Double Dragon (Arcade)

It's Super Adventures' 14th anniversary today, which means I really should've made a new logo for you. I've been too busy though, too busy to do it properly at least. But I've come up with a new logo every previous year since the site began, including the year that I quit and didn't write anything, so enjoy that one up there while it lasts because I don't expect it'll last much longer.

Also, enjoy this article I wrote about an old arcade game where you walk down the street and punch people.

Developer:

Technōs Japan

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Release Date:

1987

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Systems:

Arcade, NES, Master System + everything else

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This week on Super Adventures, I'm checking out another classic game for the very first time. Well, alright, I've probably played a bit of one of the ports, and I got Battletoads & Double Dragon - The Ultimate Team with my second-hand NES. But I assure you, when it comes to classic coin-op brawler Double Dragon, I am getting all my facts from Wikipedia and not my brain.

The game was released for arcades in 1987 and started appearing on home systems a year later (or three years if you were a NES owner in Europe). At first the Wikipedia infobox had me thinking that it was only ported to the NES and Master System and I wouldn't have 10,000 other versions to investigate, but nope the site was hiding the rest of the list in an attempt to protect me from the truth.

It even got released on TV, with a 1993 cartoon that influenced a 1994 movie that was adapted into a 1995 video game. Oh, and the cartoon got a game too. And then developer Technōs went bankrupt in 1996, so I'm assuming they weren't huge hits.

Though to call the original game a huge hit would be an understatement. It was the highest grossing arcade machine in the US for three years running, until Final Fight and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles took its spot by basically doing the same thing. And when the console and computer ports came out they went and topped charts as well. People really loved Double Dragon.

Alright, I admit this isn't really my genre but I'm giving it an hour to win me over. It's an arcade game, so you could probably make it to the end in that time, but it's from the '80s, so I probably won't.

Alien Syndrome (Arcade)

Developer:

Sega

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Release Date:

1987

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Systems:

Arcade first, then almost everything else

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This week on Super Adventures, I'm playing Alien Syndrome! Because I've already played Alien Breed and Alien Storm this year, so I figured I might as well.

I did play this a little bit earlier this year when I was getting a screenshot for my Alien Breed article, but until then all I knew about the game is that it was a side scrolling beat 'em up where you zap aliens... or maybe an overhead view run and gun set on a space ship. The problem I had is that I always got it mixed up with Alien Storm, because they're both arcade games by Sega with gross-looking aliens in them.

The game runs on the Sega System 16B arcade board, which is kind of like the Genesis/Mega Drive's dad. That makes it a bit weird that it never actually got a Mega Drive port, especially as other games made for the board like Altered Beast and Golden Axe did. It didn't make it to the TurboGrafx-16 or SNES either and I'm not sure what happened there, as it was ported to basically everything else at the time. Seriously, this Sega game got a NES port.

But whatever system it's on, it's still an arcade game... which means it'll be really simple and extremely difficult. I'll probably play it for 10 minutes, get hopelessly stuck, and then struggle to think of anything to say about it. I should get some good screenshots out of it though.

Zillion (Master System) - Guest Post

Today on Super Adventures I've got good news! Mecha-neko's come back after a seven month absence to write another guest post, so I get to take the week off.

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Hey stranger-folk. I'm mecha-neko and today I'm playing a Master System game I found called Zillion. Or perhaps it's Z⚡LL⚡ON!

Developer:

Sega

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Release Date:

1987

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Systems:

Sega Master System

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Hmm, what to make of this? From the look of the pulsating ray-gun on the title screen, it's probably a light-gun game. But don't be fooled: the cat from Interpose (my very first Obscure-As-All-Hell Animated Cat Game August post!) twiddles ray-guns all over the place on his title screen, and that one turned out to be a side scrolling shooter. Yeah, that sounds right. "Zillion." It's like it fell right off the bottom of the periodic table or something. Gotta be a shooter.

In fact, the 27th of May is the thirtieth anniversary of Zillion! It was released in Japan on 27th May 1987. Happy birthday, Zillion! This post's going up a couple days late, 'cause cats work to their own calendar. (And I'm not making a new banner!)
But even so, why would I ever post another side-scrolling shoot-'em-up? You're just going to have to read on and find out!

Ultima I: The First Age of Darkness (MS-DOS) - Guest Post

Good news everyone, guest poster Faust has appeared to recite to us the legend of his journeys through the land of Bobbits, Gelatinous Cubes and EGA graphics in Ultima I, the semi-sequel to Akalabeth!

HAIL SAG READERS! It’s the period of the year where I get an arbitrary two week break from work thanks to an event of religious significance, ergo I’ve elected to enter the fray here at SAG and play a game that’s been eating up space on my GoG.com shelf for a while: the original Ultima!

As I load the game up, the text informs me that this is a masterpiece by ‘Lord British’, and I’m treated to a picture of a castle:

The home of Lord British I presume? I vaguely remember this guy as he’s the alterego of the brain behind the series. I also think he went into space at some point, but I might be making that up. Either way: THE CASTLE BECKONS!

The Great Giana Sisters (C64)

The title screen calls this The Great Gianna Sisters, though the box is adamant that it's The Great Giana Sisters with just the one 'n'. Either way this definitely isn't called Super Mario Bros., but Nintendo were of the opinion that it sure played a lot like it and scared the publisher into taking it off the market. Plus it does have kind of a similar name as well now that I think about it...

But were Nintendo being assholes again or were they in the right this time? I'm going to load it up and find out.

Colony (ZX Spectrum)

Don't blame me for this one, it wasn't my idea. Looking at the title screen I suppose this is going to be about a brave ant trying to get food for his colony, while being hounded by a tiny robot wizard bug who likes harassing people with second-hand lightning from his deadly electric cigarettes.

This came out on the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, MSX, and Atari 8-bit computers, but I'm only playing it on the Speccy. My curiosity does have limits.

Judge Dredd (C64)

Adventures in Judge Dredd Games - Part 1

Yeah sorry I've gone crazy again and decided to waste the best part of a week on games no one cares about. No RPGs, no requested games, not even a Zelda game for the entire week. Just a guy with a big helmet and a metal bird on his shoulder shooting people.

There's been a few games made about 2000AD's Dirty Harry inspired fascist super-cop, but this is the very first of them, released on the Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum in the mid 80s.

I hear Dredd's comic book stories are actually pretty decent, but all I know about the character comes from vague recollections of the 1995 Stallone movie. So I'm pretty much expecting Dredd's going to take his helmet off about ten minutes in, then the rest of the game will be about his run from the law, punctuated by slurred one liners and a digital Rob Schneider giving his best imitation of comedy.

Metal Gear (NES)

Because YOU demanded it (and I was probably going to get around to it at some point anyway), today I'm taking a look at the very first Metal Gear.

The game originally came out for the MSX2 computer, and I was surprised to find out that it actually did get an English language release in Europe, though apparently it doesn't have a great translation. A few years later the C64, PC and NES got their own ports of the game, and I've heard that they weren't translated from the MSX particularly well either. I'll be playing the Nintendo version so I suppose I'll find out.

007 Games Part 2: The Living Daylights, Live and Let Die

Super AiG's Guide to Every (old) James Bond Game Ever, Volume 2

Sadly not a real thing that actually exists.

James Bond week continues! In part one I took a brief look at the first four years of Bond games, from James Bond 007 on the Atari 2600 to Goldfinger on PC. I can't say any of them really impressed me, but hopefully that just means I've gotten past the worst of them now.

Mega Man (NES)

No one's dying to see any screenshots of this game, but I had to get around to playing a Mega Man game sooner or later, and I decided to make it sooner.

Getsu Fūma Den (NES)

Wikipedia assures me that text says 'Getsu Fūma Den', meaning 'Legend of Getsu Fūma', and I'm willing to believe them.

Short Circuit (ZX Spectrum) - Guest Post

I know this one from when I owned it on cassette as a kid, and that's why I'm glad poor mecha-neko played it instead of me.

Because we all need a bit more input.

Cobra 2 (Atari ST)

The music sounds like it's from an 80s anime or something. In a bad way.

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (NES)

Finally, a Zelda game where I get to play as Link for a change.

Castlevania II: Simon's Quest (NES)

Another Castlevania game that has a film effect on the title screen. I suppose the developers would have gotten a lot of their inspiration from classic horror movies.

Life Force (NES)

A.k.a. Salamander. It's a conversion of the Gradius spin-off/sequel released in arcades a year earlier, so I'll be very surprised if I don't find myself flying to the right and shooting aliens.

Super Pitfall (NES)

Okay, the hero is holding his revolver backwards on the title screen, not a great sign.

Star Wars (ZX Spectrum)

That's not a bad title screen at all for a ZX Spectrum game I think. Though the Death Star in the background looks more like a giant sinister R2D2 to me.

Flying Dragon: The Secret Scroll (NES)

I'm almost certain this has nothing to do with actual dragons.

Aliens: The Computer Game (ZX Spectrum)

Chilling out for a bit with the Colonial Marines aboard the U.S.S. Sulaco.