Jeff Gerstmann has taken it upon himself to rank every NES game

Board 8

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Board 8 » Jeff Gerstmann has taken it upon himself to rank every NES game
Not sure how the SNES version compares but as a not-particularly-skilled player of puzzle games, I did think the last, like, 10 stages of NES Wario's Woods are kind of overwhelming in how little margin for error you have at each level's beginning combined with the speed and amount of colors you're working with by that point. I was only able to beat the final stretch by cheesing it hard: pausing the game doesn't blank out the playing field, giving you all the time you need to plan out what you're going to do in detail.
[NO BARKLEY NO PEACE]
[NO Azuarc NO PEACE]
Episode 30
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=on4uR0N9T24

00:00:00 - Intro
00:07:23 - Dragon Power
00:37:03 - Blades of Steel
01:01:32 - Star Wars
01:29:40 - Donkey Kong 3
01:46:58 - 8 Eyes
02:20:05 - Operation Secret Storm
02:45:29 - Karate Champ

havent played any of these. havent even seen any of them either!

dk3 is uh an idea i guess
dragon power ive heard of at least. weird how they brought over a db game when db wasnt even a thing over here yet. didnt seem very good. and man the first 400 loops of that song were not so good
glad to see nes star wars is of the same fuck this quality as the snes ones
operation secret storm oh wow

congrats to azuarc for victorying GotD guru
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I might actually watch his 8-Eyes segment. I love seeing people's opinions of that game, because it's so divisive. I like it, but I get why others don't.
Bells, bells, bells!
8-Eyes ain't perfect but it gets my respect.
O P E R A T I O N O U S T : Nominate SHEIK!
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Watching now and practically crying from laughing so much at Operation Secret Storm. Between the music and animations, what the fuck is this game
"You're childish. What are you getting? Are you getting strawberry? Ha! That's such a childish flavor, only children eat strawberry."
I lost it at this belongs on some other list
add the c and back away
iphonesience
episode 31
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=990ALGbfBM0

00:00:00 - Intro
00:02:46 - Super Mario Bros. 2
01:08:45 - The Krion Conquest
01:43:32 - Donkey Kong Jr.
01:57:40 - NES Play Action Football
02:19:38 - Bucky O'Hare

bucky o'hare aw yeah
congrats to azuarc for victorying GotD guru
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I've noticed that he will encounter the same issue in different games, ding some of them for having it but not others. Mario 2 was interesting.
I'd Rather Be A Savage Little Elephant, than be a big Bald Bull
"I claim one line in your sig" = TheKnightOfNee
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Only I have the power to make Jeff play NES Sesame Street games

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Robowarrior, is that the weird Bomberman spinoff one
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SHINE_GET_64 posted...
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Only I have the power to make Jeff play NES Sesame Street games

with probably 15ish minutes to go, Im worrying we will not see Sesame Streer today
For your Azuarc .
At least Kupo has class and doesn't MESSAGE the people -Dr Pizza
Robowarrior is like all of that Super Pitfall/Milon's Secret Castle type bullshit of "just try hitting every wall until one reveals the thing you absolutely need to progress" but made even worse since it's top-down. It's the thing people who've never actually played Zelda 1 think Zelda 1 is
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Today is my lowest ranked nom so far

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avJRrYDEGUY

00:02:48 - Popeye
00:22:37 - Hydlide
01:08:30 - Sesame Street ABC
01:27:15 - Rainbow Islands: The Story of Bubble Bobble 2
01:53:30 - Ghoul School
02:25:45 - Arkista's Ring
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I think it's so weird that the Sesame Street/Fischer Price games keep avoiding the bottom of the list when they're like. Nothing. There's no game there. I'd rather play Athena for sure.
"You're childish. What are you getting? Are you getting strawberry? Ha! That's such a childish flavor, only children eat strawberry."
I guess nothing beats something that makes him mad

like Firehouse Rescue is basically as engaging as staring at a wall, but Athena is actively frustrating and makes him feel worse than staring at a wall would.
For your Azuarc .
At least Kupo has class and doesn't MESSAGE the people -Dr Pizza
MoogleKupo141 posted...
I guess nothing beats something that makes him mad

For a second I thought Rainbow Islands was heading that way

I've never played it for more than a few minutes every time I've tried because it just seemed bad. Meanwhile I feel he severely underranked Bubble Bobble
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so thats 2 bad hydelide games in aware of are there any good ones. and man those 400 loops of that tune were not so good

never heard of ghoul school or arkistas ring. ghoul school couldve been neat but alas. a speedrun of it is like 5 minutes with what looked like not a ton of glitches so hrm. that difficulty spike in arkista is kinda nuts. cool game though
congrats to azuarc for victorying GotD guru
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I don't care about the NES versions (there are actually two of them) but I have a lot of respect for the arcade version of Rainbow Islands just because of how deep the secrets go in that game. And unlike other games that were popular for their secrets like Tower of Druaga, there are actually hints for many of them in RI

I think most people consider Super Hydlide for Mega Drive to be good. And honestly while I agree it's a bad game, Virtual Hydlide is at least interesting and worth looking at. It was built on a golf game engine for christ's sake! I've never played them but I bet at least some of the computer versions were better than the NES port too
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Fill yourself up with these NES games

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83TVBsKRMHs

00:03:48 - Karnov
00:44:12 - Rampage
00:57:50 - Monster in My Pocket
01:39:55 - Sesame Street 123
02:00:15 - Totally Rad
02:36:11 - Mickey Mousecapade
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oh hey its that guy from karnovs revenge

good ol rampage. another one of the few games my mom would play with me. its kinda not great and very repetitive and missing ralph but "its better than baby boomer and thats it" cmon

totally rad is like totally gnarly dude. way poggers. skibidi
congrats to azuarc for victorying GotD guru
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I dunno that version of Rampage truly looked like dogshit. ...I should play Rampage on the GBC and see if it's also really bad or if my memory of it being pretty fun is accurate.

This series is really showing me that there are tons of NES games I know nothing about. The segue from "I've made a list of big-name games that people know about, games that can carry an episode" to "here's today's game people know: Karnov!" gave me whiplash. I've never even heard of Karnov!
"You're childish. What are you getting? Are you getting strawberry? Ha! That's such a childish flavor, only children eat strawberry."
He was basically the Data East mascot, appeared in a decent number of their games. Though I guess the next question would be have you even heard of Data East
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Definitely heard of Data East though it might just be because of these videos lol
"You're childish. What are you getting? Are you getting strawberry? Ha! That's such a childish flavor, only children eat strawberry."
Hey who likes video games

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubV8iUlbMTA

00:05:10 - Gumshoe
00:49:30 - Nightshade
01:40:13 - Spiritual Warfare
02:17:40 - Felix the Cat
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Just tried Nightshade a few days ago...funny timing.

Felix the Cat, aw yeah.
O P E R A T I O N O U S T : Nominate SHEIK!
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oh hey havent heard of any of these. well i know felix but i didnt know there was an nes game.

nightshade couldve been neat but no saving kills it. splork and complete weed status are some good lines that need more use

hey wow spiritual warrior looks to be an actual competent video game. wasnt expecting that
congrats to azuarc for victorying GotD guru
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Spiritual Warfare is definitely decent, Ive beaten it once or twice. Look up the last boss fight, it has a freaky animation every time you hurt it. If it had more music than just the same three hymns looping over and over it would go a long way toward making the game more tolerable. Even if you didnt want to make original music there are plenty more hymns out there
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Played through Felix after watching this. Its pretty good, Id probably have been pretty into it if I played it as a kid. Its not totally braindead easy, but its very beatable.

kind of reminds of me of a longer Super Mario Land, with the various nonstandard platforming stages.
For your Azuarc .
At least Kupo has class and doesn't MESSAGE the people -Dr Pizza
Felix is very playable but i remember the game not seeming to have much in the way of actual level design so much as spamming a particular levels enemies and features at you in a not particularly clever way until it ends and its time for the next.
[NO BARKLEY NO PEACE]
[NO Azuarc NO PEACE]
It's Friday which means only one thing

time for NES GAMES

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSLLZ-bG58w

00:03:20 - The Adventures of Rad Gravity
00:51:08 - R.B.I. Baseball
01:21:28 - Xevious: The Avenger
01:34:10 - Wally Bear and the NO! Gang
02:02:26 - Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Pool of Radiance
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I was so excited when I saw the title of the stream today was Just say NO because Id pitched Wally Bear on the Patreon yesterday
For your Azuarc .
At least Kupo has class and doesn't MESSAGE the people -Dr Pizza
EXPLODED in laughter when the Rad Gravity theme just suddenly started blasting

The secret to this song is that if someone performed it live it would be fucking sick. Ive seen one video of a live performance but they played it at like half speed
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https://youtu.be/sukeGQAAjVM?si=nIzELhvZZ-HtMsp-
rad gravity not as rad as totally rad. bummer dude. and yeah the first 400 loops of that song were not so good

wally bear is neither a wally gator or a yogi bear and definitely not a good video game. was he even a real mascot or is he just some shit made for this game
congrats to azuarc for victorying GotD guru
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I believe Wally hadnt appeared before the game, but he went on to be used in other capacities by whatever anti-drug council came up with him.
For your Azuarc .
At least Kupo has class and doesn't MESSAGE the people -Dr Pizza
later they got rebranded to The KNOW Gang, and got a superhero friend names Recyclemanhttps://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/0/0229be1b.jpg
For your Azuarc .
At least Kupo has class and doesn't MESSAGE the people -Dr Pizza
Friday is for NES games

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8piDFKn5AYk

00:05:00 - Rad Racer
00:43:45 - Dirty Harry
01:35:30 - Chubby Cherub
01:51:50 - The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
02:21:20 - Jeopardy!
02:55:20 - Mighty Bomb Jack
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Hes not wrong about there being something intriguing about Dirty Harry but he still rated that shit way too high. Its definitely no Dynowarz: The Destruction of Spondylus.
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"It's not even a chore to play; it's worse than that." *ranks it above like 100 other games*
"You're childish. What are you getting? Are you getting strawberry? Ha! That's such a childish flavor, only children eat strawberry."
I was off work today so I got to see this episode live. A few games I owned! Am I one of the few people who's actually finished Bart vs. the Space Mutants? Sure it's bad, but I never thought it was as bad as people today make it out to be.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwKOY1bf4Zw

00:03:00 - The Simpsons: Bart vs. the Space Mutants
00:58:50 - MagMax
01:27:45 - Snake Rattle 'n Roll
02:04:13 - Klash Ball
02:21:30 - Bee 52
02:39:30 - Wheel of Fortune
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oh hey snake rattle n roll ranked higher than i thought it would. i dont remember those fuck you control reversing situations though.

magmax seemed reasonably serviceable enough im surprised its that low

and oh shit a special episode for action 52 that will be a time!
congrats to azuarc for victorying GotD guru
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Magmax is incredibly boring, not enough variety to the shooting and the novelty of the mecha-building wears off quickly. It was also late to the "horizontal shooter where you change from a ship to a mecha" party, there were like three or four of those already
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magmaxs music was legitimately hurting my head

it sounded like two songs at once

also it was fun to see he played another dumb unlicensed game I suggested

i actually thought Bee 52 might be kinda good when I played the first level, but by the third it became super aggravating
For your Azuarc .
At least Kupo has class and doesn't MESSAGE the people -Dr Pizza
Bee 52 seems okay if you have any amount of patience and willingness to engage with its mechanics, instead of just slamming into obstacles at full speed over and over. Obviously not great though. No in-game music is almost a deal breaker by itself.

I am gonna need merch of the main character though because that design fucking slaps
"You're childish. What are you getting? Are you getting strawberry? Ha! That's such a childish flavor, only children eat strawberry."
Radix posted...
oh hey snake rattle n roll ranked higher than i thought it would. i dont remember those fuck you control reversing situations though.

Snake Rattle n Roll was one of the lesser known NES games that I loved as a kid. It's got cool music and is just so weird and "out there", especially with things like diagonal jumping. At the same time, it could be annoyingly infuriating and unfair. I think was was able to get a level or two past where Jeff got but I never beat it.

That Jeff rated it properly makes me happy. I was worried at first but then he put it above Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle and Astyanax, which were 2 games I had and definitively know were worse. So, the science was correct this time.
"That was unnecessarily dramatic". - NY Mets motto (courtesy of InnerTubeHero)
Congratulations to azuarc, the guru of gurus and winner of GotD 2020!
Jeff is ranking Action 52 right now, on game 6 so far
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Board 8 » Jeff Gerstmann has taken it upon himself to rank every NES game
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