Not much to disagree with here, though I never played Soccer or Stack-Up.
Kung Fu is clearly the star here. I owned it for a while back in the day but found it too difficult and traded it away to a friend for Double Dragon. In 1989 or 1990, when we made the trade, I'd say I came out ahead, but in the present day, Kung Fu has aged better IMO. There aren't many games like it, and those that tried to follow it up, like Vigilante and China Warrior are actually worse, I think. I actually beat it for the first time maybe 10 years ago.
I remember renting Pinball around 1990, when it was quite old, and I found it OK, but it wore out its welcome quickly. I might have spent an hour with it, max. A friend already had Rock'n Ball by then, which was our go-to pinball game. I can't recall if Pinball Quest has any multiplayer options, but realistically, without something like Rock'n Ball's 2-player modes, an NES pinball game wasn't something I was going to spend much time on even back then.
Most early beat-em-ups - the ones that just throw neverending waves of enemies at you - don't hold up today, but Kung Fu absolutely does. I think because the game nails the rhythm of releasing enemies at you..
Rock'n Ball is another solid pinball title, I'm looking forward to playing that again along with Pinball Quest.
And yeah, you didn't miss much by not playing Soccer (or Stack-Up), although I could see playing with a friend just to see how slow the game gets, haha.
As someone a bit too young for the original NES (although I got one on Ebay in my retro gaming phase as a teen) my only experience with Stack Up is the Angry Video Game Nerd episode.
I spent so many hours playing Kung-Fu. It's been a loooong time, but wasn't there double the number of enemies after you beat it and started over?
Also: I noticed you included Stack-up, but you forgot Gyromite, which came out on the same day. When you bought ROB you actually got Duck Hunt and Gyromite on two carts. I never actually owned Super Mario Bros. because of that.
Just like everyone else said, Kung Fu stands out among the other titles. It’s the most memorable game for me among the entire launch lineup, including Pinball, Soccer and Stack Up. And it’s the launch game I would most likely come back to and play.
Gotcha, haha. I typically go with Jeremy Parish’s research for release dates, since he always goes harder than I do, and I’m pretty sure he consider SMB a launch game.
But I hear ya, Americans were proper crap at keeping track of video game release dates until the mid 2000s, which is pretty crazy.
Not much to disagree with here, though I never played Soccer or Stack-Up.
Kung Fu is clearly the star here. I owned it for a while back in the day but found it too difficult and traded it away to a friend for Double Dragon. In 1989 or 1990, when we made the trade, I'd say I came out ahead, but in the present day, Kung Fu has aged better IMO. There aren't many games like it, and those that tried to follow it up, like Vigilante and China Warrior are actually worse, I think. I actually beat it for the first time maybe 10 years ago.
I remember renting Pinball around 1990, when it was quite old, and I found it OK, but it wore out its welcome quickly. I might have spent an hour with it, max. A friend already had Rock'n Ball by then, which was our go-to pinball game. I can't recall if Pinball Quest has any multiplayer options, but realistically, without something like Rock'n Ball's 2-player modes, an NES pinball game wasn't something I was going to spend much time on even back then.
Most early beat-em-ups - the ones that just throw neverending waves of enemies at you - don't hold up today, but Kung Fu absolutely does. I think because the game nails the rhythm of releasing enemies at you..
Rock'n Ball is another solid pinball title, I'm looking forward to playing that again along with Pinball Quest.
And yeah, you didn't miss much by not playing Soccer (or Stack-Up), although I could see playing with a friend just to see how slow the game gets, haha.
What inferior early “endless wave” beat em ups are you thinking of? I’m drawing a blank besides the Kung Fu successors I named.
A game like Renegade is also bad but it’s a different sort of beat ‘em up I’d say.
My Hero and Black Belt for the Master System are two that spring immediately to mind. Vigilante as well.
As someone a bit too young for the original NES (although I got one on Ebay in my retro gaming phase as a teen) my only experience with Stack Up is the Angry Video Game Nerd episode.
That’s as much experience as any of us need to have, I think
I spent so many hours playing Kung-Fu. It's been a loooong time, but wasn't there double the number of enemies after you beat it and started over?
Also: I noticed you included Stack-up, but you forgot Gyromite, which came out on the same day. When you bought ROB you actually got Duck Hunt and Gyromite on two carts. I never actually owned Super Mario Bros. because of that.
Maybe? Probably? I wouldn't be surprised if the enemies increased as the game repeated.
I didn't forget, I just included Gyromite on another post.
https://nintendoisgreat.substack.com/p/a-robot-a-training-course-and-two
Just like everyone else said, Kung Fu stands out among the other titles. It’s the most memorable game for me among the entire launch lineup, including Pinball, Soccer and Stack Up. And it’s the launch game I would most likely come back to and play.
Wow, even more than Super Mario Bros.?!
lol, I’m back and forth over whether or not SMB was a launch title. Haven’t seen any definitive proof either way so I don’t normally count it as one.
Gotcha, haha. I typically go with Jeremy Parish’s research for release dates, since he always goes harder than I do, and I’m pretty sure he consider SMB a launch game.
But I hear ya, Americans were proper crap at keeping track of video game release dates until the mid 2000s, which is pretty crazy.
Pinball Quest over Pin-Bot ?!?
Pin-Bot is neat, but Pinball Quest has RPG elements!
Mr. X's laugh is definitely on the NES version, but I can't recall Thomas or Sylvia saying anything. His laugh rules, though, very deep and guttural.