Angry Video Game Nerd

Earthbound episode is live on Youtube.

Is this the first episode to have an ad break? That was a hell of a spot for one!

My friend and I were literally discussing playing one of the bad games the Nerd did.

Specifically, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde...

May god have mercy on your soul...

I played Back to the Future on NES as a kid. Seeing his review (and alter re-review) was just awesome.

I have been thinking on what bad NES games the Nerd did my friend can get for his NES (I don't have one anymore. Whenever I play an NES game nowadays it's through Virtual Console).

I'm considering Back to the Future, Ghostbusters, Superman (NES), possibly Superman 64 (my friend does have that game), Ikari Warriors, Batman Forever, and the two Simpsons NES games (which we found at my local comic shop alongside Back to the Future Parts 2 and 3).

We are legit thinking on getting Jekyll and Hyde mostly to make another friend play it. Though I probably would experience the game myself.

Finally watched the Earthbound review. I've never played the game- even though I give it points for uniqueness, it doesn't look like a game I would enjoy, mostly due to the combat system/random battles and lots of text. Plus, that ending boss fight was legitimately disturbing. Which I realize was the point, but yeesh.

As for the review itself, it could've been shorter. That sequence where the Nerd encountered memories of his past game reviews started out okay but felt really protracted.

Re: The last few posts: Of the games the Nerd has reviewed, I own:
- Castlevania I (a classic)
- Castlevania II (easily my least favorite of the three NES Castlevanias)
- Castlevania III (my favorite of the NES Castlevanias)
- Super Castlevania IV (favorite Castlevania game of all time)
- Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (well-made, but I didn't get into it as much as the 8/16-bits in the series)
- Bugs Bunny Birthday Blowout, The (not as bad as the Nerd says, though definitely not one of the tip tier platformers, and he was right about the choppy framerate)
- McKids (also not half bad)
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (obviously I prefer the second and third games on NES, but a favorite purely out of nostalgia)
- Double Dragon 3 (virtually impossible. Even with save states on the Virtual Console release, I was only able to get to level 4)
- Ghostbusters on Genesis (agreed with the Nerd that it's one of the better Ghostbusters games)
- Mario 3 (technically this counts. A masterpiece of platforming)
- Indiana Jones Trilogy (didn't enjoy this game as much as the Nerd)
- Batman Returns SNES (unremarkable but enjoyable beat-em-up action, but it some of the best music on the SNES, IMO)
- Wayne's World SNES (I mainly own it for the novelty factor. It really is not very good)
- Street Fighter 2010 (hard as hell, and the controls could've been better, but not bad)
- Ninja Gaiden 1-3 (of the three, the second is probably my favorite)
- Zelda II (don't like it as much as the first)
- Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero (the Nerd was spot on in his criticisms)
- Beavis and Butt-Head SNES (I'm glad the Nerd preferred the SNES version over the Genesis, 'cause I agree)
- Mega Man X4 & X5 (I like X4. X5 is okay but a little too hard for my tastes)

edited 26th Apr '18 7:06:37 PM by speedyboris

They've mostly been about the possibility of me and my friends playing some of the bad games the Nerd did. Specifically Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Of the games the Nerd has reviewed, I've played:

• Castlevania series
• Super Star Wars series
• Terminator 2 Arcade
• Indiana Jones Trilogy on SNES
• Zelda II
• Sonic '06
• Earth Bound
• Mega Man 1-5, and X1-2
• Super Mario Bros. 3 (actually one of the 4 NES carts I own)
• Metal Gear (not the NES port, the version on the MGS HD Collection)

That's all I can remember right now. I have actually seen the Genesis Berenstain Bears game he did for his Berenstain Bears video at my local pawn shop.

edited 26th Apr '18 7:31:46 PM by powerpuffbats

Castlevania II and The Legend of Zelda II: The Adventure of Link were the bane of my early childhood.

I played Batman Forever on SNES as well.

When I first saw from AVGN'S review that i could have just jumped DOWN from that enclosed space, I actually yelled "You're shitting me!"

I don't think I owned any physical or original releases of the games the AVGN covered. Closest things I can think of is Super Mario Bros 3 via Super Mario All Stars and Earthbound via the Wii U Virtual Console.

I owned Mythologies Sub-Zero.

I also own not one, but two walkthroughs of it. As in, actual books.

No, they didn't help.

edited 27th Apr '18 11:05:08 AM by Luminosity

Went through AVGN's episode guide to create a list of games James Rolfe covered, that I played as a kid.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (NES) - I played the arcade game first, so the NES game was kind of a letdown. Beyond that, I don't recall the game being that bad, apart from almost being a monotonous button masher.

Back to the Future (NES). Already mentioned that I played this as a kid, and I thought it sucked back then, and still do. What's weird is, as a kid, I always assumed the "hula-hoop girls" we're supposed to represent Lorraine. In hindsight, that wouldn't make sense given they're trying to kill Marty (but it's not like anything else follows the film that well).

Top Gun (NES). I barely remember playing this at a friend's house. I had trouble landing the plane as well. As James notes in his re-visit episode, the trick though it to pay attention to the speedometer, and NOT the on-screen instructions.

Ghostbusters (NES). Vaguely remember playing some of it, and then getting bored quickly.

Simpsons: Bart Saves The World (NES). Rented it once, and it was one of those games that as James describes, "You get stuck quickly, and then you're whole weekend is wasted."

Bugs Bunny's Birthday Blowout (NES). I don't think this game is as bad as the Nerd said. Although, it's no "Rabbit Rampage" (SNES) that's for damn sure.

Home Alone 2: James reviewed the NES version, but I played the SNES version which was basically the same thing, just in 16 bit. I never got past the elevators. Upon seeing the Nerd's review, I didn't realize I had to wait several minutes before one opens up. I still never got why the hotel guests try to attack Kevin. And, I will never forget the "stripping chef".

Super Mario Bros. 3. Of course. :) It's a classic. And, i might add, far superior to the first two.

Batman Forever (SNES). As I noted earlier, I got stuck in the spot where you're in an enclosed space, and didn't know what to do after that. It wasn't until I saw the Nerd's review that I found out you're supposed to jump down through the bottom.

Metal Gear (NES). I think I played this as a kid. I'm not entirely sure. The main cover design, and gameplay design do look vaguely familiar to me, as well as the odd typos in the dialogue, so maybe I did play it. The MSX versions are far more superior though.

Mario is Missing. Played the NES version. Apart from it being an educational game, I don't think it's that horrible. The one thing I remember being frustrating was trying to figure out how to get Yoshi back.

Bugs Bunny's Crazy Castle (NES). I actually quite like this game and it's one of my my favorite NES games ever. I never played the sequels (nor did I know sequels even existed before seeing the AVGN review), but the first one is a nice, addicting puzzle game. If you go into the game thinking it's going to be some adventurous side-scroller, you might be disappointed, but once you know what the game's setup is, the game is pretty fun. The fact that Bugs can't jump is probably the only real flaw with the game. Although, if Bugs could jump, then the game would be ridiculously easy.

Super Pitfall (NES). I sort of remember this game. I think it's just one of those games you saw at a friend's house, played it for 5 minutes, got bored, and then went on to something else.

Jurassic Park (Sega). This game's a classic IMO. Thankfully James wasn't too negative regarding it, and did raise some good points about it. I don't really get his comment though that it "takes too long to change your weapons". I honestly don't remember that. As a kid, I remember deliberately letting Dr. Grant get killed by the triceratops sometimes, just because it looked funny seeing him get flung through the air.

Ghosts N Goblins. I've played the arcade version, and thought it wasn't bad. The whole "two hits and you're dead" thing is kind of frustrating, as it requires you to pay close attention to every enemies' patterns (which is almost impossible when there's a bunch of them on the screen). Other than that, I thought it was fine.

Tiger Electronic Games: I've said before that I don't really care much for this episode, as it's heavily run on a Bias Steamroller. I never thought electronic games were that bad per se. I remember the Lion King electronic game being a lot of fun actually, and kinda addicting (albeit way too short). I had a Spider-Man electronic game too that was fun as well. It was one where you had to defeat all the stages, and then get rid of a bomb before a timer went out. It was kinda suspenseful actually.

Karate Champ (NES). Again, I think I played this once as a kid. It's one of those games where certain things about it seem familiar, but you're trying to conjure specific memories of playing it. My guess is I did play it once, thought it sucked, and then just forgot all about it.

Rocky & Bullwinkle (NES). Never got past the part with the waterfall. I actually never knew you had to play as Bullwinkle in order to advance past that part. I always chose Rocky to play (if only because he was such a game breaker).

Mega Man games. Mega Man was honestly a game franchise I never got that into. I know I played a couple of the NES games, but I don't remember which ones.

Paper Boy: Played the arcade version. Not a great game, but it's playable.

Mostly through hand-me-downs, I own:

The Legend of Zelda [NES]

"'The Addams Family: Fester's Quest''

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles [NES]

Paperboy [NES]

Ghostbusters II [NES]

Due to whatever reasons, I never got TMNT to work, even as a kid, but I found Ghostbusters II and Fester's Quest to be fun, but tediously repetitive.

edited 27th Apr '18 3:26:35 PM by Shippudentimes

Things get straight up dirty as the Nerd tackles Dirty Harry for the NES. Because where there’s an R rated movie, an NES game usually followed.

Can't watch the episode yet, does he bring up the "Ha ha ha" trap?

"The game randomly has a "trap room" that shows up when you enter a room; in place of a door, it has "HA HA HA" written on a blank wall. The only way out is to reset the game. The developers admitted that it was a joke they were playing on the players."

Meeean.

One of the running themes of this show since its inception is that old games generally hated the fuck out of their players. And some of them went above and beyond in terms of developer sadism. This is one of the few cases where the developers at least admitted this.

edited 25th Jun '18 12:09:37 AM by M84

Yeah, that game looks terrible to play.

Why is he always making scat jokes, by the way? You'd think it would have gotten old long ago.

edited 25th Jun '18 4:35:51 AM by Redmess

Grandfather Clause.

Fun but somewhat unremarkable AVGN.

As for games reviewed by AVGN, I own:

-Back to the Future for NES. It was a gift from a relative.

-TMNT for NES. Same as above. I'm more forgiving to both games, probably for nostalgic reasons. Incidentally, "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" Danger of the Ooze by Wayforward is pretty much the good version of this game. It's a 1 player Metroidvania where you swap Turtles on the fly and if a turtle dies you have to find and rescue them. Whereas the NES one was unfairly difficult and has tenuous ties to the source material, this is...not and is the kind of loving tribute to the source material (specifically the Nicktoons show) you'd expect from Wayforward.

-SMB 3. A childhood fav. I was playing the GBA version on Wii U Virtual Console recently and it's still delightful (that versions worth it just because it has all of the e-reader levels unlocked)

-Castlevania: Symphony of the Night: PS 1 Classic on PS 3. I really liked that game. I definitely prefer Metroidvania to the older style, and I can't not love the infamous voice acting and dialogue.

-Ghostbusters for Commodore 64. The Nerd only briefly mentioned this one, but I assure you, it's much better than the NES version (no gas meter). It's somewhere between the NES and Sega Master System version. Also someone made a really awesome fan remake of this Ghostbusters game.

-Batman for C64. Confusing, but kinda fun.

-Tiger Electronic games: I also found the Nerd a bit harsh towards these games. I had a fair number of them as a kid and I thought they were fun, even if very simple. The Power Rangers one was especially fun.

-Karate Champ. Had this one as a kid, for both NES and C64. Not very good. Simple yet obtuse, a deadly combination.

-Ghosts and Goblins for C64. Never a big fan of it. Too difficult to be fun IMO. The music on the C64 version kicked ass though.

-Super Star Wars. I have the PS 4 re release. I liked this game and its two sequels. They're a bit on the hard side, but they're fun. Empire was my favorite of the games.

As for ones I've played but don't own, a LOT. I'm too tired to go over them all but I rented a lot of NES games a kid and had friends with Nintendo so I played a bunch of games he'd tackled. TMNT 2 and 3 were awesome. 3 was always my favorite.

That's all I can remember at the moment.

edited 25th Jun '18 7:27:46 AM by MainManJ

I agree, this game was nothing special. Just crappy controls, crappy design, and mean spirited design.

Dirty Harry on NES, much like Kid Kool was a game James should have reviewed years ago (like 2006 or 08). In the years since other I Ps, such as Noah Antwiler, have done funnier reviews so James doesn't seem like he's covered new ground (although the Elvis joke made me laugh).

I'd like to see AVGN review Maniac Mansion. If nothing else, I think he'd get a great reaction out of the gag with the hamster.

What are your favorite Nerd rage moments?