Tecmo Super Bowl

Touchdown

I've not had the greatest of times with video games of American Football on this list so far, but Tecmo Super Bowl for the NES is said to be the pinnacle of the sport's representation on home consoles, to the point where there is still a dedicated following 25 years later.

That must mean it's pretty good, right? Being continually hacked with current roster updates, played in worldwide tournaments, included in a list of 1001 must play video games... Just what am I waiting for?

Hut hut hut and all that.

California Games

"It's only, like, the most totally awesome game in the world."

Source // Moby Games

At this point in our journey through video gaming history I've mixed reactions to any title that ends in 'Games'. Often maddening to control - let alone get used to and perfect - these Games games make for entertainment borne of frustration, especially with multiple players competing for the high score.

There aren't any medals here. Or sports, really. Unlike Summer and World Games before it, California Games is all about having fun and looking cool while you do it. Except it's a Games game, so you'll be falling flat on your face far more often than you'll be looking cool.

Let's find out how many Californian pastimes we're a natural at.

The Legend of Zelda

Hyah!

It begins

I have never played The Legend of Zelda. Any of the Zelda titles, in fact. N64, GameCube, old, new, original, remastered. You name the Zelda title and I will show you a game I've never played. But I've watched a great many of them: Let's Plays, speed runs, glitches, histories, documentaries...

Its origins are The Legend of Zelda, launch title for the Famicom Disk System, staple of many NES players' game libraries. It is an absolute must play title whether you're following a list of 1001 games to play or not, so they say, so I really should cut this intro off and fire it up.

720°

OH, NO! NOT THE BEES! NOT THE BEES! AAAAAHHHHH! OH, THEY'RE IN MY EYES! MY EYES! AAAHHHH! AAAAAGGHHH!

Source // Wikipedia

There are a few games on the 1001 list where I don't know a whole lot about them but are looking forward to finding out more. 720° is one such title, not because I'm a skateboarder (Heeeeelll no), but because I enjoy skateboarding games quite a bit.

My first was Tony Hawk's Skateboarding, and I'd imagine that was the first for many a gamer, but we're going back a full 13 years before that to see what the state of extreme sports video games were like.

Will I fall flat on my face at the simplest of tasks? Will it have a memorable soundtrack? Can I pull off a 720°?

Dragon Quest

But thou must.

Thither art many titles in the Dragon Quest series, this much I knoweth. They are fantasy role playing games in a similar vein as Final Fantasy, I can sayeth that too. What I can't sayeth is that I hath played any of them. I hath not. Not even a later entry to the series, nor a spin-off, nor even a demo. Nothingeth.

I am coming into a fantasy realm full of vast quests completely blind, which probably means I'll barely scratch the surface, receiveth horrible wounds, get lost and moan about it not being like Skyrim, or some such blasphemy.

Let's find out.

In English, from here on...

Solomon's Key

Nnnnnope.

Source // Wikipedia

The first time came across Solomon's Key was reading its entry in the 1001 Video Games book. The author of that entry makes it clear that Solomon's Key will kick your arse from the start, and won't stop kicking it at any point.

Games were harder back in the day, that is fact, don't try to argue with it. Solomon's Key takes the piss.

Kid Icarus

I'm Finished!

Source // Wikipedia

I first heard of Kid Icarus when Kid Icarus: Uprising was doing the rounds for the Nintendo 3DS. I had no idea what it was about - still don't - let alone that it's origins were on the NES many decades before.

As is obvious from the title, you are a kid called Icarus Pit, and your challenge is to find three ancient treasures in order to save Angel Land. Sounds simple enough.

Bubble Bobble

Pon!

Source // Wikipedia

I have definitely played Bubble Bobble in an arcade, on an actual arcade machine, with bloopy blingy lights and sounds an- no, wait, no, I'm thinking of Puzzle Bobble. The one with the bubble cannon. Yeah, that's right. Sorry. We're going in blind ladies and gentlemen.

Gauntlet II

Please, stop shooting the food.

Source // Arcade Museum

If one Gauntlet wasn't enough for you, perhaps Gauntlet II will be more to your liking. Released just a year after the original game, Gauntlet II takes what works and runs with it, adding plenty of extras to keep the gameplay addictive and varied.

It looks largely the same, sounds largely the same and plays largely the same, and that's great, because that's all many of us want from a sequel.

Still no luck playing the arcade version though, so I'm hoping the NES port is as colourful as the first game at least.

Arkanoid

Breakout + Power ups = Awesome.

Looks awfully familiar, doesn't it? Did I play Breakout first, or was Arkanoid the game to give me my block smashing fix? To tell you the truth, in all this excitement I kinda lost track myself...

You've seen Arkanoid, I guarantee. It's the one that looks like Breakout, but you get power ups. If Breakout is everywhere, then Arkanoid isn't too far behind - and I only say that because I don't think the Google Breakout easter egg included power ups.

Release the balls.

Super Mario Bros.

Didn't expect this one to be on the list, did you?

Rest assured reader, I have indeed played Super Mario Bros. before. A good few times in fact, though not so much the NES version that really kicked the whole Mario thing off. Yes, yes, there was Mario Bros. in the arcade and on the Atari and what have you, but it was the Super Mario line that made an impression on millions upon millions of gamers worldwide.

Super Mario Bros. saw an arcade release, but it was in its element on the Nintendo Entertainment System. That was before my time though, and I was first introduced to Super Mario Bros. in the form of Super Mario All-Stars on the SNES. My cousins only had a handful of games for their SNES, but they consistently kicked my arse at every one of them.

All-Stars contained an improved and graphically updated version of Super Mario Bros. and while I find myself having a little more success with that version, we really ought to go back to where it all began.

Gradius

Has destroying the core ever been so enjoyable?

Source // Arcade Museum

Anyone concerned that I am completely ignorant of video game history can breathe a huge sigh of relief as I can tell you now that I am aware of Gradius, that side scrolling space shooter with aaaalll the bullets, or lasers, or whatever they use.

Just because I'm aware of it though, that doesn't mean I've had the pleasure of playing it. I think I'm safe in saying I've played none of the Gradius series. At all. Ever. And don't be that kid who claims Scramble is part of the series, knowing full well I've had to play it as part of this 1001 list. A spiritual predecessor doth not a series entry make, and all that.

It's probably fair to say I've had mixed success with space shooters so far, but we'll give Gradius the chance to impress, as we should with all games.

Ghosts 'n Goblins

One of the most difficult games released, huh? We'll see about that...

Source // Hardcore Gaming 101

Ah, Ghosts 'n Goblins, I know it well, and by 'well' I really mean I know it and don't recall having played it despite numerous ports and sequels and ports of the sequels.

Sidescrolling action, platforming, courageous knights defeating everything in their path... Sounds like a game well worth playing.

Often described as really rather difficult, or words to that effect, I'll have to find that out for myself using the NES port. I'm looking forward to it.

Karate Champ

Wax on wax off ain't gonna help you here.

Source // Wikipedia

I've probably come across Karate Champ in passing, but certainly haven't played it before. It looks like it's an accurate representation of a Karate champion, so it's already doing better than Kung-Fu Master in believability.

The key selling point(s) for this arcade hit were the use of two joysticks to control all the inputs, and a one hit knock out approach to the contests, be they against a computer or human opponent. No health bars, no tag teams, no super moves or combos, it's just you, your opponent, and hopefully a swift and graceful kick to the face.

Unfortunately I'm not able to play that arcade original, which leaves me with one option: Play International Karate instead.

Marble Madnesss

Let's all lose our marbles!

Source // Wikipedia

I don't ever recall playing Marble Madness, but I get the feeling I might have. Maybe I'm confusing it for playing an actual marble maze game made of wood and marbles, I don't know. What I do know though is that I know of it. That was a mouthful, but then again it is hard to bargle nawdle zouss with all these marbles in my mouth.

Jesus, what's become of me? Get back in the game.

Boulder Dash

He did the dash, he did the Boulder Dash. The Boulder Dash, it was a home console smash...

Source // Moby Games

Finally, a title I recognise. A game I've played, somewhere, in some form. Where, how, when, I've no idea, but Boulder Dash has a place in my memory and a very obvious place on this list, where it is the third, or fourth, maybe twelfth game we've seen so far to be about mining.

Seriously, games industry, did everything revolving around digging back in the early 80s? Has there been an asteroid mining simulator that I've missed, just to get a piece of that sweet space setting that sells so well too?

I ought to try out Game Dev Tycoon sometime and see if it's just me complaining, or if these guys knew what they were talking about. Until then, I'm firing up Boulder Dash.

Track & Field

(This is the real Sport!)

Source // Wikipedia

With a title like Track & Field, you know what you're in for. Get ready to mash some buttons as fast as you can, all while trying (and probably failing) to time inputs either to a specific point in an animation or even just the starting gun.

We know this because there seems to be a game out for every Olympic Games, probably even every Winter Olympic Games, as well as more generic athletics-based games sprinkled in the gaps. We don't know where they come from, they just appear, and then just as quickly disappear back to the bargain bin where they belong.

If you think a yearly series like FIFA is churned out, I put it to you that games based on the Olympics are literally churned out. They've got four years to make each one worth purchasing and they still haven't succeeded. Personally speaking, of course.

Now all of that is basically a long winded way of saying that Track & Field kicked all of this video game athletics off, so let's see where it all began.

Spy Hunter

Are we a spy who is a hunter, or a hunter or hunts spies?

Source // Wikipedia

For the longest time, I've known Spy Hunter as 'an old game that I hear referenced here and there, but not too often, so it can't have been absolutely brilliant, but must have been pretty good'. If you can picture that...

If it's on the list of 1001 then it must be on for a reason, so it's time to find out.

Gyruss

3 Warps to Uranus

Source // Arcade Museum

There are titles that you're familiar with or that sum up a game nicely. There are titles that you've never heard of or haven't got a clue what they're about. Gyruss, to me, fits somewhere in the middle. I know I must have come across it somewhere because it feels familiar. But what is all about?

It sounds a little like gyroscope, but that could conjure up a few games. Gyrate could have been the root word for the title though... Either way I was at a bit of a blank until I fired it up.

It's another space shooter!

Archon

Why didn't we play this at Chess Club?

Archon. Archon? Archon. It sounds like I should know about Archon whether I've played it or not, but nothing sprang to mind. The title doesn't exactly sum the game up, and the vast majority of players won't speak enough to Greek to know what it translates into. Even if they did there's not much chance they'd land on Archon being a game of Chess. Sort of. Because it isn't really. Chess and then some. Come to think of it, it's more Chess Boxing.

Chess is fine for me. Haven't tried Chess Boxing. I don't claim to be a Grand Master though (and I'm regularly outclassed by P2, whose aggressive strategies have thankfully quietened down, after I cottoned onto them) but against a computer, a games console... I think I can manage.