Good stuff, keep it going!

Thank you, arnpoly. Yes, will be dishing out reviews daily until I only have games I haven't beaten left. 

Little Nemo: The Dream Master (1990)

Where did I play it?
I am not sure who it was anymore that owned it. A little kid in the street of another guy I know, but my memory of him is gone except he was a lot younger than me and often dressed like a clown.
Whatever, right.

Experience as a child:
I remember when I saw the pictures of this in my Nintendo Magazine and being quite mesmerized by it. Visually its a very beautiful game. It has a very dreamlike and bit surreal atmosphere. The gameplay is good too, although its very strange. You don't really kill most enemies in this game, instead you shoot candy at their head making them faint for a few seconds. Some of the animals fall asleep and then you can "wear them" and gain special abilities.

Its based on a cartoon by Winsor McKay, one my favorite animators and artists. His original Little Nemo strips I highly recommend. This one is as old as 1906, and all his strips all collected in a book thats most likely the largest book you'll ever see. I love the style in the comics. Its a lot more cartoony in the NES release, probably because it came along the full-feature length movie I suspect isn't as notable. 

Later experiences:
I had an initial run where I go to the train part, but I didn’t get through it. Pretty tough stage. In a later attempt I managed to beat the whole game. It took me a little while. 

Biggest «D’oh»-moment in my gaming history:
A funny thing is that when I got to the last level, Nightmare Land. The the mechanics kind of changes. You've been throwing candy in all levels, but in the last world you get a wand. You can hit your enemies with it, but I actually didn’t know you could shoot with it. If you hold the b-button down it charges and you have a very powerful weapon.

I was playing this level only thinking you could hit with it, and I was stunned how hard it was. I seriously thought the level of the game was poorly made and that they hadn’t playtested it or expected people to get so far into the game. To beat the Penguin King took like 30 minutes after hitting it near a million times(if you shoot it you can beat it pretty quick). It was tedious beyond belief and equally difficult, but I got almost to the final boss either way. When I at one point by accident realized you could shoot with the want if you held down the B-button I think I literally "D'oh"-d. The game went from near impossible to managable by that realization. I still found the game pretty hard either way, but the weird experience of not understanding the wand probably affected me. Anyway, the game is really good. 

Difficulty: 
8 out of 10

Yay, I just beat Ice Climber on 1 continue(which was my own standard for beating it)! Been trying for ages. That was actually surprisingly hard.

So I'm up to 38 games now. That makes 10 games left. Haven't decided which one I'll go for yet.

Punch Out! (1987)

Where did I play it?
I owned it! For whatever reason it was the first game I got for the console that wasn’t Super Mario bros. I hadn't heard of it. I assume someone must have recommended it at the store. Perhaps I played it briefly while I was there. It was a pretty awesome game at the time and everyone wanted to visit me just to play it. 

Did I beat it as a child?
Yes. I did beat it as a child. It was one of the first NES games I owned however, so I think I played it quite a bit. The game got kind of brutal after you beat Bald Bull, and he last three boxers, Mr Sandman, Super Macho Man and Mr Dream(I had the version without Mike Tyson) I remember being exceptionally hard. Its a tough game if you're new to it, no doubt, but its really just trial-and-error, so while every boxer is difficult at first you’ll gradually learn their patterns, weak points and how to avoid their attacks. Luckily the game is so fun and well made that you'll probably keep playing. It evens out the difficulty a little.

The first time I got to Mr Dream I vaguely remember thinking he was designed to be impossible because, well 1 hit and you were down. I remember feeling surprised when I managed to dodge one of his punches the first time, and even get a small hit in, that made almost no damage. Eventually I get so many small jabs in that he actually went down. Quite a moment. He's possible to beat. Quite a big moment when I beat him. Its always been one of my favorite games on the system. 

Later experiences:
I am not huge on sport games normally, but I love Punch Out. Maybe because it doesn’t try to be too realistic, and it has a cartoony and exaggerrated style to it. The gameplay is pretty unique. I have never seen any other games quite like it. The characters are full of personality, the game is... and its just a lot of fun.

I remember in later years I did runs where I would breeze through a lot of it by muscle-memory, but I would get problems around Soda Popinski, and getting fairly pissed because I couldn’t beat him. I did beat him in my recent nostalgia run, but my biggest problem this time was by far Super Macho Man. His ‘super punches’ were trouble to me, because I thought you were supposed to duck from them(a fairly unused function in the game usually), and it didn't really work out... Only through seeing Let Plays online I understood you can actually dodge like normal from his super punches. I swear I tried that when I was a kid and I couldn’t do that back then. I blame the Mandela effect.

Mr Dream(Mike Tyson) is still tough as nails too, but really, in the end its basically memorization and trial-and-error until you can pull it off. With some willpower anyone can do it. The game is luckily very fun, just like Ninja Gaiden, a game often deemed equally hard and if a game is fun to play it evens out the difficulty challenge. It keeps you playing unlike bad or monotone games that is hard. I don’t think PunchOut is up there with the harder ones on the console, but it might be because I owned it and played it a lot when young. Who knows. Its quite challenging though, no doubt.

I also love Super Punch Out for SNES, and when I was in Reykjavik in Iceland this summer at Freddi's Arcade I got to play the real arcade version of Punch Out. Its pretty different. Mac is no little Mac, and I couldn't beat the second guy -- although in my defense I didn't play it for too long. Anyway, Punch Out is one of the better games on NES I'd say and one of my favorite. I'm sad there wasn't a real sequel. Would have been fine to just make a new one with a set of new opponents really. 

Difficulty:
8 out 10

Kid Icarus (1986)

Where did I play it?
A girl I knew had it, and I remember borrowing it a little while. A memorable title for sure. You’re a guy named Pit. You look like some kind of angel-winged Cupid in some greek mythology world and you shoot arrows from your bow on your enemies. Most levels go from bottom to top, but sometimes there’s maze labyrinth levels with bosses. Pit was one of the side-characters in the cartoonshow "Captain N". Anyone who remembers that? Here's Pit in that. 

Did I beat it as a child: 
No. Kid Icarus is not an easy game, and I didn't borrow it for long. I don’t think I got very far. Level 2 or 3 would me by best guess. I remember finding it difficult not to die. Pit can't fly, contrary to what he looks like he can, so Pit always fall into pits.  

Later experiences: 
When I got a cart I had a lot of fun with it. I got impressed with the game. I thought it was going to be a more cheap budget-title like Ice Climber, but its actually quite complex. People speculate the initial difficulty probably snubbed it from being deemed as a true Nintendo classic like Mario or Zelda, as it was a launch title just like them. I think thats possibly true, when you start the game its actually quite tricky so I can imagine children getting turned off by the difficulty. The game more easier in the later levels when you have more upgrades. Takes a while to beat in one sitting, so I’m glad there’s a password setting. Probably as good a game as Zelda, or even Super Mario Bros, although its worth mentioning I have no nostalgia for Zelda like most gamers. For some reason I just never played Zelda. Anyway, I can see Zelda's difficulty curve being more better balanced.

The game has an interesting atmosphere and humor. The mazes were interesting. I drew them on a paper just to be sure I had been everywhere. The shopkeepers who most people think can rip you off. The items are costly and it never says what they do, but as I remember it they always do something... I guess those who had the manual didn't have that problem, but the game interestingly doesn't tell you anything.    

People always remember the Grim Reapers in this game with horror. He's very annoying for sure -- but the most fascinating character in the whole game is without doubt the Eggplant Wizard. I remember him vividly from the Captain N show too, as he was a regular boss(hanging around with a green King Hippo from Punch Out) so I was sort of excited what he would do as an enemy in the game. Must have been something special for giving him a big role in a cartoon show, right? He's not even a boss. Its by far the oddest character I've ever encountered in any game. The eggplant wizards doesn't hurt you, but makes Pit's upper body into an Eggplant, and it works as a handicap, and you can't shoot. You have to find a health medical center inside the maze(that otherwise is empty), and they will remove the eggplant. Very strange, but original! Also quite annoying seeing them because getting hit by them always meant a lot of backtracking. Anyway, cool game. 

Difficulty: 
8 out 10

Top Gun (1986)



Where did I play it?
Neighborboy owned it. I was not a huge fan of it back then, as it seemed too «realistic» and slow. It was one of the games that rarely seemed played. We did play it sometimes though, as Nintendo games was rare to come by, and well, sometimes the games gets a an extra chance for the novelty. 

Did I beat it as a child?
No. I remember not really being able to fuel the plane. Very dramatic, because if you can’t do it.. you’re doomed to continue to play without enough fuel for a while knowing you wouldn’t be able to make it. For some reason thats more chilling than simply getting an immediate Game Over-screen. Plus neighbor-boy would scream at you for not doing like he told you. He was able to fuel the plane, and perhaps landing the plane, but I don’t think he really got that far into it either. Its a very hard game, and slowgoing. I’m quite tempted to say its a bit of a boring game. Although I know some people live for these flight simulation games, so perhaps its better to say its a niche-game and not for everybody. 

Later experiences:
Well, I got a copy of it it. At first I didn’t really mind it as different type of gaming experience, and the memory of the game had actually matured in my memory. Games like this is arguably more for an adult mind. Compared to most popular NES games you can't deny its a bit different, perhaps even ambitious. 

It was fun getting the fuel thing to work, and I managed to understand how to land the plane too. Pretty cool. I actually sort of liked that it was so «realistic» and slow, especially since the movie its based on is far from "realistic". You'd expect something more actiondriven from Top Gun, but no. In a way I appreciate the flight sim-realism -- but I did get pissed at the game for giving just a couple of lives and no continues.

My biggest issue was that I never found an effective way of avoiding the enemy missiles. You only seemed to have two choices: 1. Avoiding the missiles by trying to flying away, or 2. Shoot the missiles, if you could manage. While I could get away from the majority of them none of the choices was safe, or at least I never found a 100% safe way to handle them, so eventually I would always get hit at some random spot. I have no idea to this day how someone can be good at this, although I assume there must be a way. It teared up my patience however and I started hating the game more and more. 

I later read somewhere you could just point your planenose in the air and you would avoid everything until the level was done. I have to admit I resorted to doing that a lot in the end to just get to the end of the levels. It feels a bit like cheating, although technically there’s no rules saying you can’t do it. I don't know. I was so sick of this game in the end, and I don’t care if someone finds it cheap. In my mind I beat it. Plus, I honestly don’t ever want to go back to dealing with those damn missiles. I actually still see them in my nightmares. 

Difficulty level:
9-10 out of 10

Total Recall (1990)

Where did I play it?
Some friend of a friend had it-type of deal. Didn't play it much, but very much remember the X-ray part where you're playing as a skeleton.  

Did I beat it as a child: 
No, I can remember getting to the part with the X-ray, and perhaps to outside the train with the dogs biting your leg.. perhaps the levels with all the bums.   

Later experiences: 
Total Recall is a pretty good movie and critically acclaimed, but this game is not as well regarded. In my Nintendo Magazine(I'm from Norway) they were was asked why the game was released in Norway but not in Sweden, and it was seemingly because publishers in Sweden thought the game was too bad to be released. The magazine said they agreed with the swedes in retrospective. I also see its not a well regarded game other places, like in Pat The NES Punk's book(1.5 star) and AVGN sort of kicked it... but I did actually quite enjoy the game. Fair enough. Its a bit rough around the edges, but there's some original ideas here. Like the x-ray part, and for the cinema serving as a continue. I like platformers, but when you see someone at least attempting to do something different I sort of apprecate it. Total Recall is quite unpolished though, and who knows if it was a bit rushed to be released in the wake of the movie. There are some hard parts here and there, but the game isn’t extremely long so its not too bad. I managed to beat it under a week of playing a few rounds here and there.

Plus it has glory holes! If thats a good thing or bad thing I'm not sure, but it sure is, um, different.. 

Difficulty: 
7 of 10

In other news I'm trying to play through Carmen Sandiego In Time now. Pretty cool game, although I honestly thought I was getting to the end after around 16 cases.. As there's just 16 villains. You'd think after arresting all the villans beside Carmen Sandiego she was next.. but no, but looking at the GameFAQ you have to beat 80 cases! Seesh. I'm not even 25% into the game yet. This is going to be a grind. On the plus side I'll become a history expert when its over.

Top Gun was a huge pain for me to beat. In the end I got pretty good at shooting the missiles and figuring out which ones I could dodge depending on where they entered the screen.

I bought Carmen Sandiego CIB with the dictionary and everything for when I eventually play that game. I knew about having to do 80 cases. I'm not exactly looking forward to it, but I don't think it will be a difficult game.

Aha. I assumed there must have been a way with those missiles in Top Gun. I just couldn't figure it out. Drove me nuts, hehe. It seemed like extreme RNG to me.
I might have liked the game more if it wasn't for that. 

I regret not buying Carmen Sandiego with the dictionary now as I'm curious how that plays like. I just google it on my phone instead, and it works just as well. The only tough part about it how hard you should be on yourself for forgetting something you recently checked up on. Its quite a lot to remember at first. That and that you have to play forever to catch Carmen Sandiego. I remember having When In Europe Is Carmen Sandiego for Mac when I was younger and played it a lot, I think I was pretty good at it... but I never got to Carmen Sandiego. 

Commander Santa played a couple years back for can NA beat every game thread and he said it's just ridiculously tedious.

Yeah, its mysteriously long with repeating gameplay before you get a chance to capture Carmen Sandiego(at mission 50), and you're not done until mission 80, which is even stranger.... After capturing Carmen Sandiego the game should be over, but no. 

Flintstones: Rescue Of Dino And Hoppy (1991)

Where did I play it?
I owned it. I vividly remember saving up to it in my trusted piggy bank, and buying it with my own saved up money. Which was unique in that sense, since getting a NES game otherwise was reserved for birthdays or christmases. I remember carefully picking the game out because it looked cool in my Nintendo magazine. The game is about Dino and Hoppy (Flint and Fred's pets) being kidnapped by some maniacal dracula dude from the future that wants them in a zoo. You need to collect parts of a broken timemachine, from a reasonable amount of levels, and then get to the future beat that dracula dude and rescue the pets. 

Did I beat it as a child?
Yes! I remember the chinese world being quite difficult when I was kid, and when I had all the parts to the ship, going through the future level and meeting the end boss. Very tense and a big gaming moment for me. Those egg-bombs I remember took out that otherwise quite hard mamooth creature and somehow I beat the last form of the end boss too. Its a pretty good NES game, although Fred is slow as a snail to use, which I consider a flaw. The basketball games in between is a fun little touch, as well as the special abilities. As you'd expect from a Flintstones game its also creative in the use of dinosaurs as everyday objects. One of its positively unique features. Its not one my favorite childhood games, but I like it. What sets it back a little is that the controls are a bit slow and wonky, and if you are hit you’ll jump three slow jumps back. Otherwise its a pretty solid NES title. 

Later experiences:
I did get a cart for a reasonable price and I sat down and played it. This was a game I played a lot as a child. Its funny how games you haven’t played in literally decades, and its still deep in your musclememory somehow and you can vividly remember everything coming up, but just barely. Flintstones was a good example for me. I found the game quite easy because of this too I suspect. Even the chinese level that I remember as difficult as a child was very easy for me as an adult. The very last levels with were a little bit of a struggle to figure out, and the hardest part is probably the last boss, but even that wasn't too bad. If you can get used to the clunky controls the whole game is do-able. Compared to really hard NES games I’ve played it wasn’t too tough. I think I beat it in one day.

I did play through the sequel "The Flintstones: Surprise at Dinosaur Peak" and while most of that game was quite easy(much easier than the original) the last couple stages are surprisingly tough in comparison. The one where the wheel is after you inside the volcano… Its quite like the Battletoads stage with the wheels. 

Difficulty: 
6-7/10

Double Dragon 3 (1991)

Where did I play it?
Neighbor-boy owned it, I think? Yes. Same person who owned Top Gun if you must know. 

Did I beat it as a child?
No. We used to play the heck out of Double Dragon 2, and that one we managed to beat, but Double Dragon 3 is infamously a much harder game. For whatever reason there's no extra lives and no continues like in the previous games. One has to assume they were going for something more realistic with this one, like "you only have ONE life in reality". Who knows what they were thinking. Very strange decions. If two or three people gang up on you from both sides its also almost impossible to get out of it, and that by default means "game over". Luckily you can avoid situations like that and the games become and more managable the more you understand the mechanics. When you get better at it two of the stage bosses you meet becomes playable characters, which is a very cool feature, especially they play very differently than Billy. They serve as "extra lives" in that sense.When you get to a certain point late in the game another continue is granted you as well. I got to Level 5 as a child. I didn’t know it was the last level back then. I think I died at the very beginning due to the platform jumping at the beginning, so I wasn't close, and the worst part of the game was still ahead. Compared to Double Dragon 2 it has some new moves and more polished graphics too. Its a great game, but probably a bit underrated due to its initial difficulty. 

Later experiences:
While the game is hard in the sense that you only have one life and one continue its actually not terrible once you play it a bit. Like all of these types of games the trick is to find ways to beat enemies quickly without taking damage, and once you do that its honesly not that difficult for a medium experienced player.

I still think the game is a very hard, but what makes the game hard in my opinion is the last boss. The last boss of the game is a Cleopatra character with magical powers. She throws your character into the wall, and she is stunningly difficult compared to the rest of the game. I struggled with her for ages thinking I’d never beat her. After enough tries I finally did though. So another game beats the dust. I think the game is as good as the second one personally. I never really played the original, nor the arcade versions, so I can't compare those.  

Difficulty level: 
8.5 out of 10

Double Dragon 2 (1988)

Where did I play it?
It was a close friend of me that owned it. We played it a lot. 

Did I beat it as a child: 
Yep. I remember me and my buddy often played it and managed to beat it. Compared to Double Dragon 3 its a lot easier with its steady supply of extra lives and continues, but its still not a pushover either.  Especially the last levels with the disappearing platforms is tricky due to the controls thats not really designed for it. I remember having a lot of fun playing this as young. I think the plot is Billy and Jimmy are rescuing Billy’s girlfriend from a bunch of criminals who kidnapped her. Not a great plot looking back it, and an easy prey for gaming feminism targeting in on "damsel in distress"-plots. Oh well, not going to comment on that.. but it has fun gameplay and some good level design. I think the music is decent too. I like this game and recommend it. It also scores high on the nostalgia-factor for me. 

Later experiences: 
Me and a friend fired it up the other day, and beat it in one lengthy sitting. I got to do the roundhouse kick on the invisible last boss, as the picture froze like a photo. Really cool! More games should do that when you take out the final boss. Its really satisfying in Double Dragon 2 at least. Its a good co-up game, as these beat-em-up always are. I don't know if they're as fun playing all alone. Except Battletoads, but I don't really see Battletoads as a pure beat-em-up game. Double Dragon 2 probably a bit more balanced than Double Dragon 3, but I like them both.

And still, like when I was a child, I struggled with this screen below. Memorably hard to pull without dying a lot. 

Difficulty: 
5-6 out of 10

I've I ever get back on track to beating Mario 2, Dino & Hoppy was looking like a potential next game for me.

Update on Where In Time Carmen Sandiego: This is a depressingly long game. I'm trying to space out doing missions for it every day without burning myself out on it. I quite like the game, but if I don't take it easy I fear I will get completely sick of it. The dillemma however is that if I don't do a lot of missions every day it will take forever and a day. My hope is that when I know all the answers my memory I can do 10 missions in a day.

I wouldn't mind there being so many missions if it presented new stuff, like new functions, new criminals, new places and so on.. but after doing 16 missions you have caught all the criminals, and you've bascially done all there is to do, and the game should really let you catch Carmen Sandiego shortly after that and the game should be over. Instead there's an insane 80 missions before they say you have beaten the game and retired as a detective. Its almost like its a game you're supposed to play forever.

Oh yeah, its a nice enjoyable game. You have problems beating Mario 2?

Are you doing it without warps? I remember for this project I felt I had to beat it without warps, and thats pretty challenging since there's levels I wasn't used to seeing.  

Werewolf: The Last Warrior (1990)

Where did I play it?
This one is was mysterious for me. A weird deja-vu-ish experience. When I was looking around through old NES games to see what I might have played I stumbled upon pictures of Werewolf: The Last Warrior. I got this surreal dreamlike sense that I may have played this game but at the same time I didn't remember it at all. I could not actually decide if I had played it or not, but it looked so hauntingly familiar it drove me nuts. The more I thought about it the more insane I got. I had to buy it to see if I could make sense of it. 

Did I beat it as a child: 
I wasn’t even sure if I played it. 

Later experiences: 
When I finally sat down and played it I realized I likely never played it at all. While the weird experience was interesting and almost a bit scary, I think what happened when I was a child was that I probably read about it in my Nintendo magazine. In fact I remember I did, and I found the magazine since. The images probably made some impressions on me, the cover is pretty frightening with the grizzly wolf coming out of the NES cart. Not your cutesy Mario or Kirby game. I may have dreamt about the game, or fantasised about it, or something, and thats what made the strange effect that I found it familiar. Thats my best guess.

I'm still adding it on this list. Playing the game was interesting though. Its an excellent game with some very cool music. What shocked me however was how hard the game was. I never saw anyone ever talking about this game being hard, but gosh it took my best pair of try-hard pants to get through it. I’ll never forget those jumping piranhas. They were the worst part and nearly made the game impossible. They would jump out of the water and stop your jump, you’d fall into the water and you would be effectively dead. It took some tries but I did it. Its strange how the hardest games sometimes gives the most lasting impressions though. Its always satisfactory to beat a game you have struggled with forever. They have your blood and sweat in them. Duck Tales or Kirby does not. Give me a challenge man.

What is the game about? Hm, from my memory its a man named Ken who can turn into a werewolf, and even a super-werewolf. Some evil doctor had made evil mutations that had kidnapped the population on earth and you have to save it. Not the best story but the presentation is very stylish and the game has a really unique atmosphere.

Plus, the music is perhaps my favorite music on the system.

Difficulty: 
9 out of 10

No, when I was playing regularly I was making real good headway. Often times reaching world 5/6. I just got caught up playing Breath of the Wild then Super Mario 3D World and yeah. Need to realign my focus. Lol

Tecmo Cup Soccer Game (1988)

Where did I play it?
I don’t remember where I played it to be honest, but whoever it was I borrowed it for a long time. 

Did I beat it as a child: 
Yes, I remember beating it as a child. I remember it as quite an acheivement. Tecmo Cup is quite unique in its gameplay, as its an RPG soccer game. The story is simply that you have a team with a star player Robin, and its more based on strategy than reflexes. You choose if you want to pass the ball or shoot, you choose if you want to tackle the opponent or if you want to cut, and so on. You soon realize he’s the player you should always give the ball to to Robin as he's usually far better than most other players. He also have a special shot that almost always scores. Some of the players in the game has special abilities.

I remember being fascinated with the game in one aspect. The game leads up to a final, where most of the other teams have their "superplayers", their Robins, and you’d absolutely hate them naturally. Especially the last teams Damon, because he would kick your ass, and is the only player that could match your starplayer Robin. Its so fascinating when you think you beat the game, a second part of the game opens up and you get a superteam only with Damon and all the superplayers. I remember finding that very exciting as a kid. Just seeing someone you hated because they were so good becoming the players of your own team boggled a young mind. Its a cool came, and I had no idea it was based in Captain Tsubasa, supposedly a very popular series of games in Japan. 

Later experiences: 
Soccer games is not something I’d play normally, and soccer and sport in general doesn't interest me, but I rather enjoy this game. I was sad to find out when I bought it that I got a version with spanish text. I didn’t understand a single word, but for whatever reason instead I chose to take it as a challenge. So I actually managed to beat a text-based game in a language I didn’t understand, only based on my memory of it as a child. Surprised I managed, although its still pretty straightforward. I still find the game fun. If I could find any of the Captain Tsubasa games in english I might play them. 

Difficulty: 
7 out of 10

I CAUGHT CARMEN SANDIEGO!
 

It caught me by surprise, because I read you only catch her on the 50th mission, and while I had lost count on completed missions I figured I was only around 30 missions, so I thought I read something wrong when I saw the screen above. I hadn't been paying attention that I had computed a warrant on her either, which is funny. So I was caught by total surprise. 

The game is a bit strange, because when you catch Carmen you don't beat the game... at least not yet. You are assigned with the highest rank "Super Time Sleuth" but still have 30 missions left before the game says you have retired. So I still have 30 long missions left to churn through, sigh, but still, you only get one chance to catch Carmen so thats still the highlight of the game. 

Where did I play it?
This is the only Nintendo game I ever remember renting from a video store. Rented it for a weekend. 

Did I beat it as a child?
No. I’m unsure if I got to the car level -- level 2 -- but if I did, I think thats it. It feels like a bit of a simple game in a way, but I remember quite liking the game as I was a Ghostbusters fan at the time.

I did play the first Ghostbusters game too, but for me it was a Commodore 64 game. I don’t think I ever played it on NES, so its not included in my NES nostalgia run. I never minded the first one as much as some do, even with its unorthodox gameplay, but this one is arguably more like what a young Ghostbusters fan would want, at least in theory. Just being able to be the characters and blasting different ghosts Contra-style, and to be able to drive the ghostbusters car jumping ramps and stuff. No need for a complex strategy game where you had to fill gas, earn money and buy equipment. Ghostbusters 2 is not a huge complex game that aims to change the gameindustry by any standards, but its likable for what a humble little game it is. 

Later experiences: 
It sure took a while to find a used copy here in Norway, as there’s another Ghostbusters 2 by HAL that was released here in Europe ("The New Ghostbusters 2") and nobody really sold. I played the HAL one for Game Boy, but finding this one by Activision was not easy on this side of the Atlantic.

Either way, I indeed enjoyed my playthrough of Ghostbusters 2. It mixes platform levels, car levels and a level where you play as the Statue of Liberty, which is has an interesting meta-effect as in the movie they controlled it by a Nintendo controller, and now you play a Nintendo game about that again. It was actually surprisingly difficult to beat for me. It took me some days with attempts. It may be because I'm not the best gamer in the world, who knows, but it was a bit of a challenge despite not being a huge game.

The last level especially is very hard, because you have to beat it four times -- with all the four Ghostbusters --, which is a nice idea, but despite being the same level four times I swear the last time the difficulty is topped even more with the last member of Ghostbusters running through. Unforgivably many enemies. To be able to beat it I needed to have a good round and stock up on a LOT of lives before this level. Eventually I did get a very good round, without dying too much and collecting as many lives as I could, and I got all Ghostbusters through the final door.

To be honest I think its a pretty good game. Its a game you can pick and play. It does suck however that there’s no final boss battle with Vigo, thats quite a minus considering he had a lot of potential as a boss. Instead its basically a silent slide show of them just shooting goo on Vigo's painting and then its over. I suspect there probably was a bossbattle planned that was scrapped due to timeconstraints, but know knows. 

Difficulty: 
7 out of 10

Rockin’s Kat (1991)

Where did I play it?
Owned it. I think it was likely the very last game I bought for NES too. My parents didn’t want to give me a Super Nintendo, and by this time SNES was the hot topic and was taking most of the attention. At the market NES was falling slowly away from the spotlight. Painful days, I suppose. I remember the storekeeper recommending Rockin’s Kat as a good recent game for NES. I remember it as a blind purchase, because I wasn’t familiar with it from before. Looking back now, I don’t know why I had to buy a new game, and not an older good NES game — but thats how it went down. Storekeepers probably want to push what they're playing at the time. 

Did I beat it as a child?
Yes, I beat it back then. Its actually not a hard game at all. An easy game, but back then I felt it was like a normal challenge. At least I remember it as such.

Rockin's Kat is a pretty fun game with some interesting game mechanics though. The jumping glove is quite innovative, as you can grab and throw yourself around with it too. It also has a pretty charming little cartoony universe too, and seems not to liscenced from any cartoon or comics, which is kind of surprising as it seems like it could have been. You're Willy, a jazz cat in a sort of mafia gangster universe, where the crime boss Mugsy has stolen Willy's girlfriend Jill. The leves are strangely chosen on a TV by picking channels, and you do them almost in any order(perhaps you can't pick the last level before completing the others). There's also some pretty fun bonus games where you can get money, and a shop to buy quite powerful weapons. You easily get OP in this game because of this.

After the game however and after the credits there’s some hidden VERY hard bonus stages, these I remember finding completely impossible as a child. 

Later experience:
Having sold my cart as a child(I sold all my carts at one point) it took me a while to get a new cart because it was usually very expensive to buy used for some reason. Eventually I did buy it, and I made room one afternoon and played it. Like with Flintstones, another game I owned, this game was very much in my musclememory. I had no difficulty beating it at all. I didn’t 'game over' once, and I had stacked up on endless lives and weapons in the end. Its odd how playing a game a lot over 20 years ago, and the games come back to you like it was yesterday.

Rockin’s Kat is one of the easiest games on the console I’ve played, and definitely the easiest in this run. Felix The Cat is a pretty easy one too, but that one felt longer. The hidden bonus stages after the game are still very tough however, because you’re suddenly without the OP weapons and you have no continues. Its a hit in the stomach considering how easy the main game is. If they should count is difficult to say, I remember TheMexicanRunner for example didn't sit through the long credits, so he didn't know about them. I managed to beat them this time around though, but not without some swearing. Pretty tough! When I was a kid I always wondered what happened after the seemingly impossible bonus levels. The anser is quite disappointing. You just see the exact same gameending as the first time.

I quite like the game, its solid even if its too easy. Its weird because after this game console gaming never became a huge thing for me anymore. I didn't get a Super Nintendo, nor any later consoles. Rockin's Kat was the end of an era for me in that way. 

Difficulty: 2-3/10
Bonus-levels: 8/10