• Tag Archives LJN

  • Bill & Ted’s Excellent Video Game Adventure (NES)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Bill and Ted’s Excellent Video Game Adventure is a game for the NES based on the movie of (almost) the same name. For those that haven’t seen the movie, it is a comedy featuring Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter and George Carlin. If I were going to compare it to something else, I would say it is like Wayne’s World but with time travel. The movie was released in 1989 and the game in 1991. Both the game and the movie have more of 90s feel than an 80s feel to me.

    The plot of the game generally resembles that of the movie. You must travel throughout time rescuing historical figures that have been stranded outside their own time. How, you might ask? Why, time bandits took them there of course. In order to make it to a life changing concert on time, you also have limited time. Seems a little odd though as you are travelling through time anyway.

    This is an adventure game played from an isometric point of view in which you play as Bill or Ted depending on the level. Finding the person you are looking for involves talking to others in the game which may lead to the need to find other items to gain their trust. However, locals can be your enemy as well.

    As far as reviews go, they are all over the place. Generally, the graphics and sound are good. There are also some interesting music choices with versions of Scarborough Fair and Deep Purple’s Smoke on the Water included. Criticism is generally aimed towards the game play. Overall, I would say it is a very average game but given the average dismal quality of licensed games, that’s probably high praise.

    If you do want to try this game, you will have to track down an original or be content with emulation. It’s nearly impossible for licensed games to get re-made or re-released. In addition to the NES version, there are variations of this game for the Game Boy (completely different), Atari Lynx (quite a bit different), Commodore 64, DOS and Amiga. The computer versions are similar to each other but completely different than the NES version.

    There are no direct sequels to this game but there was a sequel movie made called Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey which was released in 1991 and the more recent Face the Music which was released in 2020 (and I still have not seen).


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  • WWF WrestleMania Steel Cage Challenge (NES)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    WWF WrestleMania: Steel Cage Challenge (LJN, 1992)

    http://darth-azrael.tumblr.com/post/175801347727/suspiciousbehaviorproductions-wwf-wrestlemania

    WWF WrestleMania Steel Cage Challenge was released by Acclaim first for the NES in 1992 and later ported to the Sega Master System and Game Gear in 1993 with the SMS version being a Europe only release. The game features 10 wrestlers including, of course, Hulk Hogan. The SMS/Game Gear and NES versions feature slightly different sets of wrestlers to chose from. While WWF fans will certainly be interested, this is a pretty mediocre title and you should probably temper your expectations.

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    There are various modes of play to choose from including one-on-one, tag team and championship. With tag team you of course get to choose two out of the ten wrestlers instead of just one. There are a fairly wide variety of moves that you can execute including punches, kicks, body slams, throws, headbutts, clothesline, powerslam, stomp, elbow drop and others. So what’s the down side? The controls are pretty crappy and the movies are difficult making for an often frustrating play experience. However, multiplayer is the great equalizer and no doubt WWF/WWE fans can still have fun with this one.

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    There has been no re-release of this game nor is there likely to be one. You’ll have to track down an original version (the NES version preferably or perhaps the SMS version if you are in Europe) or try it out on an emulator. There are better fighting games out there, even on 8-bit though so I would say this one is only for the hardcore WWF fan.

    All screenshots above are from the NES version of the game.





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  • LJN Games for the NES

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

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    Source: Nintendo Fun Club News – Issue Number 5 – February/March 1988 

    In 1988, the Nintendo Entertainment System was at the height of its popularity. For all practical purposes, it really had no competition. The following year the Sega Genesis would be released but in 1988 the NES was king of the hill. It’s really amazing how many games were being released for the NES at this time. All despite Nintendo’s relatively restrictive licensing policy.

    This ad shows the games available for the NES by LJN around this time. I’ll be honest, I don’t recall playing any of these and they all look like mediocre licenses to me. First up is Gotcha!, a paintball game that you can play with the Zapper light gun. There weren’t too many Zapper games and most of them weren’t all that special. I don’t see how this one changes that. Apparently, it is loosely based on the movie of the same name. I sense a bad 1980s paintball themed movie I need to watch…

    Next up is Jaws: The Revenge. This games is based on the fourth and final movie in the Jaws series which was released in 1987. This was one of the first games for the NES announced by LJN and I’m not really sure why they chose it. The movie was bad and the game was worse.

    Next up is Major League Baseball. This game had the advantage of being licensed by the MLB so it used the actual team names. However, it didn’t have the Players Associate license so it did not feature real player names. As baseball games of the time went, this one really wasn’t too bad. It didn’t stand out from the competition but it was a decent enough game and there wasn’t much out there that was significantly better.

    T&C Surf Designs is the oddest license of the bunch. The game itself is somewhat of a ripoff of California games, particularly in regards to the surfing portion. This one wasn’t a terrible game either but it was pretty mediocre. In addition to the surf competition, it also offered skateboarding.

    Finally, there was The Karate Kid. The Karate Kid was an excellent movie (go watch it now if you haven’t seen it) but as games go, like most movie licenses, this one was mediocre at best. It was actually based loosely on the first two Karate Kid movies and features both fighting stages and platform stages as well as two player one-on-one fighting.

    The above ad is from the February/March 1988 issue of Nintendo Fun Club News, the predecessor to Nintendo Power.


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