http://www.greatgamesexperiment.com/games/popular/month/NES/classic/?utm_source=feed&utm_medium=rss ]]> This Month's Most Popular Games Tagged 'NES, classic' on The Great Games Experiment http://www.greatgamesexperiment.com/css/logo.jpg http://www.greatgamesexperiment.com/games/popular/month/NES/classic/?utm_source=feed&utm_medium=rss ]]> en-us A point-and-click adventure game released for the Mac in 1985 by MindScape. It was developed by ICOM Simulations, who pioneered the move from text-based interaction to point-and-click adventure games.

The story is set in the 1940s and you play a private eye who wakes up in a bar's bathroom stall. You find a body in the bar's office and have to track down the murderer to clear your name.

Developer: ICOM Simulations
Released: 1985

]]> 10 Dec 2006 12:12:33 Developed by SunSoft in 1988, this game was one of the best games of its time.

It had action, adventure, powerUps, a very clever world design, and some very cool innovative gameplay. The only thing missing was the story.

Boy has pet frog, pet frog runs away and mysteriously runs into radioactive material sitting on the back yard. Frog eats some radioactive material, grows into giant frog, digs a hole in the ground and runs away. Boy runs after frog, jumps into hole in the ground (and this is where it really gets weird) finds a state of the art high-powered military vehicle complete with matching full body suit, which happens to fit him just right. And so he begins a great adventure in search for his pet frog.

]]> 18 Dec 2006 01:14:50 Super Mario Bros is a classic game of Nintendo. It revolves around rescuing a kidnapped Princess by an evil creature named Koopa. Mario and Luigi must help each other to succeed in their mission and save the Toadstool Kingdom.

]]> 30 Dec 2006 07:27:55 Blades of Steel is an ice hockey video game released by Konami for the arcade in 1987, and ported to the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in 1988. All teams are fictional but based out of real Canadian and American cities. The game is known for its fast paced hockey action and especially for the fighting. It is a one or two player game. When playing against the computer, there are three difficulty levels to choose from: Junior, College, and Pro (with pro being the most difficult and Junior being the easiest). Each team consists of three forwards, two defencemen, and a goaltender.

The Teams

There are a total of eight teams, four from Canada and four from the United States. The four Canadian cities are Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, and Edmonton. The four American teams are from New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Minnesota. Each team sports a different coloured sweater, but some team colours are very similar making it difficult to distinguish between them. Presumably this is because of the limited capability of computer graphics in 1988.

The game

At the beginning of the game, the gamers can select either "Exhibition" or "Tournament" matches. An exhibition match is just one game played against either the computer or another player. Tournament matches are similar to the NHL playoffs. It starts out as one team of the player's choice going against other teams in a playoff style tournament. The team that is successful in beating all of the opposing teams is awarded the Konami Cup.

Fighting in the game occurs whenever two players bump into each other three times in a row without hitting another player. The fight screen appears and the gamers take control of their players. The loser is given the penalty and sent to the penalty box. If a fight occurs close to one of the nets, the referee may break up the fight and call a "penalty shot".

During the second intermission, either a video game will appear for Player One to play or a Konami ad will appear featuring a bear shooting the puck into a net mouthing the words "Nice Shot!" The video game is modelled off an old arcade game, Gradius, in which a little spaceship is trying to destroy a much larger spaceship.

If the score is tied at the end of the game, a shoot out (similar to a penalty shot) is used to determine the winner. Each team gets five shots. The team with the most goals after five shots is the winner. If, after that, the game is still tied, each team keeps getting one more shot until a winner is determined.

]]> 22 Feb 2007 01:47:22 Developed by Interplay Productions and distributed by Electronic Arts, The Bard's Tale is considered by many to be one of the pillar classics of computer fantasy role playing games.

The Bard's Tale allows players to create characters, form parties and adventure through Skara Brae. Combat is turn based and players can choos ethe actions of every member of the party.

From the box text:

"Long ago, when magic still prevailed, the evil wizard Mangar the Dark threatened a small but harmonious country town called Skara Brae. Evil creatures oozed into Skara Brae and joined his shadow domain. Mangar froze the surrounding lands with a spell of Eternal Winter, totally isolating Skara Brae from any possible help. Then, one night the town militiamen all disappeared. The future of Skara Brae hung in the balance. And who was left to resist? Only a handful of unproven young Warriors, junior Magic Users, a couple of Bards barely old enough to drink, and some out of work Rogues. You are there. You are the leader of this ragtag group of freedom fighters. Luckily you have a Bard with you to sing your glories, if you survive. For this is the stuff of legends. And so the story begins..."

]]> 10 May 2007 02:08:39 Developed by Interplay Productions and distributed by Electronic Arts, The Bard's Tale series is considered by many to be one of the pillar classics of computer fantasy role playing games.

The Bard's Tale II: The Destiny Knight allows players to create characters, form parties and adventure throughout the lands. Combat is turn based and players can choose the actions of every member of the party.

From the box text:

"Do you believe in legends? Legend states that, 'Unimaginable power is bestowed upon the one who reforges the Destiny Wand...' Regardless of whether or not you hold faith in the stuff of legend, you must defeat Lagoth Zanta, regain the seven fragments, and reforge the Destiny Wand â€â€

]]> 10 May 2007 02:27:38 Joust's simple controls, and the fact that it was one of the few games two players could play together, helped make this arcade game a hit.

You play a knight mounted on an ostrich. You must use your lance to joust against wave after wave of enemies. The only controls you have are to flap your wings and to move left and right, making it quite easy to get into the game. You may defeat an opponent by colliding with them with your lance higher than theirs.

When you beat an enemy, they drop an egg. If you let it hatch by not collecting it, it will spawn a tougher enemy than the one who dropped the egg.

Other dangers include a lava pit at the bottom of the screen, a lava troll which tries to drag you into the lava pit, and a very tough-to-beat pterodactyl which appears if you take too long on a level.

Designer: John Newcomer
Released: 1982

]]> 13 May 2007 09:11:30