Castlevania (1987) - Video Game Review

[caption id="attachment_557" align="alignright" width="307"] Official Score = 3 1/2 Devils[/caption]

When I was a kid there was a game that I never really got the time to really play to much, but I found never the less that I really enjoyed the times that I was able to play this game... But not only that, but I found that this particular game has been one of the most memorable games that I have ever played... That game of course being, 'Castlevania' (1987)!

Now besides the fact that this game genuinely for it's time was some of the best graphics that I had ever seen for a game, I also found that this game was remarkably difficult, not only to learn to play, but to play in general (but not in that impossible way that in the end becomes incredibly annoying and really brings down the games performance.) Another thing that I really liked, that I felt really made this game really well rounded was the story!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="510"] A truly classic Nintendo game![/caption]

What I mean by this, is that this game, which was developed and published by, 'Konami' for Nintendo's, 'Famicom' video game console in 1986, and in 1987 for it's North American counterpart, Nintendo's, 'NES', told the story of, 'Simon Belmont' (the lead character in the game,) and how you take him through the various levels in the game in an effort to take out, 'Dracula' himself!

Now I will be honest and say that with all of the re-releases and sequels to this game that have come out (and there have been alot), that the first game is still the best, but the cool thing, is that this game has produced it's own, 'universe', what with having produced besides this game, several sequels, as well as re-releases of this game!

So folks, if you are looking for a true classic, that to this day is still a fun one, check this one out, it is a fun one, and is well worth the opportunity if you get a chance!

http://youtu.be/v6W9ocMC6N8

Gradius 3: From Legend To Myth (1989) - Video Game Review

[caption id="attachment_415" align="alignright" width="350"] Official Score = 4 Devils[/caption]

Most people at this point have played some sort of video game in their life... I mean even my Dad beat the original, 'Final Fantasy' for the NES, before I even had a chance to play it... And as the years go on more and people are sort of born in to the concept of playing video games as a regular thing!

And well, every true gamer has that one game, or that one game series that they truly love, that game that in some way you could say in some capacity ended up defining what games they would end up playing in the future... For me, that game was, 'Gradius 3: From Legend To Myth (1989)'!

This game started off as a 2D side shooter game in 1989 when it was released by Konami in Japan as an Arcade game... This game would later be released for the, Super Famicom in 1990, (for those of you who don't know this the, 'Famicom', or 'Family Computer' is the name that was given for the Japanese equivalent of the, 'Nintendo Entertainment System' and the, 'Super Famicom' was the name given to the Japanese equivalent of the, 'Super Nintendo' etc...)

But, 1991 is when I, and the rest of North America would be able to finally get our grubby little mits on it, when it was re-released for the Super Nintendo as simply, 'Gradius 3'!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Gradius 3... A truly awesome fun time![/caption]

Now this game freaking rocked! And is still one of my favorite games of all time (As a matter of fact, I was recently playing the first, 'Gradius' game and I got to say that this game was truly amazing as well!)

You might be wondering why this game is so awesome... Well the truth is, is everything! The music was awesome, for a 2D side scrolling game from 1991... The graphics were truly above board, and frankly with the story, and the fact that the way this game was made, made it that much harder in the end truly made this a spectacularly fun time that I just spent literally hours on!

In the end I still think this game is a lot of fun... It can get extremely frustrating at times, but even the frustrating times are fun as well! And well, where as I can't vouch for the fact that this game will be your favorite game of all time, I can honestly vouch for the fact that if you try it, you might really, in the end enjoy it!

http://youtu.be/XQfNkjEF5f4

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist (1992) - Video Game Review

[caption id="attachment_322" align="alignright" width="258"] Official Score = 1 1/2 Devils[/caption]

You know growing up in the late 80s through the early 90s, one of the better toys/TV Shows etc... That was out there for kids to enjoy were the, 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'... Now these guys were what He-Man was in the early 80s, what the Super Friends were in the late 70s... And what would eventually be replaced by such characters as, 'Master Chief' from the Halo series is to the kids today... (Believe it or not I have even seen Master Chief toys in stores!)

Anyway... The sad thing about the, 'Ninja Turtles' is that they no longer had the prominence that they once did... (even though they are still around today.... They just I guess don't really have the same enjoyment for kids that they did when I was a kid...)

But you want to know what was so great about these guys... What really made them so bad ass? Where as it is true that you had to suspend your disbelief about the fact that a bunch of teenager aged mutant ninja turtles and their aged mutated rat sensei/father would go out and stop the likes of shredder (Hey, this show and the majority of its subsequent work was for kids... what are you gonna do...) The Ninja Turtles really were for kids, I mean they helped show kids that even the youngest boy could still aspire to greatness... And lets be honest, it was really cool seeing them kick Shredder's ass as well!

With that in mind, the height of the, 'Ninja Turtle' craze really did happen to be in the early 1990s, when they were producing a TV show, movies and merchandise/video games fairly regularly! And when I was a kid and in my circle the hottest, 'Ninja Turtles' Video Game happen to be both the NES version of the game and the SNES game... Unfortunately I myself never ended up getting that one... Although I was able to play both of those, the one I ended up getting was the the Sega Genesis game, 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist' (1992)!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="512"] Leonardo as he is going to town on the big bad, 'Leatherhead'![/caption]

Produced by Konami for the Sega Genesis during the same year that the Super Nintendo game was released, this game tells the story of how during a news cast from Ellis Island, Shredder ends up shrinking the Island, and with the power of the, 'Hyperstone' is more or less able to take over the world!

In the end, this game was sort of the poor man's version of the Super Nintendo version of this game... What I mean by this is that in my opinion there was only really a small handful of plus points...

1. The game play was alright...

2. Considering this game came out in 1992, the graphics were pretty solid!

But the sad truth was that the sound effects in my opinion kind of sucked... (Just low, low quality), and frankly the story was kind of week, and the truth is, is that even at 10 years old, that pretty much killed my interest in the game...

So if you are looking for classic walk down memory lane with the, 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles', then why not do so with the Super Nintendo version... And if you can't find that, then go tot he Sega Genesis version...

http://youtu.be/q47yRV8LIJ4

Contra (1987) - Video Game Review

[caption id="attachment_557" align="alignright" width="300"] Official Score = 3 1/2 Devils[/caption]

If you were born in the 80s or earlier then I am sure that you will remember playing classic NES games such as, 'Mega Man', 'Super Mario Bros.', etc... Well obviously the graphics in those old games by consideration of how far they have come with in the last 30 years would be considered to be crap... but back then I have to say that they were pretty exceptional!

But besides that there is another side to these old video games that has been to some degree lost in translation... And that is the 2D side view that all of these old video games had... Now don't get me wrong the more standard these day games that are getting closer and closer to playing movies is cool and all, but there was something to playing 2D side view games that were just truly spectacular and  you know what, Contra (1987) is definitely one of them!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="300"] The first player fighting one of the bosses![/caption]

Created by Konami on February 20th 1987, for  in this video game you control 1 of 2 Commandos as they are go from level to level fighting soldiers of the, 'Red Falcon Organization' and the various bosses that are in control of these areas! In Japan where this, 'run & gun' game is called, 'Kontra' the game takes place in the year 2633 on a ficitional archpalego near New Zealand!

In truth this game (which was called, Gryzor in Europe) was an awesome great time, as you go from level to level fighting off more and more bad guys, the levels get harder and harder and the bosses get harder and harder, and even though some times you might die a few hundred times and get frustrated, you end up continuing to play because... In the end I found that no matter how many times I died in the game, I just had to win!

Another thing  that I thought that I would mention here is that the game play on the NES is real smooth and not hard to figure out... And as a side note, this game is actually the first one that I found secrets in!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="600"] The game play for, 'Contra' on the NES is real smooth![/caption]

And the last thing that I have to say that was really truly awesome about this game is the music, considering that it is computer generated, was actually a lot of fun.... So much so, that if there was a sound track available it would be worth checking out!

http://youtu.be/uzQKF9LUQ90