Jeremy Parish Presents: Retronauts Video Works (Chronological Retrospective Series)

[Magnus]

Excited to see stuff from gens after the NES era. I'm so much more nostalgic and fond of the GBC/GBA/SNES stuff.
YAY!

 

[Legacy]

For some reason I read this as Jeremy Piven presents...

Some interesting vids in there

 

[Nerdkiller]

CORNER 3...and other tired corner jobs-JOKES!

Double Dribble & Ring King retrospective: Three-point arena shooter | NES Works #058

NES Works continues (properly back in the year 1987 once again) with another pair of sports games. One is quite good, and the other... is not only kinda bad, but it also means lots of people are going to leave tired jokes about blowjobs here, because there's no 20-year-old Seanbaby joke that isn't made even better by being left as a drive-by YouTube comment.

I will say this for Ring King, though: At least it has an exhibition mode, which means I didn't actually have to play it while recording footage. Quite considerate of Data East, really.

Click to shrink...

 

[Akumatica]

 

[maximumzero]

Huh, I saw a Limited Run podcast pop up in my feed but I didn't realize how wide-reaching the implications were.

 

[Radarscope1]

Very cool. A prefect fit. And you don't have to move to make it happen.

 

[Nerdkiller]

Spy Hunter & Alpha Mission retrospective: Shoot the snore | NES Works #059

SunSoft returns to NES with their first internally developed game for the U.S., though like this episode's back-up feature (Alpha Mission) the game in question (Spy Hunter) actually hails from the arcades. Neither of these vertical shooters offer much in the way of a compelling reason to play them, aside from a pretty good take on the Peter Gunn theme in Spy Hunter. Don't worry, though. SunSoft will get a lot better. And SNK.. will get a little better, at least on NES.

Click to shrink...

Really, there was no other Spy Hunter games before The Rock one, when there were TWO GAMES (!) released several years prior.

 

[Lucas M. Thomas]

Jeremy's also appearing on twitch.tv/LimitedRunGames in just a few minutes to run Goonies II for an hour.

 

[Deleted member 48897]

Spy Hunter isn't a bad game but it's certainly no Vice: Project Doom

 

[Nerdkiller]

Zanac & Lunar Pool retrospective: Greatest hits Compile-ation | NES Works #060

After a few too many humdrum releases rounding out September 1987, October sees the NES back in proper fighting form with a string of games for the ages. First up, we have the dual debut of legendary developer Compile (under the auspices of FCI) with a pair of lesser-known classics that showcase the unique sensibilities and impressive skills for which the studio would become known.

Click to shrink...

 

[Nerdkiller]

Wave Race 64 retrospective: The N64's a-wake-ening | N64 Works #003

The first post-launch release for N64 proved to be as strong as its two day-one titles. Wave Race 64 arrived mere days after SingleTrac and Sony's Jet Moto, but it felt like a massive leap forward in terms of tech and fluidity. Nintendo's x-treme water racer maximized its sophisticated water programming, creating a series of physically and aesthetically varied tracks that felt like no other racing game before it—and while its frame rate and HUD haven't aged well, it's still a blast to play.

Click to shrink...

 

[Nerdkiller]

Rad Racer retrospective: The silver Star | NES Works #061

Squaresoft returns with its second game, and its second game to feature 3D tech. This one's a little different than The 3-D Adventures of WorldRunner, though, even if what we saw in American worked the same. Ah, the rabbit hole of Japan-only Famicom add-ons!

Rad Racer marks the beginning of many things, from the Famicom 3-D System to the career of mad RPG genius Akitoshi Kawazu, but it also brings us to the end of an era. Pour one out for pixellated box art, friends

Click to shrink...

 

[Meatwad]

It's Rad Racer! Raaaaaaaad Raaaaaacer!

 

[Nerdkiller]

It's Rad Racer! Raaaaaaaad Raaaaaacer!

Click to shrink...

Don't you have an inactive Twitter account to manage, Kaz?

 

[Meatwad]

Don't you have an inactive Twitter account to manage, Kaz?

Click to shrink...

:D

 

[Nerdkiller]

Game Boy Camera retrospective: Selfie brick | Game Boy Works Gaiden #03

By request of patron Joseph Wawzonek, this Gaiden episode dives into something that is neither game nor peripheral... it is both. And it is the best. It is... the Game Boy Camera. History's greatest video game gadget! Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

Click to shrink...

 

[Nerdkiller]

Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! retrospective: Tech knock-out | NES Works #062

Nintendo's final release for 1987 is one for the ages: A conversion of minor arcade hit Punch-Out!! So how do you port a cutting-edge arcade game to a console that launched a year before the coin-op machine without losing its essence? If you're Nintendo, you create a fancy new microchip specifically for the task; you radically overhaul the game to emphasize precision and readability; and you enlist the support of the most popular athlete in the world. It's a combo that's hard to top—and the results were so strong that it still holds up even without the endorsement of Mike Tyson.

Special thanks once again to Steve Lin and the Video Game History Foundation (http://www.gamehistory.org) this episode!

Click to shrink...

 

[Nerdkiller]

The Goonies II retrospective: Truffle shufflevania | NES Works #063

Konami's sixth release for 1987 is interesting in a few ways, not least of which is that NES publishers were supposedly limited to five releases per year. But when you're on fire the way Konami was in 1987, I suppose the rules get a little wobbly. The Goonies II bases its action very (very) loosely on the 1985 movie, but rather than just being some crappy licensed title (like we've seen with M.U.S.C.L.E. or Chubby Cherub), it's one of the most ambitious and complex NES titles to date. It's a bit opaque in the adventure scenes, but despite some parts that haven't aged well, it's... aged pretty well.

Click to shrink...

 

[JeremyParish]

I wish I could do a Goonies episode EVERY week, but that's not gonna pay the bills.

Unless it inspired Warner to hire me to direct the movie sequel.

 

[krae_man]

I watched that movie for the first time this year and it made me scream "there's a boat with buckets of money just over there. Get another boat and go get it".

 

[Nerdkiller]

Super Pitfall retrospective: Super pitiful | NES Works #064

While the NES was an improvement over previous console generations in most respects, not everything that showed up on Nintendo's system was a clear winner versus what had come before. Case in point, Super Pitfall: An update of sorts to Pitfall! II, except far, far worse. It's an ambitious reworking of an Atari 2600 classic, but "ambition" doesn't necessarily mean "quality." Another fine mess you've gotten us into, Micronics.

Click to shrink...

 

[Nerdkiller]

Star Force | Side Pocket retrospective: The bore 'n the Pocket | NES Works #065

After an amazing summer and autumn for 1987, the NES is well into its year-end doldrums. Don't worry, we've got some bangers (as the kids say) lined up for the grand finale a few episodes from now, but for the moment it's all tepid, dated games that pale in comparison to superior takes on these genres that have been showing up of late. But please don't give up on NES Works just yet. Did I mention Mega Man is on the way? Because it is.

Click to shrink...

 

[Nerdkiller]

Kid Niki & Gotcha! The Sport retrospective: Shinobi shootout | NES Works #66

Data East (finally) serves up a pretty solid game in the form of Irem's Kid Niki: Radical Ninja, but the real story here is Gotcha!: The Sport. Not only is it the debut release from one of the NES's most questionable publishers, it also very much represents a specific moment in popular and political culture. Gotcha! was based on a movie and a toy line, and its publisher's fortunes were impacted by poor toy sales right as the national conversation began to focus on some unfortunate results from America's gun culture and the early days of the the police's move toward militarization. That's quite a lot to tie to a simple NES Zapper game...

Thanks to Steve Lin for lending the Kid Niki packaging to this endeavor!

Click to shrink...

 

[Andrew J]

I kinda want to see the film Gotcha now.

 

[Nerdkiller]

Jaws & The Karate Kid retrospective: Let's Just Not | NES Works #067

Following on from Gotcha!, LJN continues plying the same furrow with two more games based on film properties, developed by Atlus. (Or at least someone pretending to be Atlus, anyway.) Two out of LJN's three 1987 releases are pretty decent, if a bit thin in terms of content, and really only The Karate Kid hints at the kind of crap the company would make its stock in trade over the coming years. Jaws might even be considered genuinely good, if only it had been given a little more time in the oven to allow all its concepts to come together...

Click to shrink...

 

[Bane]

I'm glad to see how fair he was to Jaws. I've long thought that it and Friday the 13th are actually pretty decent games, perhaps some of the only ones LJN put out. Both have issues, Friday a bit more so, but are not the complete train wrecks the company is known for putting out.

 

[Fuzzy]

I wish I could do a Goonies episode EVERY week, but that's not gonna pay the bills.

Unless it inspired Warner to hire me to direct the movie sequel.

Click to shrink...

It may not be a sequel movie but a TV show of sorts is in the works.

Ramon Rodriguez To Star In Fox’s ‘The Goonies’ Re-Enactment Drama Pilot

Ramon Rodriguez is returning to Fox as the male lead of the network's drama pilot about students remaking the 1985 movie The Goonies.

deadline.com

I'm glad to see how fair he was to Jaws. I've long thought that it and Friday the 13th are actually pretty decent games, perhaps some of the only ones LJN put out. Both have issues, Friday a bit more so, but are not the complete train wrecks the company is known for putting out.

Click to shrink...

They may not be horrible like other LJN games but I don't thing they're good enough to spend time playing unless you've played almost every other NES games.

 

[Nairume]

Watching the footage of Karate Kid, I have no idea how I managed to actually beat that as a kid.

 

[Richiek]

I had no idea Atlus developed those crappy LJN games.

 

[Man God]

Jaws is oddly compelling. You kinda want to come back to it to see if you can get further in. The final sequence is total bs though.

 

[shoptroll]

I think I'm having a weird Mandela effect because I could've sworn Jaws was previously covered, but I'm wondering if I'm thinking it was covered by AVGN or somewhere else years back.

That said, I remember renting it once and having no idea how to play it and switching between the multiple screens confused the hell out of me.

 

[Nerdkiller]

Top Gun & Breakthru review: Take my NES away | NES Works #068

Two final middling releases for 1987, one of which is based on a licensed property. Yeah, you can definitely see the future of the NES shaping up here. Neither Top Gun or BreakThru is the worst game we've seen, but neither can quite make up its mind as to what it wants to be. Is Top Gun a flight sim or an aerial combat game? Is BreakThru a side-scrolling platformer or a shooter? Rather than feeling like brilliant hybrids, these both just seem a bit muddled...

Click to shrink...

 

[Worthintendo]

I'm never going to get that Power Quest episode teased at the end of the last Game Boy Colour works am I :p

Need to catch up on these been a few weeks since I watched one of Mister Parishes videos, last one was the Game Boy Camera ep I think.

 

[Nerdkiller]

Wizards and Warriors retrospective: Knight in the woods | NES Works #069

We're in the final stretch of the year here with a collaboration by two companies that each made their debut earlier in 1987. This is the first of many times we'll see Rare and Acclaim work together, and in this case the studio puts its programming wizardry to work to create a technically impressive (if somewhat gangly) action platformer that would evidently do well enough to inspire a short-lived franchise. Even if it's not much to look at these days.

Click to shrink...

Next time, a big one.

 

[JeremyParish]

Re: Power Quest—Game Boy Works Color is on hold until I can round up the last two CIB 1998 games I need (JP version of Karamuhou wa Oosawagi and U.S. version of Bomberman Quest). Neither have shown up for auction in the past year. Alas!

Oh, and Mahjong Quest [JP] and Checkmate [U.S.]. I really hate tracking down these dinky who-give-a-crap titles.

 

[Sonimon]

Any chance of more Segaiden episodes any time soon? I liked the two that are already out, and it even helped convince me to grab Lightening Force when it went on sale a while ago.

 

[JeremyParish]

You never know! (Yes.)

 

[Man God]

It's been so long that I can't even remember what the next Game Boy Works episode is even supposed to be.

 

[JeremyParish]

There's a reason for that: It's Battle Bull and Navy Blue '90. I should really get to that episode, but those games seem so uninteresting I just can't find the motivation.

 

[Nerdkiller]

Mega Man retrospective: Rock of all trades | NES Works #070

NES Works 1987 ends as it began: With a cool game by Capcom.

But let's be real. Mega Man is much cooler than Trojan. There's a reason one series had dozens of sequels and spinoffs and the other... didn't. Capcom's first wholly original creation for NES is one of the most inventive and highly polished games on NES to date, period. With a free stage select sequence, alternate special weapons, and imaginative bosses, Mega Man stands out as a brilliant capper to an incredible year for the NES. And just think: The franchise will only get better from here, as we'll see in NES Works 1989. In, uh, a few years.

Click to shrink...

 

[Andrew J]

N64 Works 1996 shouldn't take too long to finish.

 

[JeremyParish]

I think it'll be just six more episodes, I believe? I'm sorry to say I'm not feeling especially motivated to deal with the likes of Mortal Kombat and Killer Instinct at the moment, though. The "wrap up N64 1996" plan was my intention back in February when I recorded that VO (the Mega Man episode was uploaded about a month and a half ago), but the world has changed a LOT since then. May be a while before I tackle that topic.

 

[Wolf Parade]

Wizards and Warriors retrospective: Knight in the woods | NES Works #069





Next time, a big one.

Click to shrink...

One of the best video game covers ever. Great game too, if a bit janky.

 

[Floex]

LTTP but absolutely love this. Is there a good Sega equivalent out there?

 

[sixteen-bit]

Little Samsom

 

[Akumatica]

LTTP but absolutely love this. Is there a good Sega equivalent out there?

Click to shrink...

There's Generation 16, which has done 120+ episodes so far- https://www.youtube.com/user/sewartg/videos

 

[chalkitdown]

[snip] Posted in the wrong thread.

 

[Nerdkiller]

Trip World retrospective: No items, final destination | Game Boy Works Gaiden #03

This week's sequence break comes to you by a patron request from Joseph Wawzonek and courtesy of Steve Lin of the Video Game History foundation: A look at the highly coveted import-only collector's item Trip World for Game Boy. SunSoft's charming platformer commands a towering reputation for its quality and its unconventional nature, even if it does come off as slight. Here I explore the origins of the game, contemplate the creative aims behind its unique design, and delight in repeatedly pronouncing its protagonist's name.

Thanks again to Joseph and Steve!

Click to shrink...

 

[Nerdkiller]

Something a little different this week.

The Evolution of NES Fandom: An Overview | NES Works Gaiden #11

By patron request of Brian Larsen, here's something a little different: Rather than look at a single game, this episode takes a wider view of NES culture and fandom, and how fans of the platform have kept the NES alive and vibrant 25 years after its retirement. From the rise of emulation to modern clone platforms, NES devotees continue to make NES accessible and surprising, as this cursory overview explains.

Click to shrink...

 

[krae_man]

My deal for anyone who wants me to do ______ Works: you set me up with the necessary RGB capture hardware and the system's complete boxed library and I'm in.

Click to shrink...

Jeremy, I'm happy to let you know that I am one capture mod away from making you regret that offer:

Spoiler

Seriously though, I know you're not going to do a video on this. It took me 10 years to get a complete collection of games for this system that has basically zero internet presence in both English and Japanese that most people don't even know exists and I wanted to share.