The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) was a popular computer game console and some of it’s games became famous, while others started well-known computer game series. I, however, have never played any of the games released on the original NES, but I have played the games available on the NES Classic Mini, which was a device that allowed players to play 30 games that were developed for the actual NES. As someone who was unfamiliar with the original games available on the NES, I thought it would be interesting to find out how I felt playing the first few minutes of these famous games.

To clarify, the reviews of the games listed in this blog post were not based on the entirety of the game. The opinions discussed were based on playing the beginning of the games. I did not play each of the games for the same amount of time, some of the reviews were based on the first hour of playing the game, but some reviews were based on my impressions of playing the first few minutes of the game.

Balloon Fight

This was an arcade-like game where the player progressed through a series of levels and obtained points to achieve a high score. The player completed levels and collected points by defeating enemies. Enemies were defeated by the player flying into the balloons that allowed them to float in the air, which caused them to fall into water or onto ground, where the player had to hit them again to stop them flying. The player had to avoid hitting the body of the enemies, with the player losing a balloon each time contact was made.

The game felt difficult to control, as the player tapped one button to rise up and stop pressing the button to fall, which made the player feel as if they were floating across the sky. It also felt unusual that the player could fly into one side of the screen and reappear at the other side and that touching the ground was harmless, but falling into water was fatal. The game also used an attractive contrasting colour scheme, which consisted of bright colours against a black background filled with stars. The game, however, did not use music, instead a series of high-pitched noises were played during the game.

There was also an alternative mode of the game, called Balloon Run. This mode involved the player flying across the screen and avoiding obstacles.

Bubble Bobble

This was an arcade-like game where the player progressed through a series of levels and obtained points to achieve a high score. The player completed levels and gathered points by defeating enemies and collecting items. Enemies were defeated by the player launching bubbles at them, which either defeated them immediately or caused them to be encased in a floating bubble, which the player had to burst. Continue reading →