Adventures of Bayou Billy


The Adventures of Bayou Billy, originally named Mad City (Maddo Shiti?), is a 1989 action game released for the Nintendo Entertainment System by Konami. The game is primarily a side-scrolling beat-em-up, but includes driving and shooting segments.

It consists of three distinct playing styles used over nine levels: shooting (optionally allowing the use of a Zapper in place of a D-pad controlled crosshair) for Levels 2 and 7, a third-person driving section for Levels 4 and 5, and a side-scrolling beat 'em up for the regular levels.

Bayou Billy is one of the few NES games to feature DPCM-coded voice samples. A male voice declares the title of the game during the game's opening screen and says "bye" to the player at the end of the game. Also, the villain of the game Godfather Gordon ends all his taunts to Billy with a smug laugh, which sounded like he just won in a us online casino, between stages.

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Bad Dudes


Bad Dudes is a 1988 beat 'em up arcade game by Data East.

At first glance, this game was considered by many at the time of its release as Data East's answer to the 1987 beat-em-up hit Double Dragon by Technos; however, besides having a similar style and appearance, the game is displayed in a 2D platform manner like Irem's 1984 Kung-Fu Master arcade game and its spiritual 1988 successor, Vigilante, while Double Dragon is displayed in 2D with 3D grounds, streets, floors and other places to walk on. Also, Bad Dudes Vs. DragonNinja has some levels that are similar to the ones in Namco's 1986 Rolling Thunder and its sequels.

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Battletoads


Battletoads is a video game created by Rare Ltd. to rival the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles games. The first game was developed by Rare for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1991. The game became famous for its extravagant difficulty and humorous ways of defeating enemies, as the characters possess the ability to transform parts of their body into gigantic, exaggerated appendages for devastating attacks and comic effect.

STORY
Two anthropomorphic toads named after skin disorders (Rash and Zitz) have to save their friends Pimple and the Princess Angelica from the Dark Queen, ruler of Planet Ragnarok, with the assistance of Professor T. Bird and his space ship, The Vulture.

GAMEPLAY
Different levels of the game have very different play styles. There are a few 3D and traditional 2D "beat-em-up" levels in which the player progresses by defeating enemies, though even these levels tend to have many lethal obstacles. The most difficult levels are the obstacle course and race levels, where the character must dodge a series of obstacles while driving or flying at high speed, or outrun an enemy that can instantly kill the player. These levels typically required the player to memorize the sequence of obstacles in the way, and to have extremely rapid reflexes. Other levels include a climbing/jumping "snake maze", an underwater level with lethal spikes and dangerous monsters, and two difficult "tower climb" levels, including the final climb of the Dark Queen's tower.

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DOUBLE DRAGON


Double Dragon is a classic beat 'em up video game series initially developed by Technos Japan Corporation, who also developed the Kunio-kun series (Renegade, Super Dodge Ball and River City Ransom). The original game was designed by Yoshihisa Kishimoto, who originally conceived the game as a Kunio-kun sequel using the localized version (Renegade) as a basis. The game was heavily influenced by martial arts films, especially those of Bruce Lee's such as Enter the Dragon, with the post apocalyptic setting based on the manga series Fist of the North Star.

The series stars twin brothers, Billy and Jimmy Lee, who are followers of a fictional martial art called Sosetsuken , as they fight against various adversaries and rivals.

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DOUBLE DRAGON II


Double Dragon II: The Revenge is the second game in Technos Japan's Double Dragon series of side-scrolling beat-em-ups, produced for the arcades in 1988.

The NES version is notable for featuring cut-scenes (static images and on-screen text) that serve to narrate the progress of the game's plot. The revenge premise remains the same, although the plot was altered. Willy does not appear in the game at all. Instead, a rival martial artist referred to only as the "Mysterious Warrior", serves as the final boss after the doppelgängers are defeated available only in the game's hardest difficulty setting (Supreme Master). According to the Japanese version's instruction manual, he is the master of a martial art style known as "Gensatsuken" literally "Phantom Murder Fist"), a counterpart of Billy and Jimmy's "Sosetsuken" style. The ending is also completely different, in which Marian is restored to life after the Mysterious Warrior is defeated.

SOUNDTRACK
A soundtrack, simply titled Double Dragon II: The Revenge, was published in Japan by Meldac and released on March 10, 1990. The soundtrack features arranged versions of the music from the NES version (Originally composed by Kazunaka Yamane) composed by Kazuhiro Hara and Nobuhito Tanahashi. The soundtrack also features a vocal J-Pop rendition of the Double Dragon opening theme performed by Manami Morozumi titled "Dead or Alive". Its catalog number is MECG-28001.

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DOUBLE DRAGON III


Double Dragon 3: The Rosetta Stone is the third game in Technos Japan's (presently Million's) Double Dragon series of beat-em-ups. Originally released in 1990, the original arcade version was not developed in-house by Technos, but farmed out to an external developer, East Technology. Because of this and the fact that the game used a new engine, it has a completely different look and feel from the previous two installments.

The NES version of Double Dragon III: The Rosetta Stone (the title being spelled with a roman numeral, instead of the Arabic numeral used in the arcade version's logo), unlike the arcade version, was developed in-house by Technos Japan rather than East Technology. Both versions of the game were also developed at the same time and came out months apart. Much like the NES version of Double Dragon II: The Revenge, the English language versions of the game were published by Acclaim, which were retitled Double Dragon III: The Sacred Stones.

The game does not feature the shop system either, nor are all the playable characters available from the start. Instead, the game uses a system in which the player is joined by additional characters by defeating them as bosses. The player can change characters during gameplay and will automatically change to the next available character when their current one is defeated. The player starts the game off as Bimmy Lee (with Jimmy Lee, if joined by a second player) and can gain two additional playable characters by defeating them as stage bosses: Chin Seimei (the second stage boss, who was also playable in the arcade version) and Yagyu Ranzou (the third stage boss, who uses a ninja blade as a default weapon).

The plot went through considerable changes during the game's English localization: the final boss' identity was changed from a resurrected Cleopatra to "Queen Noiram", a possessed Marion (Billy's girlfriend, also spelled Marian) who's been kidnapped again and an explanation was given for Hiruko's death when none was offered in the Japanese version. The English version also shows all of the main characters (including Hiruko) in the ending after completing the game once, instead of only showing the characters the player completes the game with like in the Japanese version. The localization is notable for its typo of Billy's name as "Bimmy" at the opening intro of the 2-Player Mode.

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Final Fight (SNES)


Final Fight (Fainaru Faito?) is a fighting action game produced by Capcom originally released in 1989 as a coin-operated arcade game that functions like slot games in some ways. The arcade version was planned by game designer Akira Nishitani (Nin-Nin) and character designer Akira Yasuda (Akiman), who both later worked on Capcom's landmark head-to-head fighting game Street Fighter II. Many home versions of Final Fight have been produced since its initial release.

Final Fight is set in the fictional American city of Metro City "sometime in the 1990s" (1989 in the Japanese arcade version). The story centers around the kidnapping of the newly-elected Mayor's daughter, Jessica, by the dominant street gang in the city known as Mad Gear, which seeks to bring the Mayor under their control. The Mayor, a former pro wrestler named Mike Haggar, refuses to give in to the gang's demands and sets out to rescue his daughter with the help of her boyfriend, a martial artist named Cody, and his friend, a modern-day Bushin ninja named Guy

An initial port of Final Fight for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System was released as a launch title for the console in Japan (December 21, 1990) and later in North America (November 11, 1991) and then in Europe and Australia (December 10, 1992). The 2-player cooperative feature was removed, turning the game into a strictly single-player experience; the Industrial Area level, along with its boss Rolento, were removed; and Guy, one of the main characters, was omitted, leaving Cody and Haggar as the remaining playable characters. The story was changed accordingly to reflect this.

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Kung-FU


Kung-Fu Master is a 1984 arcade game developed by the Japanese company Irem Corporation. It was manufactured under license in the United States by Data East. It was released in Japan as Spartan X and credited "Paragon Films Ltd., Towa Promotion", who made the movie starring Jackie Chan called Spartan X (Wheels on Meals) upon which it was based. The game contains elements of Bruce Lee's Game of Death.

The player takes the role of Keiji Thomas, a man in a Keikogi and slippers. Thomas's girlfriend, Sylvia, has been kidnapped by "Mr. X", and Thomas must fight through five side-scrolling floors full of enemies to rescue her.

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Mighty Final Fight


Mighty Final Fight is a beat 'em up released by Capcom for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1993. It is based on the 1989 arcade game Final Fight, but is not exactly a port of the game. It stands out from the original Final Fight due to its super deformed character designs, in which the characters are depicted in a comical child-like manner compared to the realistic character designs of the original game. All three of the main characters from the original game are featured in this game along with childlike counterparts of the enemies.

STORY
Being a parody of the original Final Fight, the game's premise is exactly the same as the original Final Fight. Mike Haggar's daughter is kidnapped by the Mad Gear gang, leading her father, along with Cody and Guy on a rescue mission to save her. However, the story is depicted in a much more comical fashion than the original game. The gang kidnaps Jessica, not to manipulate Haggar, but rather because their leader Belger is infatuated with her and that he wants to marry her while taking over the city from within the process.

GAMEPLAY
Much like the SNES version of Final Fight, the game does not offer any cooperative game modes and is strictly a single player affair. However, unlike that version, Cody, Haggar and Guy are all playable. Each character has virtually all his techniques from the arcade version (esp. the life-depleting death blows). The extra feat is that once Experience Level 4 is reached, each character may perform a hidden technique performed by simultaneously pressing Forward + Attack. These new techniques have Cody's chi blast, Guy's dual kicks, and Haggar's body splash. Each character also has his signature weapon of preference, found within rolling drums. Such weapons are: Cody's knife, Guy's shuriken, and Haggar's mallet.

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POW - Prisoners Of War


P.O.W.: Prisoners of War is a beat 'em up game by SNK. The arcade version of the game is for two players. However in the version ported to the NES, it is just a one-player game.

The main character in single player is a captured P.O.W. commando codenamed Snake (Bart in the NES version) who must bomb his way out of a P.O.W. prison cell and escape. They must escape through four levels of gameplay where the mission is not only to escape, but to infiltrate the enemy base and destroy their leaders. There are brass-knuckles, body armor, knives, grenades, and machine guns that the players can use in order to aid them in their mission.

There are four levels of gameplay:
  • First Level: Escape from Prison Camp
  • Second Level: Attacking the Industrial Area
  • Third Level: Guerilla Attack in the Jungle
  • Fourth Level: Destruction of Communications Headquarters

FROM THE GAMES MANUAL

YOUR MISSION

Your code name is Bart. You are a captain of the Army Special Forces Unit "M". Your mission is to infiltrate GOON (Government of Offensive Network), a subversive organization whose aim is to break up the international economy and establish a worldwide smuggling ring. You will accomplish this by purposely being captured and imprisoned in their "escape-proof" armed camp. You'll have to fight your way out with your bare fists - but is you can break into the ammunition depot, you'll find grenades, knives, and M-16's to tip the odds in your favor. Your goal is to find and eliminate the leaders of GOON before they can carry out their diabolical scheme!

Code Name: Bart
Captain, Army Special Forces Unit "M".
Highly skilled in hand-to-hand combat
and familiar with all types of weapons.
HEIGHT: 6'
WEIGHT: 160 lbs.


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RENEGADE


Renegade is a video game released in American and European arcades in 1986 by Taito. It is a westernized conversion (including changes to all of the sprites and backgrounds) of the Japanese arcade game Nekketsu Koha Kunio-kun (which roughly translates to "Hot-Blooded Tough Guy Kunio"), released earlier the same year by Technos. It is an immediate technological predecessor to Double Dragon, and Nekketsu Koha Kunio-kun is the inaugural game in the Kunio-kun series (which includes Super Dodge Ball and River City Ransom).

Renegade first introduced several trademarks of the beat 'em up genre, including 4-directional control, punch-jump-kick play action, and enemies which can sustain multiple hits. It is considered to be one of the most influential titles of the video game industry.

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River City Ransom


River City Ransom, released as Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari ( Dauntaun Nekketsu Monogatari?, "Downtown Nekketsu Story" or "Downtown Hot-Blood Story") in Japan and as Street Gangs in the PAL region, is a video game for the Family Computer/Nintendo Entertainment System, originally released in 1989. It was one of the first console games published by North American subsidiary, American Technos.

It is the third game in Technos' Kunio-kun series released for the Famicom, preceded by Nekketsu Koha Kunio-kun (Renegade) and Nekketsu Koko Dodgeball Bu (Super Dodge Ball). Like its predecessors, Monogatari underwent great changes in its storyline and graphical presentation during its localization in order to make the game more palatable in the western market.

The plot follows high school students Alex and Ryan (Kunio and Riki in the Japanese version) as they cross River City in an attempt to rescue River City High and Ryan's girlfriend Cyndi from the clutches of a villain called "Slick". Along the way, they battle with gangs of students (with names such as "The Generic Dudes" or "The Frat Guys") and several bosses and sub-bosses. Enemies will warrant a yell and drop money signifying their defeat, including the well known phrase "BARF!"



Streets of Rage - Sega Genesis


Streets of Rage (known in Japan as Bare Knuckle), is a side-scrolling beat 'em up released by Sega in 1991 for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis. It is the first installment of the Streets of Rage series which was followed by Streets of Rage 2 and Streets of Rage 3.

GAMEPLAY
In Streets of Rage, the special attack is assistance from a police car which will pull up at the level's beginning and fire explosives, taking health from all enemies. The player is given one Special Attack per life or per level, with power-ups shaped like police cars giving another. Similar to the game Golden Axe, enemies walk onto the screen from both sides as well as occasionally appearing from other locations. With the exception of round 7, there is a boss battle at the end of every round with a disproportionately large enemy; unlike its sequels, none of the enemies are named within the game (only in the Japanese version's manual) and only the bosses have Life Gauges. The game consists of 8 levels and, depending on whether you are playing one-player or co-op and you accept or deny Mr. X's offer to become his henchman, there is a possibility for an alternate ending where you become the new head of the crime syndicate.

PLOT
Turmoil in the Streets
"What was once a happy, peaceful, productive city, full of life and activity, has fallen into the hands of a secret criminal syndicate. The leader of the syndicate has somehow managed to keep his identity a secret. The organization soon absorbed the city government (anyone can be had if the price is right). They even had the metropolitan police force in their back pocket. Looting, random violence and destruction are rampant. No one is safe walking the streets, day or night..."

As the chaos continued at full strength, three young police officers tried to establish a special attack unit. They were repeatedly turned down by their superiors, most of whom had been bought by the organization or were too afraid to make a stand. One day, when they could no longer stand by and watch their city being demolished, they quit the force!'"

"Adam Hunter, Axel Stone and Blaze Fielding decided to forgo their careers in legal law enforcement and put their lives on the line. They are without weapons, but each possesses great hand-to-hand combat abilities. Take them into the heart of the city and battle the most dangerous wave of bad dudes and chicks ever assembled. Make the city a place where people no longer have to walk the Streets of Rage!"

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles


Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles in most European territories) is a 1989 platform game for the Nintendo Entertainment System. The game was developed by Konami and originally released through Konami's Ultra Games imprint in North America and its equivalent, Palcom Software, in the PAL region.

The game is based on the 1987 TV series, which was in its second season during the game's original release, but with the style of the original comic series.

GAMEPLAY
The game begins with all four Ninja Turtles: Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Raphael, who can be rotated through at any time during gameplay. The turtles are practically identical except for their weapons, which differ in attack speed, range, and damage (e.g. Donatello's bo has the best damage and range, but the worst speed). The player travels through the first 5 levels using an overview map to enter various sewers, warehouses, and other areas which lead to the goal of each level.

RECEPTION
The original NES version sold extremely well during its release, selling roughly 4 million copies. It is one of the all-time best-selling NES games not made by Nintendo. However, It was widely criticised for being very difficult. Various computer conversions were rushed out in time for that year's Christmas season but did not fare nearly as well, commercially or critically.

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II


Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Arcade Game is an arcade game produced by Konami in 1989. It is a scrolling beat 'em up based on the popular comic and the Season 1 of the 1987 TV series of the same name. As with all merchandise relating to the Ninja Turtles, the name of this game was altered to Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles in Europe, due to censorship issues involving the word "ninja."

The player chooses from one of the four Ninja Turtles: Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, and Raphael. After Shredder kidnaps the turtles' friend April O'Neil and their mentor Splinter, they must give chase, save their comrades, and defeat the evil Shredder.

The majority of the enemies the Turtles must face are the Foot Soldiers. They wear a different colored uniform depending on what weapon they have.

PORTS
This game was ported to the NES and the Atari ST in 1990 under the title Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game because an earlier Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game had already been released on these platforms. There are also some altered graphics that include advertisements for Pizza Hut, in addition to the game's manual including a Pizza Hut coupon.

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Urban Champion


Urban Champion is a 2-player fighting game produced by Nintendo in 1985. It was inspired by the 1984 Game & Watch title, Boxing (also known as Punch-Out!!), which was Nintendo's first fighting game, as well as their first and only fighting LCD game. Urban Champion is Nintendo's first 2D fighting video game.

The purpose of the game is to knock the other player into a sewer manhole. There is a time limit, and the player has a set limit of stamina, both of which are represented by numbers. The player has two types of attacks: a light punch and a heavy punch. The light punch doesn't push your opponent as far as the heavy punch, but it is harder to block. The heavy punch sends your opponent reeling backwards, but can be blocked easily and takes a bit longer to pull off.