Game Reviews7.8/10
Capcom’s Little Nemo Is Beautiful, Unforgiving, and Built on a Lie
A retro review of Capcom's 1990 NES platformer Little Nemo: The Dream Master — candy, animal rides, hidden keys, and beautiful cruelty.
CLAY TRIBUNE / THE ARCHIVE
Tag: game review
Game Reviews7.9/10
A Cozy Fairy-Tale Adventure That Asks Only for Patience
Guardian Legend is a 2019 indie RPG for PC with lovely modelling, a nostalgic fairy tale world and humorous dialogue. Single player only, scored 7.9/10.
Game Reviews7.5/10
Faxanadu’s tree is worth climbing, even when the game fights back
Faxanadu brought a grim World Tree climb to the NES in 1990. A look at the Hudson Soft classic's story, mantras, and its sword-swallowing king.
Game Reviews7.9/10
DuckTales Review: Capcom’s Pogo-Cane Platformer Still Bounces
A retro review of Capcom's 1989 NES classic DuckTales, covering the pogo cane, five levels, hidden diamonds and the $3,000,000 cheat.
Game Reviews7.2/10
Darkwing Duck Review: A Tight, Well-Built NES Platformer That Respects the Player
Darkwing Duck on NES (1992) is a Capcom licensed platformer that actually works, with a gas gun, cape parry and six stages. Our review scores it 7.2/10.
Game Reviews7.5/10
Adventures of Lolo Review: A 7.5/10 NES Puzzle Classic
A review of Nintendo's 1989 NES puzzler Adventures of Lolo, HAL Laboratory's 50-room castle of logic, eggs, and one very patient round hero.
Game Reviews8.2/10
Punch-Out!! Review: Little Mac’s Wii Comeback Is the Series’ Best Fight
Punch-Out!! on Wii (2009) rebooted Nintendo's boxing series with cel-shaded 2-D, three control schemes, stars, stamina, and a heart counter. 8.2/10.
Game Reviews7.3/10
Ninja Gaiden III’s difficulty was a product of rental-market design, not sadism
Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom review — Masato Kato's ambitious NES story, the five-continue wall, and a timeline that won't hold still.
Game Reviews6.6/10
The Mountain Doesn’t Care How Many Times You Jump
A deep dive into Ice Climber, the 1985 NES classic with Popo, Nana, and the condor, plus VS. Ice Climber and a 2009 clone.
Game Reviews7.8/10
Excitebike: The 1984 Racer Whose Engine Later Powered Super Mario Bros.
Excitebike review: Miyamoto's 1984 NES motocross classic, its engine-heat turbo, landing physics, and how its scrolling engine powered Super Mario Bros.
Game Reviews7.1/10
Battletoads: A 1991 Classic That Still Plays Like a Test
Battletoads on NES still defines brutal difficulty three decades on. We break down its Smash Hit combat, Turbo Tunnel, and why it remains a classic.
Game Reviews7.1/10
Zelda II’s reputation problem is really a design problem
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link reviewed — the side-scrolling black sheep of the series, its magic meter, Dark Link, and why it scores 7.1 of 10.