The Night I Took Castlevania Down

It was a darker than black fall night with a chill in the air that you could  feel deep in your bones. I sat in my dimly lit game room battling the minions of an ancient evil in Castlevania for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Each and every ghoul I took down sharpened my whipping skills into a divine like perfection that I would eventually need to win the night. I marched stage by stage until I finally made it to the dark one himself, Dracula. It was a hard fought battle that required all my cunning and strength, but in the end I was able to come out on top. Dracula was defeated just as a new day dawned, and I could now say that I have beaten Castlevania.

I set a goal to beat Castlevania earlier this month in honor of the Halloween season. It feels great knowing that I was able to complete the challenge. Like I said before in a previous post, Castlevania was one of the games I had missed out on growing up. I never played a game in the franchise until a couple of weeks back when I started my run at the original. I'm looking forward to seeing what the other games bring to the table because I had a blast playing this one. I've heard the second game is bad because of the changes to some of the play mechanics, but I have always liked to keep an open mind about things until I have experienced them for myself. 

Weekend Retro Game Challenge : TMNT 2 The Arcade Game NES

It was a hard fought battle, but my boy and I were able to take down the Foot. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 The Arcade Game is the NES port of the hit Konami arcade game. I have fond memories of playing this game when I was younger and it was fun to revisit with my son. 

In order to get through this one I had to pull out the Game Genie for an infinite lives code. Which helps when playing the game with a four year old. It's can be a tough game at certain moments even for me. 

Again like all beat'em ups it can get a little repetitive fighting the same baddies over and over, but I didn't feel it as much for this game. From a variety of different foot soldiers and menacing robots there was no shortage of butts to kick. 

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 The Arcade Game for the NES is one of my favorite games on the console and it is great for a quick play or for a marathon session. Everyone should give it a try if they get the chance.

Weekend Retro Game Challenge : Batman Returns SNES

Batman Returns for the Super Nintendo is the video game adaptation of the 1992 movie. That is if the movie was a Konami beat'em up. The game touches on all of the key points of the movie through scenes in between the game play. It's like watching an abridged version of the movie with more clown punching.

On my first attempt at beating the game I was unsuccessful. Getting a little more than halfway through before getting spanked by Catwoman. So instead of tucking my tail and quitting I pulled out my secret weapon, the Game Genie, and leveled the playing field. Cheating maybe, but I wanted to finish this one. I mean it's not like I put an invincibility code in, just a couple of enhancements to aid in the struggle. The Game Genie was just the extra bit of strength I needed to finish the game. All in all it only took about an hour to complete. 

Game play wise Batman Returns is like most beat'em up and can get a little repetitious at times. Walk around punch the bad guys and fight a couple of bosses. Batman Returns was a fast fun play through and Iwould recommend it to anyone who is a fan of a good old fashioned beat'em up. 

Weekend Retro Game Challenge : Sonic The Hedgehog COMPLETED!

What can I say about Sonic The Hedgehog? Well, I beat it. It's kind of nice to say after all of these years. While Sonic The Hedgehog isn't the hardest game, it can surprise you if you rush through it to fast. I mean Sonic is all about speed right? For me I would say yes and no. Most of the time I found myself going through Zones at more of a jog than a sprint. Boss fights are pretty easy and didn't cause me any headaches. Sonic The Hedgehog is a classic from the 16-BIT era and  now it's a win for my Weekend Retro Game Challenge.