NintendoLegend.com ‘s Five Fine NES Series Reminder: The following choices are in no particular order, and do not reflect a “best of” list, but merely a summarized list of examples per category on the Nintendo Entertainment System. In this case, Five Fine NES Average Games.
The 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) video game console had around 750 cartridges releases in the North American region alone. Inevitably, this meant a spectacular variance in possible quality per gaming experience, as some carts represented the finest first-party efforts or inspired third-party blockbusters, while others were simply a money-grab license scam or even an unlicensed mess from sub-par programmers.
Somewhere in the center were the average games, the games that were neither horrible nor wonderful. Considering the vast hundreds of possible NES titles, trying to find an agreeable middle ground can be a daunting task. However, showing a little variety but sticking to the most middle-of-the-road material out there, the following are five fine examples of very average video games on the NES console.
Rolling Thunder
Based on an arcade cabinet which, like many others, was designed to eat the quarters of suckers, Rolling Thunder is a side-scrolling action title with skinny sprite characters, duck-and-cover gunplay, and lots of door-opening. Ultimately, the graphics were only so-so, the sound was just okay, and in true Tengen style, all they had done was put a watered-down arcade port onto the NES cartridge and hope for the best. This is very standard fare, in its production value and gameplay mechanics.
Toxic Crusaders
Pop Quiz: Name two 8-bit side-scrolling beat-‘em-up video games based on mutant green characters. Many would name the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the Battletoads, but there was apparently room for at least one more similar franchise, as the children’s television license for Toxic Crusaders resulted in a video game. The enemy design is stiff, the gameplay is a little mucky, the presentation never approaches excellence, the entire process feels unoriginal, the repetition is even duller than most, and even the attempts at innovation (oh yeah, power-up that mop) seem like knock-offs and rip-offs. While this is undoubtedly not an atrocious game, neither is it really great.
Rescue: The Embassy Mission
Video game developers have several strategies available to them in order to add replay value to a game. For example, they can make it very difficult, thus forcing players to play it again and again in order to get good enough to “beat” it. Or, the game could simply be enormous, with hours upon hours of gameplay content awaiting the player, perhaps even utilizing saved games or a password system back in the 8-bit era. In the case of Rescue: The Embassy Mission, the chosen tactic was an assortment of difficulty levels, over a dozen in all. The actual game, in its entirety, can take less than ten minutes to play. It is a fairly solid ten minutes, but even the most obsessed gamer is quickly going to probe the limits of how many times the exact same mission can be completed.
Battleship
Before you find out the hard way, know this: The NES version of Battleship, based on the famous board game, is only one player. This may seem terrible, but honestly, consider: How would you do this for two players without spoiling board positions? Granted, there probably does exist an inventive method, but the point is this: Battleship is a mission-by-mission slog, gradually growing more intricate, that eventually introduces more types of ships and weapons than the board game had to offer. This is somewhat nifty, and provides an added layer of tactical thinking; but, ultimately, of course, this is still like a board game, and hardly cutting-edge stuff. Even the biggest NES Battleship fans would likely be forced to admit that it cannot be considered among the best NES video games.
Challenge Of The Dragon
Rogue developer Color Dreams made some truly awful video games for the NES, such as Raid 2020, Menace Beach, or Pesterminator: The Western Exterminator. They also made some intriguingly distinctive titles, like Crystal Mines, and later became slightly more polished in their design chops for a few of their later titles when they changed their name to Wisdom Tree and began making Jesus games. One interesting chapter of the Color Dreams story is a humble little game called Challenge Of The Dragon. This one feels more like the passionate project of a one-man team, which in this case was close to reality, and although some of the signature Color Dreams flaws remain intact (like awful hit detection programming), it is actually one of their better efforts. Between the Asian flair, the martial arts moves, and the moderate pace, it nears enjoyable playability, but never quite reaches a decent potential.