Video Game Review: Double Dare (NES)

Welcome to another video game review courtesy of Old School Lane. We're going to conclude our discussion of Double Dare with the video game adaptation on the NES.



Ever since the NES came out, the video game industry that had died out in 1983 had risen again from the ashes and captured a new generation of kids. The NES is known for releasing now classic games such as Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Castlevania, Contra, Final Fantasy, and so much more. So someone at GameTek thought that if you put these two things together, you'll get an instant hit. I mean, after all, this sounded like a great idea. As Kevin mentioned in his Double Dare review, everyone who saw the show always wanted to do the physical challenges or the obstacle course. If you try to do at home, then...



Yeah, you would have an angry mother. So does this video game adaptation of Double Dare make us feel like we're playing the game show at home or does it fall flat? Let's jump right into Double Dare on the NES.



The first thing I noticed was this start up screen. Marc Summers looks like Elvis and the kid contestants are wearing hats. I don't remember hats in the show, do you? Also, why is the kid grabbing a flag? There's no obstacle course going on. Also the set doesn't look right. Sure it has the iconic checkered look, but everything else is unrecognizable. Admittedly, the theme song sounds pretty good 8 bit, so no complaints.

Then we get to the first game. Just like the show, it always start with a challenge. Mine started with throwing a banana at a gorilla's hand. The first team to do it is the winner. The first thing I noticed right away were the controls. There's a bar on the left side of the screen indicating on how hard you throw and at what direction you throw it at. 9 times out of 10, I miss. The mini challenge continued on until I get lucky enough to have the gorilla catch it or if the other team did it first. Usually, it was the latter. The challenges ranging from throwing eggs into a clown's mouth, throwing kangaroos on large clown pants, mini golf, or bowling were pretty much the same. The controls are awful.

The rest of the game consists on Marc asking questions. The questions range from really easy:



to really hard (for kids, anyway):




to questions that would have been common to ask in the 80's:



For today's standards, those pop culture questions are extremely dated. Unless you know about that movie, singer, or show, you will never answer it without cheating. But I tend to stick to answering questions because as I said, playing physical challenges are really difficult because of the controls. But you're going to get bored rather quickly answering these questions. This is no You Don't Know Jack in which asking questions can be fun.

This is really straight forward. Truly, the most boring part of the game and the show.



If you do happen to win the game, then you get to do everyone's favorite part of the show: the obstacle course. But unfortunately, just like the physical challenges, the controls are awful. At first when the clock started, I tried to move, but I couldn't. It wasn't until I realized that you have to hit right and left on the controller just to move. Really? Right and left? Also, the obstacle course looks really bland and boring.



Where's the color? Where's the iconic obstacles that we know and love? As of now, I have yet to beat the obstacle course. I had played this game 5 times trying to win the obstacle course level until finally I gave up. Here's a video of someone who had way more time than me beating the obstacle course.

Overall, I do not recommend playing this game. It's boring and frustrating at the same time. Stick to watching Double Dare on the Internet or doing your own Double Dare game show at the park or home or somewhere. Anything is better than playing this awful game.

That's all for now. Hope to see you around Old School Lane soon. Take care.

-Patricia

Old School Lane celebrates the 25th anniversary of Contra

On September 26, 2011, Konami 's adventure game Castlevania celebrated its 25th anniversary. The stories involving Simon Belmont taking down the vampire Dracula has captivated many hours of dedication of my childhood and teen hood going through many hours trying to go through the frustrating levels and bosses. However, everytime I passed a stage, I had a moment of satisfaction and kept playing. On that day, I played a couple of levels of the Castlevania, as well as Super Castlevania IV on the SNES, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night on the PS1, and the recent Castlevania: Lords of Shadow on the PS3. I'm sure that everyone did the same thing when they celebrated its anniversary. Oh wait, another important video game was celebrating its 25th anniversary last year that everyone paid attention more than Castlevania, didn't they? What game was it again?



Oh yeah, Zelda. Don't get me wrong, I love Zelda, but it overshadowed a bunch of other games that were celebrating their anniversary that deserved as much attention. But not today, Old School Lane is going to celebrate a game that is still loved by retro gamers, massicists, and shoot-em-up fans.



On February 20, 1987, Konami released Contra on the arcades in Japan. The basic story of the futuristic year of 2633 in which two commandos named Bill "Mad Dog" Rizer and Lance "Scorpion" Bean are sent on a mission to neutralize a terrorist group called the Red Falcon Organization that is planning to take over the Earth. With over 4 different gun power-ups to pick up along the way, over 10 levels of run and gun shooting action, and co-op play, this arcade game was very popular. So Konami decided to release the game in other video game consoles and home PC computers, but the one that people know about the most is the NES port of Contra that was released on February 2, 1988 in America. Japan would receive it a week later and Europe wouldn't get it until almost 2 years later.



The story is pretty much the same as compared to the arcade, with only a few slight differences. Instead of the game taking place near an archipelago in New Zealand, it takes place in an unknown island near South America. Also, instead of the Red Falcon being a terrorist group, they were the name of an alien entity. The aliens were reminising of the ones designed by H.R. Giger for the Alien movies. In this picture, you can see that they kind of look like the Facehuggers from Alien.



But what everyone remembers about Contra the most is the Konami code. For those who don't know it, you're either not a retro gamer, a Konami fan, or a hardcore gamer. Here's the code right here:



Most people think that the code originated in Contra, but it actually came from Gradius, a scrolling shooter game that was also made by Konami. The code gives you 30 lives instead of 3 lives and trust me, you're going to need it when playing this game. It's one of the most difficult games that ever came out on the NES, but not as hard as Ninja Gaiden or Battletoads. At least I beat Contra, which was not easy, even with the code. Remember this boss? Yeah, frustrating as hell, wasn't it?



Another thing that makes this game memorable are the weapons. All 4 gun power-ups from the arcade were brought to the home ports. You have the machine gun, the laser gun, the fire gun, and of course, the spread gun.



The spread gun is the stuff of legends. It's the most powerful gun in the game as it spreads the bullets everywhere and makes killing enemies easier and faster. It has been called one of the best power-ups in video game history and has been in every Contra game ever since. The spread gun is so popular to gamers that the logo has been put on t-shirts, tattoos, and other merchandise.



But what has made this game so great is its co-op play. During the time when NES games were limited to one player or the second player had to play after the first player dies. Playing this game makes it more easier and fun with a friend, unless that person sucks.



Critics and gamers loved Contra, calling it one of the best multiplayer games on the NES and the #7 greatest game on the NES by Nintendo Power. Still to this day, Contra has been loved and remembered as one of the greatest games to ever came out on the NES. The Contra series has had many sequels and spinoffs over the years, some better than others. My favorites in the series are Contra, Super C, Contra III, Contra: Shattered Soldier, and Contra 4. What are your favorite games in the series? Post it in the comments below and talk about your favorite memories of playing Contra.

 

Until then, celebrate Presidents Day with two shirtless commandoes taking down terrorists or aliens with awesome, overpowered guns. Happy 25th anniversary, Contra. May you have many more difficult, yet fun games in the future
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Thanks for hanging out with us at Old School Lane. Catch you guys later.

-Patricia