Welcome all to a brand new Epic Game Review and I will be doing things a lot differently than before. Instead of short reviews, I will be doing a much more in-depth and detailed review of my video games that I have played in my lifetime. To start the new way of reviewing, I will do one of the first games that I have played since I became a gamer way back in 1996. That certain game that I am speaking of is none other than Paperboy.  This zany title of a game was a big favorite in my house and even when we, my two brothers, break out the old NES 2, the Top Loader model, we always put Paperboy in first even before Mario Bros. or Duck Hunt. Here’s is my epic review of a highly underrated gem that was tossed aside in favor of more popular titles.

You start off right off the bat as a regular adolescent boy riding on the street with his trusty bicycle and a sack of papers for all of your paying customers who are waiting so patiently for you to deliver the good news to them. There are two paths of transportation and that is either the sidewalk or the street, but there is no difference and I presume that it is the gamers choice. The main objective to the game is to deliver all of your papers to all of your customers with blue houses and not to the red houses. Isn’t it nice to know that the people love to help the paperboy by painting their houses thus signaling him that they want his paper? Anyways, you must toss your papers to the right customers and you will receive payment or lose customers based on exactly how well you did during your route. You can also pick up packs of papers during your ride so you don’t run out of them during the game. But if you fall three times during your route you will immediately end your route and lose your payment as well as your own customers. If you lose all of your customers, you will retire as Paperboy, get a game over and you will have to start all over again from scratch.

You may think this is easy because all you move and throw your papers to your houses, but there far more at stake than giving papers to your somewhat loyal customers. There are all kinds of obstacles that will prevent you from succeeding are these strange happenings that happen on this bizarre street. You are faced with deranged mutts that won’t go away unless you throw a newspaper at it, crazy Stepford wife’s with rolling pins, a suggestive construction worker who is, at least I certainly hope he is, operating a Jackhammer, and even the Grim Reaper, the bringer of death, is trying to prevent our hero from delivering his papers. I must say this is one interesting neighborhood if they house the Grim Reaper. If you are skilled enough and I guess brave enough to trek down this “dangerous” street just to earn a quarter a paper then who am I one to judge.

When you finish your route and delivered to all your customers, you will then be in an obstacle course of full of ramps and targets. This is the games bonus stage where you can earn large amounts of points so that you can get a high score and beat out the competition, including your brothers. While this part of the game is the most enjoyable out of everything else you have done so far, it no doubt the hardest section of the entire gaming experience overall.  For some unforeseen reason, you are going at top speed unlike what you went through during your paper route. With this in motion, the turning is very lackluster and you will indeed miss a ramp and crash making you lose all the potential points you could have gotten if you had only slowed up. At the end, you are greeted by your adoring fans who cheer for you and possibly have no life at all except to watch a boy deliver newspapers. After that awkwardness is over you are shown the map of all your subscribers and non-subscribers  and it will inform you of whether someone re-subscribed or canceled their subscription to your newspaper. Also, if you keep failing you will retire as a loser and be humiliated or if you keep succeeding you will retire as a champion and be praised by your three big fans.

When it comes to controls in this game it is either hit or miss. The turning with the bicycle is very unresponsive and can serious mess up your game if you miscalculate  when to turn and avoid an obstacle. This is an instance where the game could be better if there was a joystick so that moving would be more easier and you’ll be less likely to crash and lose your game. Another fault that stems from this game is the paper throwing being too precise. What I mean by that is that you have to throw the paper exactly at the right spot in order to get signature bleep sound to give you that fact that you made a successful delivery. If you are off by a just a little the paper goes into a bush or worse window and just like in real life you have to pay for it out of your own earnings. This feature makes the game more harder and less enjoyable for those with the temper of an angry Stepford wife with a rolling pin.

Despite of all the games short comings and unearthly events, this is still an underrated classic for anyone interested in classic games. The plot and game play are simple and there is a challenge factor for all types of gamers out there. Also, it is more fun to play along side another player and play a battle of Paperboys to see who can do the best in the game. If you have a functioning NES, this game or  money to buy it I recommend it as a fan of nostalgia.

I give it a 8 out of 10 for it exciting and challenging game play but still a hard game to master even today

There are a lot of unique controllers, but using the Nintendo gun, the same one used for Duck Hunt and Hogan’s Alley, is used as a controller in the game Gumshoe. I think this was an interesting concept instead of using just the regular controller for the NES. Now on to the game, like I said before the game has an interesting concept and that is you shoot your character to make him jump and avoid enemies and save the day. I know this is a weird format, but for a game like this it works in a weird way. My concerns is that this game is far to short and it could have been a bit longer, in my opinion. Also, the Nintendo gun is to unresponsive and you may miss your character or an enemy and lose your game. Other than that, the game is fun to play and gave us a new way to play an NES game.

I give it a 7.5

Let me start off by saying that this is a strange game, but an enjoyable one to say the least. You play as an islander who is trying to save his girlfriend and the only way to do that is to… use a skateboard. Yeah despite sounding weird it is actually the best part of the game. The games has hard levels to play and is very challenging as well as it progress on. Also, back to the skateboarding, while it is fun and funny to see your character your platforming is drastically changed and you’ll lose a life. Speaking of lives, the game is a pain with them since you only have three to play and no continues… big let down to a good game. Besides that, it is still a fun and enjoyable game to play and more of a challenge to anyone.

I give a 7

Now I don’t usually review Sport video games, but the NES was my childhood and I played some of their sport games and of those there was Ice Hockey. First off, there isn’t much to do except just pick a team like the United States or Canada with the player both big and slim and try to beat your opponent. I for one like the simplicity of the game… I mean nowadays the games, from what I’ve seen, are very complex and monotonous I mean there are modes now with refreshments and when to have Fan Appreciation Day… that is just my opinion. Also, I like how it felt more like playing a fuse-ball like Hockey game and requires less strategy and a bit more gameplay. My only gripe with the game is the graphics aren’t that great and they overuse of the same sprites, but this was back in the NES era so I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt.

In the end, I gave this game a 8 for making this game enjoyable to play

Let me take you back 12 year ago where I first started playing video games and loved almost anything I’ve played one of those was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I thought this side scroller was a great game, but now that I’m an adult and looking back on it I’ve decided to reconsider my first impression. First off, it had some interesting gameplay and you can play all four turtles, Leo, Raph, Donny, and Mikey, I prefer to call them this when I was a kid, and use all the weapons. Another thing good is that there are an abundance of levels to keep you playing until you lose all your slices of… Pizza. Besides all the good things, the game has its flaws like the controls, the bosses are too easy, or too hard to hard to kill, and you really just play as one character in the whole game. It is very conflicting on how to rate this game so…

I give it a 5 since it is in the middle of my rating system

Sorry, for the delays I have just been busy lately so anyways… this is by far one of the best Mario games on the NES. The game has the same concept, but it is much more expanded that what we saw in the first game. You, of course play both Mario and Luigi fighting a new source of evil spawn from Bowser (HA! HA!).. get out of here Nelson…  called the Koopalings.You go throughout eight different world with impressive graphics, at the time, interesting enemies and worlds to enjoy and in the end destroy so to speak. Also all the bosses are unique and different as the game progresses and is truly enjoyable even to the most hardcore gamer and that is a lot to give to someone like that. Also you may think there isn’t replay value, but there is in a way like finding secrets to progress through this game.  Overall, this is a great game and definitely worth your time to play it.

I give it a 9.5

After the success of the first game, we knew that there had to be a sequel to the great Super Mario Bros., but unfortunately that didn’t happen. Instead they made a game game from Japan into a Mario game here in the U.S. and surprisingly it is very enjoyable to play. You can not only play as Mario and Luigi, but also Toad and Princess Peach as well in order to get through this new game. All of the levels are vast and full of various secrets in order to beat the game. It also spawned all kinds of enemies like the Shy-Guys or the Ninjis. The game even has it fair share of unique boss battles and also introduced us to a new baddie named Wart the Frog. My only concerns is that some points of the game are tough even for the most experienced game and this game feels short unlike the last game, in my opinion.

But all in all, I give this worthy sequel an 8

There have been a lot of good classic games that were brought to the NES, butone of my favorites would have to be Chip ’n Dale Rescue Rangers. Based on the hit cartoon series, combines both basic platforming with well-balanced gameplay. You can play either the Fedora wearing chipmunk Chip or the Hawaiian shirt chipmunk Dale. There isn’t that much of a difference they both play the same, in my opinion. In each level you have two objective: finish each level and collect as many flowers for the Female mouse Gadget. Each of the levels get increasingly difficult and make the experience more enjoyable.  Even the boss battle are difficult to defeat even for the casual gamer. the only flaw with this game is that once you beat it that is it… I wish they added another adventure and made more challenging for the gamers.

Other than that I give it an 8.5

First off, all this game is just shooting… that is all. It is fun to shoot-em-up, but it is just shooting. The game is that you must shoot cardboard cut outs of criminals, pedestrians and police officers. It is pretty basic and there is nothing else to do.. sure there is the classic walk-by shooting, but that is not good enough to make it more enjoyable. Besides that it still is fun, although, not as Duck Hunt fun but just enough to make it a decent game.

I give this a 6.5

Man I can’t believe I haven’t reviewed this game yet. Right then so… This by far my favorite game on the NES and the game that pretty much made Nintendo. You play as Mario going through different worlds trying to save the Princess. Now I know the game is 8 bit and not as good as the newer games, but this is still a fun game to play.. It even had two player were you play as Luigi. The only problem with this game is that after you beat it there isn’t much replay value isn’t that great at all and the “Boss” battles are all the same. Nevertheless this game is great and will stay that way even if new games and consoles come out.

In the end, I give this game a 9.5