Kirby's Dream Land

The Kirby series has evolved QUITE a bit since its conception with Kirby's Dream Land. Yes, we've come a long way from the little white puffball that could suck in enemies and just spit them back again. What? It's about the same, you say! Well! He's pink now! Ok, so it may be more significant than that, but that's a whole different discussion. In fact, the question at hand is whether or not the first Kirby is worth your time. I say, yes.
At its heart, Kirby's Dream Land is your basic platformer. You have life bars (six, to be precise) and your goal is to reach the end of the stage. You get to the end of the stage by walking, running jumping, ducking, and the like. At the end of said stage is ye olde stage boss. Kill the boss and move on to the next stage. Kirby is no Mario, however, and jumping on the enemy will only result in damage against the little guy. Kirby must employ his weapon to defeat the enemies. But, don't start thinking Megaman on me. No, Kirby's weapon is his appetite! Kirby is capable of sucking in enemies and then spitting them back out as projectiles against other enemies. Kirby also has one final trick, flight! By sucking in an enormous amount of air, Kirby can inflate his tiny body and take flight. Landing is as simple as exhaling the air, which can also be used as a weapon! A word of warning, though. Unlike later games, Kirby cannot copy enemies abilities, so don't even try.
In general, this is how Kirby works. There are five stages total. Each stage also has a mini boss. These bosses have half the life of regular bosses, but aren't pushovers. Defeating bosses and mini-bosses usually involves sucking in their projectiles and returning them to the boss (some UPS guy Kirby makes, huh?). The first four stages are normal, while the fifth involves a showdown with the previous four bosses (after a short version of their stage) and ends with a showdown against the evil King Dedede. Throughout the stages, you can find various power-ups strewn about. These power-ups do various things, from healing Kirby to making him shoot fireballs for a limited time.
Difficulty-wise, Kirby's dream land is only slightly difficult. Some of the bosses can be tricky, but you'll get it after a few tries. You DO only have limited lives in Kirby, but you can always continue. If you continue, you'll have to start from the very beginning of the stage, though. The good thing about Kirby, though, is that after you've beaten the game, there is an Extra Game mode, which is significantly more difficult (really, it is). This adds more life to the game.
Hey, story may not be the most important thing for platformers, but it's nice to know WHY you're destroying the enemy.
Kirby's Dream Land takes place in the magical land of Dream Land (original title, huh?; also, the land's name is later changed to the planet of PopStar). All the denizens of Dream Land have their food provided for them by the magic Star Sprinkles. After Lunch, everyone lays down to take an afternoon nap (wholesome, isn't it?). Well, apparently, someone was sleeping on the job, because the evil King Dedede has taken these magic stars. While the rest of Dream Land's citizens run around in a general panic like state, Kirby decides to do something about it. So, Kirby sets out to stop King Dedede, and get the food back!
It's all rather silly, but this is what you expect from a Kirby game, the original is no exception.
Well, they're not too bad for 1992. The graphics aren't blocky or anything, but just simple drawings. Actually, the style is virtually the same as it is in the later Kirby games, but just not as sharp or detailed.
I LOVE the music in Kirby's Dream Land. It's a great soundtrack, especially King Dedede's music. It has a light and airy, yet adventurous feel. Really, either play it in a quiet place where you can hear the music or wear headphones, you wanna listen to it.
Once you get through it once, it becomes very easy to do it again, so that's a con. Even after a few years you'll still probably be able to own the normal game. Now, the Extra Mode is great. It's much more difficult and it'll take you quite a bit of time and skill to get through that once, let alone again.
Kirby's Dream Land is a fun, slightly challenging experience that will appeal to a broad range of gamers. There's not a serious bone (or any bone, for that matter) in this game, so if you're of the belief that games should have blood and gratuitous violence to be good, it isn't for you. However, if you like platformers, adventure games, old school gaming, or are under the age of 10, it's for you. Hey, if you own a Game Boy Color (or Advance) It will even make Kirby pink for you! Since it's so old, you'll probably have to go your local used games shop or check online to find it. It'll be cheap once you do find it. You have a bit of work ahead of you to find it, so stop reading and start searching! :)

Super Mario Land 3: Wario Land

It's not very often I hand out top marks to a game, in fact this is the only such instance. Wario Land is officially known as 'Super Mario Land 3: Wario Land' but it deserves better respect than a mere sequel. Because really, Wario Land isn't a sequel at all. Aside from the cameos from the princess and Mario, this game is full of all new characters, and has a format completely different to that of the Mario games.
The story is an excellent twist on the 'Save the Princess' storylines that is tacked onto all the Mario games. Wario discovers that the Princess has been kidnapped (This could also be the first time in a platformer where we see the boss only at the end and still have no idea who he is.) He also hears that Mario is after her, but decides to beat Mario to the punch and save the damsel in distress first. He figures he can sell her off for a large ransom once he gets her. He also plans to cut her ears off and send them to Mario if no payment is received. Joking, of course.
The only place we have seen Wario previously is stealing the six golden coins of Mario land (In Mario Land 2). He was much more of a pushover there than he is here. With a tap of the B button, Wario rams in a certain direction unstoppably. the point of this is to kill enemies and to smash blocks. Wario's other special power is hats. Being the rough and touch guy he is, you wouldn't expect Wario to much of a hat connoisseur but he really loves them. If you are midget Wario (You become this if you are normal Wario and get hurt once) you can get yourself back to normal by organically growing a hat out of your head by eating garlic. There are also three special hats which give Wario powers. The dragon hat will let him breath fire (But he cannot charge when this hat is on), the eagle hat lets Wario glide for a certain distance, and the viking hat provides Wario with a much stronger charge.
You must use all these hats to your advantage in the games puzzles, they aren't just there to make things easier, they are crucial to completion of the game. Certain spaces will only accommodate Midget Wario's circus-freakishly small body. Certain distances can only be got across by gliding. Certain hidden blocks can only be smashed by the viking hat, and the viking horns lets you stick to any surface above you. And last but not least (Although it is my least favourite hat) the dragon hat is useful as it is the only means of destroying underwater blocks.
The animation on Wario in the hats is excellent, as his figure changes slightly with each hat use. Wario himself is also very well animated, he walks through the whole game with a hilariously sneaky grin on his face. The world around Wario is also pretty to look at. While it's not immensely detailed, it does a terrific job in creating the atmosphere of the current location. If you are in a forest or cave the level design and textures will make you feel like you are in a forest or a cave, and it works to better effect than some 'next generation' games. Everything moves quickly too, and the animation is some of the most fluid I've seen on the original handheld. My one and only gripe is the vertical scrolling. When you reach the top or bottom of the screen, instead of following it with you, your character pauses and the screen moves up one, making a loud noise as it goes. This doesn't harm the gameplay, it's just annoying and slightly distracting.
The sound is great and even more atmospheric than the graphics. Some of the tunes are more memorable than many N64 and playstation games put together (And I mean games, not music from games). In chase levels the music is frantic and incredibly tense, in forest levels music is simple and bright and in snowy levels the music is distant and mysterious. These are all hard things to capture on a gameboy so nintendo must be given credit for such masterful use of the sound system. The sound effects are a mix of the realistic and the platformer-cliched. This makes them memorable enough without seeming out of place.
The gameplay is where this game shines. In most platformers you can walk through to the end of a level in less than a minute, stopping only a few times to quickly exterminate a foe. In Wario land however, you must use your enemies carefully rather than just kill them straight away. Wario has the special ability to stun his enemies and pick them up. this opens up lots of oppurtunities. For instance, you can see if there are higher platforms out of view by throwing an enemy up the screen and seeing if he comes back down. When an enemy is stunned you can also use him to bounce to higher ground. This is just one of many examples of how Wario Land takes simple platformer elements (In this case, standard enemies) and extends them to make a game which not only breaks the mould, but retains it's sense of fun when doing so.
Your quest to collect coins isn't simply to get extra lives like other games (In fact only collecting extra garlic, killing enemies, and collecting hearts will get you extra lives in this game), you must have coins to open up the exit to the level. you must also have 10 coins to activate the halfway save point in each level (and you WILL need to in the later levels) This is a subtle way of encouraging you to explore the levels a little more. You will also need coins for the end of the game. I won't spoil why, but let me tell you that if you don't have enough, you WILL want to come back and get more. Also in each level there is a piece of treasure (Collecting all of them is an immense satisfaction, and the reward is so great, that you want to play through all over again just to see it.) collecting the treasure is a complicated process of finding the secret room with the chest, and then uncovering the hidden key elsewhere in the level to unlock it. And of course there is always an obstacle or two that will seemingly prevent you from getting the key to the chest.
Aside from hidden rooms with coins, collecting treasure, using enemies in ways more versatile than you imagined AND the mammoth quest of rounding up ALL the treasure, there are plenty of secret levels in the game too. Levels with an alternate hidden exit will usually flash on the map screen. And it's not just hidden extra levels, there's also a HUGE hidden world as well. I have never felt such a rush of excitement in a game as I did when I uncovered this hidden world, and it's bizarre and colossal levels, it's just fantastic. The game is worth the asking price alone just for the moment you uncover the hidden world.
The game also never repeats itself. There are many different types of levels, such as levels with constant dangers, levels with things chasing you, levels which are more like mazes, and levels that are fast-paced and yet STILL retain all the secrets and brain-massaging gameplay of the game. I especially liked the mad, yet brilliant fast moving trains level. And yes, as the rules of platforming dictate, there is a mine-cart level. But this one holds nearly the most secrets out of all the levels.
With SO much exploring to do and puzzles to solve, as well as many tests of D-pad and button pushing dexterity, this game isn't going to be completely done a week after you buy it. There is so much to explore, and it's worth it just to get the best ending. The game (As any game should be, but unfortunately, few are) is bursting at the seams with secrets. And it never gets tiring, even though it lasts a long time you still wish it lasted longer, and that's got to be a good sign.
Wario land is full of a bizarre humour that shows traces of it's mario origin, except it's a lot more charming than any of the handheld mario's. Unfortunately the sequels to Wario Land didn't live up to it's high standards, but the still high quality of those games only serves as a testament to what a classic piece of gaming Wario Land was. The best platformer ever, and one you'll be fond of for as long as you live.

Super Mario Bros. Deluxe

Mario is arguably the most famous mascot in the history of the video game industry. Since his debut in the Shigeru Miyamoto-developed classic Donkey Kong coin-op as a carpenter called Jumpman, Mario has featured in countless titles and become an icon.When Nintendo released the classic Super Mario Bros. for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1985, it revitalised the industry with its addictive and immediate access of playability. You literally just pick up and play, with no previous skills required. Over the course of time, two-thirds of Nintendo Entertainment System owners had purchased a copy. Almost fourteen years later, Nintendo decided to convert this and its 1986 Japanese sequel onto one Game Boy Color cartridge called Super Mario Bros. Deluxe.This title features six standard and two additional modes. The standard modes are Original 1985, Challenge, VS Game, Records, Album and Toy Box. The additional modes to be unlocked are Lost Levels and You VS Boo. The Original 1985 mode contains an almost exact conversion of Super Mario Bros. for one player. You have to help Mario and Luigi complete eight worlds and thirty-two levels to save Her Royal Highness Princess Toadstool and the Mushroom Kingdom from the Koopa tribe's tyrannical sorcerer sovereign, His Majesty King Bowser.In challenge mode, you can set high scores, collect five Red Coins and search for an elusive Yoshi egg from each stage you have completed in the Original 1985 mode. The VS mode allows two players to compete against each other in some intense and strategic races via the Universal Game Link Cable. The You VS Boo mode is identical to the previous mode with the exception of this time competing against the ghost Boo that's controlled by the CPU.The Lost Levels mode contains Super Mario Bros. For Super Players. This is a conversion of Super Mario Bros. The Lost Levels (the 1986 Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2), a tougher version of Super Mario Bros. rather than a proper sequel. Although this has not been as accurately translated as its prequel, it remains extremely difficult to complete requiring you to have incredible skill, precision and above all, perseverance. As you progress through each mode, you will be awarded pictures for the Album mode. The Game Boy printer can then print out these pictures. The Toy Box mode contains a collection of features that are regrettably rather useless.This title's graphics are sharp and vibrant despite the repetitive backdrops (which Miyamoto himself has described as being “sheer black and blue at times”) and the necessity for vertical scrolling on each level. This is because the Game Boy Color's TFT screen is not equal in proportion with a television screen, inspiring the nerve-twitching leap of faith in the heat of battle. To view the entire vertical plane on each stage, you must press up and down on the directional pad. Nintendo were able to port the sound to this format's notoriously poor audio system flawlessly. You will find yourself humming its tunes all day. These tunes will speed up when you are running out of time to complete the level you are on.This title's various modes are surprisingly simple, yet they provide for addictive and almost perfect playability. As with all the titles in the Super Mario Bros. series, you spend all of your time sprinting and jumping gaps whilst trying to land on firm ground. The controls have survived the conversion process from previous incarnations and collision detection is flawless. This means that when you get hit, you are hit. This title also contains some of the major elements that were successfully introduced by the Super Mario Bros. series as coin collection and exploration. To obstruct your progress throughout are various obstacles and adversaries that test all comers ranging from the treacherous Goombas to the monstrous Bowser himself.When certain bricks and blocks are punched from below, items such as Super Mushrooms, Fire Flowers and Stars are dislodged that transforms Mario and Luigi. These transformations empower them with extra abilities. Super Mushrooms and Fire Flowers increase the Marios height, enabling them to smash bricks and sustain a hit temporarily rendering the Marios invincible without losing a life. Fire Flowers also allow them to throw fireballs that can dispose of troublesome opponents more easily such as those irritating Hammer Brothers. Stars temporarily render the Marios invincible. However Mario and Luigi can also lose their abilities in a multitude of ways such as by coming into any harmful contact with an enemy or by plummeting down a bottomless abyss, even when they are invincible.

Warp Factor
Some of the fun provided by the Super Mario Bros. series is the discovery of shortcuts between worlds. The entrances to this title's Star Trek-inspired Warp Zones are located in the secret areas of some stages. Among the changes Nintendo have made to Super Mario Bros. and its sequel from previous incarnations is the introduction of colourful world maps that precede each level. These are similar to those found in Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World. Although this improvement is a purely cosmetic addition, it gives a feeling that each world and stage is connected together instead of having been arranged in a random order.Another change is the inclusion of a far too friendly save system for the Original 1985 mode that enables you to save your progress after you have completed a level. While the Super Mario Bros. titles on the Nintendo Entertainment System and Famicom Disk System formats suffered without a save system (which was later addressed by Super Mario All-Stars on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System), the Original 1985 mode's save system diminishes its lastability because it just requires you to keep practising on a difficult stage until by some fluke; you succeed. A novice could complete this mode without using any Warp Zones in a fortnight. You should only be able to save your progress at the start of each world. However this save system is vital for the Lost Levels mode due to its fiendish difficult. The Japanese version of Super Mario Bros. Deluxe has also been made slightly easier again to complete.There are a few things that a number of Nintendo novices might find strange such as this title's scrupulous fairness, with no traps that kill you without any warning. There is no energy bar in this title (when something touches you, you are dead, unless you are Super Mario/Luigi or better), which can lead to an awful amount of frustration (but with yourself, rather than the title).
Although it is not always a good practice to convert some older titles onto newer formats, when they are the calibre of those from the Super Mario Bros. series, they are certainly well worthy of conversion. The playability provided by these titles has stood the test of time with qualities far in excess of some more recent titles. Super Mario Bros. Deluxe firmly establishes itself as one of the Game Boy Color's premier titles that everyone should purchase for their collection.

ZERO WING

Zero Wing is a port of a 1989 arcade game that was released in 1991 in Europe by a small company called Toaplan. You play as the newly-''orphaned'' pilot of the fighter ZIG-01, and now that a villain named after the most popular Broadway music ever has all your base, you have to get it back. Sounds fun, doesn't it?
The graphics are actually quite nice. However, there is very little animation throughout the game, which is kind of sad given that this is a 16-bit system. Anyway, the backgrounds are very detailed, but Toaplan seems to like ''tiling'' them and hoping gamers won't notice. There is also not a lot of color in these backgrounds, even on the ''lusher'' levels like level 4 (Aquese I believe it's called). The ''foreground'' in level 5 partially obscuring the action is a nice touch.
There are a fairly wide variety of enemies in this game, and they all look quite nice, despite the relative lack of animation mentioned earlier. However, ZIG-01 looks kind of ''Chunky''; Less ''sleek'' than, say, Life Force's Vic Viper. Maybe it didn't participate in optional Intergalactic Fighter workouts, but for whatever reason, it's definitely a wide target.
The bosses are probably the highlight here....these guys are huge, and the mini-bosses that occupy some stages are no slouches in the size department either.
The game is comprised of a mostly techno-sounding soundtrack. However, except for the intro theme (Which we've all heard by now) and a snippet of the level 1 tune that was used in ''Invasion of the Gabber Robots'', you'll find that the tracks blend into one another as you play, song after song after techno song. Techno isn't really known for having tracks distinct from one another, and sadly, Zero Wing is no exception.
Also notable is a complete lack of a boss theme (Even Gradius, released in 1986, had one!). There's not even any sound effects to tell you ''Hey! This huge cyborg thing is a boss!''. Several times I thought I'd beaten a level when, in fact, I was only done with the mini-boss of the stage.
The sound effects are strangely sparse in this game. You have the sound of shots firing from ZIG-01, but no real effects for enemy fire. There's also the sound of your ZIG fighter getting set up the bomb (Or ''Blown up'', whichever you prefer), but that's pretty much it.
Zero Wing gives you an unusual option in the Control department. Namely, whether you'd like automatic Rapid-Fire or not. It's really pretty neat in that it allows beginner shooters to get as much out of the game as experts in the genre (Rapid fire in some form is essential to survival in any Space Shooter).
Other than that, though, there isn't a whole lot here that manages to distinguish Zero Wing from every other shooter out there. in fact, the most notable thing is that the curve on grabbing Speed-Ups is too sharp--1 will be all you really need; grab 2 or 3 and you'll soon be zig-zagging out of control and all over the place.
Avoid this pitfall and you'll find a ship of basically average responsiveness, which isn't really a bad thing (Most Shooter games have at least good control). And the Tractor Beam, where you grab enemies and fling them into other enemies, is a somewhat original feature--too bad you'll be too busy shooting everything that moves to use it. Your fire is, thankfully, quite fast.
Okay, so it plays like practically every other shooter out there, but is this necessarily bad? I mean really, the game was first released on a console in 1991. But anyway, ZIG-01 takes off and has to fly through 8 levels, none of them overly imaginative except perhaps for level 4's jungle-like environment. Along the way, you grab various power-ups, from a spread-shot to homing missiles--again, nothing truly mind-blowing. You also can acquire Life Force-like ''options''--mini-ships that shoot along with your larger ship--from grabbing a certain Power-up, which effectively triple your firepower.
Probably the most original thing about Zero Wing's play was its Tractor Beam, which could grab an enemy to be used as a shield or an offensive weapon to plow into another enemy. Another cool thing is that your Options actually absorbed fire for you and could be used as weapons themselves. This is very nice in that if you know a line of enemies will approach from above, you can simply position the Option to wipe them out as they enter the screen.
Whether intentional or not, this game has one of the best, most compelling stories out there. Rarely does a story make a game better, and even more rarely is this due to a bad translation. But this game is one of those gems.
Basically, it's the year AD 2101. You're on your nice little Fighter Carrier relaxing. All of a sudden, an explosion rocks the vessel. Uh-oh! Somebody set up you the bomb!
Next thing you know, you get signal, and your main screen turn on to reveal just who it was that set up your humble abode the bomb.
Oh no! It seems that all your base are belong to an excessively polite (Anytime a villain's first line is HOW ARE YOU GENTLEMEN!!, you know they've gone to etiquette school) cyborg named CATS. Furthermore, you are on the way to destruction. It also appears that you have no chance to survive make your time. This is not good. At all.
Realizing his seconds are numbered, the captain desperately tries to launch an offensive, calling out ''Take off every 'ZIG'!'' He reassures everyone that ''you know what you doing'', but alas, only you, the pilot of ZIG-01, escape alive before the carrier gets blown to smithereens.
So that's the basic story. You're now an orphan of sorts, and you have no place to land, because all your base are belong to CATS. Obviously, it's your job to get this base back, if for no other reason than to have a place to land. But your cause is far more noble than simply that. As you fly through the levels, the Captain's final words will haunt your memory: ''Move 'ZIG'. For great justice.''
You're not fighting to rescue some wimpy damsel-in-distress. You're not even fighting to save the world, really. No, you're fighting for great justice, the most noble cause there is to man. Let's face it, it just sounds like something you'd want to fight for in real life, if you could. And this is what makes Zero Wing's story so great. On several occasions, when I would ordinarily give up on a game, I instead find myself pressing Start to Continue with the words, ''I will save the world for great justice!''. Never mind that the world isn't technically what I'm supposed to be saving.
Actually, there's a fair amount of leeway in the challenge. You have your typical Easy, Normal, and Hard difficulty levels, but besides that, you can adjust your starting number of lives from 1 to 4 (4? Why not 5?). The toggling of Rapid Fire also plays a part in this game's difficulty.
but none of that really matters in late levels. This game has the same problem as most other shooters out there--that being, once you get beyond the halfway point or so, you'd better not mess up. If you die, good luck getting anywhere with no power-ups. I've died at least 50 times on one section because of this Fatal Shooter Flaw (No, that isn't a typo--the Easy level gives unlimited continues from pretty much where you left off). Despite what you may have read, however, the game does NOT send you back to the beginning of a level after death, and in certain cases will even send you FORWARD in a stage. Unfortunately, this doesn't happen where you need it, such as level 7.
The game is longer than most shooters of the day, sporting 8 levels as opposed to your typical 6 or 7. The fact that you can try as many times as you want to beat a level without penalty on Easy also helps the Replay Value of the game. Knowing that you really have nothing to lose helps spur you on to try and beat that one difficult section you simply can't get by. And of course, you can always try to beat your high score. For a game with almost nothing original, it really has a pretty high replay value.
Anytime a mistranslated intro is the best part of a game, it's usually a very bad sign. Yet Zero Wing is really not a bad game at all; It simply brings absolutely nothing revolutionary to the Space Shooter genre. It's pretty difficult to find, because it was never released in America (And is even fairly rare in Europe), but if you're a shooter fan it may be worth picking up nonetheless. Of course, you could always emulate it....

ASUKA 120%

Let me start by saying that this is without a doubt one of the oddest games i have EVER played in my life. At first, i was somewhat skeptical about how good an all-female fighting game could possibly be. My first reaction was to dismiss it as a half-hearted attempt to appeal to hormone-ridden adolescent males, but being a fair person, i gave it a chance. I must say, i was thoroughly surprised to find an amazing fighting game lurking beneath its plastic cartoony appearance.
Well, it's a unique style, that's for sure... the characters are quite cartoon-ish in appearance, with bright colors, over-exaggerated features (Cathy Wild has the biggest .... umm .... hands.... i've ever seen on someone her size), but a pretty good attention to detail. I must say, i've always been a fan of hand-drawn fighters... they just look better than the 3d ones, i think. anyhoo, back to the game at hand... The moves tend to be really flashy, especially the super moves, and when two moves hit each other, the action pauses for a split-second in a most dramatic way. There are a couple of annoying bits though: when your super bar goes to 120% (yeah, i know it doesn't work out mathematically), the way the characters flash can get pretty old. Also, the backgrounds leave a bit to be desired, as they are nowhere near as detailed as the characters. Aside from that, it looks pretty nice.
The music is pretty decent, although in the heat of battle, there isn't really time to stop and listen to it. the sound effects are standard fighting game fare: grunts, shouts, thuds, and the unmistakable *thwack* of a good punch. oh yeah, and the obligatory special move shouts (some of which sound vaguely Street Fighter-ish...). Perhaps the most often-heard sound in the game is the "chink" sound you hear when attacks collide. Believe me, it happens a LOT.
This is where Asuka 120% really shines. First off, the fights are fast. Don't get me wrong, they can last for a really long time, but the actual combat takes place at an incredible rate. The combo system is very loose, so there's a whole lot you can get away with. Those of you familiar with Capcom's vs. series (X-men vs. Street Fighter, Marvel vs. Capcom, etc) will be pleased to know that air combos are quite possible, although they aren't quite as insane as the ones in those games. However, the combos on the ground achieve new levels in insanity. In practice mode, I was able to pull off a 55-hit combo without too much difficulty at all. Of course, playing against a person makes it quite a bit harder, as it is possible to recover in midair and counterattack. The ability to defend by intercepting your opponent's attacks with your own (as well as the strange ability to block fireballs by dashing forward... weird) makes possible a very aggressive style of play. My only complaint is that the game is a bit too "button-masher friendly."

Air Zonk

Only a handfull of games really showed what the TurboGrafx was capable of. It could be argued that Air Zonk accomplishes this task better than any other game. Great graphics aside, Air Zonk is a game that takes the tried and true side scrolling shooter genre, and mixes it up a little with fun and interesting gameplay elements. The result is, to put it mildly, astoundingly fun and addictive. It's a shame that Air Zonk was not released early on in the system's life, as it really could have been a hot system seller...it's that good. Let's break it down:
Premise: You are Air Zonk, the futuristic, cybernetically modified ancestor of the famous Bonk, of Bonk's Adventure. You are on a quest to eliminate the evil King Drool and his hordes of robotic henchmen. You fly along in 2D side-scrolling levels, destroying all enemies that come at you until you reach the sub-bosses and regular bosses at the conclusion of each area. Air Zonk can enlist the help of his mechanized friends, and even meld with them to help defeat all that stands in his way.
For the era of this game's release, these graphics were second to none. Beautiful, big sprites, tons of vibrant colors, huge explosions, detailed backgrounds and fleets of enemies on screen at once are just some of the basic graphical elements of this game. There are times of slow-down though, but only when things are at their very craziest.
The main attraction here is the very catchy set of BGM tunes that you hear throughout the game. They fit the setting and pace of the game perfectly. Music aside, the sound effects for weapons, explosions etc. are nothing out of the realm of ordinary.
Nothing too complex here, basically just the D-pad to move in the eight standard directions, button I to fire, button II to charge up and select to fire backwards. Although it may sound awkward to have select as a fire button, it is not even necessary to use it, since you will automatically fire backwards if an enemy gets too close to your rear. The turbo function of the TurboGrafx controller is put to good use and saves your thumb from being worn down to a boney stub.
The goal is to destroy as many enemies as possible with no damage to yourself. Air Zonk begins with a standard blaster that can be charged and used with a spread-shot, shotgun type effect or charged even further into a devestating bomb that tears up everything on the screen. This brings about interesting situations of evading masses of enemies while you're in a defensless state of charging your bomb up. In addition, weapon modifiers can be collected that allow Zonk to shoot homing missiles, shrink, toss playing cards and many other interesting variations. If that weren't enough, you can choose a 'buddy' at the outset of each level. Collect a large smiley face and this buddy will accompany you and shoot at enemies. Collect another large smiley face and you will meld with your buddy to form a super strong, super unique fighting machine. The range of abilities, strengths and weaknesses of these melded forms really create a good deal of pre-level strategizing. If you're going into a level with lots of small enemies that swarm around you, you may want to choose a buddy like Bubblician, who can create a cloud of destructive bubbles around you. If you need forward fire power for a boss, Moo Moo may be your best choice with his milk-can firing utters. These elements create the perfect blend of difficulty, intensity, and strategy.
The game could be considered short if you master it, and there are no bonuses to be had. This game is so fun and playable though, that you'll find yourself randomly popping it in for a quick play through to try to beat your last high score. And if you're up for a challenge, there's a hard mode that leaves you with precious few lives.
If you have a TurboGrafx 16, you need this game...simple as that. The second the game begins, you're having fun, and it doesn't let up from there. I usually see the game pop up on the net for $20-$30, and trust me, it's worth the dough.

THE ADDAMS FAMILY

Well. I have to say, this game isn't worth what I paid for it! I think I paid 10 bucks for it, at Toy R Us when they were getting rid of Turbo games. It is supposed to be based off of the movie, but, fails!
Different than the movie. The actors also are not at there best here. Gomez's voice is good however, as opposed to Fester's. I didn't expect the original actors, but, they could've tried to make them sound somewhere in the same direction!
Some detail in certain rooms is cool, but, for the most part, despite these details, the graphics are choppy, with few frames of animation.
When it comes to the sounds themselves, it comes down to a few bleeps & blops. The music, is, well, samples looped again & again off-beat! But, they do seem to be fair quality though. One cool thing, is they have the orginal theme song at the begining. I've heard the legal onwner of that song never saw a dime from Icom.
The worst part of the game! A typical run/jump/shoot game done a few times on the Turbo by Icom Simulations. Absolutely nothing new! Plus, it is way too hard! I had to beat it with that 79 lives code!
It's pretty much no fun to play! It does have some play value, that's why I didn't give the game a 0. There are much worse games then this! But, don't get your hopes up.
Overall-It sucks, but, there can be a little fun found in this game, depending on what mood you're in. The only reason I have it, is because I collect Turbo games.