Batman: Return of the Joker (NES, 1991)

Let's see if this is as ridiculously hard as the similarly-named Game Boy game. It's a similar-controlling game, but very different in terms of level layout, bosses, weapons, etc. So far, it seems like both of them are insanely hard and I don't know why I'm doing this.

I should just quit this site and become a Hot Tub Girl Streamer.

Super Mario World (Super NES, 1991)

Closing out the year with wholesome Super Mario World posts. Hard to believe I've never covered this. I haven't covered Super Mario Bros 3 either, but we'll get to that eventually. It's been hotly debated which of the two games is the better one, and that isn't a debate I'm ready to wade into. Instead I'll be getting into various memories of the game and my experiences with both playing it and reading about it.

Streets of Rage (Sega Genesis, 1991)

 

Now THIS is a brawler. Sega's answer to Final Fight, also apparently starring Cody. Capcom should sue!

I was never a Sega guy growing up, and this is my first time playing this series. So far, I really like it. Tell you what though, even if I didn't like it, I wouldn't have a bad word to say about it. Just firing this game up gives you a rush of nostalgia. In my case...it's other people's nostalgia. You can legitimately feel it. People grew up playing this.

Kick Master (NES, 1991)

It's time for me to play the raddest NES game of 1991. Some people are masters of punching. Some people are masters of elbowing. Some people are just masters of blocking with their face. Not this guy. THIS... is Kick Master.

Dragon Quest III (Super Famicom, 1996)

The third game of the series got a bunch of remakes over the years, re-releasing on multiple systems. The original 1991 NES version is a classic, and it also got a Game Boy Color version later on that I want to take a look at. One remake that never saw the light of day in the U.S. is the 1996 Super Famicom version, and that's the version I'm playing for this installment. The visuals of this version were more or less repurposed for later phone versions of the game, as well as the phone versions of the first two. So we owe a lot to this one particular remake.

Terminator 2: Judgment Day (Game Boy, 1991)

This is a particularly special game for me, as it was very nearly the first video game I ever bought. Unfortunately (yet very fortunately) the store didn't have it, so I had to "settle" for Kirby's Dream Land instead. Thank goodness. With the new movie out, it was time for me to finally play this game. Let's find out how history might have been different if this game had reached me before Kirby's Dream Land had a chance to intervene. Would it have stopped me from ever getting into video games with its sheer badness? Would Corona Jumper cease to exist? Let's find out.

Super Ghouls n' Ghosts (Super NES, 1991)

It's a Corona Jumper Halloween Spooktacular! Today I look at an insanely difficult game that has caused more than a few gamers to explode over the years. It's from Capcom circa 1991, though, so you know it's awesome.

Final Fantasy Adventure (Game Boy, 1991)

One of my favorite Game Boy games. It's probably in the top five. It isn't really a Final Fantasy game; everyone knows by now, but it's actually the original Seiken Densetsu. The predecessor to Secret of Mana. Whoa.

COMING SOON ON SWITCH. Get it! DOO IT NAO!

Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (Super NES, 1991)

OH MY GAWWWWWD.

How far can I get without dying in the Ninja Gaiden trilogy?

The answer? Not very far, as it turns out. Videos within.

Metroid 2: Return of Samus (Game Boy, 1991)

This was the second game I ever owned (after Kirby's Dream Land). And now it has an unofficial remake out plus an official remake in the works. This makes me happy, to say the least. Metroid 2 was the first game that really pulled me in and showed me that games could be deeper than what I thought as a kid.

Operation C (Game Boy, 1991)

This is the Game Boy spinoff of Contra, and like most Game Boy spinoffs from that era, it's very scaled-down in comparison to its NES counterparts. While those games had 8 or 9 stages, this one has 5. Said stages are shorter, too. That said, it's pretty damn fun. PUSH START KEY!

Terminator 2: The Arcade Game (Various, 1991-1994)

 

 Here's a game that a lot of us spent waaaay too many quarters on back in the day, because it was approximately the coolest arcade game on the planet for a while. One or two players can wield light guns and battle the forces of Skynet in a first-person rail shooter that may or may not give you shell shock. The volume was turned up on this one.

No problemo.

Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge (Game Boy, 1991)

Once upon a time, Capcom decided to tap into the lucrative Game Boy market with their flagship series, starring the Blue Bomber (now the Gray Bomber...he's like reverse Gandalf).

While it never actually appears in the game, this was given the subtitle "Dr Wily's Revenge". Far from a straight, downgraded port of an existing NES game, this is a new-ish game entirely that utilizes elements from both Mega Man and Mega Man II on the NES.

Mega Man 4 (NES, 1991)

Mega Mania continues! This one is very good, and gets my personal vote as perhaps the best of the six on NES. It doesn't get the same kind of hype that the two before it get, though.

Super Castlevania IV (Super NES, 1991)

This was one of the Super NES's earliest games, and helped kickstart Nintendo's bid to regain any ground they lost to the Sega Genesis - which got an earlier release - in the 16-bit wars. It's a great game, and my personal favorite in this series.

It isn't a sequel to the earlier games, nor is it a prequel like the third. This is nothing less than a remake of the original Castlevania starring Simon Belmont. That's right, we've gone from the original, to a sequel, to a prequel, to an original remake. It's pretty weird, but at least it's less confusing than Zelda.

Because this game is SO GOOD, I decided to do something special with this one rather than my usual spastic commentary and juvenile references. Thus, it will be narrated entirely by the protagonist, Simon Belmont.

Take it away, Simon.

Dragon Warrior III (NES, 1991)

Time for what might be my favorite RPG on the NES. It's either this or the original Final Fantasy.

I put the SFC version of this on here a year ago, and I've been wanting to cover the original ever since. It'll be less Buffy-ized this time, as we see the real story of Erdrick.

Nintendo Power, Volume 27 (August 1991)

It's August 1991. The Super NES is on the way. What's Dr. Wily doing in that mech? Getting revenge, that's what.

Super R-Type (Super NES, 1991)

Time for one of my favorite SNES shooters. The R-Type series, from Irem, was sorta the Ross Perot of the shooter universe circa the 1990s. Not as popular or well-known as Gradius and not as beloved by the hardcore as the vertical Compile games. It spans five games (that I know of...there may be more) and while it's side-scrolling, it has a number of innovations that set it apart from (and even surpass at times) the Gradius games.

Gradius 3 (Super NES, 1991)

One of the Super NES's coolest launch titles, and one of Konami's many fine moments. That said, it's not without problems. Shooter Week rolls on!