With the recent playing of Robocop it seemed like a good idea to get into the next 2 while it was still somewhat fresh in my mind. That logic didnt mean much once I booted them up. Allthough each game is an side scrolling action game, they are each wildly different from one another.
Robocop 2, I felt, was the worst of the bunch by far. This game puts a much larger focus on platorming than the other 2. Between the sloppy controls and cruel level design it was a very messy playthrough. Beyond the traps, pitfalls and enemies in each level you are also tasked with finding a minimum number of criminals to arrest (specific different enemy types in each stage) and picking up a minimum number of nukes. Thats right nukes. Luckily your supplied with an endless supply of continues to keep you going. There is one quick boss fight right in the middle of the game that was actually harder than the 3 part final boss. Glad to have this one done.
Robocop 3 was the most interesting of the trilogy. It had a very interesting couple mechanics that didnt quite get as fleshed out as they could have. While playing along (with the best controls of the 3, which are still a bit robotic
) each hit Robocop takes actually does damage to the different areas of his body. These are split into: Head, Body, Arm, Legs. Each part represents your fundamental abilities such as: Legs - Walking, Body - Jumping, Head - Direction of Movement, Arms - Guns. The lower the power each part has the higher the chance of failure is. Arms hurting, guns will get jammed. Head taken a few to many hits,
you might start walking in the opposite direction. The cool thing is that the damage you've sustained follows you across each level. You dont get to start with a blank slate just because you finished a stage. However good/bad you did will be how you start your next battle.
Hidden or scattered across the stages are repair modules that allow you to slightly repair your body parts in between stages. There are quite a few in the first stage and then are very sparse afterwards. In additon to the repair modules are items that give you more life also. Your extra life (or lack of) also carries over from stage to stage. Since each stage gives you less and less in terms of life/repairs and gets a bit harder, its in your best interest to do VERY well in the first couple stages to stock up some goodies in your arsenal. The game only have 5 stages with the last one seeming to be more of a bonus stage than boss/level, so as cool as these mechanics might sound you dont get to explore them too much. Really cool idea though and definitely the most fun of the Robocops in my book.
Next up was the quick little action/platform/puzzler, Hudson Hawk. There are three stages each involving you sneaking or fighting your way around several floors of a building in order to steal an Da Vinci related artifact. None of the areas are particularily hard and they are all fairly short too. It really felt like a lot of the game was missing. What was there was fun to play, but there should have been several more levels to it me thinks.
Also gave a quick try to Dirty Harry, Mad Max and Last Starfighter. With a little more goofing around I should be able to take down Dirty Harry. Mad Max and Last Starfighter are going to take some mapping out though it seems. After the Section Z map-fest I had a little while ago I'm not to keen on the idea right now, so both of those games will get tossed on the back burner.
NES Games Finished In 2012(
click on a title to view the video)
Silver SurferNinja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of DoomDouble Dragon II: The RevengeDouble Dragon III: The Sacred StonesGhosts n GoblinsTetrisPro WrestlingGradiusZanacAdventure IslandKarnovTrojanExcitebikeBaseballSpy HunterAdventure Island IITennisBattletoadsShadowgateBattletoads/Double DragonPinball QuestSection ZGodzillaHydlideMarble MadnessBack to the FutureDarkmanTerminator 2RobocopTotal RecallPredatorRobocop 2Robocop 3Hudson Hawk
Future Plans - Maybe hit some war-movie games next. Rambo, Platoon and the like.
