Chrontendo Ep. 49 Revisions.txt

Yes, 
after 
long 
delays, 
here 
it 
is: 
Chrontendo 
Episode 
49 
(only 
one 
more 
episode 
away 
from 
our 
50th 
episode - 
yay).
So 
today 
we're 
gonna 
finish 
up 
September 
1989 
and 
move 
into 
October, 
surprisingly 
enough.
However 
we 
still 
have 
to 
pass 
through 
some 
rather 
murky 
waters, 
om, 
as 
we 
finish 
up 
September 
U.
S. 
releases 
with 
three 
games 
from 
L.
J.
N., 
including 
a 
rather 
infamous 
movie 
adaptation.
But 
we 
also 
have 
a 
very 
fondly 
remembered 
game 
from 
Capcom 
[and] 
also 
an 
actual 
game 
published 
by 
Nintendo, 
themselves.
We 
will 
also 
see 
another 
installment 
in 
one 
of 
my 
favorite 
ever 
game 
series.
(Yep! 
It's 
another 
"Fist 
of 
the 
North 
Star" 
game).
Alright! 
With 
that 
said, 
let's 
get 
started.
There 
were 
a 
total 
of 
six 
games 
released 
on 
September 
29th 
and 
we 
covered 
two 
of 
them 
last 
time, 
including 
"Uninvited", 
and 
we'll 
start 
today 
with 
the 
remaining 
four, 
including 
"Thunderbirds" 
from 
Pack 
In 
Video 
(who 
tended 
to 
specialize 
in 
T.
V. 
and 
movie 
license 
stuff).
We've 
already 
seen 
"Rambo" 
and, 
uh, 
"Predator" 
from 
them.
This 
intro 
has 
some 
nice 
multi-
layer 
scrolling 
effects.
Obviously, 
"Thunderbirds" 
is 
based 
on 
the 
well-
loved 
1960s 
British 
T.
V. 
show 
of 
the 
same 
name.
While 
it's 
more 
of 
a 
cultural 
touchstone 
in 
the 
U.
K. 
than 
it 
is 
in 
the 
United 
States,
I 
suspect 
that 
most 
people 
who 
grew 
up 
in 
the 
'70s 
or 
'80s 
encountered 
it 
at 
some 
point.
It 
was 
a 
somewhat, 
uh, 
common 
sight 
on 
American 
T.
V. 
via 
syndication, 
during 
those 
decades.
The 
original 
T.
V. 
show 
was 
broadcast 
from 
1965 
to 
1966; 
the 
original 
series 
only 
lasted 
32 
episodes.
Created 
by 
Gerry 
and 
Sylvia 
Anderson, 
Thunderbirds 
was 
one 
of 
several 
T.
V. 
series 
to 
feature, 
uh, 
"Supermarionation", 
which 
basically 
means, 
uh, 
fancy-
ass 
marionettes.
Others 
from 
them 
included 
"Supercar", 
"Captain 
Scarlet", 
uh, 
and 
"Fireball 
X.
L.
5".
The 
Thunderbirds 
consist 
of 
Jeff 
Tracy 
(in 
the 
bottom 
corner 
there) 
and 
his 
five 
sons, 
each 
of 
which 
drive 
a, 
uh, 
super 
high-
tech 
"Thunderbird" 
vehicle.
Oh 
my 
God!
Why 
are 
you 
jacking 
off 
in 
front 
of 
your 
kids?
The 
story 
here 
is 
that 
the 
Thunderbirds 
arch-
villain, 
The 
Hood... 
(who 
was 
sort 
of 
a 
stereotypical 
Fu 
Manchu/
Yellow 
Menace-
type 
villain) 
...he's 
gonna' 
start, 
uh, 
wrecking 
shit, 
using 
meteors.
Hood 
gives 
the 
Thunderbirds 
a 
60 
day 
deadline 
to 
turn 
over 
their, 
uh, 
special 
Thunderbird 
vehicles 
to 
him.
As 
a 
result, 
"Thunderbirds" 
doesn't 
have 
a 
life 
system, 
but 
rather 
a 
time 
limit.
You 
have 
to 
finish 
the 
game 
in 
sixty 
days 
and 
you 
can 
die 
as 
many 
times 
as 
you 
want, 
in 
that 
sixty 
day 
time 
period.
We've 
seen 
some 
pretty 
good 
Shoot-
‘em-
Ups, 
um, 
for 
the 
N.
E.
S., 
but 
this 
is 
definitely 
not 
one 
of 
them.
It's 
about 
the 
most 
generic 
uninspired 
thing 
you 
can 
possibly 
imagine.
Ships 
fly 
down 
at 
you 
and 
you 
shoot 
them;
there's 
also 
turrets, 
and 
tanks, 
and 
things.
The 
tanks 
are 
actually 
super 
annoying, 
since 
their 
projectiles 
move 
very 
fast.
[They're] 
pretty 
much 
impossible 
to 
dodge, 
if 
you 
just 
happen 
to 
be 
in 
their 
line 
of 
fire, 
so 
you'll 
have 
to 
memorize 
where 
the 
tanks 
are 
going 
to 
appear).
There's 
a 
very 
basic 
power-
up 
system.
You 
can 
upgrade 
your 
main 
gun 
twice 
and 
get 
two 
orbiters 
that 
act 
like 
"Gradius"-
style 
options 
or 
little 
planes 
that 
fly 
next 
to 
you, 
as 
in 
the, 
uh, 
"1942" 
games, 
and... 
that's 
about 
it.
When 
you 
die, 
"Brain" 
(the 
Thunderbirds 
science 
guy) 
chides 
you 
for 
damaging 
the 
ship.
Despite, 
uh, 
seeing 
your 
ship 
explode 
into 
a 
million 
pieces, 
Brain 
says 
it 
can 
be 
repaired 
in 
three 
days.
So 
the 
sixty 
day 
timer 
counts 
down 
every 
time 
you 
complete 
a 
level, 
and 
loses 
three 
days 
every 
time 
you 
die.
Also, 
getting 
killed 
returns 
you 
all 
the 
way 
to 
the 
beginning 
of 
the 
level.
I 
didn't 
encounter 
any 
bosses, 
exactly, 
in 
this 
game, 
but 
many 
levels 
end 
with 
some 
kind 
of 
roadblock 
that 
you 
have 
to 
fight 
your 
way 
through.
The 
game 
is 
not 
strictly 
linear; 
you 
can 
select 
the 
order 
in 
which 
you 
visit 
the 
different 
locations.
Depending 
on 
the 
type 
of 
location, 
you'll 
be 
given 
one 
of 
the 
five 
Thunderbird 
vehicles.
Oh, 
God, 
I 
hate 
this 
level!
Is 
this 
game 
trying 
to 
make 
you 
vomit?
Geez! 
That's 
some 
laser!
For 
a 
game 
based 
on 
a 
T.
V. 
show, 
the 
narrative 
structure 
is 
pretty 
weak.
The 
levels 
feel 
kind 
of 
pointless.
A 
level 
begins, 
you 
shoot 
some 
guys 
for 
a 
bit, 
and 
then 
the 
level 
just 
ends 
and 
you 
get 
some 
dialogue 
explaining 
that 
now 
you've 
gotta' 
travel 
to 
some 
other 
part 
of 
the 
world.
The 
levels' 
themes 
are 
mostly 
just 
borrowed 
from 
better 
shooters.
This 
looks 
like 
"1942" 
or 
one 
of 
Toaplan's 
military 
shooters.
So, 
basically, 
it's 
just 
a 
bunch 
of 
completely 
uninteresting 
shooter 
levels, 
kind 
of 
tossed 
together, 
and 
a 
licensed 
property 
slapped 
on 
top.
For 
some 
reason 
it 
was 
deemed 
worthy 
of 
a 
U.
S. 
release 
by 
Activision, 
who 
kept 
the 
name 
"Thunderbirds" 
and 
the 
characters' 
[names], 
but 
didn't 
otherwise 
reference 
the 
T.
V. 
show 
anywhere 
in 
the 
packaging 
or 
the 
manual, 
even 
altering 
the 
iconic 
logo.
I'm 
not 
even 
sure 
why 
this 
game 
was 
created.
Thunderbirds 
were 
hardly 
a 
fresh 
property 
in 
1989 
and 
there 
wasn't 
a 
remake 
or 
anything 
happening 
at 
[that] 
time, 
as 
far 
as 
I 
know, 
so 
this 
does 
seem 
like 
kind 
of 
a 
strange 
choice 
for 
Pack 
In 
Video 
to 
put 
out.
So, 
just 
like 
another 
game 
we'll 
be 
seeing 
later 
this 
episode, 
it 
was 
a 
pretty 
strange 
choice 
to 
license, 
for 
a 
video 
game.
Let's 
move 
on 
to 
a 
somewhat 
better 
shooter.
From 
our 
good 
buddies, 
Konami, 
it's 
"TwinBee 
3: 
Poko 
Poko 
Dai 
Maou" 
(or 
"Great 
Devil 
King, 
Poko 
Poko").
Real 
quick, 
let's 
take 
a 
look 
at 
the 
menu 
screen.
There's 
an 
Options 
menu 
at 
the 
bottom.
Here, 
we 
can 
choose, 
uh, 
two 
difficulty 
levels:
Easy 
(which 
is... 
pretty 
easy, 
and 
that's 
[what] 
we'll 
be 
playing 
today) 
and 
Hard 
(which 
is 
pretty 
damn 
hard), 
but 
no 
Normal 
difficulty.
So, 
here 
you 
pick 
your 
ship 
(either 
TwinBee 
or 
WinBee) 
and 
choose 
how 
many 
lives 
ya' 
have.
For 
the 
purpose 
of 
my 
sanity, 
I'll 
give 
myself 
ten 
lives.
You 
can 
also 
pick 
which 
stage 
you 
wanna' 
start 
on.
This 
is 
the 
third 
and 
last 
TwinBee 
game 
for 
the 
system.
Earlier, 
we 
saw 
the, 
uh, 
the 
first 
"TwinBee" 
game, 
which 
is 
a 
port 
of 
the 
arcade 
game.
Then, 
in 
1986, 
there 
was 
a 
console-
only 
sequel 
"Moero 
TwinBee";
this 
was 
released 
in 
the 
U.
S. 
as 
"Stinger".
Now, 
three 
years 
later, 
we 
have 
"TwinBee 
3",
which 
I'd 
say 
is 
better 
than 
the 
first 
two.
The 
main 
distinguishing 
factor 
in 
TwinBee
is 
the 
system 
of 
collecting 
bells.
When 
you 
shoot 
clouds, 
bells 
pop 
up; 
gold 
bells 
give 
you 
points.
Shooting 
the 
bells 
will 
change 
the 
color.
For 
example, 
blue 
bells 
are 
speed-
ups; 
white 
bells 
give 
you 
a 
double 
shot.
If 
you 
keep 
shooting 
them, 
you 
can 
get 
even 
more 
options.
Um... 
However, 
this 
can 
be 
a 
bit 
tricky 
(uh, 
shooting 
them) 
when 
you're 
also 
in 
the 
middle 
of 
shooting 
at 
enemies 
and 
trying 
to 
dodge 
them.
It 
is 
very 
easy 
to 
accidentally 
shoot 
the 
bell 
and 
change 
its 
color 
to 
something 
that 
you 
don't 
want.
And 
one 
very, 
essential 
part 
in 
TwinBee 
is 
to 
avoid 
the 
blue 
bells.
Getting 
a 
few 
will 
speed 
you 
up 
sufficiently, 
but 
accidentally 
continuing 
to, 
ah, 
pick 
them 
up 
will 
make 
your 
ship 
way 
too 
fast 
to 
accurately 
control.
TwinBee 
uses 
a 
"Xevious"-
like 
double 
weapon 
system.
Um... 
You 
fire 
your 
main 
weapons 
at 
airborne 
enemies 
and 
drop 
bombs 
on 
ground 
enemies,
complete 
with 
a 
little 
"Xevious"-
style 
targeting 
reticule.
Bombing 
things 
will 
sometimes 
reveal 
hidden 
items 
(like 
a 
question 
mark 
that 
destroys 
all 
the 
enemies 
onscreen 
or, 
here, 
a 
better 
weapon 
power-
up).
You 
can 
get 
a 
laser 
beam 
weapon 
from 
the 
bells, 
but 
the 
spreadshot 
is 
only 
found 
in 
a 
few 
places 
in 
the 
game, 
when 
you 
bomb 
the 
correct 
item.
Probably 
the 
best 
part 
about 
"TwinBee 
3" 
are 
the 
bosses.
They're 
actually 
all 
quite 
odd 
and 
creative,
in 
a 
very 
sort 
of 
goofy 
way, 
such 
as 
this 
guy: 
a, 
uh, 
leather 
and 
spike 
clad 
Buddha, 
who 
divides 
into 
smaller 
and 
smaller 
versions 
of 
himself, 
as 
you, 
uh, 
wear 
down 
his 
health.
After, 
uh, 
beating 
a 
boss, 
you 
can 
(under 
certain 
conditions) 
play 
a 
bonus 
level 
to 
collect 
yellow 
bells 
for 
points.
And 
this 
is 
pretty 
much 
the 
extent 
of 
the 
game.
Uh... 
Each 
level 
has 
a 
different 
theme.
This 
is 
a 
sea-
themed 
level.
You 
can 
drop 
bombs 
on 
starfish, 
shoot 
jellyfish 
and 
whales, 
and 
also 
large 
white 
butterflies 
for 
some 
reason 
(which 
are 
normally 
not 
found 
out 
in 
the 
ocean).
The 
boss 
is 
quite 
odd; 
these 
three 
guys 
are 
performing 
a 
musical 
number 
and 
the 
music 
is 
actually 
pretty 
wild 
'n' 
the 
whole, 
uh, 
boss 
fight 
is 
actually 
reasonably 
amusing.
As 
I 
mentioned, 
Easy 
mode 
is 
pretty 
damn 
easy.
A 
couple 
of 
reasons 
for 
this, 
aside 
from 
the 
enemies 
being 
much 
less 
aggressive, 
is 
that 
you 
can 
actually 
take 
three 
hits 
before 
dying.
The 
first 
two 
hits, 
uh, 
will 
blow 
each 
of 
your 
arms 
off.
When 
this 
happens, 
a 
health 
refill 
will 
drop, 
which 
restores 
your 
arms.
When 
you 
do 
die, 
you 
can, 
uh, 
keep 
your 
power-
ups,
if 
you 
go 
grab 
the 
spirit 
of 
your 
[departed] 
ship 
before 
it 
flies 
away 
to 
heaven.
This 
boss 
is 
also 
pretty 
creative 
and 
amazing;
um... 
you 
shoot 
out 
the 
little 
fellows 
living 
in 
the 
dragon's 
teeth.
The 
fourth 
and 
last 
regular 
stage 
is 
a, 
uh, 
so-
called 
dungeon 
level 
(though 
[it] 
looks 
like 
it 
takes 
place 
in 
a 
mine, 
rather 
than 
a 
dungeon).
It 
then 
moves 
into 
a 
flooded 
area 
with 
Roman-
style 
columns.
Again, 
[I'm] 
not 
really 
sure 
what 
the 
theme 
is 
supposed 
to 
be, 
here.
Ah... 
And 
here 
we 
have, 
uh, 
this 
very 
rare 
torch 
item, 
which 
does 
nothing 
upon 
getting 
it, 
but 
then 
the 
next 
bell 
you 
hit 
will 
drop 
a 
power-
up 
for 
temporary 
invincibility.
The 
least 
interesting 
boss 
follows: 
a 
sea 
serpent 
which 
simply 
pops 
up 
and 
shoots 
lightning 
at 
you 
(really 
nothing 
too 
special, 
there).
Finally, 
we 
get 
to 
the 
last 
level: 
a 
surreal 
level 
full 
of 
magic 
hats, 
cannons, 
electric 
fans, 
playing 
cards, 
and 
Jack 
o' 
Lanterns.
It's 
pretty 
frantic, 
since 
cannonballs 
are 
indestructible 
and 
the 
fans 
will 
cause 
you 
to 
sort 
[of] 
lose 
control 
of 
your 
ship 
and 
sort 
of 
push 
you 
around 
a 
bit 
on 
the 
screen.
However, 
this 
isn't 
nearly 
as 
interesting-
looking 
as 
the 
earlier 
levels, 
with 
its 
plain 
green 
and 
blue, 
uh, 
checkerboard 
design.
The 
final 
boss, 
however, 
is 
absolutely 
nuts 
looking; 
I 
mean, 
just 
look 
at 
this 
guy.
It's 
not 
immediately 
obvious 
what 
to 
do, 
but 
it's 
simply 
a 
matter 
of 
shooting 
out 
the 
bottom 
of 
the 
floating 
island 
he's 
sitting 
on.
And, 
the 
fact 
this 
is 
so 
easy 
is... 
makes 
this 
final 
battle, 
kind 
of, 
a 
little 
anticlimactic.
"TwinBee 
3" 
is 
hardly 
the 
best 
shooter 
on 
the 
FamiCom.
On 
the 
other 
hand, 
compared 
to 
all 
the 
other 
mostly 
terrible 
shooters 
we've 
been 
seeing 
lately, 
it's 
pretty 
playable!
(I 
wish 
they 
hadn't 
put 
that 
large 
bar 
at 
the 
bottom 
[of] 
the 
screen 
that 
shows 
your 
score, 
as 
it 
takes 
up 
quite 
a 
bit 
of, 
uh, 
vertical 
space.)
It's 
cute, 
the 
levels 
and 
enemies 
are 
mostly 
charming, 
it 
doesn't 
feel 
unreasonably 
unfair 
or 
cheap.
Quite 
frankly, 
the 
TwinBee 
series 
wouldn't 
really 
take 
off 
until 
the 
next 
arcade 
game, 
um, 
"Detana 
TwinBee", 
which 
we'll 
see 
on 
the, 
uh, 
P.
C. 
Engine.
Either 
way, 
it's 
still 
a 
lot 
better 
than 
the 
other 
two 
shooters 
this 
episode.
Alright, 
moving 
right 
along, 
here, 
here's 
one 
from 
Sunsoft: 
"Maharaja"
(a 
rather 
unusual 
Adventure 
game 
that's, 
like, 
got 
all 
mixed 
up 
with 
an 
R.
P.
G. 
game).
While 
it 
was 
published 
by 
Sunsoft, 
I 
think 
it 
may 
have 
been 
developed 
by 
Quest.
Now, 
this 
was 
never 
released 
outside 
of 
Japan, 
but 
we 
do 
have 
a 
fan 
translation, 
here, 
that'll 
sort 
of 
help 
us 
appreciate 
the 
game 
a 
bit 
more.
Checking 
out, 
like, 
the... 
the 
graphics, 
you'll 
see 
some 
of 
the 
character 
design 
in 
this 
is 
actually 
pretty 
good.
So, 
apparently 
there 
were, 
uh, 
limitations 
in 
regards 
to 
the 
number 
of 
characters 
they 
could 
squeeze 
in 
on 
the 
menu 
panel 
on 
the 
left 
hand 
side.
Thus, 
uh, 
for 
example, 
om, 
"see" 
becomes 
"S.
E.",
"show" 
becomes 
"S.
H.
O.", 
and... 
and 
so 
on.
I 
guess 
they, 
om, 
when 
they 
translated 
this, 
they 
didn't... 
they 
didn't 
actually 
do 
the 
hacking 
to, 
like, 
you 
know, 
change 
the, 
uh, 
the 
character 
width, 
or 
something 
like 
that.
So, 
you 
happen 
to 
find, 
uh, 
the 
Maharaja's 
box 
in 
a 
river.
You 
bring 
it 
to 
the 
Maharaja, 
who 
treats 
you 
as 
an 
honored 
guest.
However, 
that 
night 
a 
princess 
reveals 
to 
you 
that 
you 
are 
going 
to 
be 
killed 
the 
next 
day 
in 
some 
kind 
of, 
like, 
sacrificial 
rite, 
or 
something 
like 
that.
Um... 
So 
far 
this 
is 
a 
very 
by-
the-
numbers 
menu-
based 
Adventure 
game.
Om... 
The 
first 
thing 
you 
do, 
here, 
is 
to 
find 
your 
way 
out 
of 
the 
palace.
There's 
no 
obvious 
way 
out, 
since 
the 
only 
exit 
is 
guarded, 
um, 
but 
eventually 
you'll 
figure 
out 
there’s, 
like, 
a 
hidden 
door 
that 
can 
be 
unlocked 
by 
moving 
a 
statue.
And 
you 
are, 
of 
course, 
um, 
some 
kind 
of 
chosen 
one, 
who's 
destined 
to 
save 
the 
world 
or 
something 
like 
that.
Um... 
The 
actual 
game 
world 
is 
set 
up 
just 
like 
many 
many 
other 
Adventure 
games.
There's 
basically 
a 
series 
of, 
uh, 
sort 
of, 
connected 
screens 
you 
can 
travel 
among, 
using 
the 
menu 
commands.
So, 
for 
example, 
from 
the 
Swami, 
you 
can 
move 
to 
the 
town 
square, 
and 
from 
there 
you 
can 
go 
one 
step 
over 
to 
the 
weapons 
shop, 
or 
...n... 
in 
another 
direction 
to 
the 
inn.
And 
there's 
a 
shop 
that 
sells, 
like, 
consumable 
items 
as 
well.
Also, 
right 
next 
to 
the 
town 
square 
is 
a 
jungle.
And, 
uh, 
here 
you... 
is 
where 
you 
can 
actually 
find 
enemies 
and 
random 
encounters.
These 
battles 
work 
just 
like 
every 
other 
J.
R.
P.
G.
Um... 
There's 
a 
menu 
option 
to 
fight.
Eh... 
You 
can 
use 
magic, 
use 
items, 
and 
so 
on.
You'll 
gain 
both 
gold 
and 
experience 
from 
winning 
battles, 
and 
as 
you 
gain 
levels, 
you 
can 
learn 
spells 
(or 
mantras, 
as 
the 
game 
calls 
them).
Now, 
once 
you 
figure 
out 
you 
can 
bribe 
Ganesha
by 
giving 
him 
an 
item, 
you'll 
be 
able 
to 
talk 
to 
Shiva, 
who 
has, 
sort 
of, 
like, 
an... 
an 
animé 
character 
face, 
here.
Now, 
whenever 
you 
talk 
to 
him, 
you 
can 
learn 
new 
mantras 
if 
you've 
reached 
the 
sufficient 
level.
The 
first 
two 
are 
a 
Heal 
spell 
and 
a 
Teleportation 
spell, 
which 
are 
actually, 
uh, 
pretty 
useful, 
when 
you 
think 
about 
it.
After 
that, 
there's 
lots 
of 
other 
spells 
that 
can 
be 
used 
in 
battle, 
such 
as 
a 
fireball 
spell 
and 
a 
spell 
that 
freezes 
an 
enemy, 
or 
one 
that 
prevents 
them 
from 
using 
magic 
and... 
and 
so 
on.
Pretty 
much, 
kind 
of, 
very, 
sort 
of, 
typical 
J.
R.
P.
G. 
spells.
So, 
this 
hybrid 
Adventure 
game/
R.
P.
G. 
system 
is 
pretty 
unusual.
There 
were 
a 
couple 
other 
games 
that 
attempted 
similar 
ideas 
(for 
example 
Square's 
1987 
F.
D.
S.
game, 
"Cleopatra 
no 
Mahou", 
which 
we 
covered 
back 
in 
Episode 
20, 
and 
"Kujaku 
Ou" 
from 
Episode 
35).
Now, 
one 
issue, 
here, 
is 
that, 
unlike 
the 
giant 
overworlds 
found 
in 
R.
P.
G.
s, 
the 
area 
in 
which 
you 
can 
move 
around 
is 
somewhat 
small.
I 
mean, 
everything’s, 
like, 
really 
really 
close.
You 
don't 
actually 
move 
around 
a 
lot.
The 
jungle 
is 
the, 
uh, 
the 
first 
place 
in 
the 
beginning 
of 
the 
game 
you 
can 
actually 
encounter 
enemies, 
but 
it's 
not 
that 
big - 
only
around 
six 
by 
six 
squares.
So, 
you 
have 
to 
spend 
a 
great 
deal 
of 
time, 
being... 
just, 
sort 
of, 
like, 
you 
know, 
going...
going 
back 
and 
forth, 
in 
order 
to 
actually 
gain 
a 
few 
levels.
There's 
really 
not 
much, 
like, 
exploration 
of 
the 
world 
in 
this 
game.
Eventually, 
you'll 
find 
the 
towers, 
if 
you 
take 
the 
correct 
path 
through 
the 
jungle.
The 
enemies 
in 
the 
Iron 
Tower 
are 
quite 
a 
bit 
stronger, 
and 
you'll 
need 
to 
gain 
several 
more 
levels 
to 
get 
very 
far.
So 
again, 
you 
need 
to 
grind 
in 
the 
Iron 
Tower.
As 
far 
as 
dungeons 
go, 
the 
towers 
are 
pretty 
dull.
They're 
simply 
a, 
uh, 
a... 
a 
regular 
straight 
path 
going 
forward, 
with 
a 
constant 
stream 
of 
enemies 
at 
each 
step, 
and 
then 
a 
boss 
battle 
at 
the 
end.
So, 
once 
you 
get 
all 
the 
way 
through 
the 
Iron 
Tower, 
you'll 
find 
an 
item, 
om, 
in 
a 
chest 
that 
will 
unlock 
the 
door 
connecting 
the 
Iron 
and 
the 
Silver 
Towers.
But 
to 
leave 
the 
Iron 
Tower, 
you 
have 
to 
backtrack 
all 
the 
way 
to 
the 
front 
door.
Then 
the 
only 
way 
into 
the 
Silver 
Tower 
is 
to 
go 
all 
the 
way 
through 
the 
Iron 
Tower 
again, 
and 
then 
travel 
down 
the 
long 
hallways 
of 
the 
Silver 
Tower, 
and 
so 
on.
So, 
these 
rather 
long, 
completely 
linear 
dungeons 
are 
actually 
pretty 
damn 
monotonous.
"Maharaja" 
doesn't 
really 
satisfy 
as 
an 
R.
P.
G. 
or 
Adventure 
game.
There's 
not 
really 
much 
exploration, 
as 
I 
mentioned; 
there's 
nothing 
really 
in 
the 
way 
of 
puzzle 
solving.
It's 
a... 
it's 
a 
very 
curious 
oddity.
And 
it's 
not 
exactly 
poorly 
made.
I 
mean, 
the 
quality 
of 
everything 
seems 
relatively 
high, 
but 
the, 
sort 
of, 
lack 
of 
variety 
may 
frustrate 
you.
One 
last 
Japanese 
game 
from 
September:
It's 
"Meiji 
Ishin", 
from 
Use 
Software 
(publishers 
of 
such 
terrible 
crap 
as 
"Bats 
& 
Terry", 
which 
made 
my 
Worst 
Famicom 
Games 
video).
So 
far, 
none 
of 
the 
games 
we've 
seen 
from 
Use 
have 
even 
been 
remotely 
good.
This 
one, 
however, 
is 
at 
least 
a 
little 
weird.
It's 
sort 
of 
a 
combination 
Adventure 
game 
and 
Military 
Strategy 
game.
It's 
basically 
two 
different 
games, 
sort 
of, 
stitched 
together 
into 
a 
Frankenstein 
game.
"Meiji 
Ishin" 
is 
what 
we 
call 
the 
Meiji 
Restoration.
That 
is 
the 
period 
in 
the 
late 
19th 
and 
early 
20th 
century, 
which, 
uh, 
resulted 
in 
the 
overthrow 
of 
the 
shogunate 
and 
the 
reinstatement, 
um, 
of 
the 
Emperor 
as 
the 
actual 
ruling 
power 
in 
Japan.
Obviously 
this 
game 
is 
very 
Japanese-
heavy 
and 
will 
not 
be 
[of] 
much 
interest 
to 
most 
of 
us, 
but 
we 
will 
still 
take 
a 
quick 
little 
look 
at 
it.
I 
think 
you 
might 
be 
playing 
as 
Saigō 
Takamori 
or 
some 
other 
historical 
figure 
(not 
sure 
who, 
exactly).
The 
first 
part 
o' 
the 
game 
has 
you 
traveling 
to 
Edo 
to 
gather 
allies.
The 
second 
half 
switches 
over 
to 
a 
simple 
math-
based 
Military 
Strategy 
game, 
based 
on, 
I 
think, 
the 
Boshin 
War 
of 
the 
1860s 
(I'm 
not 
sure).
Not 
having 
the 
patience 
to 
get 
through 
this, 
you 
know, 
kind 
of 
a 
long 
game, 
I'll 
be 
looking 
just 
at 
the 
first 
half, 
today.
You 
have 
the 
typical 
action 
menu 
on 
the 
right 
hand 
side 
of 
the 
screen, 
with 
the, 
uh, 
standard 
options 
of 
Move, 
Look, 
Talk, 
et 
cetera.
The 
opening 
section 
[of] 
the 
game 
is 
basically 
one 
of 
those, 
you 
know, 
"press 
the 
A 
button 
to 
advance" 
kinda' 
deals.
You 
might 
call 
it 
a 
"walking 
down 
the 
road"-
simulation 
game, 
because 
you 
do 
a 
lot 
[of] 
walking 
from 
town 
to 
town.
You 
often 
need 
to 
speak 
to 
a 
guard, 
each 
town, 
and 
show 
your 
pass 
or 
something.
You'll 
also 
have 
these 
very 
uneventful 
encounters 
along 
the 
road.
Uh... 
At 
one 
point 
someone 
comes 
up 
behind 
you, 
and 
keeps 
tapping 
[you] 
on 
the 
shoulder 
until 
you 
turn 
around.
Good 
stuff.
Eventually 
some 
excitement 
happens 
when 
you 
get 
trained 
in 
the 
combat 
system.
Later 
in 
the 
game 
you'll 
actually 
encounter 
enemies 
and 
need 
to 
fight 
them, 
and 
this 
guy 
trains 
you 
how 
to 
fight.
When 
green 
or 
red 
dots 
appear, 
you 
need 
to 
press 
the 
D-
Pad 
in 
the 
correct 
direction 
and 
hit 
the 
correct 
button; 
green 
dots 
are 
defense
and 
red 
are 
offense.
So, 
doing 
these 
correctly 
will 
keep 
[you] 
from 
losing 
life 
and 
will 
cause 
you 
to 
do 
damage 
to 
the 
enemy 
(though 
this 
guy, 
you 
really
can't 
actually 
do 
any 
damage 
to).
After 
you've 
passed 
this 
training 
exercise,
you 
have 
to 
do 
it 
another 
three 
times. 
(Great.)
Then, 
it's 
back 
on 
the 
road.
Eventually, 
at 
some 
point 
(well 
into 
the 
game) 
you'll 
have 
real 
fights 
with 
real 
enemies.
Um... 
I 
think 
that's 
still 
a 
while 
into 
the 
point... 
a 
while 
after 
the 
point 
that 
I 
got, 
though.
This 
is 
definitely 
the 
most 
obscure 
game 
this 
episode.
It 
doesn't 
even 
have 
its 
own, 
uh, 
page 
on 
Japanese 
Wikipedia.
The 
first 
chunk 
of 
the 
game 
is 
so 
repetitive
(I 
mean 
literally 
just 
walking 
down 
the 
road
and 
talking 
[to] 
the 
same 
people 
over 
and 
over) 
so 
I 
can 
definitely 
see 
why 
this 
has 
been 
completely 
forgotten.
Well, 
here 
it 
is: 
another 
one 
of 
those 
games.
L.
J.
N.
‘s 
"Back 
to 
the 
Future", 
developed 
by 
those 
boys 
from 
Down 
Under, 
Beam 
Software.
Beam 
Software's 
résumé 
was 
erratic, 
to 
say 
the 
least.
We've 
already 
seen 
the 
U.
S. 
version 
of 
"Airwolf" 
and 
"Bad 
Street 
Brawlers", 
from 
them, 
both 
of 
which 
were 
just 
incredibly 
dull 
and 
sloppily 
made 
games, 
though 
a 
few 
years 
later 
they 
would 
actually 
produce 
uh, 
"Nightshade" 
and 
"Shadow 
Run".
So, 
yeah, 
pretty 
weird 
company, 
in 
terms 
of 
the 
quality 
of 
their 
output.
Their 
name 
is 
mostly 
associated 
with 
hastily 
produced 
crap, 
however.
The 
movie 
came 
out 
in 
1985, 
but 
this 
game 
is 
clearly 
released 
to 
help 
promote 
"Back 
to 
the 
Future 
II", 
which 
would 
arrive 
in 
theaters 
in 
September 
of 
1989.
There 
was 
an 
earlier 
"Back 
to 
the 
Future"
computer 
game, 
which 
is 
completely 
unrelated.
This 
game 
is 
hated 
and 
despised 
for 
a 
number 
of 
reasons.
One 
of 
them 
is 
that 
there 
is 
not 
much 
connection 
to 
the 
movie, 
in 
terms 
of 
the 
actual 
gameplay.
The 
majority 
of 
the 
game 
is 
spent, 
uh, 
doing 
this: 
walking 
around 
town, 
uh, 
in 
a 
series 
of, 
sort 
of, 
obstacle 
course-
like 
levels.
These 
are 
timed 
forced-
scrolling 
levels.
So, 
they 
sort 
of 
resemble 
a, 
uh, 
vertical 
Shoot-
‘em-
Up, 
in 
some 
ways.
I 
suppose 
the 
inspiration 
might 
be 
Atari's 
"Paperboy" 
game?
The 
object, 
here, 
is 
to, 
uh, 
keep 
collecting 
clocks, 
in 
order 
to 
prevent 
the 
timer 
from 
running 
down.
Touching 
anything 
other 
than 
a 
clock 
will 
cause 
you 
to 
fall 
down.
This 
means 
avoiding 
women 
with 
a 
hula 
hoop, 
random 
guys 
who 
charge 
at 
you, 
garbage 
cans, 
park 
benches, 
and 
little 
fences 
(or 
whatever 
the 
hell 
those 
things 
are, 
on 
the 
edge 
of 
the 
sidewalk).
Most 
dangerous, 
though, 
are 
the 
enormous 
bees 
that 
fly 
around, 
since 
they 
fly 
directly 
at 
you 
and 
normally 
try 
to 
circle 
back 
around 
you 
to 
hit 
you 
from 
behind.
Hitting 
anything 
causes 
you 
to 
fall 
down 
and, 
uh, 
sort 
of 
flop 
around 
on 
the 
ground 
(and 
this 
will 
result 
in 
all 
the 
clocks 
around 
you 
vanishing, 
so 
you 
lose 
valuable 
time 
whenever 
this 
happens).
Once 
you 
reach 
the 
end 
of 
this 
section, 
you 
move 
onto 
the 
next.
Uh... 
This 
is 
actually 
the 
same 
thing: 
walking 
down 
the 
sidewalk.
You 
do 
this 
four 
times 
in 
a 
row, 
until 
you 
reach 
Lou's 
Diner.
Then 
you 
get 
one 
of 
four 
minigames 
that 
appear 
in 
"Back 
to 
the 
Future".
The 
first 
one 
has 
you 
throwing 
root 
beer 
floats
at 
the 
dudes 
that 
try 
to 
rush 
the 
counter.
If 
one 
reaches 
the 
counter, 
they'll 
grab 
you
and 
toss 
you 
down 
the 
bar 
into 
the 
door.
Keep 
in 
mind, 
you 
have 
to 
hit 
these 
guys 
directly 
in 
the 
head.
Aiming 
for 
their 
bodies 
will 
not 
work; 
the 
root 
beer 
float 
will 
just, 
sort 
of, 
float 
right 
through 
them.
It's 
not 
that 
difficult, 
in 
theory, 
but 
missing 
once 
will 
cause 
you 
to 
lose 
the 
level, 
and 
you 
need 
to 
knock 
down 
a 
hundred 
guys.
Then 
it's 
back 
to 
the 
walking 
sequences.
Eventually 
you'll 
get 
to 
the 
library, 
where 
you 
encounter 
the 
next 
minigame.
Your 
mother 
throws 
hearts 
at 
you 
and 
you 
try 
to 
catch 
them.
Well, 
technically 
you 
aren't 
catching 
them;
you're 
blocking 
them 
with 
a 
textbook 
or 
something.
But 
if 
you 
don't 
want 
the 
hearts 
to 
touch
you, 
wouldn't 
you 
just, 
uh, 
be 
dodging 
them,
as 
opposed 
to 
trying 
to, 
sort 
of, 
catch 
them 
with 
your 
book, 
somehow?
I 
don't 
really 
get 
the 
concept, 
here.
So 
this 
pattern 
repeats 
four 
times: 
some 
walking
segments, 
then 
a, 
uh, 
different 
minigame.
The 
walking 
segments 
do 
have 
a 
few 
extra 
features.
You 
can 
grab 
a 
bowling 
ball, 
and 
throw 
it
at 
enemies, 
and 
(even 
better) 
a 
skateboard,
which 
allows 
you 
to 
move 
much 
faster.
Now, 
it's 
really 
easy 
to 
get 
knocked 
down 
off 
the 
skateboard, 
but 
it 
goes 
so 
fast 
that 
even 
if 
you 
remain 
on 
it, 
for, 
like, 
just, 
like, 
a 
few 
seconds, 
you're 
almost 
guaranteed 
to 
be 
able 
to 
finish 
the 
level 
before 
the 
time 
runs 
out.
The 
game 
actually 
has 
two 
sorts 
of 
timers.
[Do] 
you 
remember 
in 
the 
movie, 
there's 
that
photograph 
that 
Marty 
had 
with 
his 
siblings,
and 
they 
started 
to, 
sort 
of, 
fade 
away, 
as,
um, 
time 
progressed 
throughout 
the 
movie?
Uh... 
Here's 
actually 
the 
photo 
from 
the 
movie 
itself.
And 
then 
compare 
this 
to 
the 
photo 
in 
the 
game.
Wow, 
those 
guys 
from 
Beam 
really 
went 
the 
extra 
mile, 
here; 
it's 
like 
looking 
at 
the 
exact 
same 
picture!
Anyway, 
if 
the 
picture 
fades 
completely, 
you 
die.
Aside 
from 
this 
sort 
of 
thing, 
it 
almost 
feels 
like 
the 
people 
who 
made 
this 
game 
had 
never 
actually 
seen 
the 
movie.
My 
main 
issue 
with 
"Back 
to 
the 
Future" 
is 
that 
there 
is 
no 
cohesion 
between 
the 
different 
parts.
It's 
essentially 
a 
handful 
of 
very 
basic 
minigames, 
kind 
of 
awkwardly 
crammed 
together, 
and 
the 
individual 
games 
feel 
like 
they 
could 
easily 
be 
from 
the 
Atari 
2600 
era, 
in 
terms 
of 
gameplay.
And 
none 
of 
these 
are, 
uh, 
little 
minigames 
are 
actually 
very 
original.
I 
mentioned, 
uh, 
the 
the 
traveling 
sequences
re... 
resembling 
"Paperboy".
The 
minigame 
in 
Lou's 
Diner, 
where 
you 
throw 
root 
beer 
floats, 
is 
basically 
the 
same 
thing 
as 
the 
old 
arcade 
game, 
"Tapper".
And 
the 
game 
in 
the 
library, 
where 
you're 
catching 
the 
hearts 
is 
really 
not 
that 
different 
than 
the 
old 
Atari 
game, 
"Kaboom!".
After 
you 
complete 
this 
guitar 
playing 
section 
(which 
is 
actually 
really 
easy, 
once 
you 
kind 
of 
wrap 
your 
head 
around 
it) 
you 
make 
your 
way 
to 
the 
final 
section, 
where 
we 
need 
to 
race 
the 
DeLorean 
to 
reach 
88 
miles 
per 
hour.
However, 
I 
think 
the 
lightning 
melts 
the 
roads, 
which 
slows 
you 
down, 
so 
you 
need 
to 
avoid 
all 
the, 
ah, 
the 
spots 
where 
the 
lightning 
has 
hit.
And 
then, 
on 
top 
of 
all 
the 
other 
crap 
this 
game 
throws 
at 
you, 
if 
you 
fail 
at 
this 
part, 
even 
once, 
you 
get 
a 
total 
Game 
Over.
I 
mean, 
quite 
frankly 
I 
recommend 
abusing
the 
Start 
button, 
throughout 
this 
game, 
which 
pauses 
it, 
so 
you 
can 
actually 
see 
in 
advance 
where 
the 
lightning 
is 
going 
to 
strike, 
and 
then 
you'll 
be 
able 
to 
avoid 
it 
a 
bit 
easier.
It's 
weird 
that 
they 
used 
a 
pause 
button 
on
a 
game 
mostly 
built 
around 
fast 
reaction 
times.
I 
mean 
you 
can 
use 
the 
pause 
button 
to 
pretty 
much 
beat 
the 
minigame 
levels, 
like 
involving 
catching 
hearts 
or 
catching 
guitar 
notes,
but 
pretty 
much 
everything 
else 
in 
this 
game
is 
completely 
absurd, 
so 
why 
not 
this 
as 
well?
Anyway, 
having 
actually 
played 
this 
game,
I 
can 
now 
understand 
why 
people 
really 
really 
hate 
it.
Oh 
man! 
Number 
2 
in 
today's 
shitty 
L.
J.
N. 
game 
trilogy, 
"N.
F.
L.", 
(despite 
being 
the 
first 
N.
E.
S. 
game 
with 
an 
actual 
official 
N.
F.
L. 
license)
is 
almost 
forgotten 
today.
It's 
sorta' 
stuck, 
forever 
living 
in 
the 
shadow
of 
its 
far 
superior 
ah, 
rival, 
"Tecmo 
Bowl".
So, 
when 
we 
say 
“N.
F.
L. 
license”, 
uh, 
this 
means 
that 
the 
real 
team 
names 
were 
used.
The 
names 
of 
individual 
players 
were 
not 
used, 
since 
that 
would 
actually 
be 
a 
completely 
different 
license.
For 
game 
select, 
you 
can 
choose 
to 
play 
an 
American 
Conference 
game 
or 
a 
National 
Conference 
game 
or 
InterConference 
or 
Super 
Bowl.
I'm 
not 
really 
sure 
exactly 
what 
the 
difference 
between 
Super 
Bowl 
and 
InterConference 
is,
but 
of 
course, 
these 
allow 
you 
to 
choose 
an 
opponent 
from, 
uh, 
the 
other 
conference.
So, 
as 
we 
see, 
this 
does, 
in 
fact, 
use 
the 
real 
life 
team 
names.
But 
for 
the 
players 
we 
only 
get 
the 
position 
names.
You 
have 
the 
option 
to 
upgrade 
a 
player, 
but 
doing 
so 
will 
penalize 
you, 
by 
supposedly 
making 
it 
more 
likely 
you'll 
have 
a 
penalty 
called 
on 
you.
Now, 
it's 
not 
a 
hundred 
percent 
clear 
who 
developed 
"N.
F.
L.", 
but 
it 
appears 
that 
Atlus 
was 
somehow 
involved 
(um, 
as 
they 
were 
in 
several 
other 
L.
J.
N. 
games).
Possibly 
[Sanritsu] 
may 
have 
also 
been 
involved?
According 
to 
the 
manual, 
Tom 
Bass 
(coach 
for 
the 
Buccaneers 
and 
the 
Chargers) 
was 
"instrumental" 
in 
the 
development 
of 
this 
game's 
"authentic 
action".
Bass 
had 
written 
a 
few 
books 
on 
football 
tactics 
and 
used 
to 
give 
seminars, 
aimed 
at 
helping 
women 
understand 
[football].
Of 
course, 
what 
exactly 
he 
did 
on 
this 
game 
is 
anybody's 
guess.
So, 
basically 
that... 
everything 
that, 
uh,
Tecmo's 
uh, 
football 
games 
do 
right, 
this 
one 
does 
completely 
wrong.
The 
little 
arrows 
over 
the 
heads 
indicate,
uh, 
which 
player's 
being 
controlled.
But 
actually 
controlling 
anything 
is 
sometimes 
needlessly 
complicated.
Whereas 
"Tecmo 
Bowl" 
is, 
uh, 
pretty 
damn 
intuitive
in 
terms 
of 
how 
you 
play 
it, 
doing 
stuff 
in 
"N.
F.
L". 
involves, 
uh, 
pressing 
a 
series 
of 
buttons 
that 
you'll 
need 
to, 
uh, 
refer 
back
to 
the 
manual 
a 
few 
times, 
in 
order 
to, 
kind 
of, 
read 
up 
on 
wh... 
you 
know, 
what 
the 
hell 
you're 
supposed 
to 
be 
doing.
However, 
the 
biggest 
stumbling 
block 
for 
playing 
"N.
F.
L." 
involves 
calling 
plays.
Much 
like 
"Tecmo 
Bowl", 
you 
select 
[an] 
offensive 
or 
defensive 
position 
by 
pressing 
a 
combination 
of 
buttons 
on 
the 
D-
Pad 
and 
using 
the 
A 
and 
B 
buttons.
However, 
Tecmo's 
game 
actually 
displays 
diagrams 
of 
the 
plays.
"N.
F.
L." 
has 
you 
entering 
your 
plays 
while
looking 
at 
the 
scoreboard, 
for 
some 
reason.
Nothing 
really 
helpful 
in 
determining 
what 
play 
you 
wanna' 
use.
The 
manual 
has 
this, 
uh, 
also 
not 
very 
helpful 
list 
of 
plays, 
but 
doesn't 
tell 
you 
the 
right 
button 
combinations 
to 
press.
You 
see, 
originally 
this 
came 
with 
a 
couple 
little 
fold 
out 
play 
sheets 
that 
gave 
details 
about 
the 
plays 
and 
how 
to 
select 
them.
However, 
the 
play 
sheet 
seems 
to 
have 
almost, 
kind 
of, 
completely 
disappeared 
down 
the 
memory 
hole.
I 
couldn't 
even 
find 
a 
good 
photo 
of 
it 
online.
A 
few 
listings 
for 
complete-
in-
box 
copies
of 
"N.
F.
L". 
didn't 
even 
have 
the 
play 
sheet.
Now, 
obviously 
you 
can 
find 
guides 
online
that'll 
tell 
you 
how 
to 
input 
each 
play, 
but 
this 
game 
is 
pretty 
much 
completely 
unplayable 
without 
having 
that 
information.
So 
you 
can't 
just, 
like, 
you 
know, 
buy 
a 
loose 
cart 
and 
pop 
it 
in 
and 
start 
playing.
One 
other 
weird 
little 
thing: 
most 
resources 
call 
this 
"N.
F.
L. 
Football", 
yet 
the 
box 
cover, 
the 
game, 
the 
manual 
– 
everything 
calls 
it 
just 
"N.
F.
L.".
A 
little 
strange.
Anyway, 
this 
is 
the, 
uh, 
one 
football 
game
that 
you 
should 
definitely 
"pass" 
on.
Our 
third 
and 
final 
piece 
of 
unrepentant 
trash
from 
L.
J.
N. 
is 
"Who 
Framed 
Roger 
Rabbit?".
And 
we 
have 
one 
of 
those 
classic 
Rare 
“wall 
of 
text” 
screens, 
here.
I 
mean, 
geez, 
just 
look 
at 
this!
What's 
with 
the 
flying 
question 
marks?
And 
look 
at 
the 
"Who 
Framed" 
text; 
is 
that 
really 
the 
best 
they 
could 
do?
Why 
is 
there 
such 
a 
huge 
space 
between 
"Who" 
and 
"Framed"?
There 
is 
just 
so 
much 
typical, 
"Who 
gives 
a 
shit?", 
attitude 
from 
Rare 
in 
this 
game.
Now, 
I 
assume 
you're 
all 
familiar 
with 
the 
movie, 
"Who 
Framed 
Roger 
Rabbit?", 
from 
1988.
Produced 
by 
Steven 
Spielberg's 
Amblin 
Entertainment, 
it 
was 
an 
odd 
mashup 
of 
Chinatown 
and 
American 
animation 
of 
the 
1930s 
and 
'40s.
Bob 
Hoskins 
plays 
a 
detective, 
named 
Eddie 
Valiant, 
who 
gets 
involved 
in 
the 
murder 
case 
of 
one 
Marvin 
Acme, 
who 
is 
having 
an 
affair 
with 
Jessica 
Rabbit, 
wife 
of 
the 
cartoon 
star, 
Roger 
Rabbit.
Acme's 
missing 
will 
(a 
major 
plot 
point, 
in 
the 
movie) 
becomes 
the 
crux 
of 
the 
story 
for 
this 
game.
"Who 
Framed 
Roger 
Rabbit" 
is, 
I 
suppose, 
an 
Adventure 
game, 
of 
sorts.
The 
object 
is 
mostly 
to 
go 
around 
town, 
collecting 
items.
Some 
of 
these 
items 
will 
help 
you 
advance 
the 
story.
Now, 
when 
you 
put 
it 
like 
that, 
this 
sounds 
kinda' 
like 
"Déjà 
Vu", 
but 
in 
this 
game 
the 
idea 
is 
implemented 
very 
very 
very 
differently.
The 
first 
part 
of 
the 
game 
takes 
place 
in 
Los 
Angeles, 
where 
you 
walk 
around 
the 
street 
and 
explore 
a 
series 
of 
almost 
identical 
buildings,
all 
the 
while 
trying 
to 
avoid 
getting 
hit 
by 
cars.
Inside 
a 
building, 
you 
will 
find 
numerous 
rooms, 
which 
are 
always 
full 
of 
tables, 
chairs, 
dressers, 
and 
desks.
You 
can 
open 
the 
desk 
and 
dressers, 
in 
hopes 
of, 
uh, 
finding 
a 
piece 
of 
the 
will.
Of 
course, 
99% 
of 
the 
many 
many 
drawers 
have 
nothing 
in 
them.
Aside 
from 
that, 
you 
will 
find 
items 
just 
lying 
around 
on 
the 
floor.
Some 
[of] 
them 
are 
unique 
quest 
items; 
others 
are 
usable 
items.
There's, 
uh, 
stuff 
like 
wallets 
(which 
contain 
money), 
items 
for 
dealing 
with 
enemies, 
and 
so 
on.
For 
example, 
the 
whistle 
will 
summon 
Benny 
the 
Cab.
You 
can 
use 
him 
to 
drive 
around 
town 
quicker,
and 
he's 
required 
to 
access 
later 
parts 
of 
the 
game.
Now, 
aside 
from 
its 
impressive 
combination 
of 
live 
action 
and 
animation, 
the 
one 
thing 
that 
stood 
out 
at 
the 
time, 
in 
this 
movie, 
was 
the 
huge 
number 
of 
guest 
appearances 
from 
various 
cartoon 
characters 
from 
different 
studios.
In 
the 
days 
before 
extensive 
cross-
branding, 
["Who 
Framed] 
Roger 
Rabbit?" 
accomplished
what 
seemed 
to 
be 
the 
impossible 
act 
of 
getting 
Mickey 
Mouse 
and 
Bugs 
Bunny 
together 
in 
one 
cartoon.
I 
mean, 
at 
the 
time 
this 
seemed, 
you 
know, 
virtually 
miraculous.
Of 
course, 
none 
of 
these 
other 
characters
were 
available 
for 
this 
game, 
so 
the 
concept 
of 
Toon 
Town 
has 
been 
reduced 
down 
to 
basically 
almost 
nothing.
Toon 
Town 
does 
appear 
later 
in 
the 
game, 
but 
it's 
actually 
a 
lot 
like 
Los 
Angeles, 
with 
different-
looking 
buildings.
["Who 
Framed] 
Roger 
Rabbit?" 
is 
one 
[of] 
those 
games 
that 
tries 
to 
do 
many 
things, 
but 
doesn't 
really 
do 
any 
of 
them 
well.
It 
looks 
like 
an 
open-
world 
Adventure 
game,
but 
there's 
really 
not 
much 
interesting 
to 
find.
Exploring 
L.
A. 
mostly 
just 
involves 
walking 
up 
and 
down 
streets, 
entering 
a 
bunch 
of 
these 
identical 
looking 
buildings, 
and 
picking 
up 
randomly 
scattered 
items.
You 
talk 
to 
people 
but, 
unlike 
in 
Sierra 
or 
LucasArts 
games, 
no 
one 
ever 
says 
anything 
even 
remotely 
interesting.
There 
are 
also 
some 
action 
bits, 
like 
shit 
falling 
on 
your 
head 
when 
you 
try 
to 
pick 
something 
up 
or, 
uh, 
animals 
that 
attack 
you 
the 
second 
you 
enter 
a 
screen, 
uh, 
which 
kill 
you 
in 
one 
hit.
And 
if 
you're 
not 
careful, 
this 
can 
happen 
over 
and 
over 
and 
over.
Birds 
will 
fly 
out 
of 
the 
sky 
and 
pick 
up 
Roger 
(which 
also 
kills 
you), 
cars 
will 
run 
over 
you 
(killing 
you); 
everything 
in 
this 
game 
is 
all 
just 
so 
awkward 
and 
wrong.
For 
example, 
um, 
you 
walk 
around 
the 
street, 
using 
the 
D-
Pad, 
you 
know, 
exactly 
like 
you 
would 
expect.
When 
you 
hop 
in 
Benny 
the 
Cab, 
suddenly 
the 
control 
scheme 
completely 
changes.
All 
Benny 
does 
is 
make 
you 
move 
around 
the 
streets 
faster, 
yet 
(for 
some 
reason) 
Rare 
decided 
they 
needed 
a 
completely 
different 
control 
scheme 
for 
this.
On 
foot, 
the 
Up 
button 
moves 
up; 
in 
Benny, 
Up 
button 
does... 
nothing.
They 
went 
through 
the 
trouble 
of 
actually
creating 
this 
second 
control 
scheme, 
which 
adds 
absolutely 
zero 
to 
the 
game!
And 
that's 
the 
weird 
thing 
about 
Rare!
I 
mean, 
it's 
like, 
they're 
not... 
lazy, 
it 
seems; 
they're 
not 
exactly 
cutting 
corners.
They 
put 
effort 
into 
things 
that 
do 
not 
enhance 
the 
game 
experience 
(and 
quite 
possibly 
detract 
from 
it).
Among 
other 
odd 
things, 
sometimes 
Roger 
gets 
captured 
by 
these 
two 
weasels 
and 
they 
tell 
corny 
old 
jokes 
(you 
have 
to 
choose 
the 
correct 
answers).
This 
feels 
like 
something 
Rare, 
sort 
of, 
threw 
in 
as 
filler.
I 
mean, 
does 
anyone 
actually 
enjoy 
these 
parts?
To 
me, 
when 
the 
weasels 
grab 
Roger, 
it's 
like,
"Oh, 
great. 
Not... 
Not 
this 
crap 
again.".
There 
is 
some 
sort 
of 
logic 
to 
some 
[of] 
the 
puzzles.
For 
example, 
you 
can't 
enter 
this 
club 
until 
ya' 
find 
the 
password 
(which 
is 
placed, 
of 
course, 
in 
some 
random 
location 
in 
town).
When 
you 
enter 
the 
club, 
you 
find 
Jessica 
Rabbit.
You 
can 
try 
to 
talk 
to 
her, 
but 
she'll 
tell 
you 
to 
find 
her 
phone 
number 
(which 
I'm 
sure 
is 
also 
randomly 
hidden 
in 
one 
[of] 
the 
buildings).
There 
are 
tons 
of 
items 
in 
this 
game 
- 
usually 
with 
one 
very 
specific 
use.
For 
example, 
there 
are 
separate 
items 
for,
uh, 
fending 
off 
the 
wild, 
uh, 
cats, 
dogs, 
and 
snakes 
that 
attack 
you.
There's 
lots 
of 
one-
time-
use 
items, 
like 
a 
password 
or 
Jessica's 
phone 
number.
You 
can 
see 
which 
item 
you 
have 
selected,
up 
there 
at 
the 
top.
However 
(get 
this) 
at 
various 
points 
the 
weasels 
will 
attack.
We 
have 
to 
fight 
them, 
but 
there's 
not 
just 
an 
attack 
button 
you 
can 
use.
No, 
you 
actually 
have 
to 
select 
your 
fist
(or 
weapon), 
[at...] 
from 
the 
items 
menu.
And 
this 
is 
done 
by 
(I 
shit 
you 
not) 
holding 
down 
the 
Select 
button 
while 
you 
scroll 
through 
every 
item, 
until 
you 
reach 
your 
fist.
And 
you 
cannot 
move, 
while 
you're 
doing 
this,
because 
you're 
using 
the 
D-
Pad 
to 
browse 
through 
the 
items.
So, 
often 
you'll 
have 
to, 
sort 
of, 
stop 
going 
through 
the 
menu, 
move 
away 
from 
the 
weasel 
(so 
he 
doesn't 
hit 
you), 
and 
then 
start 
going 
through 
the 
menu 
again.
The 
actual 
fighting 
is 
quite 
awkward, 
and 
you 
can 
lose 
a 
life 
if 
you 
get 
hit 
too 
many 
times.
Apparently, 
you 
have 
a 
life 
meter, 
but 
it 
appears 
to 
be 
invisible.
And 
those 
little 
"P”
s
that 
appear 
[across], 
uh, 
the 
bar 
at 
the 
top, 
there?
They, 
apparently, 
don't 
represent 
your 
life 
bar 
(and 
I 
swear 
I 
read 
through 
the 
manual 
and 
it 
doesn't 
mention 
them 
at 
all) 
so 
who 
knows 
what 
those 
actually 
do? 
There's 
so 
much 
weird 
shit 
like 
this. 
Like, 
when 
you 
start 
winding 
up 
your 
punch,
you 
can't 
move 
while 
doing 
so, 
unless 
you 
were 
already 
moving 
when 
you 
started 
winding 
up 
the 
punch 
(then 
you 
can 
continue 
to 
move).
Was 
this 
intentional 
or 
is 
it 
some 
kind 
of 
weird 
bug?
In 
some 
ways, 
this 
reminds 
me 
of 
the 
old 
Atari 
2600 
game, 
"Raiders 
[of] 
the 
Lost 
Ark".
There's 
a 
lot 
[of] 
things 
[you] 
have 
to 
do,
in 
a 
very 
specific 
fashion, 
but 
the 
game 
is 
very 
obtuse 
about 
it.
So, 
you 
just, 
sort 
of, 
wander 
around 
randomly,
hoping 
you'll 
be 
lead 
in 
the 
right 
direction.
Even 
the 
manual 
doesn't 
tell 
you 
what 
any 
[of] 
the 
items 
do.
Some 
[of] 
them 
(like 
the 
password) 
get 
explained 
in 
the 
context 
of 
the 
game, 
but 
what 
do 
rattles 
do?
(What 
about 
baseballs? 
The 
cigars?)
Even 
purchasing 
items 
from 
the 
store 
is 
really 
not 
that 
clear.
You 
need 
to 
select 
a 
wallet 
from 
the 
items 
menu, 
and 
then 
use 
it 
while 
you're 
actually 
standing 
right... 
directly 
next 
to 
the 
item
that 
you 
want 
to 
buy.
In 
what 
other 
game 
does 
buying 
from 
a 
shop 
work 
like 
that?
I 
mean, 
it's 
weird!
So 
many 
games 
are 
so 
intuitive, 
with 
how 
the 
basic 
controls 
work, 
but 
here 
you 
walk 
into 
your... 
a 
store, 
and 
you're 
like, 
"Uh... 
How 
do 
I 
actually 
buy 
this 
shit?".
It's 
not 
even 
clear 
what 
Roger 
Rabbit 
does 
in 
this 
game.
I 
mean, 
he 
follows 
Eddie 
around 
everywhere,
but 
it's... 
he's 
pretty 
much 
just 
window 
dressing.
You 
can't 
control 
him, 
and 
he's 
totally 
useless, 
for 
the 
most 
part 
(at 
least 
in 
the 
first 
half 
of 
the 
game 
that 
I 
played).
I 
guess 
they 
couldn't 
figure 
out 
any 
other
way 
to, 
sort 
of, 
work 
him 
into 
the 
game, 
so 
he's 
just, 
sort 
of, 
like, 
this 
fellow 
who 
shadows 
you 
everywhere 
you 
go.
I 
can't 
think 
of 
many 
games 
that 
just 
fail 
at 
so 
many 
levels 
at 
once.
It's 
actually 
completely 
exasperating.
It's 
really 
an 
utterly 
bizarre 
game.
Well, 
here 
we 
are - 
the 
big 
game 
this 
episode:
Capcom's 
"DuckTales" 
- 
the 
first 
in 
a 
series 
of 
very 
successful 
Disney 
games 
from 
Capcom 
(and 
I 
mean 
very 
successful).
Supposedly, 
"DuckTales" 
was 
Capcom's 
biggest 
selling 
N.
E.
S. 
game.
It 
was, 
of 
course, 
based 
on 
the 
wildly 
popular 
animated 
T.
V. 
show, 
that 
ran 
from 
1987 
to 
1990 
(which 
was, 
itself, 
based 
mostly 
on 
the 
duck 
comics 
of 
Carl 
Barks 
from 
the 
1940s 
through 
the 
1960s).
While 
Barks 
did 
not 
create 
Donald 
Duck 
or 
his 
nephews, 
he 
hid... 
did 
introduce 
lots 
of 
characters 
like 
Uncle 
Scrooge, 
The 
Beagle 
Boys, 
Flintheart 
Glomgold, 
Magica 
De 
Spell, 
Gyro 
Gearloose, 
and 
many 
others.
Barks' 
duck 
comics 
were 
among 
the 
most 
perfect 
comics 
ever 
created 
and 
the 
"DuckTales" 
T.
V.
show 
was 
basically 
a 
tribute 
to 
Barks, 
in 
many 
ways.
Capcom 
released 
this 
in 
the 
U.
S. 
first 
and 
then 
gave 
it 
a 
Japanese 
release 
in 
January 
1990, 
under 
the 
name, 
"Wanpaku 
Dakku 
Yume 
Bōken" 
or 
"Naughty 
Duck 
Dream 
Adventure".
The 
rather 
strange 
English 
text 
found 
in 
both 
the, 
uh, 
beta 
of 
the 
U.
S. 
game 
and 
the 
Japanese 
game 
states 
that, 
according 
to 
Scrooge, 
the 
most 
important 
treasure 
is 
"Dream 
and 
Friends".
Capcom 
had 
a 
pretty 
fruitful 
relationship 
with 
Disney, 
and 
this 
was 
the 
first 
Disney 
game 
that 
they 
actually 
developed 
themselves.
They 
had 
published 
"Mickey 
Mousecapade" 
in 
the 
U.
S., 
though 
that 
was 
actually 
developed 
by 
Hudson, 
who 
published 
the 
original 
Japanese 
release.
"DuckTales" 
continues 
Capcom's 
streak 
of 
quality 
Action/
Platforming 
games 
for 
the 
N.
E.
S.
We'd 
previously 
seen 
"Bionic 
Commando", 
"Strider",
and 
of 
course 
the 
two 
"MegaMan" 
games.
Just 
like 
"Bionic 
Commando", 
this 
uses 
a 
rather 
unusual 
mechanic 
for 
getting 
around.
Scrooge 
can 
[walk] 
and 
jump, 
but 
the 
only 
way 
he 
can 
attack 
enemies 
is 
by 
using 
his 
cane 
as 
a 
pogo 
stick.
Now, 
this 
seems 
absurd.
Canes 
don't 
have 
springs 
in 
them, 
for 
one,
nor 
do 
they 
have 
a 
place 
to 
put 
your 
feet 
on, 
and 
if 
you 
look 
closely 
at 
Scrooge's 
sprite,
you'll 
see 
that 
he's 
actually 
completely 
bent 
over 
to 
the 
point 
where 
his 
torso 
is 
almost 
touching 
the 
ground.
He's 
holding 
onto 
the 
cane 
with 
his 
hands 
and 
the 
top 
end 
of 
the 
cane 
appears 
to 
be 
pressed 
up 
against 
his 
chest.
Attempting 
to 
pogo 
like 
this 
would 
either
impale 
him 
on 
the 
cane 
or 
at 
the 
very 
least 
shatter 
his 
sternum, 
yet 
Scrooge 
(very 
improbably) 
is 
able 
to 
bounce 
around 
all 
over 
the 
place 
like 
this, 
unharmed.
Not 
only 
can 
Scrooge 
jump 
higher 
than 
normal, 
using 
the 
cane, 
but 
this 
is 
the 
only 
way 
that 
he 
can 
directly 
kill 
enemies 
- 
by 
impaling 
them 
on 
the 
end 
of 
a 
cane 
(which 
is, 
I'm 
sure, 
a 
very 
horrible 
way 
to 
die).
All 
this 
sounds 
really 
cool, 
except 
for 
one 
problem: 
initiating 
the 
pogo 
jump 
is 
slightly 
too 
complex.
You 
need 
to 
press 
A 
to 
do 
a 
regular 
jump,
then, 
before 
hitting 
the 
ground, 
press 
Down 
on 
the 
D-
Pad, 
and 
hold 
down 
the 
B 
button.
This 
doesn't 
sound 
like 
much 
work, 
I 
know,
but 
I 
don't 
quite 
understand 
why 
it 
has 
to 
require 
three 
button 
presses.
The 
thing 
is, 
you 
use 
the 
pogo 
jump 
constantly.
I 
mean 
(just 
a 
reminder) 
this 
is 
the 
only 
way 
you 
can 
kill 
enemies; 
if 
you 
do 
a 
regular 
jump 
and 
land 
on 
an 
enemy, 
you 
die.
Many 
many 
jumps 
in 
this 
game 
can 
only 
be 
done, 
using 
the 
pogo 
jump.
Other 
than 
that, 
there 
are 
lots 
of 
weird 
little 
issues 
with 
it.
It 
seems 
that 
if 
you 
are 
running, 
then 
jump 
forward 
into 
a 
pogo 
jump, 
you 
will, 
like, 
stop 
moving 
forward 
when 
you 
hit 
the 
ground, 
and 
it 
can 
be 
hard 
to 
initiate 
the 
jump 
in 
very 
tight 
quarters.
Sometimes, 
when 
you're, 
like, 
landing 
on 
a 
narrow 
platform, 
when 
you 
land, 
you'll 
actually 
come 
out 
of 
the 
pogo 
jump.
And, 
you 
can 
still 
die, 
while 
trying 
to 
pogo 
jump 
on 
enemies, 
if 
you 
don't 
hit 
them 
exactly 
right.
For 
example, 
right 
here, 
I 
thought 
I 
was 
going 
to 
land 
on 
this 
Beagle 
Boy 
but, 
if 
we 
look 
at 
it 
frame 
by 
frame, 
we 
see, 
yes, 
I'm 
getting 
quite 
close, 
cane 
isn't 
quite 
lined 
up 
right, 
and 
"Blammo!" 
there 
I 
go.
At 
the 
end 
of 
each 
level, 
you'll 
encounter
a 
boss 
battle; 
here's 
the 
first 
one.
Unfortunately, 
all 
the 
bosses 
are 
pretty 
simple 
variations 
on 
the 
same 
fight.
The 
boss 
moves 
around 
and 
you 
need 
to 
pogo 
and 
land 
on 
his 
head.
Then, 
after 
a 
few 
times, 
he 
drops 
the 
treasure,
and 
then 
you 
return 
to 
the 
Level 
Select 
screen.
For 
the 
most 
part, 
the 
main 
objective 
is 
simply 
to 
find 
the 
exit 
of 
each 
level.
However, 
while 
you're 
in 
there, 
you 
can 
also 
search 
around 
for 
money 
and 
items.
Uh... 
Gems 
and 
diamonds 
are 
found 
everywhere.
They 
fall 
out 
of 
the 
air; 
they're 
also 
inside 
treasure 
chests.
You 
can 
[either] 
only 
take 
a 
rather 
straightforward 
path 
to 
the 
boss, 
or 
you 
can 
explore 
around 
a 
bit 
more 
and 
find 
various 
detours 
and 
alternate 
paths, 
in 
order 
to 
get 
more 
treasure.
You 
can 
also 
occasionally 
find 
helpful 
things, 
like 
ice 
cream 
and 
cake, 
to 
restore 
your 
health
(though 
I'm 
not 
sure 
that 
birds 
can 
digest 
dairy 
products) 
and, 
in 
a 
couple 
cases, 
you 
will 
find 
an 
item 
that 
extends 
your 
health 
bar.
There's 
also 
a 
couple 
hidden 
special 
treasures.
Once 
you 
defeat 
the 
second 
boss, 
Magica 
De 
Spell, 
(who 
is, 
incidentally, 
the 
only 
boss 
that 
is 
actually 
taken 
from 
the 
cartoon, 
instead 
of 
being 
just 
some 
generic 
monster) 
you 
then 
go 
on 
to 
the 
African 
mines.
However, 
you 
immediately 
run 
into 
one 
of 
your 
nephews, 
who 
tells 
you 
you 
need 
a 
key, 
in 
order 
to 
proceed.
And 
the 
key 
is 
found 
in... 
the 
previous 
level.
Yeah, 
you 
actually 
have 
to 
immediately 
return 
to 
Transylvania 
and 
look 
for 
the 
key.
Fortunately, 
it's 
a 
very 
short 
trip 
to 
the 
room 
where 
the 
key 
is 
kept.
The 
mine 
level 
is 
kind 
of 
strange 
and 
th...
the 
path 
to 
the 
boss 
[is] 
actually 
quite 
short,
but 
there 
is 
a 
much 
longer 
meandering 
path, 
where 
[you] 
can 
pick 
up 
lots 
of 
treasures 
and 
money.
While 
playing 
"DuckTales", 
it 
reminded 
me 
a 
lot 
of 
the 
N.
E.
S. 
version 
of 
"Strider", 
aesthetically.
Just 
like 
"Strider", 
there 
is 
a 
vibe 
of, 
you 
know, 
"Here's 
the 
cave 
level, 
here's 
the 
jungle
level,.. 
oh, 
and 
here's 
a 
snow 
level!"
The 
computer 
thing 
cr... 
Scrooge 
uses 
between 
levels 
is 
very 
similar 
to 
the 
one 
"Strider" 
uses.
Of 
course, 
"DuckTales" 
is 
much 
simpler 
than 
"Strider".
There's 
no 
special 
items 
that 
give 
you 
any 
additional 
abilities 
(other 
than 
the 
life 
bar 
extension) 
and 
there, 
[you 
know], 
are 
a 
couple 
extra 
lives 
found 
here 
and 
there.
But 
there's 
not 
much 
backtracking, 
other 
than 
that 
brief 
return 
to 
Transylvania.
It's 
pretty 
much 
a 
matter 
of 
wandering 
around 
the 
level 
until 
you 
find 
the 
boss.
I 
mean, 
sure, 
there's 
exploration, 
but 
there's
not 
much 
to 
find, 
other 
than 
diamonds.
And 
the 
question 
is, 
"Why 
look 
for 
diamonds?".
Your 
money 
counter 
is 
basically 
just 
a 
score.
Diamonds 
don't 
do 
anything 
in 
the 
game.
There 
is 
no 
actual 
in 
game 
benefit 
to 
picking 
them 
up.
You 
can't 
spend 
them 
at 
shops 
or 
anything 
like 
that.
The 
only 
thing 
they 
actually 
do 
is 
impact
the 
ending, 
which 
we'll 
get 
to 
in 
just 
a 
bit.
The 
other 
thing 
that 
bugs 
me 
is 
the 
lack 
of
any 
kind 
of 
game 
story 
or 
narrative 
drive.
"DuckTales" 
was 
aimed 
at 
younger 
audiences,
so 
there's 
not 
a 
lot 
[of] 
dialogue, 
but 
this 
doesn't 
really 
make 
great 
use 
of 
the 
"DuckTales" 
license.
I 
mean, 
this 
could 
easily 
have 
been 
developed
as 
something 
else 
entirely 
different 
and 
then 
the 
sprites 
swapped 
in 
at 
the 
very 
last 
moment.
Huey, 
Dewey, 
and 
Louie 
just 
appear 
in 
random
places 
throughout 
the 
game 
for 
no 
reason 
and 
don't 
really 
do 
anything.
And 
why 
is 
Mrs. 
Beakley 
in 
the 
diamond 
mine?
Or, 
why 
is 
Bubba 
in 
the 
Himalayas, 
frozen 
in 
a 
block 
of 
ice?
It's 
interesting 
that 
people 
always 
complain 
about 
"Back 
to 
the 
Future", 
for, 
like, 
not 
being 
faithful 
to 
the 
movie 
("Did 
they 
even 
see 
"Back 
to 
the 
Future" 
before 
making 
the 
game?") 
but 
really, 
did 
anyone 
at 
Capcom 
ever 
see 
an 
episode 
of 
"DuckTales" 
or 
were 
they 
just 
handed 
character 
model 
sheets 
and 
told, 
"Stick 
the 
characters 
in 
there, 
somewhere.".
Even 
the 
instruction 
manual 
doesn't 
offer 
any 
kind 
of 
story, 
other 
than 
simply, 
you 
know, 
Scrooge 
is 
looking 
for 
treasure.
DuckTales 
is 
pretty 
repetitive 
and 
most 
levels 
are 
quite 
similar, 
with 
just 
the 
background 
graphics 
being 
a 
little 
different 
(like, 
in 
the 
jungle 
level 
you 
climb 
up 
vines 
and, 
on 
the 
mine 
level, 
you 
climb 
up 
chains).
The 
Himalayas 
level 
is 
about 
the 
only 
level 
that, 
sort 
of, 
finds 
a 
way 
to 
use 
the 
environment 
to 
alter 
the 
gameplay.
That 
is, 
if 
you 
try 
to 
pogo 
on 
the 
snow, 
you'll 
get 
stuck 
(which 
makes 
sense, 
of 
course) 
and 
it 
does 
use 
falling 
icicles 
and 
slippery 
blocks 
of 
ice 
a 
bit, 
as 
well.
Now, 
please 
don't 
think 
that 
I'm 
telling 
you 
that 
DuckTales 
is 
a 
bad 
game.
It's 
actually 
pretty 
good!
I 
mean, 
it's 
sort 
of 
unambitious, 
when 
compared
to 
Capcom's 
other 
recent 
Platform/
Action 
games,
and, 
whereas 
"MegaMan 
2" 
was 
a 
labor 
of 
love,
"DuckTales" 
feels 
like 
competent 
guys 
making 
[a] 
game 
that 
they 
were 
paid 
to 
make.
Everyone 
loves 
the 
Moon 
Level 
music, 
and 
yeah 
I 
will 
admit, 
it's 
pretty 
darn 
nice.
1up.
com 
once 
put 
this 
game 
at 
number 
9 
on 
a 
list 
of 
the 
best 
ever 
N.
E.
S. 
games, 
which 
seems 
(quite 
frankly) 
insane 
to 
me 
and 
I 
grade 
this 
as 
a 
solid 
B... 
maybe 
a 
B-.
So, 
once 
you've 
found 
all 
five 
treasures,
something 
of 
a 
plot 
twist 
occurs; 
your 
treasures 
all 
get 
stolen, 
somehow, 
and 
you 
get 
a 
message, 
telling 
you 
to 
come 
to 
Dracula 
Duck 
Manor
(which 
turns 
out 
to 
be 
the 
Transylvania 
level 
again).
As 
someone 
pointed 
out, 
this 
was, 
uh, 
produced 
by 
Tokuro 
Fujiwara 
(designer 
of 
"Ghosts 
'n' 
Goblins") 
which 
might 
explain 
why 
you 
have
to 
play 
through 
this 
level 
twice.
So 
you 
make 
your 
way 
back 
to 
the 
same 
boss 
room 
as 
before, 
then 
face 
the 
final 
boss: 
Dracula 
Duck.
He's 
a 
bit 
trickier 
than 
the 
other 
bosses
(which 
are 
all 
quite 
easily 
beaten) 
um, 
but 
here 
you 
actually 
need 
to 
land 
on 
a 
bat, 
in 
order 
to 
bounce 
high 
enough 
to 
hit 
him 
on 
the 
head.
All 
this 
seems 
to 
be 
a, 
uh, 
Castlevania...
(parody? 
homage? 
rip 
off?); 
I'm 
not 
quite 
sure.
Once 
defeated, 
uh, 
Magica 
De 
Spell 
and 
Flintheart 
Glomgold 
appear 
and 
say 
that 
they 
will 
race 
you 
to 
your 
treasure.
I 
don't 
even 
know 
which 
one 
is 
supposed 
[to] 
be 
talking... 
or, 
for 
that 
matter, 
how 
Magica 
or 
Flintheart 
are 
even 
connected 
to 
Dracula 
Duck, 
but 
you 
do 
get 
this 
very 
silly 
little 
race, 
where 
all 
you 
do 
is 
climb 
straight 
up 
the 
rope.
There's 
no 
way 
to 
lose 
this, 
unless 
you 
deliberately 
try.
Now, 
there 
are 
three 
possible 
endings.
There's 
the 
regular 
one 
(this 
one), 
um, 
but 
if 
you 
have, 
uh, 
ended 
the 
game 
with 
more 
money, 
you 
get 
a 
picture 
of 
Scrooge 
on 
a 
larger 
pile 
of 
treasure, 
and 
if 
you 
beat 
the 
game 
with 
no 
money, 
you 
get 
a 
pic 
of 
Scrooge 
looking, 
you 
know, 
sad 
because 
he 
has 
no 
treasure.
Overall, 
it's 
a 
nice 
game.
I 
wouldn't 
put 
it 
among 
the 
top 
tier 
of 
Capcom 
masterpieces 
but 
it 
is 
better 
than 
90% 
of 
the 
crap 
on 
the 
FamiCom, 
and 
it 
did 
inaugurate 
Capcom's 
series 
of 
high 
quality 
Disney 
games.
Oh 
no!
It's 
"Fester's 
Quest" 
- 
one 
of 
the 
most 
hated 
and 
despised 
games 
on 
the 
Nintendo 
Entertainment 
System 
(probably 
not 
hated 
as 
much 
as 
"Back 
to 
the 
Future", 
though).
Now, 
it 
might 
not 
be 
clear, 
but, 
uh, 
Uncle 
Fester 
was 
moonbathing 
one 
night, 
when 
a 
spaceship 
kidnapped 
a 
bunch 
of 
people.
Gomez 
must 
protect 
the 
family, 
so 
it's 
up 
to 
Uncle 
Fester 
to 
rescue 
all 
those 
poor 
Manhattanites.
It's 
not 
even 
clear 
what 
this 
game's 
name 
is.
The 
title 
screen 
says, 
"Uncle 
Fester's 
Quest: 
The 
Addams 
Family"; 
the 
box 
art 
just 
says,
"Fester's 
Quest".
This 
was 
developed 
and 
published 
by 
Sunsoft,
and 
only 
released 
in 
the 
U.
S. 
and 
Europe.
What's 
it 
like?
Well, 
do 
you 
remember 
the 
parts 
of 
Sunsoft's 
"Master 
Blaster" 
where 
ya' 
got 
out 
of 
the 
tank 
and 
the 
game 
became 
sorta' 
like 
a 
top 
down 
"Commando"-
type 
game?
Well, 
just 
imagine 
an 
entire 
game 
of 
just
those 
parts 
and 
you'll 
have 
"Fester's 
Quest".
The 
game 
takes 
place 
in 
Central 
Park, 
I 
assume, 
as 
well 
as 
the 
sewers 
below.
We 
don't 
see 
the 
Addams 
Family 
mansion, 
per 
se, 
but 
instead 
there's 
several 
smaller 
houses 
[which] 
are 
scattered 
around 
the 
park 
(each 
containing 
one 
member 
of 
the 
family, 
for 
some 
reason).
Now, 
I'm 
sure 
you're 
all 
familiar 
with 
"The 
Addams 
Family" 
and 
Uncle 
Fester.
He 
first 
appeared 
in 
the, 
uh, 
Charles 
Addams 
New 
Yorker, 
uh, 
cartoons, 
as 
an 
unnamed 
creepy 
bald 
weirdo.
When 
The 
Addams 
Family 
was 
developed 
into 
a 
T.
V. 
show 
in 
the 
mid-
‘60s 
and 
the 
cartoon 
characters 
were 
fleshed 
out 
and 
given 
names, 
while 
Fester 
is 
clearly 
someone's 
uncle, 
he's 
sometimes 
described 
as 
"Gomez's 
brother" 
and 
sometimes 
as 
"Morticia'a 
uncle".
Former 
child 
star, 
Jackie 
Coogan 
portrayed 
him 
in 
the 
original 
show.
The 
game 
draws 
some 
elements 
from 
the 
character 
from 
the 
T.
V. 
show, 
such 
as 
Fester 
wielding 
a 
blunderbuss 
and, 
uh, 
somehow 
being 
able 
to 
power 
a 
light 
bulb.
Aside 
from 
your 
gun 
and 
the 
light 
bulbs, 
you'll 
also 
need 
keys 
to 
open 
doors, 
money 
to 
buy 
hot 
dogs 
(to 
refill 
your 
health), 
gun 
power-
ups, 
as 
well 
as 
items 
provided 
by 
the 
other 
family 
members, 
such 
as 
various 
types 
of 
potions 
and 
missiles 
and 
so 
on.
"Fester's 
Quest" 
is 
usually 
regarded 
as 
a
pretty 
difficult 
game 
for 
several 
reasons.
One 
problem 
you 
might 
encounter 
early 
on 
is 
that 
your 
gun's 
projectiles 
move 
in 
weird 
curved 
paths.
The 
patterns 
actually 
change 
as 
you 
power
up 
the 
gun 
and 
some 
travel 
in 
a... 
such 
a
severe 
curve 
that 
it's 
almost 
impossible 
to
hit 
enemies, 
eh, 
as 
they 
close 
in 
on 
you.
Or, 
when 
you're 
traveling 
in 
tight 
quarters,
your 
projectiles 
will 
actually 
just 
curve, 
right 
into 
the 
wall 
and 
you 
won't 
be 
able 
to 
hit 
anything 
at 
all.
Once 
you 
power 
it 
up 
all 
the 
way, 
the 
gun
becomes 
an 
actual, 
like, 
wall 
of 
death, 
but 
gun 
power-
downs 
are 
dropped 
just 
as 
frequently
(or 
probably 
moreso 
than 
gun 
power-
ups) 
so 
you 
can 
very 
easily 
power 
down 
your 
guns 
by 
accident.
At 
first 
glance, 
"Fester's 
Quest" 
appears 
[to] 
resemble 
a 
Metroid-
vania 
or 
Zelda-
type 
game.
You 
have 
this 
big 
maze-
like 
overworld 
and 
you 
can 
explore 
around 
the 
park, 
find 
various 
helpful 
items, 
climb 
down 
into 
the 
sewers, 
and 
come 
out 
in 
new 
areas.
In 
fact, 
the 
overworld 
and 
the 
sewers 
are 
two 
big 
maps, 
connected 
together 
at 
various 
points, 
with 
only 
certain 
areas 
being... 
being
accessible 
at 
the 
beginning 
of 
a 
game.
However, 
as 
the 
game 
progresses, 
you'll 
see 
that 
[it] 
becomes 
very 
very 
linear.
There's 
only 
one 
specific 
path 
through 
the 
world 
and 
while 
there 
are 
a 
few 
areas 
that 
are 
slightly 
off 
the 
main 
path, 
the 
game 
pretty 
much 
goes 
like 
this:
You 
walk 
through 
a 
path 
in 
the 
park 
that 
ends 
in 
a 
sewer 
entrance, 
you 
go 
into 
the 
sewer,
re-
enter 
the 
park, 
take 
the 
path 
through 
the 
park 
to 
a 
building, 
enter 
the 
building, 
fight 
a 
boss 
at 
the 
end 
[of] 
the 
building, 
and 
then 
repeat 
(five 
bosses 
and 
then 
you 
enter 
the 
final 
level: 
the 
U.
F.
O.).
For 
some 
reason, 
the 
game 
throws 
in 
these
first 
person 
sections, 
right 
before 
the 
boss 
fights.
There's 
not 
much 
point; 
I 
mean, 
they're 
just 
small 
mazes 
with 
nothing 
in 
them.
At 
the 
end 
is 
a 
rather 
boring-
looking 
office 
door, 
wherein 
hides 
the 
boss.
All 
the 
bosses 
are 
sorta' 
similar 
to 
this:
a 
large 
dude 
who 
moves 
back 
and 
forth, 
attacking 
you 
from 
above.
You 
need 
to 
dodge 
his 
attacks 
(which 
are 
simple 
repetitive 
patterns) 
and 
shoot 
him 
until 
he 
dies.
Afterwards, 
you 
exit, 
and 
then 
move 
on 
to 
the 
next 
level.
Now, 
you 
must 
admit, 
"The 
Addams 
Family" 
was 
sort 
of 
an 
odd 
subject 
for 
a 
game 
in 
1989.
There 
hadn't 
been 
any 
new 
Addams 
Family 
material,
since 
a, 
uh, 
made-
for-
T.
V. 
movie 
in 
the 
'70s,
and 
"The 
Addams 
Family" 
movie 
was 
still 
a 
little 
over 
two 
years 
away.
As 
it 
turns 
out, 
this 
was 
sort 
of 
a 
passion
project 
from 
Richard 
Robbins 
at 
Sunsoft.
According 
to 
an 
interview 
on 
KidFenris.
com
the 
idea 
came 
to 
Robbins 
in 
a 
dream, 
and 
in 
order 
to 
get 
it 
made, 
he 
spent 
a 
great 
number 
of, 
uh, 
phone 
calls 
to 
Addams' 
widow 
in 
France, 
trying 
to 
convince 
her 
to 
give 
him 
permission. 
Sunsoft's 
home 
office 
in 
Japan 
didn't 
understand 
why 
he 
wanted 
to 
make 
this 
game, 
but 
obviously 
it 
was 
made, 
and 
it 
was 
developed 
by 
the 
same 
team 
as 
"Master 
Blaster".
Apparently 
the 
lack 
of 
any 
sort 
of 
save 
system 
was 
due 
to 
a 
"oversight" 
and 
once 
they 
realized 
the 
game 
really 
needed 
one, 
it 
was 
too 
late, 
which 
brings 
me 
to 
the 
other 
thing 
that 
makes 
"Fester's 
Quest" 
so 
damn 
difficult.
You 
can 
take 
two 
hits 
before 
you 
die.
What 
happens 
when 
you 
die?
You 
restart 
at 
the 
beginning... 
(no, 
not 
the 
beginning 
of 
a 
level) 
...the 
beginning 
of 
the 
entire 
damn 
game).
That's 
right, 
if 
you 
get 
killed, 
um, 
for 
example, 
like, 
on 
the 
final 
boss 
fight, 
you 
go 
all 
the 
way 
back 
to 
where 
you 
started 
at 
the 
beginning 
of 
the 
game 
[and 
must] 
go 
through 
the 
entire 
game 
again.
Now, 
granted, 
you 
get 
to 
keep 
your 
weapons 
and 
items, 
but 
still 
(I 
mean, 
you 
get 
hit 
twice 
and 
you 
have 
to 
start 
all 
over 
again?) 
that's 
insane!
Now, 
there 
is 
a 
well-
hidden 
secret 
item 
that 
extends 
your 
life 
bar 
to 
three 
notches.
In 
fact, 
apparently 
there's 
another 
one 
of 
these 
that 
I 
didn't 
find, 
that 
gives 
you 
a 
fourth 
notch.
And 
you 
do 
get 
some 
potions, 
early 
on 
[in] 
the 
game, 
but 
only 
five 
[of] 
them 
(and 
you 
can't 
buy 
extras 
anywhere).
So, 
you 
have 
to 
play 
through 
the 
game 
in 
one 
sitting 
and 
basically 
not 
make 
more 
than 
a 
handful 
of 
mistakes.
Now, 
after 
your 
gun, 
part 
way 
through 
the 
game 
you 
get 
a 
second 
weapon 
from 
Morticia
(a 
whip, 
which 
kinda' 
resembles 
the 
flaming
whip 
of 
"Castlevania 
2", 
when 
fully 
upgraded).
This 
actually 
is 
a 
bit 
more 
powerful 
[than] 
the 
gun, 
but 
on 
the 
other 
hand 
you 
have 
to 
be 
a 
bit 
more 
careful 
when 
aiming 
it.
The 
final 
U.
F.
O. 
level 
is 
full 
of 
tons 
of 
difficult 
enemies.
Um... 
Though, 
a 
very 
helpful 
item 
you 
get 
late 
in 
the 
game 
is 
the 
noose, 
which 
kills 
all 
the 
enemies 
onscreen 
(presumably 
by 
hanging 
them, 
I 
guess).
Now, 
should 
you 
make 
it 
this 
far, 
luckily 
it 
turns 
out 
the 
final 
boss 
(which 
is 
some 
kind 
of 
killer 
robot/
computer/
metal 
gear 
thing 
I 
don't 
know, 
but 
it) 
can 
be 
easily 
defeated 
if 
you 
still 
have 
enough 
invisibility 
potions 
and 
missiles.
Once 
you've 
knocked 
out 
the 
guns 
up 
in 
front, 
you 
can 
just 
stand 
right 
here, 
and 
its, 
um, 
remaining 
weapon 
can't 
hit 
you 
and 
you 
can 
just 
fire 
away 
with 
your 
missiles 
until 
it 
blows 
up.
And 
that's 
it!
I 
guess 
the 
spaceship 
decides 
to 
beam 
down 
all 
the 
Earthlings, 
um, 
back 
to 
Earth, 
right 
before 
exploding.
And 
then 
the 
happy 
New 
Yorkers 
and 
you 
have 
a 
little 
rave 
together.
It's 
a 
shame 
that 
"Fester's 
Quest" 
is, 
like, 
so 
close 
to 
being 
a 
good 
game.
Just 
a 
few 
tweaks 
and 
it 
would 
have 
been 
pretty 
decent.
Um.. 
Either 
way, 
though, 
it 
actually 
sold
pretty 
well 
(a 
million 
copies, 
apparently).
So, 
while 
it's 
far 
from 
perfect, 
it's 
still 
better 
than 
"Back 
to 
the 
Future".
One 
last 
game 
for 
September.
This 
one 
is 
also, 
curiously, 
a 
U.
S.-
only 
release.
But 
listen 
to 
this 
music.
Now, 
if 
you've 
played 
enough, 
uh, 
N.
E.
S. 
games, 
your 
first 
thought 
might 
be, 
"Now, 
that 
is 
some 
hella' 
British 
music!".
I 
think 
[it's] 
that 
little 
"brrrring" 
thing
that 
gives 
it 
away.
So, 
"Sky 
Shark" 
is 
the 
first 
console 
game 
to 
have 
music 
by 
Tim 
Folan, 
who 
had 
previously 
found 
fame 
doing 
the 
music 
for 
various 
games 
on 
the 
Commodore 
64 
and 
the 
Z.
X. 
Spectrum
and, 
uh, 
you 
know, 
systems 
like 
that.
As 
is 
often 
the 
case 
with 
these 
N.
E.
S. 
games 
that 
were 
released 
in 
the, 
uh, 
western 
market 
only, 
Taito 
went 
to 
a 
British 
developer 
(in 
this 
case, 
the 
infamous 
Software 
Creations, 
who 
are 
also 
known 
for 
such, 
uh, 
N.
E.
S. 
games 
as 
"Silver 
Surfer" 
and 
"Wolverine").
"Sky 
Shark" 
is 
a 
military 
themed 
Shooter,
where 
naturally 
you 
pilot 
an 
old-
fashioned-
looking 
biplane.
If 
"Sky 
Shark" 
feels 
exactly, 
sort 
of, 
like,
uh, 
so 
many 
other 
military 
Shooters, 
that's 
because 
it 
is 
a 
port 
of 
a 
1987 
arcade 
game,
originally 
developed 
by 
Toaplan 
(also 
known 
under 
the 
name 
"Flying 
Shark").
This 
game 
feels 
a 
lot 
like 
Toaplan's 
"Twin 
Cobra" 
or 
"Twin 
Hawk".
You 
face 
off 
against 
hordes 
of, 
uh, 
flying 
enemy 
aircraft, 
along 
with 
tanks 
rolling 
along 
the 
ground, 
[and] 
boats 
shooting 
at 
you 
from 
the 
water 
below.
The 
original 
arcade 
game 
was 
nothing 
special,
but 
reasonably 
charming.
The 
N.
E.
S. 
port 
rips 
out 
all 
of 
the 
charm,
cranks 
up 
the 
difficulty 
quite 
a 
bit, 
and 
leaves 
you 
with 
a 
game 
that 
is 
not 
very 
enjoyable.
So 
I 
think 
you 
get 
the 
idea, 
here.
Shooting 
the 
series 
of 
red 
planes 
will 
cause 
[an] 
item 
to 
drop; 
usually 
it's 
a 
power-
up 
or 
an 
extra 
bomb.
The 
power-
ups 
are 
nothing 
special; 
they 
just 
add 
extra 
projectiles 
to 
your 
weapon 
and 
make 
the 
shots 
spread 
out 
a 
bit 
more.
You 
don't 
have 
any 
secondary 
weapons, 
or 
anything 
like 
that, 
here.
In 
terms 
of 
enemies, 
you 
get 
your 
standard
planes, 
tanks, 
mounted 
turrets 
on 
the 
ground
(you 
know, 
just 
the 
usual 
stuff).
Some 
boring 
bosses 
appear, 
like 
this 
giant 
tank.
Don't 
really 
expect 
much 
in 
the 
way 
of 
originality 
when 
it 
comes 
to 
this 
game.
"Sky 
Shark" 
really 
borrows 
a 
lot 
from 
Capcom's 
"1942" 
series.
For 
example, 
ya' 
have 
parts 
where 
ya' 
fly 
over 
battleships, 
knocking 
out 
their 
onboard 
guns.
I... 
I 
guess 
it's 
not 
terrible.
There 
are 
some 
slightly 
irritating 
things 
about 
"Sky 
Shark" 
(like 
the 
way 
enemies 
are 
always 
shooting 
at 
you 
from 
the 
sides 
and 
from 
behind).
It's 
not 
terribly 
difficult.
I 
guess 
this 
might 
have 
seemed 
cool 
back 
in 
1989 
but, 
after 
25 
plus 
years 
of 
better 
Shoot'em-
Ups,
"Sky 
Shark" 
doesn't 
really 
hold 
much 
appeal, 
now.
We 
now 
turn 
our 
attention 
to 
the 
month 
of 
October, 
1989, 
and 
it's 
"Koushien".
We 
have 
an 
almost 
elegiac 
musical 
melody, 
here.
Then 
it 
picks 
up 
a 
bit.
Published 
by 
K.
A.
C., 
it 
seems 
to 
be 
assumed 
that 
this 
[is] 
developed 
by 
S.
N.
K. 
(though 
their 
name 
isn't 
actually 
found 
anywhere 
on 
the 
front 
of 
the 
box).
I 
have 
also 
heard 
it 
described 
online 
as 
using
the 
same 
"engine" 
as 
S.
N.
K.
‘s 
"Baseball 
Stars".
Alright, 
so 
this 
is 
rather 
clearly 
the, 
uh, 
Honshin 
Koushien 
stadium, 
depicted 
on 
the 
title 
screen.
"Koushien" 
usually 
refers 
to 
the, 
uh, 
high 
school 
baseball 
championships, 
which 
take 
place 
at 
Koushien 
Stadium.
This 
is... 
has 
a, 
uh, 
a 
reasonably 
high 
level 
of 
customization, 
here.
You 
can 
play 
through 
the 
entire 
championships,
pick 
which 
teams 
are 
gonna' 
be 
in 
the 
championships
(as 
is 
done 
on 
this 
map 
of 
Japan, 
here), 
swap 
out 
various 
team 
members, 
[and] 
so 
on.
The 
kid 
giving 
a 
speech 
here, 
uh, 
strikes 
a 
rather 
Fascist 
pose.
Oh 
yeah, 
[and] 
look 
at 
the 
face 
of 
the 
dude 
third 
from 
the 
left 
on 
the, 
uh, 
left 
hand 
side 
of 
the 
screen, 
there.
The, 
uh, 
team 
first 
up 
[gets] 
decided 
by 
a
game 
of 
Rock, 
Paper, 
Scissors, 
of 
course.
The 
soundtrack 
is 
purty 
interesting!
They 
use, 
like, 
this 
great 
deep 
drum 
sound 
in 
places.
I'm 
guessing 
this 
utilized 
a, 
uh, 
special 
sound 
chip.
Now, 
in 
terms 
of 
how 
this 
plays, 
it's 
not 
as 
irritating 
as 
some 
FamiCom 
baseball 
games,
though 
I 
tended 
to 
get 
a 
lot 
of 
relatively 
high 
fly 
balls... 
and 
the 
C.
P.
U.
‘s 
outfielders 
will 
catch 
these 
balls 
around 
a 
hundred 
percent 
[of] 
the 
time.
As 
always, 
it 
can 
be 
harder 
for 
you 
to 
catch
fly 
balls, 
when 
playing 
defense, 
because 
you
can't 
see 
where 
your 
outfielders 
are, 
until 
a 
ball 
gets 
pretty 
close 
to 
them.
Overall, 
though, 
it 
is 
actually 
a... 
a... 
a 
pretty 
well 
constructed 
baseball 
game, 
however 
it 
is 
one 
of 
those 
games 
that 
got 
a 
pretty 
heavily 
re-
worked, 
uh, 
version, 
released 
here 
in 
the 
United 
States 
in 
1990, 
under 
the 
name 
"Little 
League 
Baseball: 
Championship 
Series".
And 
while 
it's 
not 
quite 
as 
an 
impressive 
a 
catch 
as 
the 
N.
F.
L. 
license, 
this 
is 
an 
official 
Little 
League 
baseball 
video 
game, 
just 
in 
time 
for 
the, 
ah, 
51st 
anniversary
of 
Little 
League 
baseball, 
since 
this 
came 
out 
in 
the 
U.
S. 
in 
summer 
of 
1990.
Um... 
Maybe 
it 
was 
planning 
on 
being 
released 
earlier 
and 
didn't 
quite 
make 
it.
And 
this 
was 
actually 
published 
by 
S.
N.
K., 
in 
the 
U.
S.
However, 
when 
[ya'] 
actually 
load 
this 
thing 
up, 
all 
of 
the 
animations 
and 
screens 
in 
the 
intro 
have 
been 
completely 
changed.
But, 
you 
know, 
the 
overall 
structure 
remains 
the 
same.
Om... 
Instead 
of 
having, 
uh, 
like, 
the 
map 
of 
Japan, 
this 
is 
where 
you 
pick 
the 
teams 
you 
want 
[to] 
actually 
play 
in 
the 
championship 
from 
an 
international 
roster 
of 
various 
teams.
The 
Rock, 
Paper, 
Scissors 
game 
has 
been 
replaced 
with 
the 
traditional 
thing 
where 
you 
put 
your 
hands 
on 
the, 
ah, 
the 
baseball 
bat.
The 
game, 
itself, 
is 
[pretty] 
similar 
to 
the 
original.
The 
sprites 
of 
the 
batters 
have 
been 
changed, 
but 
the 
pitcher, 
the 
basemen, 
and 
the 
outfielders 
remain 
exactly 
the 
same.
Unfortunately, 
the 
music 
gets 
a 
pretty 
heavy
downgrade, 
losing 
those 
great 
pounding 
drums.
I 
[really] 
don't 
wanna' 
sell 
this 
short, 
because 
Little 
League 
Baseball 
is 
actually 
a 
pretty 
solid 
game.
I 
love 
the 
little 
touches, 
like 
the 
pitchers, 
you 
know, 
sort 
of, 
bawling 
out 
the 
other 
players 
when 
they 
fail 
to 
get 
a 
runner 
out, 
or 
this 
absolutely 
marvelous 
Home 
Run 
screen.
I 
mean, 
just 
look 
at 
all 
those 
faces 
- 
pretty 
much 
the 
best 
Home 
Run 
screen 
we've 
seen 
so 
far 
in... 
in... 
in 
any 
baseball 
game 
and....
why 
are 
they 
cheerleaders 
in 
the 
stands, 
though?
So, 
final 
conclusion: 
"Koushien" 
(a.
k.
a. 
"Little 
League 
Baseball") 
is 
a 
pretty 
damn 
playable 
game 
– 
really 
sort 
of 
the 
polar 
opposite 
of 
L.
J.
N.
‘s 
"N.
F.
L.".
[I] 
mean, 
we 
have 
a 
lot 
of 
baseball 
games 
on 
this 
console.
This 
isn't 
certainly 
not 
exactly 
the 
best,
but 
we've 
seen 
far 
far 
worse.
Now, 
we 
do 
have 
one 
last 
sports 
game, 
this 
episode.
Ah, 
here's 
another 
game 
with 
a 
somewhat 
confusing 
naming 
history: 
"World 
Super 
Tennis" 
(a.
k.
a. 
"Top 
Players' 
Tennis", 
a.
k.
a. 
Four 
Players' 
Tennis).
Published 
by 
our 
good 
buddies, 
Asmik, 
this 
is, 
I 
believe, 
the 
second 
Asmik 
FamiCom 
game 
we've 
seen 
(the 
first 
being 
a 
Mahjong 
game 
that 
employed 
a, 
uh, 
manga 
license).
Just 
like 
that 
game, 
"World 
Super 
Tennis"
appears 
to 
[have] 
[been] 
developed 
by 
a 
little 
company 
called 
Game 
Data.
It 
features 
the 
names 
and 
likenesses 
of 
two 
tennis 
champs, 
Ivan 
Lendl 
(who 
was 
top 
t... 
uh, 
the 
top 
ranked 
male 
tennis 
player 
in 
the 
world 
at... 
at 
this 
time) 
and 
(a 
bit 
strangely) 
Chris 
Evert 
(who 
was, 
I 
think, 
retired 
by
the 
time 
this 
game 
came 
out).
She 
dominated 
the 
women's 
tennis 
world 
in 
[the] 
mid-
‘70s 
to 
late 
'70s.
However, 
um, 
she 
was, 
perhaps, 
the 
best 
female 
tennis 
player, 
ever 
(at 
least 
in 
the 
pre-
Serena 
Williams 
era).
So, 
aside 
from 
Lendl 
or 
Evert, 
you 
can 
create 
your 
own 
custom 
character, 
here 
(a, 
[you 
know], 
boy 
or 
girl).
Now, 
in 
1990 
this 
got 
a 
pretty 
straightforward 
port 
in 
the 
U.
S., 
under 
the 
name 
"Top 
Players' 
Tennis".
"Chris 
Evert"
"Ivan 
Lendl"
They 
added 
some 
voice 
samples, 
and, 
uh, 
prominently 
put 
Evert 
and 
Lendl's 
name 
in 
the 
title.
Also, 
one 
thing, 
they 
reversed 
the 
order 
in 
which 
they 
appear 
in 
the 
intro; 
Lendl 
comes 
comes 
first 
in 
the 
Japanese 
version 
and 
Evert 
is 
first 
in 
the 
U.
S. 
version.
Other 
than 
that, 
though, 
pretty 
much 
everything's 
about 
the 
same.
You 
have 
multiple 
play 
modes, 
for 
up 
to 
four 
players.
So, 
playing 
against 
the 
computer, 
there 
is 
a 
career 
mode, 
of 
sorts.
You 
need 
to 
beat 
three 
opponents 
to 
win 
the 
tournament.
After 
this, 
you 
move 
on 
to 
several 
real 
life 
tournaments, 
such 
as 
the, 
uh, 
French 
Open 
and 
so 
on.
So, 
the 
first 
dude 
is 
pretty 
easy.
Probably 
the 
hardest 
part 
is 
serving.
Ya' 
need 
to 
hit 
the 
ball 
when 
it's 
relatively 
high 
up 
in 
the 
air.
In 
fact, 
the 
ball, 
to 
me, 
looks 
like 
it's 
still 
well 
ab... 
like, 
way 
above 
your 
head, 
when 
you 
make 
contact.
But 
when 
I 
swing 
at 
the 
point 
where 
the 
ball 
appears 
to 
be 
at 
the 
correct 
height, 
I 
always 
get 
a 
fault.
Though, 
on 
the 
other 
hand, 
I 
mean, 
your 
player 
appears 
to 
be 
the 
same 
size, 
[no] 
matter 
where 
you 
are 
in 
the 
foreground 
or 
background, 
so 
I 
guess 
it 
appears 
unnaturally 
short 
while 
you're 
standing 
at 
the 
baseline.
I 
don't 
know; 
it... 
it's 
kinda' 
weird; 
you 
sorta' 
have 
to 
swing 
the 
racket, 
like, 
too 
early, 
in 
order 
to 
get 
a 
good 
serve.
So, 
using 
either 
the 
A 
or 
the 
B 
button, 
you 
can 
lob 
the 
ball 
or 
perform 
a 
faster 
swing.
You 
can 
get 
up 
close 
to 
the 
net 
and 
do 
a 
smash 
and 
your 
racket 
has 
a 
little 
bit 
of 
reach.
There 
were 
times 
when 
I 
thought 
I 
wasn't 
going 
to 
quite 
hit 
the 
ball 
and 
I 
ended 
up 
just 
barely 
making 
it, 
somehow.
When 
you 
run 
around, 
your 
player 
has 
a 
bit 
of 
momentum, 
so 
it 
actually 
takes 
a 
second 
to 
sort 
of 
stop 
or 
change 
directions.
I'm 
actually 
reasonably 
impressed 
by 
the 
way 
this 
handles.
Tennis 
games 
can 
be 
a 
bit 
monotonous, 
however, 
and 
I... 
I 
really 
can't 
possibly 
imagine 
having 
the 
dedication 
[to] 
play 
this 
game 
all 
the 
way 
through 
to 
its 
conclusion.
Uh... 
For 
each 
opponent, 
you 
play 
multiple 
games 
and 
multiple 
sets, 
so 
it 
actually 
takes 
a 
while 
to 
beat 
each 
opponent.
As 
you 
win, 
you 
get 
"points", 
which 
unlock 
new 
moves, 
and 
also 
the 
opponents 
get 
much 
tougher.
Now, 
for 
some 
reason, 
in 
1992 
this 
was 
released 
in 
Europe 
with 
Lendl 
and 
Evert 
completely 
stripped 
out, 
under 
the 
name 
"Four 
Players' 
Tennis".
It's 
the 
exact 
same 
game, 
only 
they've 
been
replaced 
with 
two 
more 
generic 
players.
Anyway, 
I 
can't 
say 
I'm 
a 
huge 
fan 
of 
this,
but 
it's 
certainly 
not 
as 
awful 
as 
some 
of 
the 
other 
tennis 
games 
we've 
seen, 
and 
it 
is 
actually 
reasonably 
playable, 
at 
least 
for 
a 
little 
bit.
Alright, 
"Venus 
Senki" 
from 
Varie, 
and 
apparently 
developed 
by 
Human, 
whom 
we've 
been 
seeing 
doing 
quite 
a 
bit 
[of] 
contract 
work, 
throughout 
the 
series.
Now, 
you 
wouldn't 
know 
it 
from 
the 
incredibly 
boring 
box 
art, 
but 
this 
is 
based 
on 
a 
manga 
and 
animé, 
both 
of 
which 
were 
quite 
recent.
The 
manga 
only 
started 
in 
1987. 
and 
the 
animated 
film 
version, 
in 
mid-
1989.
Created 
by 
veteran 
illustrator 
and 
character 
designer, 
Yoshikazu 
Yasuhiko.
It 
happened 
to 
come 
out, 
during 
the 
U.
S. 
manga 
craze 
of 
the 
late 
'80s/
early 
'90s, 
so 
it 
got 
translated 
into 
English 
and 
published 
by 
Dark 
Horse 
pretty 
quickly.
The 
animé 
was 
released 
in 
the 
U.
S. 
on, 
uh, 
V.
H.
S. 
tape 
[a] 
couple 
years 
later.
Now, 
this 
only 
came 
out 
in 
Japan, 
of 
course, 
but 
we 
do 
have 
a 
very 
nice 
translation 
by 
J2E 
Translations, 
who 
are 
known 
for 
their 
Final 
Fantasy 
IV 
translation 
from 
the 
early 
2000s.
So, 
wow! 
In 
2003, 
a 
comet 
hits 
Venus. 
and 
greatly 
changed 
the 
landscape 
of 
Venus 
and 
Earthlings 
colonized 
it.
Then 
a 
war 
happened.
Um... 
By 
the 
way, 
Ishtar, 
uh, 
Terra, 
and 
Aphrodite 
Terra 
are, 
in 
fact, 
real 
parts 
of 
Venus.
So, 
"Venus 
Senki" 
revolves 
around 
the 
rebel 
biker 
group, 
"Hound", 
(which 
is 
a 
terrible 
name 
for 
your 
biker 
gang) 
and 
their 
struggle 
to 
retake, 
uh, 
some 
captured 
city 
in 
Venus, 
or 
something 
like 
that.
So, 
what 
kind 
[of] 
game 
is 
this? 
(R.
P.
G.? 
Shoot-
‘em-
Up?)
Nope. 
It's 
a 
Military 
Tactics 
game, 
in 
the 
vein 
of 
"Military 
Madness".
So, 
here's 
your 
crew.
"Carts" 
sounds 
like 
a 
name 
that 
somehow 
got 
mangled 
in 
translation 
from, 
uh, 
English 
to 
Japanese 
and 
then 
back 
to 
English 
again.
Notice 
you 
have 
a 
level 
and 
points.
Yep, 
your 
team 
members 
get 
points, 
as 
they 
kill 
enemies, 
and 
can 
actually 
Level 
Up 
throughout
the 
game 
(pretty 
basic 
stuff, 
here).
These 
are 
your 
guys: 
eight 
bikers 
and 
two 
transport 
vehicles.
These 
transports 
are 
actually, 
uh, 
really
the 
key 
to 
the 
game, 
in 
some 
ways.
You 
and 
the 
[enemy] 
take 
turns, 
moving 
your 
units 
around.
When 
you 
attempt 
to 
move 
onto 
a 
space 
occupied 
by 
an... 
a 
unit 
from 
the 
other 
side, 
a 
battle 
will 
ensue.
Now, 
throughout 
Chrontendo, 
we've 
seen, 
sort 
of, 
two 
forms 
of 
these 
type 
of 
games.
There's 
the 
ones 
where 
the 
battles 
just 
play
out 
automatically 
(like 
in 
"Military 
Madness")
and 
generally 
the 
stronger 
unit 
wins.
And 
then 
there's 
the 
other 
kind, 
where 
you
actually 
have 
to 
do 
something 
during 
the 
battles,
and 
your 
actions 
will 
help 
determine 
whether 
you 
win 
or 
lose.
In 
"Venus 
Senki" 
the 
battles 
are 
fought 
in, 
like, 
a 
little 
"Space 
Harrier"-
type, 
uh, 
minigame.
Enemies 
rush 
at 
you 
as 
you... 
and 
you 
would 
have 
to, 
ah, 
to 
shoot 
them 
down.
Actually, 
you 
win 
by, 
um, 
a) 
not 
dying, 
and
b) 
destroying 
ten 
of 
these 
special 
enemies.
Lots 
of 
weak 
generic 
enemies 
come 
by 
you 
and, 
in 
between 
these, 
[will] 
be, 
like, 
these 
more 
powerful 
enemies, 
such 
as 
these 
flying 
ships. 
You 
[need] 
to 
shoot 
ten 
of 
these 
special 
enemies, 
in 
order 
to 
defeat 
the 
entire 
unit.
However, 
these 
battles 
only 
last 
one 
minute.
So, 
if 
you 
don't 
manage 
to 
kill 
ten 
in 
that
time 
period, 
the 
battle 
ends 
in 
sort 
of 
a 
draw.
Aside 
from 
your 
standard 
weak 
laser 
gun, 
you 
have 
guided 
missiles, 
which 
kill 
most 
enemies 
much 
easier, 
but 
are 
very 
limited.
Once 
you've 
destroyed 
all 
the 
enemy 
units 
on 
the 
screen, 
you 
win 
the 
level, 
and 
then 
it's 
on 
to 
the 
next.
So, 
very 
very 
"Military 
Madness"-
like.
It's 
also 
not 
terribly 
sophisticated.
The 
mechanics 
sort 
of 
encourage 
a 
defensive 
strategy.
You 
have 
eight 
units, 
so 
you 
can 
surround 
your 
transports 
with 
them, 
and 
then 
let 
the 
enemies 
come 
to 
you.
And 
here's 
the 
reason 
why: 
the 
transports 
act 
as 
support 
units.
Having 
them 
adjacent 
to 
one 
of 
your 
own 
units 
will 
repair 
it 
and 
refill 
its 
missiles.
So, 
there's 
a 
huge 
advantage 
in... 
sort 
of 
...in 
battles 
to, 
kind 
of, 
keep 
your 
units 
next 
to 
a 
transport 
at 
all 
times.
Now, 
I 
admit 
there 
is 
a 
certain 
fascination 
with 
these 
odd 
hybrid 
games, 
like 
"Venus 
Senki" 
or 
"Maharaja".
The 
problem 
with 
most 
of 
them 
is 
that 
the
individual 
parts 
just 
aren't 
that 
interesting.
The 
action 
sequences 
in 
"Venus 
Senki" 
would 
be, 
like, 
the 
most 
boring 
"Space 
Harrier" 
clone, 
ever, 
if 
they 
were 
released 
as 
a 
game 
by... 
by 
themselves.
And 
there's 
virtually 
no 
strategy 
in 
the 
overworld 
sections.
You 
only 
have 
one 
kind 
of 
unit, 
so 
there's 
really, 
like, 
no 
Rock, 
Paper, 
Scissors-
type 
mechanics 
that 
you 
see 
in 
many 
of 
these 
Strategy 
games.
You 
never 
build 
more 
units 
and 
your 
own 
army
never 
changes, 
so 
it's 
actually 
pretty 
monotonous.
And 
weaving 
two 
uninteresting 
games 
together 
doesn't 
really 
create 
an 
interesting 
game, 
as 
it 
turns 
out, 
so 
"Venus 
Wars" 
is, 
at 
best, 
a 
curiosity.
Holy 
cow!
When's 
the 
last 
time 
we 
saw 
a 
FamiCom 
Disc 
System 
game? 
Well, 
[I'll] 
tell 
ya' 
the 
answer.
It 
was 
"Magma 
Project: 
Hacker", 
back 
in 
August, 
so 
there've 
only 
been 
two 
F.
D.
S. 
games 
in 
the 
entire 
second 
half 
of 
1989, 
so 
far.
F.
D.
S. 
games 
will 
continue 
to 
[dribble] 
out 
sporadically, 
for 
quite 
a 
while.
It 
took 
a 
really 
long 
time 
for 
the 
system 
to 
die 
off 
completely.
This 
is 
the 
second 
and 
final 
game 
in 
Nintendo's 
FamiCom 
Mukashibanashi 
series 
of 
Adventure 
games.
The 
first 
was 
called 
"Shin 
Onigashima", 
which 
came 
out 
around 
two 
years 
prior.
Just 
like 
that 
game, 
"Yūyūki" 
was 
released 
in 
two 
parts.
The 
first 
disc 
came 
out 
on 
October 
14th 
and 
the 
second 
on 
November 
14th.
It 
was, 
once 
again, 
developed 
by 
Nintendo 
E.
A.
D. 
and 
Pax 
Softnica.
The 
first 
Mukashibanashi 
game 
used 
characters 
and 
ideas 
from 
the 
stories 
of, 
uh, 
Momotarō 
and, 
uh, 
Tale 
of 
the 
Bamboo 
Cutter.
"Yūyūki" 
draws 
heavily 
from 
"Journey 
to 
the 
West".
The 
title 
"Yūyūki" 
means 
something 
like
"Journey 
Record" 
or 
"Travel 
Diary" 
([I'm] 
not 
really 
sure 
what 
the 
best 
way 
to 
translate 
that 
is).
The 
game 
opens 
up 
with 
two 
meteors 
heading 
towards 
Earth.
It 
turns 
out 
that 
they 
are 
Goku 
(who's 
based 
on 
Sun 
Wu 
Kong, 
the 
monkey 
king) 
and 
a 
bad 
guy 
named, 
uh, 
Gyumaou.
An 
orphan 
girl 
named 
Chao 
(though 
you 
can 
give 
her 
and 
Goku 
different 
names 
when 
you 
start 
the 
game, 
if 
you'd 
like) 
um... 
she 
frees 
Goku 
from 
the 
meteorite 
and 
they 
become 
friends.
Just 
like 
the 
previous 
Mukashibanashi 
game, 
the 
design 
here 
is 
meant 
to 
be 
very 
very 
traditionally 
Japanese.
The 
text 
is 
displayed 
in 
these 
animated 
scrolls, 
and 
they 
read 
top 
to 
bottom.
While 
this 
gives 
these 
games 
an 
instantly
recognizable 
and 
distinctive 
screen 
layout,
the 
window 
that 
displays, 
like, 
the 
actual 
graphics 
of 
the 
characters 
and 
whatnot 
is 
tiny.
Lots 
of 
FamiCom 
Adventure 
games 
and 
R.
P.
G.
s
have 
screen 
layouts 
that 
use 
lots 
of 
bars 
and 
boxes 
and 
windows 
that 
take 
up 
space, 
but 
this 
must 
be 
the 
game 
with 
the 
least 
amount 
of 
screen 
space 
devoted 
to 
displaying 
the 
graphical 
illustrations 
of 
the 
game 
world.
If 
we 
isolate 
it 
from 
everything 
else, 
we 
can 
see 
that 
it 
takes 
up 
less 
than 
a 
sixth 
of 
the 
screen.
So, 
"Yūyūki" 
isn't 
that 
great 
of 
a 
game, 
visually.
In 
terms 
of 
how 
it's 
played, 
it's 
actually
much 
simpler 
than 
the 
first 
one.
There's 
very 
little 
puzzle 
solving, 
and 
in 
some 
ways 
it 
resembles 
more 
of 
[an] 
interactive 
storybook 
than 
a 
game.
Because 
the 
text 
speed 
has 
been, 
uh, 
sped 
up 
a 
bit, 
it 
actually 
moves 
quite 
a 
bit 
faster.
Everything 
in 
the 
first 
game 
moved 
very 
slowly, 
for 
some 
reason.
Supposedly, 
playing 
through 
"Yūyūki" 
takes 
about 
a 
quarter 
of 
the 
time 
that 
it 
did 
to 
get 
through 
"Shin 
Onigashima". 
It 
uses 
a 
lot 
of 
the 
same 
mechanics, 
such 
as 
switching 
between 
various 
characters 
throughout 
the 
game.
Whereas 
"Shin 
Onigashima" 
has 
been 
re-
released 
on 
the 
Game 
Boy 
Advance 
and 
the 
Virtual 
Console, 
poor 
"Yūyūki" 
has 
been 
pretty 
much 
forgotten 
(though 
Chao 
and 
Goku 
make 
a, 
uh, 
cameo 
appearance 
in 
a 
couple 
of 
the 
Kirby 
Dreamland 
games).
Nintendo 
would 
release 
another 
two-
part 
F.
D.
S. 
Adventure 
game 
in 
1991, 
called 
"Time 
Twist",
and 
then 
their 
odd 
little 
experiment 
with 
this 
format 
would 
be 
over.
Alright, 
let's 
wrap 
this 
up, 
folks.
"Hokuto 
no 
Ken 
3". 
published 
by 
Toei, 
of 
course, 
and 
developed 
by 
Bear's 
(the 
same 
guys 
who 
did 
the 
first 
two 
FamiCom 
"Hokuto 
no 
Ken" 
games).
You 
might 
recall; 
I 
did 
not 
actually 
care 
for 
those 
games.
And, 
of 
course, 
uh, 
Shouei 
System's 
name 
also 
appears 
on 
the 
title 
screen 
(Shouei 
having 
some 
kind 
of 
connection 
to 
Bear's).
Every 
"Fist 
of 
[the] 
North 
Star" 
game 
we've 
seen 
so 
far 
has 
been 
a 
super-
basic 
Beat-
‘em-
Up, 
uh, 
but 
now 
we 
finally 
switch 
things 
up 
a 
bit.
You 
see, 
this 
one 
is 
an 
R.
P.
G.
Holy 
crap!
Look 
at 
this!
Look 
at 
that 
purple 
person!
What 
the 
hell 
are 
you 
doing!?
Why 
[are] 
you 
waving 
your 
arms 
around 
like 
that?
Uh... 
So, 
anyway, 
this 
is 
pretty 
standard
R.
P.
G. 
stuff 
here, 
with 
a 
few 
eccentricities.
The 
building 
on 
the 
left 
is 
the 
weapons 
shop, 
I 
take 
it, 
based 
on 
the 
teeny 
tiny 
sword 
hanging 
above 
the 
door.
And, 
for 
some 
reason, 
all 
the 
shops 
are 
like 
this.
It 
looks 
like 
[you're] 
entering 
a 
dungeon 
or 
something, 
but 
no; 
there's 
this 
long 
hallway 
and 
then 
the 
shopkeeper 
is 
all 
the 
way 
in 
the 
back.
It's 
really 
pretty 
annoying.
Wandering 
around 
talking 
to 
people, 
you'll 
find 
a 
couple 
characters 
who 
join 
you.
Uh... 
This 
isn't 
like 
"Dragon 
Quest 
2" 
or 
something, 
where 
you 
gotta' 
wander 
around 
for 
[a] 
couple 
hours, 
looking 
for 
them. 
Both 
these 
guys 
are, 
like, 
literally 
just
standing 
around 
in 
the 
first 
tiny 
little 
town
and 
will 
instantly 
join 
you 
if 
you 
talk 
to 
them.
If 
you 
must 
know, 
these 
two 
are 
Lin 
and 
Bat 
(characters 
from 
the, 
uh, 
second 
"Hokuto 
no 
Ken" 
movie, 
I 
think).
There's 
actually 
a 
few 
things 
in 
this 
game 
that 
deviate 
from 
the 
normal 
"Dragon 
Quest" 
formula.
Um... 
First 
of 
all, 
you 
actually 
start 
with 
a 
decent 
amount 
of 
money 
(enough 
to 
buy 
basic 
weapons 
and 
armor 
for 
all 
three 
characters)!
You 
also 
have 
an 
ability 
(found 
in 
the 
menu) 
to 
warp, 
um, 
to 
other 
locations 
that 
you've 
heard 
about.
And 
Lin 
has 
a 
Heal 
command 
that 
can 
be 
used 
in 
combat, 
which 
is 
available 
right 
from 
the 
get 
go.
Random 
encounters 
aren't 
super 
frequent.
Um... 
I 
suppose 
it's 
either 
good 
(if 
you're 
tryin' 
[to] 
travel 
from 
one 
area 
to 
the 
other 
and 
you 
don't 
wanna' 
get 
in 
a 
fight 
every 
three 
steps) 
um, 
or 
it's 
bad 
(if 
you're 
trying 
to 
grind 
and 
you 
wanna' 
Level 
Up).
The 
sprite 
work 
in 
this 
game 
is 
mostly 
pretty 
terrible 
looking, 
but 
the 
art, 
um, 
that 
appears 
during 
the 
battle 
sequences 
is 
actually 
pretty 
nice 
looking 
(in 
a 
very, 
sort 
of, 
uh, 
primitive 
sort 
of 
way).
I 
love 
the 
animation 
on 
the 
faces 
when 
they 
get 
attacked.
It 
really 
looks 
like 
they're 
getting 
brutally 
beaten 
up.
So 
is 
this 
a 
good 
game 
(one 
that 
you 
actually 
wanna 
play? 
one 
that'll 
get 
fan-
translated 
into 
English)?
Uh... 
No, 
probably 
not.
But 
at 
least 
it's 
a 
bit 
of 
a 
break 
from 
all 
the 
routine 
"Fist 
of 
the 
North 
Star" 
Beat-
‘em-
Ups.
Alright. 
What 
a 
fascinating 
train 
wreck 
of 
an 
episode.
For 
Best 
Game 
this 
time, 
I'll 
probably 
have 
to 
say 
"DuckTales".
While 
I'm 
not 
a 
huge 
fan, 
it's 
somewhat 
ambitious 
and 
well-
constructed.
Not 
exactly 
my 
favorite 
Capcom 
game, 
by 
a 
long 
shot, 
but 
honestly 
what 
other 
choices 
are 
there 
today? 
("TwinBee 
3", 
maybe?)
Worst 
Game?
Many 
of 
you 
might 
say 
"Back 
to 
the 
Future" 
(which 
I 
hated) 
but 
I'm 
gonna' 
go 
with 
"Who 
Framed 
Roger 
Rabbit?".
"Back 
to 
the 
Future" 
is 
crap, 
but 
at 
least 
there's 
less 
of 
it.
"[Who 
Framed] 
Roger 
Rabbit?" 
is 
like 
a 
sprawling 
mess 
of 
crap.
It's 
like 
the 
difference 
[between], 
you 
know,
your 
cat 
pooping 
on 
the 
floor 
and 
the 
sewer 
main 
breaking 
and 
flooding 
your 
house 
with 
shit.
"Back 
to 
the 
Future" 
I 
could 
deal 
with 
(I 
mean, 
sure 
it 
stunk, 
but 
it 
was 
controllable).
"[Who 
Framed] 
Roger 
Rabbit?" 
was 
like 
the
one 
game 
that 
psychologically 
broke 
me.
I 
didn't 
want 
to 
have 
to 
play 
it, 
think 
about 
it, 
or 
talk 
about 
it.
As 
a 
matter 
of 
fact, 
the 
voice-
over 
for 
"[Who 
Framed] 
Roger 
Rabbit?" 
was 
the 
absolute 
last 
thing 
recorded 
for 
this 
episode 
(even 
after 
this, 
actually - 
as 
I'm 
speaking, 
it 
has 
still 
not 
yet 
been 
recorded).
Anyway, 
next 
time, 
we 
have, 
uh, 
three 
baseball 
games, 
a 
Mahjong 
game, 
some 
T.
V. 
game 
show 
games, 
a 
Dragon 
Ball 
game...
And, 
on 
the 
other 
hand, 
the 
game 
that 
was 
translated 
into 
English, 
under 
the 
name 
"Princesstual 
Orgy" 
is 
coming 
up.
And, 
just 
like 
"Jesus... 
no 
Bio 
Monster",
it's 
one 
[of] 
those 
games 
where 
you 
see 
that 
title 
and 
you 
go, 
"Holy 
crap. 
What 
the 
hell 
could 
that 
possibly 
be?".
So 
at 
least 
I'll 
finally 
get 
to 
find 
out.
Before 
then, 
we'll 
have 
some 
more 
non-
Chrontendo 
content 
coming 
out.
On 
"Dr. 
Sparkle 
After 
Dark", 
we'll 
cover 
the 
very 
difficult-
to-
comprehend 
movie, 
"Frozen 
Scream" 
(a 
film 
that 
was 
actually 
quite 
hard 
to 
see 
for 
years 
and 
years, 
until 
quite 
recently).
Just 
like 
the 
Roger 
Rabbit 
game, 
I 
have 
no
idea 
what 
I 
can 
even 
say 
about 
this 
movie.
Also, 
there'll 
be 
some 
additional 
interesting
stuff 
soon, 
so 
keep 
an 
eye 
out 
for 
that.
In 
the 
mean 
time, 
thanks 
for 
watching 
and 
I'll 
see 
ya' 
later.