by Brett Weiss
happen. Also released for the Genesis.
Multi-Game Compilation, 1 player. 1992.
This unlicensed release features six games
The Simpsons: Bart vs. the World
in one cartridge. Cosmos Cop is somewhat
PUBLISHER: Acclaim. DEVELOPER: Imagineer-
similar to Space Harrier, with the titular char-ing. Side-Scrolling Platform, 1 player. 1991.
acter firing a cannon and neutron missiles at
The evil Montgomery Burns has sent Bart
alien invaders and their installations and de-
Simpson on a treasure hunt through Egypt,
fenses. Porter is a Shove It! –type puzzle game China, the North Pole, and other exotic loca-in which players push boxes to positions that
tions. Throughout his adventure, Bart will col-
are marked by stars. Booky Man, which is sim-
lect diamonds, throw firecrackers and snow-
ilar to Crush Roller (arcade, 1981), has players balls at enemies, jump over gaps and onto
guiding a beetle through a maze, cleaning
platforms, ride a skateboard, fly
as Bartman, encounter other Simp-
sons, and more. Simple bonus
games, including Sliding Puzzle,
Card Match, Simpsons Trivia,
and Slot Machine, are at the end
of each stage. Though ambitious
in scope, Bart vs. the World is
hampered by poor controls and
dull gameplay.
The Simpsons: Bartman
Meets Radioactive Man
PUBLISHER: Acclaim. DEVELOPER:
Imagineering. Side-Scrolling
Platform, 1 player. 1992.
Bart Simpson dons cape and
cowl to help his heroes—Radioac-
tive Man and Fallout Boy—in this
playable, but mediocre platformer.
Armed with a mighty-punch, a
super-kick, a spin-kick, and a
double fisted mighty-blow, Bart-
Licensing played a big role in the NES library, evidenced in part by such titles as: Silver Surfer (based on the Marvel Comics man must run, jump, swim, fly,
hero); Star Wars (based on the 1977 feature film); Popeye (based and battle his way through such
on the cartoon character and on Nintendo’s own arcade game); locales as a junkyard, a swamp, a
and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (based on the comic book sea bed, and an underground city.
and cartoon heroes).
172
CLASSIC HOME VIDEO GAMES, 1985–1988
streets while avoiding lizards and a “bugger.”
which players perform tricks on skateboarding
Magic Carpet has players flying over Baghdad,
ramps, which are viewed from the side.
firing arrows at goblins. Balloon Monster is a
slide-and-shoot game in which players fire at
Ski or Die
bouncing balloons that split into smaller ones
PUBLISHER: Ultra Games. DEVELOPER: Konami.
when shot. In Adam and Eve, players glide on
Sports/Skiing, 1–6 players (alternating). 1991.
a balloon, trying to pop the evil serpent’s bal-
A spin-off from the Skate or Die series, Ski loon while keeping their balloon from being
or Die consists of five wintry events: Inner Tube popped. After Caltron went under, Myriad
Thrash (race down a mountain, grab sharp ob-
bought out all the unsold copies of 6 in 1 and jects to poke the opponent’s inner tube); Snow
sold the cartridges under their own brand
Board Half Pipe (cruise down a tube, perform
name.
tricks, grab penguins, avoid bunnies and logs);
Acro Aerials (ski fast, perform stunts after
Skate or Die
jumping); Downhill Blitz (do stunts while ski-
PUBLISHER: Ultra Games. DEVELOPER: Konami.
ing downhill); and Snowball Blast (a first-per-
Sports/Skateboarding, 1–8 players (alternat-
son snowball fight). Rodney Recloose from
ing). 1988.
Skate or Die runs a ski shop where players ac-Between 720° (arcade, 1986) and Tony
cess high scores and select Practice or Compe-
Hawk Pro Skater (PlayStation, 1999) lies Skate tition mode. Based on the 1990 computer game.
or Die, a popular NES title taking place in a “rad infested world.” This extreme sports cartridge
Skull & Crossbones
features five events: Downhill Jam (race through
PUBLISHER: Tengen. DEVELOPER: Tengen. Side-
alleys, punching and kicking skaters and ob-
Scrolling Combat/Side-Scrolling Platform, 1
stacles); Joust (cruise around a drained swim-
or 2 players (simultaneous). 1990.
ming pool, hitting the other skater with a
Skull & Crossbones for the NES deviates
stick); Freestyle Competition (do aerials, kick-
from its graphically superior coin-op counter-
turns, and other tricks); High Jump (perform
part (Atari, 1989) in a number of ways, making
jumps on a side-view ramp); and Downhill
it a disappointing port. The arcade game em-
Racing (jump ramps, duck through pipes, skate
phasized skill-based sword fighting while the
around flags). Based on the 1987 computer
NES version focuses more on platforming and
game.
varied selectable weapons, including a cutlass,
a gun, a dagger, a super fist, homing missiles,
Skate or Die 2: The Search for Double
and bubble blowers. Enemies include archers,
Trouble
bats, demons, ninjas, skeletons, and others. The
PUBLISHER: Electronic Arts. DEVELOPER: Elec-
two-player simultaneous action remains intact,
tronic Arts. Side-Scrolling Platform/Sports/
but it’s now split-screen, and the story has been
Skateboarding, 1 player. 1990.
altered to make the protagonist pirate a
The Search for Double Trouble deviates
princess-rescuing hero. Areas to battle through
from the original Skate or Die by offering four include Castle, Ninja Camp, Pirate Ship, Beach
levels of platforming action: Mad Dogs in the
Cave, and Wizard Isle. Unlicensed.
Streets; Money in the Mall; Blowin’ Along the
Boardwalk; and Rooftop Mania. Players skate-
Sky Shark
board through the city, battling enemies and
PUBLISHER: Taito. DEVELOPER: Software Cre-
ations. Vertical Scrolling Shooter, 1 or 2 play-
gathering up such items as food, CDs, and
ers (alternating). 1989.
tapes to trade for tricks and new skateboards.
Kickturns, tail bumps, and other tricks are used
As in Xevious and Tiger-Heli, Sky Shark to perform fighting moves and unleash such
has players flying over land and sea, shooting
weapons as M-80s and eggs. The fifth and final
bullets at airborne enemies and dropping bombs
level is the Double Trouble Competition, in
on ground-based targets. The game’s five levels
NINTENDO NES
173
are filled with tanks, planes, gunboats, railway
standing still while slalom flags, sledders, snow-
cars, bunkers, naval guns, and other hostile
men, opposing skiers, and trees appear in the
forces, keeping the player’s P-40 Tiger Shark
distance and whiz past. Players can perform
Fighter constantly moving and shooting to
/>
tricks, and there are 24 snow-covered runs, but
avoid destruction. Certain enemy planes fly in
the game has bland graphics and is disappoint-
formation, and shooting down a whole wave
ingly lacking in sense of motion.
gives players bonus points or enhanced ma-
chine gun fire. The arcade version of Sky Shark
Smash T.V.
(Taito, 1987) has better graphics, but the NES
PUBLISHER: Acclaim. DEVELOPER: Beam Soft-
port has a faster fighter plane (in relation to its
ware. Non-Scrolling Shooter, 1 or 2 players
respective enemies), making it a fairer, more
(simultaneous). 1991.
enjoyable game.
Despite smaller characters and items and
scratchy sounding gunfire and voice effects,
SkyKid
Smash T.V. for the NES is a decent port of
PUBLISHER: Sunsoft. DEVELOPER: Sunsoft. Side-
Williams’ 1990 arcade game, which is a scathing
Scrolling Shooter, 1 or 2 players (simultane-
piece of sociological science fiction in which
ous). 1987.
futuristic viewers demand more violence on
Like its coin-op counterpart (Namco,
television. Players, as game show contestants
1985), the delightful, yet fairly obscure SkyKid
(shades of Stephen King’s The Running Man),
for the NES has players flying a small plane
must run around a series of closed, overhead-
from right to left, shooting machine gun bul-
view arenas, firing a near-constant stream of
lets (straight and diagonally) at tanks, trucks,
machine gun bullets at cyborg mutants, power
boats, airplanes, and other enemies. As in
orbs, and tactical assault tanks. Item pick-ups
Looping and 1942, the plane can fly in loops.
include scatter guns, missiles, spew weapons,
Each level contains a bomb players should pick
ninja blades, fast feet, gold, and other items.
up for use in destroying that level’s main target,
Gameplay evokes Robotron: 2084, and players
which consists of enemy headquarters, a battle-
can use two control pads to semi-emulate the
ship, a small row of factories, or an aircraft car-
arcade game’s dual joystick control. As the
rier. Taking off and landing are easy, but dodg-
manual states, the two-controller method al-
ing enemy fire gets difficult pretty quickly.
lows players to “move in one direction and
Fortunately, button-mashing lets players try to
shoot in the same (or any other) direction at
recover from a spin. The arcade version has
the same time.” Multi-tap adapter compatible.
cuter graphics and better music, but the NES
Followed by: Super Smash T.V. (Genesis, SNES, cartridge does keep the basic gameplay intact,
Game Gear).
along with the playful animations. NES addi-
tions include girlfriends who blow kisses and a
Snake Rattle N Roll
target practice bonus round. Subtractions in-
PUBLISHER: Nintendo. DEVELOPER: Rare. Ac-
clude various bits of in-game text.
tion, 1 or 2 players (simultaneous). 1990.
Featuring crisp, clear, colorful, pseudo-
Slalom
3D graphics viewed from an isometric perspec-
PUBLISHER: Nintendo. DEVELOPER: Rare.
tive, Snake Rattle N Roll resembles such classics Sports/Skiing, 1 or 2 players (alternating).
as Congo Bongo and Crystal Castles. Each player 1987.
controls a running, jumping, swimming,
Popular developer Rare’s first console
tongue-flicking snake as it goes about eating
video game, Slalom eschews the distant view-
enough “Nibbley Pibbleys” to open the exit to
point of most previous skiing games (such as
the next level. All this while avoiding or attack-
Skiing for the Atari 2600) in favor of a behind-ing sharks, Big Foot, Ice Foot, snakedozers, and
the-skier perspective. The result is a game that
other kooky enemies. Power-ups to grab in-
feels decidedly stagnant, with the skier seemingly
clude: tongue extensions; speed-ups; a fish tail
174
CLASSIC HOME VIDEO GAMES, 1985–1988
(for swimming up the waterfall in level 6); di-
of Woodstock, who appears in cameos. The
amonds (for invincibility); and clocks (for
games are limited in nature, but fairly enjoy-
extra time). Snake Rattle N Roll is wacky good able. Interestingly, the original Japanese Fam-fun, and the piano music sounds great, but the
icom version used Donald Duck and other Dis-
controls could use some fine tuning to make
ney characters instead of the Snoopy license.
the game a bit easier.
Snow Brothers
Snake’s Revenge
PUBLISHER: Capcom. DEVELOPER: Toaplan.
PUBLISHER: Ultra Games. DEVELOPER: Konami.
Non-Scrolling Platform, 1 or 2 players (simul-
Adventure/Stealth, 1 player. 1990.
taneous). 1991.
The North American follow-up to Metal
Colorful and fun, Snow Brothers plays a
Gear, Snake’s Revenge is set three years after its lot like Bubble Bobble, but replaces dinosaurs progenitor. Gameplay follows a similar prem-Bub and Bob with snowmen Nick and Tom.
ise, with Solid Snake sneaking through enemy
Players hop and run around each platform-
territory to retrieve a weapon known as Metal
laden screen (50 in all), throwing snow (as op-
Gear. To prevent detection, Snake should move
posed to bubbles) at enemies with names like
quietly, avoid guards, and stay away from
Pumpkin Head, Cold Fish, and Ice-Bat, pack-
search lights and security cameras. As in Metal
ing them into snowballs after multiple hits (an
Gear, an overhead viewpoint is employed, but
aspect that separates the game from Bubble
action-heavy side-scrolling scenes have been
Bobble). After an enemy becomes a snowball, it added to the formula. In addition, there are
can be rolled into other enemies and off the
more areas to infiltrate, including jungles,
screen. Defeated enemies sometimes leave such
buildings, a boat, prison camps, a train, a cas-
power-ups as red hot sauce (speed skates), blue
tle, a factory, and a desert base. Snake punches
hot sauce (power shots), or green hot sauce
bad guys and can pick up a variety of items, in-
(farther throwing ability). Snow Brothers is cluding guns, knives, mines, plastic explosives,
hard to find, but well worth seeking out.
grenades, missiles, card keys, binoculars, in-
frared goggles, body armor, mine detectors,
Soccer
smoke bombs, and truth gas. Since series cre-
PUBLISHER: Nintendo. DEVELOPER: Nintendo.
ator Hideo Kojima had no involvement in cre-
Sports/Soccer, 1 or 2 players (simultaneous).
ating Snake’s Revenge, many purists consider
1987.
the Japanese Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake to be the true sequel to Metal Gear.
Viewed from an angled/overhead perspec-
tive, Soccer for the NES is a slow
, six-on-six ver-Snoopy’s Silly Sports Spectacular!
sion of the popular sport, played on a horizon-
PUBLISHER: Seika. DEVELOPER: Kemco.
tally scrolling field. A number over the head
Sports/Multiple, 1 or 2 players (alternating, si-
indicates which soccer player is being con-
multaneous). 1990.
trolled (it will be the player closest to the ball)
while an arrow in front of the opponent’s goal
Snoopy’s Silly Sports Spectacular! pits Snoopy determines the direction of a shot on goal. This
against his mustachioed cousin Spike in six
was the first soccer game for the NES, and it
quick, simple, Olympic-style events: Sack Race
has lots of features, including throw-ins, corner
(hop to the right, avoid manholes); Boot
kicks, indirect free kicks, penalty kicks, and a
Throwing (similar to discus throwing); Pile of
half-time show (complete with cheerleaders).
Pizza (walk slowly while balancing a stack of
Players can select from five difficulty levels and
pizzas); Pogo (hop on a pogo stick to the right,
seven international teams: Brazil, Germany,
jump over each bar); Overboard (push the
Spain, France, England, Japan, and The United
other dog off the gondola); and River Jump
States. The computer is a pushover, so two-
(pole-vault over a river). The cartoon-like graph-
player action is recommended.
ics will please Peanuts fans, as will the inclusion
NINTENDO NES
175
Solar Jetman Hunt for the Golden
A wizard named Dana has been commis-
Warpship
sioned to rid the world of demons. Equipped
PUBLISHER: Tradewest. DEVELOPER: Rare. Side-
with the power to generate square stones, which
Scrolling Shooter, 1 player. 1990.
are used as stair steps, barriers, and floating
platforms, Dana must walk and jump his way
Solar Jetman is an unusual shooter. The
around each of 50 different timed rooms,
controls are similar to Asteroids (rotate, thrust, avoiding monsters while trying to grab a key
fire), but, like Gravitar (another game with As-and take it to the doorway leading to the next
teroids-style controls), the jetpod ship is sus-room. In addition to the type of blocks Dana
ceptible to gravity, making it a challenge to
creates, which can be destroyed, each room
avoid planets, obstacles (black holes and the
contains solid blocks that cannot be removed.
like), and enemy ships (including saucers, can-
By grabbing certain items, Dana can shoot fire-