Review: Metroid
Platform: NES
Rating: 9.0/10

<blockquote>Metroid is one of the defining moments of the NES, at any point in it's life. It was the huge, non-linear, and difficult quest of Samus Aran, bountyhunter extraordinaire, who hunts a not-so-nice group of guys called Space Pirates, who, like any self-respecting villains, have aspirations to dominate the galaxy. The tool they plan to use in search of this goal is the Metroid. A large creature shaped roughly like a squid, Metroids have the capacity to completely destroy almost anything, making them the perfect weapon if they can be brought under control. As Samus, you will search miles and miles of the dangerous underworld of the planet Zebes, hunt down the Space Pirates and their leader, the Mother Brain, and destroy the Metroids, all while trying your damndest to stay alive. </blockquote>

Graphics: 9.0

<blockquote>The various areas below the surface of Zebes are large, well-detailed, and diverse in looks. They range from the cavernous Brinstar to the firey Norfair to the high-tech base of Mother Brain, Tourian. Mother Brain's henchmen Ridley and Kraid also have their own domains, one an almost-pleasant area flowered with shrubs, the other an awfully strange place. Each section has it's own graphical variations as well, which makes for a pleasant visual experience. Of the early NES games, this probably makes some of the best uses of the machine's limited color palette. It manages to be colorful without ruining the dark atmosphere.

Enemies are all over the place, so you can't help but notice that they look pretty good, all things considered. Of course there's some palette-swapping going on, but there is still a rather diverse assembly of critters who want you dead. For it's time the number of enemies, and the level of animation were pretty advanced, and it shows through that design was a strength of the developing team. There are only three bosses in the game, but all are large, well-animated, and properly dominate the scene. </blockquote>

Audio: 8.0

<blockquote>The music in Metroid is excellent, and there are some catchy tunes here that have become staples of the series for good reasons. The problem lies in the simply massive areas you're exploring: You're in one area for such a protracted period of time that the music, as good as it is, will repeat and repeat until you really do start getting tired of it, and you'll wish there was a larger selection of tunes to break the monotony, even if nothing more than slight variations. That of course would be restrictive, as cart size was precious, so that can't really count much against the score. The sound effects are pretty standard.</blockquote>

Gameplay: 9.5

<blockquote>To start with, Metroid is a very difficult game. It WILL kick your ass, no matter how good you think you are. Health is a rare commodity for a good long while, your initial weaponry is weak and there are hordes of nasty things out there who like nothing more than to see your yellow self go boom. Though the game is definitely above the average skill level, it isn't insanely difficult either, it is balanced well and the curve isn't too steep. This game does require you to be adventurous, and it requires you to both take some risks and to be imaginitive. There are tons of secrets, most of them vital to your success, and the game gives you absolutely no hints as to where you can find these hidden items. Therefore, you have to take it upon yourself to explore every nook and cranny, to look in the least obvious places and discover the secrets of the planet Zebes. In addition to your exploration, you'll be firing that trusty arm cannon quite often, which can be upgraded three times to three lethal new levels, and soon enough you'll be complementing that with missiles. There are also extra items that complement other aspects of Samus Aran, and allow for higher jumping, lava-walking, and using her own body as a weapon, and more.

You have a serious lack of health at the beginning, which forces you to take a crash course in avoidance and being dodgy, because until you find a few of the precious Energy Tanks, you simply cannot take damage unnecessarily. Even small, seemingly-harmless enemies can take you down with a few hits. Fortunately, upon death they drop health tabs and other goodies to keep you rocking, but even still, often times trying to kill an enemy for five points of health can end up costing you four times as much, so know what you're getting into before shooting at anything that moves.

To add to the fact that the underworld of Zebes is gigantic, you will have to map it by memory, because the game does not do it for you. You will have to learn to memorize landmarks to aid your navigation, and it is almost certain you will get lost a few times. It's fortunate that there is little in the way of backtracking involved.

To top it all off, you have one life to live. Lose that life and you are given a long password. This is your only means of continuing, as this was in the days when battery-saving was in it's infancy. That the password is so long is incentive enough not to die, although it is a good idea when you want to break from the game for awhile. Make sure you get it down though, because you get only one chance. Metroid is a game that shows no mercy. And fans wouldn't have it any other way.</blockquote>

Final Word

<blockquote>Metroid is a classic for many good reasons, and is a blast to play if the heavy challenge doesn't daunt you. Any self-respecting NES afficionado should have this game in their collection, without doubt. And lucky you, it was a common, popular game, so if you're not a total slouch, you can easily obtain a copy of this game on the cheap. And you should. Because you definitely will not regret it. </blockquote>

Took me long enough, but I finally got up a large portion of my reviews, so I can once again call myself the Review King. So head over there now and read up on some games you might be interested in.

In my opinion, this is where the series started to go stagnant. Enemies were kind of boring, music was okay, and gameplay was...eh. The enemies were:

Charge Man - Basically a train with legs. He would run at you or shoot out rocks from his smokestack.
Gravity Man - Not much of an active weapon, just a plasma cannon not unlike Mega Mans, but the difference was gravity was wrong. When Mega Man was on the floor, Gravity Man was on the ceiling, took timing to hit him.
Napalm Man - Shot napalm filled canisters upward and crashing down on Mega Man, also shot a missile from his head.
Crystal Man - Froze the ground to make it slippery, then shoots crystals at you.
Gyro Man - Flew into the clouds wher you couldn't see him, then shot helicopter blades down at you until falling down himself.
Star Man - Uses a star shield, which protects him until he throws it at you.
Stone Man - Uses a strange weapon which rotates stones around his body and then they fling off into different directions.
Wave Man - Makes surges in the piping through the floor to shoot water underneath Mega Man.

Gameplay is alright, kind of challenging in some parts, but all in all pretty unremarkable. Music, which is usually pretty good, was just plain lousy this time around, with the exception of Gravity Man, that's a diamond in the rough. Graphics are good, but nothing to really write home about.</font></p>

I rate <i>Mega Man 5</i> a mere 3 out 10, and I can't help but wonder what the Capcom people were thinking.

<i>Mega Man 4</i> is a standout game in this already great game series. Featuring:

Dust Man - Who fires exploding dust and sucks you towards him.
Pharaoh Man - Who jumps a lot and fires fireballs, some small, some huge.
Dive Man - In an underwater level, he shoots homing missles and charges you like a torpedo.
Bright Man - Who stops time momentarily while he shoots you. Not too diffrent from his predecessor Flash Man.
Drill Man - Drill Man shoots drills out from his arms, then burrows underground where you can't see him, then launches out right underneath Mega Man a few seconds later.
Ring Man - Throws Rings, thats about it.
Skull Man - Has the ability to use a skull shield, which protects him from anything, until he throws it at you.
Toad Man - Jumps around and does a weird dance causing acid rain to pour down.

Gameplay is pretty decent. Some parts are challenging, none of the levels can really be called "easy". The bosses have a bit more kick in them now too.
Music, once again, is very addictive. Graphics are very good. Dust Man's level in particular is very well done.
The background consists of conveyor belts, hammers, gears and other mechanical stuff.
Later on in the level, you find parts where some garbage is burning, and that looks really cool.

I rate <i>Mega Man 4<i> a 7 out of 10, it's a great game, I recommend it highly.

They say that the third time is a charm, and when the first two are gold, you know the third must be incredible, and it is. <i>Mega Man 3</i> boasts great enemies as well as great music and graphics. Your eight initial enemy robots are: </font>

Spark Man, who shoots electrical bursts and simply attacks with his own jumping
Snake Man, a high jumping robot who fires snakes which crawl around the floor and up the walls, hurting Mega Man.
Needle Man, who attacks by either throwing needles at you, or shooting out his spiked top.
Top Man, a weak enemy who throws three guided tops or spins from one side of the screen to the other.
Shadow Man, extremely fast, attacks by either throwing blades, or by simply hitting you with his lightning quick slide.
Magnet Man, can stick to the ceiling and throw guided Magnet Missiles or attract Mega Man with his magnetic power.
Gemini Man, who splits himself into two parts and shoots plasma bullets at the same time Mega Man does, and once half of his health is gone, the clone goes away and the remaining original shoots lasers.
Hard Man, shoots his guided fists at Mega Man, or jumps and tries to smash Mega Man under his weight.

After these guys, you expect to head to Dr. Wilys Skull Castle, but first you have to go back through Spark, Needle, Shadow, and Gemini Mans now destroyed stages, where you'll find some powerful robots who are like nothing you've seen before, but in one special way, they are very familiar...

Once you get to Dr. Wily's infamous Skull Castle, where you encounter such enemies as three Mega Man clones, and a strange monster who disassembles, throws his pieces at you, reassembles, and attacks. As a fan of Mega Man games myself, this is my favorite, even including the Mega Man X games.

I highly recommend you get this game and play it. It's challenging, it's fun, and it simply doesn't get old. I give it a 9!

<i>Mega Man II</i> was where the Mega Man games we all know and love started to take shape. With a full compliment of 8 powerful robots, including:

<b><i>Bubble Man</b></i> - In an underwater level, shoots bubbles and plasma shots at you while swins around. Watch out for the spikes on the ceiling.
<b><i>Air Man</b></i> - Air Man shoots 3 tornadoes from one side of the screen to the other. Some you can dodge, others not.
<b><i>Quick Man</b></i> - As his name suggests, Quick Man is FAST. He jumps and runs at lightspeed shooting boomerangs at you. An uneven floor makes him difficult to dodge, too.
<b><i>Wood Man</b></i> - Uses leaves as him main weapon. He'll create a spinning shield of leaves and throw it at you, then leaves fall from the top of the screen.
<b><i>Flash Man</b></i> - Flash man doesn't have much of an active weapon, he stops time momentarily and shoots a rapid-fire plasma cannon at you. The slippery floors don't help with your dodging, either.
<b><i>Heat Man</b></i> - Looking like a giant pissed off Zippo lighter, Heat Man attacks in two ways. He will either throw fireballs which make flames rise from the ground, or he will turn himself into fire and charge you.
<b><i>Crash Man</b></i> - Crash Man is kind of difficult to beat, it takes timing and a Energy Canister or two. When you fire your weapon (even if not at him) he will jump in the air and throw bombs at you. You need to time your attacks to hit him when he jumps.
<b><i>Metal Man</b></i> - Metal Man is not too difficult to beat. He will be on the opposite side of the room, jumping up and down and throwing up to three sawblades at you at a time. The floor is also a conveyor belt, making movement and dodging difficult.

This game is one of the best in the Mega Man series. Featuring two levels of difficulty and challenging levels, it'll keep you entertained. Also this game introduced bonus items Item-1, Item-2, and Item-3. One climbed walls, one made a rocket (very useful in Heat Mans stage), and the other made a balloon. Dr. Wily's levels and bosses were also very challenging and fun.

Music, once again, was excellent, especially in Metal Man and Crash Mans stage.

I consider this game to be the first true Mega Man game, it set the standard for all its descendants. I rate Mega Man II an 8 out of 10.

Ah, the one that started it all! This game may look strange for players of Mega Man 2-X because of a few differences.
For one there are only 6 six enemy robots instead of the traditional 8.
They consist of:

Cut Man, who uses scissor-like blades
Fire Man, who uses flame attacks
Elec Man, who uses lightning attacks
Ice Man, who uses freezing attacks
Guts Man, who uses strength to throw huge boulders
Bomb Man, who uses, obviously, bombs to get his point across.

This game also uses a point system. You get a certain number of points for beating enemies and picking up pellets, you get a certain number of points for beating bosses. Also, after a boss is killed, you must walk over to where you killed him and pick up a capsule ot recieve his weapon. If you wait too long, it will disappear and you have to do the level and the boss all over again. Quite a difference, but fun.

Gameplay is good for an early NES game. There are some challenging parts that may have you pulling your hair out.
I know it took me a little while to even get off the first part of Guts Mans level! Graphics are classic 8 bit, everything is flat, but it's a detailed flat, mostly with backgrounds and non-moving things, everything else is pretty solid looking. The background of Bomb Man's stage is impressive though.

<i>Mega Man 1</i> paved the way for a great series in gaming, and did a good job asserting itself, letting the world know it was for real. For these reasons and others, I rate <i>Mega Man 1</i> a 7.5 out of 10.

Standing proud, outwardly defying that sound and graphics make a game, is the Game & Watch series. Going on 20 years old, they still provide a fun factor that can still be unmatched by many games on next-gen consoles. I defy anyone to play Fire, Chef, Manhole, or Octopus and not get addicted. They're deceptively simple in gameplay with usually only two controls for movement, yet they can be maddeningly difficult on the higher difficulty levels and when things get hectic. They made the handheld game what it is today, but now with the onset of better handheld consoles, these gaming gems are slowly and unfortunately falling into obscurity. Not if Nintendo has anything to say about it, and with that in mind, they release <i>Game & Watch Gallery 4</i>, which showcases these gaming legends for all to enjoy once more.

You start out with 6 games, the ability to unlock 6 more, and I've heard rumors you can unlock games you see in the Museum part of the Gallery. If true, this brings the total to over 20 games, not a bad deal for the same price as any other GBA cartridge which includes but one game. The games you start with are Boxing, Rainshower, Mario's Cement Factory, Donkey Kong Jr, Donkey Kong 3, and the most popular game of all, Fire. Each game includes the classic black and white, frame-by-frame game as it used to be (they even make it more realistic by making it appear to be an LCD screen by shading the unoccupied frames gray). The beeps and boops from the games remain as well. If you're looking for something a bit more visually and audibly pleasing, they've also included Modern versions of every game, starring famous characters, catchy music, and of course beautiful graphics. Boxing pits Luigi against Wiggler, Boo, and even Waluigi, while Fire has Peach's castle on fire and you must save falling Toads, Yoshis, and Donkey Kongs.

Controls are very responsive, for the most part. One complaint I have is in Modern Boxing. It can occasionally be difficult to switch Luigi's punches from upper to lower blows. Other than that though, they are flawless, which is necessary considering the sometimes quick movements you must make in order to win. Music in the Modern games is quite catchy, and I found myself humming some of the songs to myself on just the second day I had the game.

If you need a break from the old-school games, you can take a trip to the Gallery, where you can access the Museum, which showcases more Game and Watch games (as I said, I've heard <u>rumors</u> you can unlock these to play too, but I don't know for sure), also you can play all the music from the game in the music room, or you can visit the present room where Mario and Mr. Game and Watch (who looks exactly like he did in Melee) gives you what you've unlocked.

<i>Game and Watch Gallery 4</i> took me back to when gaming was simple yet enjoyable, and when Nintendo made games because they wanted to entertain people, not to compete with other company's sales. I rate this game an 8.0!

This game follows the style of most Zelda games. Zelda is in trouble, and Link must rescue her. The storyline is that there is a Light world and a Dark World of Hyrule, and many years ago, the Seven Sages of Hyrule sealed the Dark World, and the Triforce forever. Or so they thought. In the beginning, Link wakes up after hearing Zeldas pleas for help in a dream. His uncle tells him that he is leaving for a while. Link goes outside searching for the voice that is calling him. Upon Links arrival to Hyrule castle, in a hidden passageway Zelda tells him of, he finds his uncle dying in the hallway.
Link takes his sword and shield and begins quest. Throughout the game you learn that an evil entity called Aghanim (sorry it's been a while I forget how to spell his name). You must then get three pendants to receive the Master Sword. Then you find that Aghanim is just a puppet for Ganon, who is trying to get the Triforce so he can rule the world. Link must find the descendants of the seven sages entrapped in seven crystals around Hyrule, all guarded by powerful monsters in castles.

Gameplay is very addictive, and in my opinion is the best Zelda game. Graphics are good for the SNES, very much detail on terrain and characters, but most other things are in solid colors with little detail.

<i>A Link to the Past</i> remains one of my favorite games, and I'm sure it will be one of yours too. I rate <i>The Legend of Zelda : A Link to the Past</i> an 8 out of 10.

Vegas Stakes is a game about 5 people, yourself and 4 friends, taking a road trip to Las Vegas, in hopes of getting rich. You arrive at hotel/casino The Golden Sunshine, one of the five casinos available. Your other options on the Strip are:

<b>The Hideaway</b> - a run down, low maximum bid casino, which should be saved as your last resort in Vegas.
<b>The Buffalo Head</b> - A western themed casino with bids close to that of the Golden Sunshine.
<b>The 2020</b> - A futuristic themed casino with moderately high bids.
<b>The Laurel Palace</b> - High bidders only! This elegant casino sports minimum bids of $500, and can make you or break you quickly. This casino comes available to you after you make about $500,000.00

Vegas Stakes incorporates some unique attributes of a casino into it. For starters, this game used the SNES Mouse, making it easier control than a standard SNES controller. One cool concept is that strangers actually come up and talk to you. They can say any number of random things such as they "fell and twisted their ankle so they need you to take then to the hospital", or they'll sell you something. The problem is, they're not always sincere. If someone bumps into you or rubs a spot off your shirt, it could be just that, or it could be a pickpocket. You have to take chances when dealing with these people, they'll scam you, or if they are telling the truth, reward you in a few turns.

There are 5 available games in each casino with varying bids. Slots, Craps, Poker, Blackjack, and Roulette. If you don't know how to play some of these games, the friend that accompanies you can tell you how to play, alos give advice on bidding, slot values, and other useful information. Vegas awaits you, gamblers! Know when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em. Test your judgement to tell if strangers are sincere, or crooks. Play your cards right and you may leave Vegas a Millionaire. If not, well, I have a shirt you can borrow. I give it a 6.5 out of 10.