Blaster Master should be an immediate buy for anyone who's even a casual fan of the Virtual Console, as it's the perfect example of what the VC can be when it's working right. It's an excellent, highly nostalgic game being made available again for the first time in over two decades. It's a game design that's actually better when it's played on Wii, thanks to the new save state feature. And it's even been enhanced for this re-release through the inclusion of a new bit of bonus material at the end, for those intrepid subterranean explorers who'll be focused enough to finish the quest -- all the best elements of a VC release, combined together in one five-dollar download.
Presentation - 9.0
Graphics - 8.5
Sound - 9.0
Gameplay - 9.0
Lasting Appeal - 9.0
Overall -
Despite skyrocketing retro game prices the NES remains a deep trove of excellent games that, if you can avoid eBay sellers, are really quite affordable for new collectors.
I remember one of the levels in Retro City Rampage was paying homage to those seaweed segments. Not quite as hard but man did it bring back bad memories of my many deaths on that level. Never did beat that game without the Game Genie. Same with Battletoads. lol
The top-down view theme music was stuck in my head all day as a kid.
I'm not sure if I ever completed a no-damage seaweed run.
Double Dragon 2 is one of the best!! Several good games on this list! Shadowgate, P.O.W., and Klax. That is actually a super fun puzzle game! TMNT, I think every time after the seaweed, I only had like 1 Turtle left. lol
Shadowgate was how I got so familiar with Nintendo's helpline lol. But man did I love that game.
And wow I forgot all about P.O.W. until you mentioned it. Man being a kid with a NES really was the good ol days.
Best birthday ever: 15 and I got a Super Nintendo with Super Mario World, Pilot Wings and Street Fighter. (Spoiled rotten) And I saw Basic Instinct at the theater!
Blaster Master provides no passwords, no game saving, and only 5 continues. It’s amazing that anybody figured out how to finish the game back before save states Nintendo Switch Online's rewind feature.
Loved this on NES! When people talk about the Metroidvania era, this one always gets overlooked. Not as big of a hub as Zebeth but you still had to get upgrades (hover wheels) to access the inaccessible.
Not a bad world either. Hollow earth, radioactive mutants pre-mainstream TMNT, post Inhumanoids. Great music. Vehicle + two kinds of on-foot gameplay with swimming and dungeons. Peak Sunsoft.
I played it as a kid but had forgotten that it played like a Metroidvania until I played Blaster Master Zero on the Switch. It was a hidden gem for sure.
Was an awesome game. I played it again on NES not long ago. That vehicle, game play, music, etc was great back then and today.
Sunsoft used to kill it back then.
VGChartz's Taneli Palola: "On August 14, 1995, exactly 24 years ago to the day, the original NES was discontinued in the west, bringing an end to an almost ten year period of dominance for the 8-bit console in North America. Over that period of time we saw the birth of some of the most beloved video game franchises ever, many of which are still going strong today, ensuring a legacy for the console that stands near unrivalled in the industry.
Of course, a significant part of that enduring legacy is the music from those games, composed by many of the most talented composers to ever work on video games. For many people it was the NES that introduced them to exceptionally talented composers such as Koji Kondo, Nobuo Uematsu, David Wise, Koichi Sugiyama, and many others. What follows are just some of the countless amazing themes the NES gave us over its lifespan, some of which might be completely new to many of you."
It's finally on there! I've been waiting for blaster master to come to VC since the service first appeared.