This week our Old Game That Doesn’t Suck is Power Blade, a game about… bionic boomerangs.
This is NES platforming at its finest. Take a man made of half-steel/half-flesh and put him in a futuristic society with some boomerangs. Then stick him in some rooms with really awesome and diverse enemies… you can’t lose!
Sure, you run-and-gun, but a really nice part of this game is the upgrade system. Every time you gather a powerup you can throw your boomerang further, gain more powerful boomerangs, or even get multiple boomerangs at once. The ultimate suit powerup grants the player one-hit kill bullets and a heavily armoured suit. The game is really good about rewarding the player and making the powerups actually useful.
The platforming and exploration fits the game’s great mechanics. The enemies fit into each of the seven areas beautifully, each area having new enemy types and mixing it up with previous fights. Think alternate-reality Megaman with a fresh style and better graphics (dare I say that?).
The music in this game is really good. Each theme is upbeat and well orchestrated for chip music.
The one downside to this game is that its really hard to find. I paid about $25 recently to rebuy this title, so I hope it appears on wiiware so that a larger audience can play it. If you find it in some garage sale, snag it. It’s a rare game worth playing!
April 24th, 2009 at 2:40 pm
You paid… $25?
I can understand it’s not 100% legal, but couldn’t you just download the game’s ROM and execute it in a NES emulator for your computer? It’s not like you are making Nintendo lose money – the game was released 18 years ago, Nintendo stopped making profit of it a while ago
. And since you had already bought the game and now you wanted to rebuy it… well, I personally wouldn’t pay $25 for a game I loved and I used to own. Just saying.
April 24th, 2009 at 5:08 pm
Several reasons.
For one, having a physical copy feels so much nicer to have and hold than having some nes file on my computer.
Another, the sound emulation is never quite on par with the real thing. I like the sounds generated on the NES output much better.
I like playing on an NES controller. Keyboards suck, and I’m not going to buy one of those crazy gutted NES USB controllers anytime soon.
And finally, buying it ensures that I pass through the most legal means possible. Sure, it’s resale, but at least its transferring ownership from one person to another.
April 25th, 2009 at 8:16 am
You love NES, and I understand you.
May 8th, 2009 at 11:15 am
I take it that video wasn’t taken from the NES. The color looks way too good.