I was a kid. And now that I'm all grown up I could spend hours at a time playing through matches with a friend. That being said playing it single player mode wasn't with out it's fond memories either. Pro Wrestling definitely had it's replay value. Playing through and trying to beat the game alone would give any beginner a hard time. Not hard enough to drive you off but just enough to bring you back for more every time. And of course after you win the title and cycle through a few more matches with out losing, (1 loss loses title and places you back in rank 2, If you go back to rank 6 it's game over.) You will get to face a secret wrestler. A boss fight, if you will. I give the addictive game play 9 Back Brain Kick's out of 10.

      Story:4  Now you're probably wondering what kind of story there could be here. I mean it's a wrestling game on the NES. To an extent you'd be fairly right in assuming there is none..But hold the phone, Doc. There's more to it than it seems. It IS professional wrestling after all! The only real story to the game is that there is a rival wrestling company who has a champion that challenges your champion. It's actually pretty clever and all if you think about it. So this rival company wants to put the V.W.A to shame by having their champion challenge your character and mop the mat with your face. That's one rare angle for professional wrestling. And it's a perfect story for wrestling. Simply done and to the point. But the best stories come from your imagination which is where I recommend you get them. I know it's a weak excuse for a story but this really isn't the kind of game which is based on a story so it's acceptable. I give the story 4 Pile Drivers out of 10

  Depth:4 There is a little depth here, about as much as your average mud puddle. There is multiple player capabilities, but no tag matches. There is six different characters to use which is nice and adds to that. Plus the boss battle at the end of the game and it's little story. The real depth in this game comes from how many moves there is to do and how every character is unique and has their own moves outside of the common body slam and such. But for depth that's about it. I give it 4 Giant Head butts out of 10 

    Difficulty: 5 Pro Wrestling is pretty forgiving in it's difficulty which is just perfect for it's style of game play. Beginners will be happy with being able to execute a few moves and win a match or two while learning the controls. And experienced players will enjoy the difficulties added in later matches as it starts taking more and more to wear down and pin your opponents. It's one of those games that has a decent middle ground, not to easy that you get bored of it and not so hard to drive you away screaming. I still can't pull off that back brain kick for some reason even though while I was playing with someone else they were able to.. Really..  I give the difficulty 5 Body Slams out of 10

     Overall: 8.5  So over all this is a really great game with some decent graphics and sounds. This was Nintendo's only venture into the business of making wrestling games, which is a shame. It would have been nice to see a part two to this or maybe one with more wrestlers. But if you remember any of the other wrestling games for the NES that all game after this. None of em really captured that feeling like Pro Wrestling did. There are a few others out there which are really nice and they are uniquely done themselves. But for the most part the rest were bad. So bad. This is where I'd normally say I hope you've enjoyed reading this as much as I have writing it. But I think I'll end this with a run down on all the characters. 

  Fighter Hayabusa: This guy wears "traditional" black boots and trunks and only has one specialty being the back brain kick.(very tricky to do) 

  Star Man: This character is dressed head to toe in pink! with a purple star on his mask and purple boots and trunks. His specialties include the flying cross chop (think flying forearm), and the somersault kick, where he flips backwards while drop kicking his opponent.

  Kin Corn Karn: Corny here is a Karate master. His specialties include a Mongolian Chop which replaces your punch and a karate kick to replace your kick. 

  The Amazon: I'm not sure what this guy is, or if he's even human. He is a wicked and cruel wrestler who loves using the head bite and the "outlaw choke" move. But I know what I saw, that was no choke. He was stabbing the other guy in the head with a fork!! Your classic bad guy wrestler.

  Giant Panther: This hulking power house with a full head of hair is the game's Hogan rip off I'm guessing. He'll put you in a devastating Iron claw or a Head butt if he can so watch out!

  King Slender: Slendy is the games technician of course. He has all the basic moves like the other guys but he has the ability to pull off a back breaker at any time in a match to get a big "pop" from the crowd. He's the ultimate good guy of the V.W.A. 
  

Gun Smoke. For the NES review.

     Scrub that yella' off ya belly and load them thar' six shooters. There is trouble brewing up in Hicksville. The Wingate brothers are terrorizing the area and these murderous scum bags are bringing business down to a screeching halt in the city and has the town folk all shook up. It's up to you, an unknown no named bounty hunter to clean up the streets. (Clint Eastwood? James Arness?) Capcon introduces us to Gun Smoke on the NES. Personally my favorite shoot em up ever. When I first got this game I always assumed it was about the t.v. show. Although I always thought it was weird how they shot up the sheriff. Did they shoot Matt Dillon? Or is this like a prequel to the t.v series? Neither, the city isn't Dodge. I'm still unclear if they just named the game from the show to get attention or if there really is some sort of connection here. What I do know is that this game is absolutely mind obliterating shoot em up goodness! I'm always up for a good shoot em up, but there is just so many space themed ones I tend to get wore out on them quickly. But Gun Smoke combines two of my all time favorite things. Westerns and the Nintendo Entertainment System! Does it get any better than this? I think not. Not for a long long time. Right from the get go you're slinging lead like a pro. These cowardly good for nothing sacks of slop confront you with a horde of gunfire and dynamite throwers. They obviously don't know who they're dealing with. Unleash some lead on these outlaws and help rid Hicksville of this terror once and for all!

       Graphics:  Gun Smoke was done fairly well for its time. The graphics are decent enough and get the message across quite clearly. There are plenty of enemy sprites to keep you entertained. The level design is just awesome, well there might be a bit to much brown but that's not a big deal. Before the game starts you get to watch an intro of the unknown bounty hunter walking his horse through town. I remember thinking it looks kind of silly but nah, the artwork is just right for this game. It's a perfect eight bit rendition of a spaghetti western! Before each level starts you get a look at the wanted poster for the levels boss. Each of these are done just awesomely. And at the end of the level you see bullet holes rip through the wanted poster each in their own unique pattern. All the power ups are clearly definable which is always a plus. It's easy to differentiate paths and the obstacles in your way. I give the graphics 7 gut shots out of 10.

     Sound:   The sound is very pleasing and fits the theme of the game well. From the title screen and through each level the music is just awesome and really gets you into the mood of the game. I especially love the music for the third level in the Apache camp. Unfortunately the select or item menu music gets old quickly but it does sound decent I reckon. The sound effects are done rather well. Granted they're a bit generic but they fit the game perfectly. And by far the sound you'll hear the most is the rapid fire of your six shooters. Thankfully the designers included different sounds for each gun so that really helps breaking up the sound from getting to monotonous. Also one more little gripe because I'm afraid I'm just going to go to easy on this game. When the wanted posters are shown at the beginning of every level and that annoying text noise starts going I usually mute it. I understand it fits the theme with it's type writer or Morse code like sound. But it does get old. I give the sound 8 cow skulls out of 10.

     Addictive:   Are you serious? Gun Smoke is so addictive It's taken me about three times as long as it should have taken me to write this because I keep having to play more! It's so easy to just keep coming back to this game over and over again. As stated before, the levels are all nicely done and with the various enemies inhabiting each level you're sure to come back for revenge, especially if they've shot ya full of lead. There is a lot of power ups and quite a few other guns you can use in the game. It's always fun clearing away those swarms of enemies with the shot gun or the machine gun. And of course nothing puts a boss in his place like a belly full of lead from the Magnum. Dealing justice through out each of the six levels while also hunting down the hidden or secret drops brings even more to the table for addictive game play. It keeps me coming back for more and more just to locate the invincibility power up. I give the addictive game play 8 barrels out of 10.

     Story:  So the story goes. You're a wandering bounty hunter with no name who has wandered into the town of Hicksville to find it over run with bandits and their ilk. Being the brave and skilled gunslinger you are, you decide to take justice into your own hands. Dishing out punishment through six levels of non stop shoot em up greatness. Do you have what it takes to bring the Wingates within reach of the long arm of the law? So there isn't much to the story but it's a shoot em up not an RPG or anything like that. Besides, it's the game play value here that's more important than anything else. I give the story 4  Devil Hawk fire balls out of 10.

     Depth: There really isn't much depth here to mention. The game itself is even kind of short. Six levels with their appropriate bosses, loads of enemies. Nor is there much more to do other than avoid enemies and their projectiles, collect power ups and blast away. Searching through the levels for all the hidden drops helps. I'm always trying to find out where the designers have hidden the horse or the one up or the wanted posters in each level. I'll be nice and give the depth 4 Cowboy boots out of 10.

   Difficulty:  The difficulty in Gun Smoke is pretty decent. Given the time and the attention it doesn't take that long to get the hang of the game play. The controls are accurate and very responsive. A shoots two bullets to the right of you and B slings lead to the left of you. Pressing A and B together will allow you to shoot straight ahead, which is nice. When I first started I kept thinking it would be so much better if you could just shoot ahead but after you get used to the controls you realize that shooting to the side is just perfect and really fits into the theme of the game as well. Each boss has his own unique movement pattern that you must learn and adapt to if you plan on beating him. Beginners and experienced gazer's alike will definitely enjoy this. So it's not really that hard of a game to master but it's not easy either. I give the difficulty 6 smart bombs out of 10. 

    Well there isn't much more to say about Gun Smoke. It was definitely a gem for the NES and one of my prized possessions in my old library of games. It's really a must play for all gamers regardless if you're a shoot em up enthusiast or not. I do believe that's a wrap for now. I hope you've enjoyed this review of Gun Smoke as much as I've enjoyed writing it. Have a nice day

Jordanv78 :  Many thanks, Bro. I'll be writing reviews and walk through's for a long time to come. As long as I'm online. I'm always pleased to get positive feed back

       
        Welcome to the Prehistoric Olympic Games!!! From all around the world the greatest athletes from the stone age has gathered to compete in the grand daddy of em all! The Caveman Games. I'm not sure just how well known this game is, but when I was growing up none of my friends heard of this game. I was fortunate to trade a copy of Kid Kool for this gem! Some people may like Kid Kool but that game just annoyed the daylights out of me. But thankfully we're not here for that game. We're here for Caveman Games! By now you've probably got the idea that this is a sports like game. It's a great multiple player game especially for those who love to gloat obnoxiously. *cough cough* Not that I'd know anyone like that. *cough cough* Anyway lets get on with this review. I'll spend a little time talking about the different competitors and the various games before I move onto the graphics and such. 

         The Prehistoric competitors consists of five different cavemen and a cave woman! First off is Glunk. This long red headed caveman hails from the caves of Central Asia. He's gifted in Clubbing and the Saber Race. Next up is Crudla. This rough around the edges cave woman makes her home in the caves of West Europe and is very well rounded, but she's exceptionally good at the Saber Race and the Dino vault do to her lighter weight. Crudla will stop at nothing to show the guys she's not just a pretty face.. Introducing next, from the caves of Australia hails Thag, Thag. Also known as The Thag. Also known as Mr Charisma! Thag's a beast at the mate toss and loves starting fires! From the caves of Eastern Europe hails Ugha and if you read his bio you'll surely be smirking at his rock collecting habits and how they make him less than popular with his nomadic tribes people. Ugha is good at Fire Making and Dino Riding. Gronk hails from the caves of Africa and is quite the athlete achieving stone medals in all the events in the past. He's a great choice for beginning players. Lest and well least is Vincent hailing from the caves of North America. Vincent is the brightest of all competitors speaking almost one language. But brains doesn't mean squat in these games. He's recommended to experienced players only and he's my favorite! Along with Thag.
   
        The Prehistoric games consist of.. The Saber Race, an event where two cavemen or a caveman and a cave woman in Crudla's case, take off in a head to head foot race while trying to leap over cactus plants and puddles of water. All the while a saber tooth tiger is giving chase, careful here as competitors have been known to be eaten. Next up is Clubbing. Exactly as it sounds, Clubbing is an event where two competitors pit off against each other in a game of skill and power. The Clubbing game also consists of a mini game before the fight where you try to intimidate each other. And I'm a very intimidating caveman! I'm also known for using the pointing and yelling techniques in Clubbing. Up next is the Mate Toss. This event is sure to bring a smile to some faces out there. You drag your mate across the screen kicking and screaming and start twirling her around in circles hoping to release her with just the right speed and angle to send her hurling through the air.. Landing with a thud. If you've done well you may just earn yourself a Funky Chicken Dance! Then of course we have Fire Making, an event where two competitors square off to see who can start a fire quicker using the rubbing sticks method. Be sure to watch out as you may just get bonked in the noggin by your rival fire maker. Or maybe you'll bonk them before they bonk you? The Dino Race is an event where two competitors race each other on the back of Dinosaurs to the finish line, much like Saber race but you won't be eaten. Finally we come to the Dino Vault. In this event you'll take a running start and attempt to gain enough speed to vault yourself over a T Rex's head and. Careful as he may catch you and either rip off your clothes and throw you in the water. Or gobble you up and spit you into the water. Either way I don't imagine it's too pleasant. I loath and both love this event. But not as much as the Saber Race! 

   Whew now that we're through all that lets get into what's important here. My opinions. I mean my opinions on this game of course >.> Graphics isn't that bad here. They're very cartoonish which is perfect for this game. The different cavemen and Crudla all look a little different and are discernible. The only complain I have is that they could probably have done much better on this as it was released in 1990. But face it, the graphics are better than most other Olympic styled sports game on the NES. I give the graphics a solid 7 Clubs to the face out of 10. 

   The sound in this game isn't that bad either. I mean it's not on par with other greats like Mega Man or Renegade or Castlevania. But it's still very catchy during the title screen, which is about the only time you'll be listing to the music. Unfortunately the games themselves are with out music. And the rest of the sound effects are pretty lack luster as well. The shouting sound in the Clubbing event is just weird. It sounds nothing like a shout. The sounds for the Mate Toss event are just annoying as well. If only there could have been more of that music this would have been much better. I give it  5 "Ugh's" out of 10.

   I love playing this game with other people, and that's where the addictive game play comes into focus. I can seriously spend hours upon hours playing people in these games. I love mixing up the different characters and all. Crudla versus Thag is always a great game and so is Vincent versus Gronk. And trust me with the learning curve on mastering all these games you're going to be coming back for more and more practice. Not to mention going head to head in the fire making event is just loads of fun as it'll undoubtedly turn into a who can hit who the most over the head with a stick game. Oh and on another note if any of you out there wants a game some time just let me know and I'd be more than happy to play through the games with you. Or well against you. I give this games addictive game play 8 scorched faces out of 10.

    There really isn't any story to this game so I left that out.. I need to review a game with a good story some time soon! But for now we'll just focus on the depth of the game. Well this game does have a lot to it. You can play up to 6 players at a time, though I do recommend 2 at a time for on Vizzed. We had problems with any more people for some reason. I'm not sure why. Then there is of course the six different events all of which can be played through in one go or you may practice in any single event as many times as you wish. There is also a nice little Cave of Fame thing here, which would be great if it actually kept real records. I suppose we could always use screen shots of our times in the race events or distance in the Dino Vault and Mate Toss events. If anyone has any ideas or feed back on that let me know Oh yes and be sure to read all the bio's for the different competitors as they're all fairly humorous. I give this game a depth of 7 foots out of 10. 

  This game is just crazy with how difficult it can be for new players. Each event is a must to master, except for maybe clubbing. You'll have to learn exactly what to do in the various competitions through out the game in order to be adept enough to actually enjoy yourself. And this can get very frustrating for new players if they're playing with another new comer to the caveman games. I sort of understand the controls now and I like them as they make sense in a way. Some of the learning curves for such events as the Dino Race and the Dino Vault is just absurd. For whatever reason I find it very difficult to actually build up speed in the vaulting event. And of course timing is everything. You have to be able to stick the vaulting stick into the ground and of course release it just right to send your competitor hurtling through the air and over the dinosaur's snapping jaws of razor sharp teeth. And attempting to build up speed and leap in the Dino Race is none the easier. Oddly enough I find the Saber Race easier than the Dino Race even though they're basically the same thing. I Enjoy the Saber Race a lot more though because it's just much more appealing to the eyes and it's funnier. Then again it is pretty humorous when you tap right on the directional key to send the dinosaur into a turbo mode and instead he starts running back and forth with a question mark over his head. Ah but now I'm getting back into reasons why this game is so addictive so I'll just end this by giving the difficulty an 8 confused dinosaurs out of 10. 

    So what do I think? I really enjoy this old game. There is a few cons but they're made up for in full by the pros. This is great for both enjoying some competitive game play with friends or even as a humorous back drop for a conversation while hanging out with a friend. I highly recommend every one to try this game out and let me know what you think of the game. Like I said before feel more than welcome to message me for a game in Netplay anytime. And as always I hope you've enjoyed this review as much as I've enjoyed writing it. Have a nice day!! 

      Welcome to the Walk through for Renegade on the NES. I've already covered how much I enjoyed this game in my review of it and all, so I won't have to go over that anymore. But I couldn't help wanting to write more for this game. So with out any delay lets grab us a glass of milk and grease up our pompadours, It's time for Renegade!  Renegade was released in 1987 by Taito America Corporation. But hey, that's nothing you can't learn just from turning on the game so lets just move on and get into what this is all about. How to work the controls and how to beat this game into submission. And I'm not talking about just playing through on level 1 mode either. We're going through the difficulties and smacking the taste out of these punk's mouths.
   
     "2 A.M. is no time to be alone in the subway. And you're about to find out why. They've got clubs, chains and blades. And it's three against one... but they've picked the wrong one. The streets are a mess and it's time to do a little street cleaning. They started it... You've gotta finish it!" - Says the description of the game. But I don't recall them ever using blades. Hmm. The controls are fairly simple. Yet there is always fuss about them. For example if you're facing right then A or X for Vizzed key board gamers, will make you punch. and B or Z on Vizzed will have you kick out behind you. Both A and B will make your character do a jump kick in the direction you're initially facing. That's right, the infamous "vewp" kick! There is also a shoulder toss and knee to the groin area, both of which can be achieved by walking into an enemy you've stunned them with a punch or kick. The Shoulder toss throws the enemy behind you so you'll want to use either A or B depending on which way you're facing and visa versa for the knee to groin hit. Make sure to repeatedly tap the button for multiple knee shots! You can also do a dashing move by double tapping the directional pad in the way you want to run, then hit either A or B, once again depending on which way you're facing to do a dashing punch. This move is so effective against bosses it's a must to master. You can also do a running jump kick while running hit both the A and B buttons. I'm not a big fan of the running jump kick as it's not that accurate. At last but not least there is the ground and pound or sit on punch. When you knock someone down navigate Lou Diamond Phillips, I mean Mr K over the prone enemy and press down on the directional pad, tapping A or B rapidly to deliver punch after punch to their face! Trust me this all sounds far more complicated than it actually is. So lets get playing!.
     
        Title screen. You'll notice the normal 1 player and 2 player game modes. Along with player 1 level - 1 and player 2 level - 1. These are the difficulty settings. Select your difficulty setting by pressing either A or B, Select button navigates multiple player options. And hit the Start button when you're ready to go. Note of interest, difficulty changes the game up a bit. For example level 2 difficulty doesn't only make the enemies stronger it also changes the time of day in the game. For example when you get to mission 2 when you're fighting the ninja bikers in pink pajamas the sky will be either blue for level 1 difficulty, orange for level 2 difficulty and night time for level 3's difficulty. This all applies for the motorcycle scene and the boss scene for mission 2. Lets jump into these scenes I keep mentioning. Oh and we'll be needing that glass of milk now if we're going to get our milk mustaches on!
   
       Mission 1 Scene 1: Lou Diamond Phillips *coughs* I mean Mr K is hanging around minding his own business when he's jumped by the white shirt gang. They like to fight dirty and double teaming is not below their standards, in fact it's not below anyone's standards on Renegade. These hooligans like to carry clubs and they'll not hesitate to wallop you in the stomach with em either. My technique is usually to jump kick the crap out of these clowns. On difficulty level 1 setting this is pretty easy. I tend to get by with out moving at all. Just jump kicks and back kicks. But on difficulty level 3 I'd advise you to fight near the edge of the platform then shoulder toss and/or jump kick em off the ledge.
        Note of interest : If you running jump kick the wall when the last two digits of the timer is at 17 will produce a hamburger. This hamburger will bounce around and then start blinking and quickly evaporate so eat it quickly!.. What did I just say? What kind of burger is this? Can you imagine ordering a burger and having to cram it down your gullet before it evaporates? Then again who is gonna eat a burger that dropped out of a wall? Mr K, that's who!. Also a heart will sometimes float up from the ground. I'm not really sure when or how this happens it seems random to me. Same thing goes with the "P" power up. I'm not sure why or how this comes about either but it's awesome. Your character starts flashing and every time you connect with a punch or a kick you blast their butts clear across the screen! I'm not sure if P stands for power up or not, I like to call it the Psycho mode!

       Scene 2 : After dispatching those punks and maybe dining on a burger from the lost and found you make your way onto the subway train. Here you'll find more of those hooligans from the white shirt gang. Same as on scene 1, jump kick and back kick these scum bags into defeat. This time with out the assistance of a ledge to hurl them off. There isn't that many of them and they're pretty easy pickings on difficulty 1. But on higher difficulty settings I advise the dashing punch method combined with the ground and pound just to save on time. You'll find that time becomes your enemy much more than the enemies do themselves. And with out the advantage of a ledge you'll have to dwindle down their health the hard way. After they've been dealt with you may either exit the right or left door both of which brings you to scene 3.

      Scene 3 : The doors open and you step through to find Jack waiting for you. He's the leader of those scum bags who jumped you! I remember always thinking he looks like one of those dudes from the Warriors movie. And the way you seem to randomly fight through all these scenes reminds me of the movie when the Warriors have to fight their way back. Anyway enough of that. Jack's not that tough but watch out for his grab attack. Mostly he likes to jump kick at you. Not like your jump kick of course. His is much more impressive. And if he grabs a hold of you he's gonna knock that ridiculous milk mustache straight off your face! That being said it's not that hard to just jump kick him to death. Then ground and pound when he's down. But make sure he only has two health bars remaining before attempting this or he's push you off.

      Mission 2 Scene 1 : You find yourself on a peer or some sort of waterside area with motorcycles and a car in the background. Enter the ninja in pink pajamas. That's right, this is where you run into those ninja looking guys in pink pajamas. They're a lot like the scum bags in the white shirt gang from mission 1. They carry around sticks and like to gang up on you. But you know how to handle yourself in this kind of situation. Jump kicks and back kicks are your friend. There is also the added advantage of the water which functions like the ledge in the last missions first scene. Just send them hurling over the edge and you'll make quick work of them. Right after you knock the snot out of the last ninja in pink pajamas their biker buddies come in. These guys ride by and try to run you over. Prevent this by jump kicking their pompadours off their bikes resulting in an explosion! On higher difficulty levels the bikers ride by faster so be ready for them. 
  
    Mission 2 Scene 2 : After the last biker hits the ground in a glorious explosion you'll automatically walk over and mount his bike. Note that if you press in the opposite direction while heading towards the bike you can moon walk! So now you're speeding down the highway on a stolen 1972 Honda 350 (I'm just assuming as it looks sort of like one) Those bikers with the pompadours and pink jump suits are after you. Maneuver yourself up along side them and press A to kick em off their bikes. After knocking a few of these bozos off their ride you'll encounter Joel. 

     Mission 2 Scene 3 : Joel is the leader of these ninja bikers. He's just like the first boss but slightly easier. He like to use the same grab and bash technique as Jack. And he's also equipped with an awesome round house kick. Perhaps he's a fan of Chuck Norris? I recommend the jump kick again as he's pretty easily taken down and finish him off with either a ground and pound or a knee to groin combo via the grab attack. Note of interest: The sky changes colours here depending on your chosen difficulty settings, same goes with every scene in this mission. Daytime for difficulty 1, dusk for difficulty 2 and night time for difficulty 3.

     Mission 3 Scene 1 : You find yourself surrounded by vile house wives with purses and chains behind some bar and they're not interested in your number. I'm not all together sure why you're fighting these women. Some people say they're prostitutes, some people say they're female gang members but if you ask me they look like soccer moms. Either way you've run out of luck with these ladies. They're good at teaming up on you and none of them are with out a weapon. One again I recommend using that jump kick and back kick method of fighting these wenches. But on higher difficulties you might want to use the dashing punch to make things go faster. After the last one falls to your mighty boot you have two options. Heading up stairs will bring you into contact with Kim. I highly recommend you ignore this rout and go into the bar with the sign next to it. Trust me if you're not experienced you want nothing to do with Kim.

    Mission 3 Scene 2 : Now hopefully you took my advice and you ignored going up stairs. But something tells me there is a few of you out there that ignored my advice and you found Kim. The best thing to do in this case is to just keep hitting her with running dashes. Seriously, Bro. It takes 3 jump kicks to put her down and chances are after the first one or if you're lucky the second she'll snatch you up by the collar and smack the buh-jeezus out of you!. Now for those of you who took my advise and went into the bar you'll be treated to more wenches with purses and chains trying to mop the floor with your face. Take these girls out with some more jump kicks and back kicks to easily move on to Mission 4. That's right this is a short Mission. 

    Mission 4 Scene 1 : You're approached by those dastardly white shirt gang members again here, but you know how to handle these guys so stick to the same pattern of jump kicks and back kicks and you should be alright. On higher difficulties remember to utilize the dashing punch to save on time. Now you should know that Mission 4 is something of a maze to the boss. I've found that the quickest and simplest way to reaching the boss is to enter the left door. From here on out it is vital that you stick to my plan for a nice and simple run. But for more experienced players feel free to do things your own way and discover what these places hold for you. Oh and one more thing, if you enter the Life Pier doorway and put down the 3 ninjas then enter the middle room you'll be sent back to the last level we visited in Mission 3. Pretty cool eh? No?

    Mission 4 Scene 2 : Take out these three scum bags from the white shirt gang and head into the door on the left. Now you're in for a fight. You're going to be facing off against two Jacks from Mission 1. These guys can be tough especially if they get on either side of you and start front jump kicking your head in. I suggest by now having the dashing punch mastered and just hitting them both with it at the same time, if this is done just right you can fly right through them. After putting these punks in their places head take the door to the left again. Here three bikers will ride by and try to take you down. This is simple just jump kick them off their bikes and move on to the middle doorway. You're accosted by a few more bikers. Seriously why are they riding around in these rooms? Put them down and then head through the door to the right. 
 
    Mission 4 Scene 3 : Technically I'm not sure if all those rooms were scenes or not so I just bunched them all together, it keeps things simpler. Now you're facing Sabu! He's the head of all these scum bags, hooligans in pink pajamas and I'm assuming the wenches who picked a fight with you. This guy is no joke. Or maybe a cruel one anyway. He comes out blasting his 9mm pistol trying to end things easily. And if you're hit once by a bullet you die. No matter what your health is or what difficulty you have it on. This guy kills you with one shot. But you can get in close and jump kick the taste out of his mouth rather easily. It only takes about 15 or 16 hits to take him out. And then the credits roll! Congratulations! (if you won)
 
    I hope this walk through has helped you, or you at least enjoyed reading it anyway. Have a nice day

Renegade! For the NES.

    It was about time for another review, wasn't it? Yes, it was. And what better game to review than one of my all time favorite games, Renegade. Now I understand that this is a clone of a game released in Japan. But that's not how I'm going to look at this. (the other game was Nekketsu Kouha Kunio-Kun.) Lets just start out with this. I really love this game. And I mean that. I am emotionally effected by this game. Now Renegade doesn't exactly get all the credit it deserves. It's rival beat em up being Double Dragon it's easy to compare the two and say Billy and Jimmy beat Mr K out. But hold up there, Princess Pattycakes. You have no idea the fun you're missing here. If Double Dragon is like the Grateful Dead of the NES, you know classic. Then Renegade is The Ramones of NES beat em ups. Oh yeah! It's not as pretty. It's not as well put together. But it's grungy. It's raw. It's edgy.. It's PUNK! 

   Enough of that pandering to the game. Lets get down to business and talk about what this game really has to offer. Graphically speaking, Renegade isn't exactly a diamond, but it is a gem nonetheless. Everything is clear or well almost. But when things get questionable it's NOT because of the graphics as much as it just gets weird. Throughout the game you'll have to take Mr. K through 4 levels of NES brawling. Yes you read right, 4 levels. But that's not a bad thing. See instead of having a scrolling level, Renegade replaces that with scenes. Most levels have at least 3 - 4 scenes. And some of the options in later level scenes will be level warping your butt back to previous levels. (I'll touch on that later) Each scene is fairly simply done, but that works. It's not all cluttered with stuff to distract you, yet there is enough so that the mood is there. For instance when you're fighting in the subway train in scene 2 level 1. It really feels like it, and it's awesome. Some of the scenes can get old though like when you're battling through the bad guy's hideout. The sprites aren't exactly perfect either, but they get the job done perfectly. The level one baddies all look like hoodlum gang members. Then of course there is Mr. K himself. Is that a milk mustache on him or does he just have one extraordinary overbite? The world may never know. I give the graphics 7 milk mustaches out of 10.

   So how's the sound? What? You mean the music? Or do you mean the sound effects? Because there is a big difference here. The sound effects are all bland and pretty simple. "psh" sounds for punches and kicks alike. A weird "vewp" sound when you do a jump kick. Yeah average nes sound bites I guess... Now on to the music! This game just rocks my socks off. Seriously, and it's so unique. It sort of reminds me of the rock and roll sound from the 50's. Which fits in just great when you look at your character. What with his Elvis like inspired pompadour. On second thought maybe it's James Dean with an overbite or a milk mustache, I'm not sure. Either way the music just plain rocks. I give the music in Renegade 8 pompadours out of 10 because albeit great music after a while it all starts to sound the same. But hey, it's still amazingly done. 

   You wanna know how addictive this game is for me? Just go look at the holder of the vizzed highest score for Renegade on the NES. You'll see. And I'm still playing. I probably play this game more than any other NES game out there outside of World Championship Wrestling and maybe Willow, both on the NES. I really really love me some Renegade. The controls are tight and responsive, the music is amazing, and the trash talking after every scene is just classic. You'll be telling these punks and hoodlums they're not tough enough for you every time you mop up the side walks with their face. And by chance if they do sweep the streets with your greasy wig it'll be followed with a "Beat it, Scum" taunt. I really love the cheesy classic taunts of this game. And if you thought that Mr K was just some mean street brawler, guess again. This guy races hogs too! Well to be honest it looks more like a classic Honda 350. That's right, not only does Mr. K bash baddies he does it while one a classic bike. Mr K's one rough and tough pompadour wearing bad mother(shut yo mouth).  I give this game's addictive game play 9 giant and violent Kim's out of 10

  There is some things you just don't do in this world. You don't urinate into the wind. You don't tug on Superman's cape, and you don't look for a story in Renegade for the NES. Seriously. What were you expecting here? To rescue your wimpy sibling? Or maybe your school yard sweetheart? Well if you were you could be on to something there. See, in the Japanese version (Nekketsu Kouha Kunio-Kun) you're fighting your way through a bunch of hoodlums and gang members to rescue your little brother who was abducted by them. Why did they kidnap your little brother? I haven't a clue. While in the American version you're trying to rescue your girlfriend. When you read the description of the game it says you're a victim of some sort of attempted mugging or something. Then you go all out on some vigilante butt kicking rampage, which is just hardcore! But seriously there is no story here. The game starts you out in a subway station and you kick the snot out of a group of hoodlums until a train arrives at which point you board the train and beat up some more hoodlums, finally on the third scene you fight Jack. And that's the jest of the whole game. You never know why any of this is happening. For example in the third level I find myself in an alley way fighting off girls. GIRLS! I don't even get it. Are they bad girls? They look like house wives. Why am I fighting these women? And the ending? What ending? You mean the credits? Cause that is all you're going to see. I give this games story 0 ninjas in pink pajamas out of 10. 

  Renegade doesn't have a whole lot of depth to it either. It's basically just a beat em up though, what'd you expect? It has one player and two player mode. But the two player mode isn't co-op either. It's done in the same fashion as Mario Bros. But you're both the same character. There is also different difficulties which is selected by playing the one or two player B modes. And the motorcycle scene is pretty awesome for a change up in game play but it's a one time thing. I give it 3 subway muggings out of 10. 

   Renegade isn't that difficult, but it's not a piece of cake either. The controls are tight and very responsive as I've stated before. You do have to get used to the way you fight though. While you're alone in this game you'll often be double teamed by these putrid goons in almost every scene. The problem here with new comers is that you sometimes punch with A and sometimes with B. If you're facing right you're punching with B if you're facing left you're punching with A and visa versa for kicks. But the jump kick is always the same A plus B together. Just play it for a bit and you'll get used to it I promise. I give the difficulty  5 "vewp" kicks out of 10 
  
  I thought I'd just add in here that I'll be writing a walk through for this game as well on here. So if you've enjoyed this and you're a Renegade fan for the NES be looking out for that too. As always this is SystemOfLies and I do hope you've enjoyed this review. Have a nice day!
   

Eirinn :  Thanks a lot, Buddy! And I'll be working on a lot of reviews

  Choujin Sentai Jetman!! 

     Before today I never played nor heard of Choujin Sentai Jetman. Have you? If not you're missing out on a gem of the NES. This game is brilliantly fun! Now if you're starting the game you might think the same thing I did. "Wow this looks like Power Rangers" Yeah it does, but it's not quite the mighty morphing team you may be thinking of. For one thing I never played a Power Ranger's game that I've enjoyed. And I've never really been a fan of them either. But this game rocks out loud, my friends. 
   
     The Graphics in this game is fantastic. From the enemy sprites to the background to the area bosses it's all great. The mutated spiders look like mutated spiders, the giant bugs look like giant bugs, the evil ninja baddies look like evil ninja baddies and of course the shnozberries taste like shnozberries. The background to the different areas are rendered quite well and with the limited enemy sprites they were able to put work into the backgrounds. Not that there is too few enemy sprite designs, I mean sure there could have been a few more but it's not like there is only three. The cut scenes are a real bonus too. Just wait till you see them. When you finally reach the end of each area you're greeted with a cut scene of your chosen hero encountering the area boss. You're beamed up to join your Choujin Sentai Jetman team mates as you combine forces to form the all mighty robot warrior. I give the graphics 8 dismembered robot monster arms out of 10.
 
    Remember before when I said this game rocks out loud? I wasn't exaggerating that either, my friends. Right from the title screen this game blasts your socks off with a beautifully rendered 8 bit sound track. And through out the rest of the game you'll not be disappointed with the music. The music tracks, though few, are awesome like the Mega Man series or the Castlevania series on the NES. And of course the sound effects are precise and entertaining. 8 bit explosions are music to my ears. I give the sound on this game 9 squished mutated spiders out of 10. And it's very well deserved.

   Choujin Sentai Jetman is more addicting than I assumed it would be. It's a great game for new comers and experienced gamers alike. The learning curve is pretty shallow, you'll find yourself getting used to the style of the game rather quickly and effectively with a few tries. The music really keeps you in the mood of the game as well which only keeps you coming back for more. From the title screen you're given the option of either Start or Battle mode. Start begins the story mode for lack of better words, and Battle mode is just that. It's a face to face slug fest betwixt the Choujin Sentai Jetman robot and one of the five various bosses from each area. Another thing that might keep you coming back is to go through the various levels or areas with different heroes, as they have different weapons. The Yellow Owl has the Wing Gauntlet. The Blue Swallow has the Bird Blaster, as does the White Swan. And both the Red Hawk and the Black Condor have Bringer Swords. I suggest using either the Black Condor or the Red Hawk when you start out as they have the best weapons and they have the best HP. I give the "Addictiveness"  7 Choujin Sentai jump kicks out of 10. 

   The story as far as I can tell from playing through the game is that the world or maybe just some major city in Japan, is under attack from evil alien forces. There is five different areas labeled out as Area A, Area B, Area C, Area D, and Area E. Each area has plenty of giant mutated spiders crawling around. Evil ninja baddies running at you and some of em are even shooting at you, turret guns, giant flying bugs, and of course the dreaded spiked wall like door things. After battling through them till you get to the far right of the area you'll encounter the area boss. Each level has a unique area boss and of course you're granted an awesome cut scene before fighting them. The bosses themselves are nicely done and the art work is beautiful. You'll come together with your friends to form the ultimate fighting robot. I'm unsure if the robot is known as Choujin Sentai Jetman or if that's the name of the team. I'm going to assume it's the bots name though. You'll have to beat down five of these evil bosses to get to the last area which is not on the list to choose from in the beginning. The last area is home to some weird red monstrosity with wings. He also blocks attacks like Choujin Sentai Jetman so you'll have to up your game here if you've been slacking in the boss battles. After defeating him you'll be greeted with an end game series of cut scenes which ends in thanking you for saving the world! All in all I give the story 4 Bird Blasters out of 10 as it's rather basic and it's not that deep of a story. Although the game is clearly focused on the fast paced action game play. 
  
   This game as I said before isn't that deep at all, although there is altered difficulties and of course you can either choose the story mode or the battle mode so that's something. And of course there is the different weapons of the different heroes to use. That adds some difference to game play some what at least. I give the depth a more than fair 4 exploded enemy bosses out of 10.

   The difficulty is rather shallow here with a very weak learning curve. You'll find yourself mastering this game soon. Which isn't always a bad thing, it's difficult enough that you'll enjoy it yet not as frustrating as say Mega Man or Castlevania. New comers and experienced gamers alike will love playing this game I'm sure. I know I did! I give the difficulty 3 evil ninja baddies out of 10. Well that's about it for this review of Choujin Sentai Jetman ! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. And even though I had to rewrite this review because it failed to send the first time, it was totally worth it. I really had fun writing this for you.

 PGA Tour 96! Blind Review.   

      Golf at it's best on the Sega.. Right ?  Maybe not. I was raised more on the SNES and the NES so my experience with Sega games is pretty limited. That being said the only other early golf based video games I played was all on the NES and nothing to really be stoked about unless you were into golf and gaming. But hey! We're talking 3-D graphics with "Blast Processing" So this can't go wrong, and after all. Sega does what Ninten' don't. 

      Jumping into the meat of the review now. As stated before my only experience with retro golf video games was on the NES so I was pleased with the graphics. They're sharp and refined compared to the NES Golf. The 3-D simulation was done well but that's only really appealing if you're interested in seeing the bunkers or the swing of the club. The pro golfers aren't really that great to look at either, but for the time I reckon they were done ok. I'm sure they weren't putting much effort in making the pros look like their real life counter parts either though. I'm not sure who most of these pros were anyway. The pics are well done on the cards for the pros though. As for the courses, they're done rather well. There is a nice distance illusion going on as you see the ball travel through the air and finally land (hopefully in the fairway). They obviously were counting on their "revolutionary" graphics quality over quantity. As there is only 3 courses to play. Not counting any that may or may not be unlocked as I didn't play through the tournament mode. I'll get to the reasons for that in a bit. I give graphics an 8 out of 10. As this was new for it's time. Also I think some of the attempts at showing depth and such failed. It looked bad with the triangles of shading or something on the greens. And because of the attempt at 3-D graphics you have to wait a few seconds between strokes, I'll touch on that some in the game play section.

      There isn't really much you can say about the sound. There is a nice little voice over of "E A Sports, It's in the game." in the intro. The music isn't bad, but it's not exactly anything to rave over either. While teeing off you'll notice that there is little to no sound at all. I reckon that's not so bad as it's supposed to be quiet. But this is a video game and some ambient low music would have been nice. Sometimes you hear a bird or a bug, which one I'm still unsure of. The sound of the impact of club to ball isn't bad though. The crowd sounds are alright I suppose, though they do sound rather generic. I'm being very generous in giving the sound a 5 out of 10. 

     Well there isn't much of a story unless you count using a created golfer to play a tournament. So I haven't included any sort of rating for that. So I will be focusing now on addictive game play. Which unless you're really into golf games is pretty non existent. I'm into some sports games yet I'm really not feeling it here. I give it a 3 out of 10.for being addictive. Mostly because the difficulty measures is a bit off. On amateur mode it's pretty straight forward and simple. On your stroke you just line up the moving bars with the green spaces trying to avoid the red. That being said, on Pro mode it's learning curve is very steep yet still manageable. The short game is difficult though. Especially on pro mode. The caddie is usually vague in my opinion as he usually says the putt is "straight in" Easier said than done, I say. I'd advise anyone going to practice your swing and putting through many games of stroke play instead of tournament mode. Game play? Over all I give the stroke play a 5 out of 10 in addictive game play.

     Depth? .. I've stepped in mud puddles with more depth than this game. All joking aside, you have two modes to play in. Stroke play and Tournament mode. As I've said before go with stroke play, you'll enjoy it more. And muligans rock! I give the depth 3 out of 10 as there could at least of been something like a driving range put into the game to practice swings, or a putting practice range. But maybe I'm asking for too much for an early game. I touched on the difficulty before so I won't be able to talk much about that without sounding like a broken record. I give the difficulty a 7 out of 10.

     In closing I'll reflect more on how I felt playing the game. I had a lot of fun in stroke play practicing my game. I was even confident after being able to play through with out having to use many mulligans. But that was a mistake. Being on the green in two on a par 5, I was hunting a birdie. What I caught was a double bogey. I would like to try this out in two player mode though as I could imagine there'd be a lot of fun in this game with a friend. The game doesn't hold water when it comes to single player goodness though. With all that being said and done, this is also my first review for a game so I hope you enjoyed this review and let me know what you think.