Mechanized Attack By SNK

As mentioned earlier I got a good deal on Mechanized Attack for Nintendo. I found the auction through http://www.videogamepriceguides.com/. It's not particularly rare but it has seemed to be frequently over priced.

Seeing the title screen is enough to fall in love with this game. I imagine it's the largest Uzi to be featured in a Nintendo game. The game came out in 1990 so the reference to an Uzi is not surprising. Operation Wolf which clearly inspired this game featured an Uzi. There is something genuinely empowering in holding one.

Mechanized Attack

I only need two more games to finish off the SNK collection for the NES. This evening I submitted a best offer on Mechanized Attack and the seller accepted it. Woohoo! All that's left is
Touchdown Fever and Little League baseball. I guess good things come to those who wait.

My phone, which I use for most of my blogging needs took a major dump tonight. In addition to hundreds of video game related photos that I lost I also lost hundreds of photos of my son. Unique photos that I've not had the opportunity to share.

It also deleted Qik which I use for the occasional streaming video and the Iris browser. Technically they were wiped of the micro sd card and not the phone. But I don't care, the photos are lost forever.

One more piece of gaming news concerns my http://www.videogamepriceguides.com/ site. It has gotten too time consuming to maintain it's blog (and this one and the three others I work on) so I've decided to fold them together. More details coming soon...

Ikari Warriors

Ikari Warriors is a badass game. A plane goes down in the jungle and suddenly you are in a war zone. You have a supply of ammo and grenades. You can steal a tank. The plot should have been left at that. But nooooo.. Victory Road (Ikari Warriors 2) has some convoluted space theme, where by you start out by killing robot spiders or some garbage. That monstrosity should have ended the franchise. But nooooo! Ikari Warriors 3 comes out which has an awesome opening cut scene with some artistic effects like seeing the reflection of the convoy in the main character's eyes. By the time the gameplay starts you wonder if the programmers should have focused less on the artistic acheivement and more on the gameplay. Everything starts out with kicks and jumps. Where are the weapons? On site Procurement? That's over played! This isn't Metal Gear!



Anyways enough of the rant. Lets focus on the orignal. Have you listened to that music? The NES version isn't as good as the arcade's but it gets the job done. And what exactly is the job? Killing. And plenty of it. Put a bullet into the enemy and they'll dance around like spastics before giving up the ghost. Steal a tank and squish those sons of bitches. War has never been so colorful with a sixteen color palette. SNK did a fantastic job. The arcade game was perfect. The rotary joysticks made the killing easy. The NES version is presented at a lower frame rate. Similar to Ghosts N Goblins. I believe a 3rd party made both of those titles. But it still gets the job done. And remind me again what the job is- oh that's right: killing!

Iron Tank

Iron Tank is underrated. Seriously. As a kid I don't know how I over looked this title.



My Grandfather served in World War II, in the Pacific Theatre of Operations. He knew plenty about the war, not just about Japan but Europe as well. Like most old people he shared his life stories and from that I learned plenty about the war. Probably more so than other children my age.



The stories inspired my interest in war. I played with army men and tanks and jeeps but on a higher level than other children. Videogames dealing with war always captured my interest. 1942, 1943, Land Sea Air Squad, Ikari Warriors, Commando, Guerrilla War, Sky Shark, the list goes on and on...



Then a few months ago I rediscovered Iron Tank. As a child I know I'd have thoroughly loved this game. A functional tank. Enemies abound. Lush landscape! Awesome music!



As a kid you could find all of my war toys in my mother's plants. The 3rd Infantry division would secure the Nativity scene under the Christmas tree while the armored divisions rained fire down onto Santa's Village. The train would help facilitate troop and weapon movement.



Iron Tank reminds me of this. It looks like a toy. Toy tanks toy soldiers and even plastic scenery. Rescue hostages. Communicate on the radio. Win the war!



Iron Tank is fun.

Athena

I purchased Athena on eBay today as well. I've never played the game really, and it looks kidish.

I have nothing further to comment on this game except to say that it's one of the ones I needed to finish off the SNK collection. I still need Mechanized Attack, Alpha Mission, Fighting Golf, Touchdown Fever, and Little League Baseball.

Mechanized Attack will be the last of the SNK military games for the NES to acquire. I'm deeply saddened by this event. Fighting Golf, Touch down Fever, and Little League Baseball are all "girl games". Just kidding. I have some interesting information about Mechanized Attack but will save it for when I purchase the game.



I'm joking, she's not a hussy.

Ikari Warriors

Ikari Warriors is a badass game. SNK had a habit of releasing badass games in the arcade and translating them to the NES. I should be receiving the Ikari trilogy either tomorrow or the day after. But I'm so hyped up about it I wanted to mention a few things about them.


Look at these mofos. They are ready to rip you a new one. Don't even dare look at them cock-eyed. 80's videogames were the best. These guys could have been Spike and Hammer:


That's right. NOT BILLY AND JIMMY! Their street names are Spike and Hammer. See the resemblence? Nevermind lets move on.



The Ikari Warriors are not limited to killing humans. They don't even need guns. That guy with the sword is gonna cut one of those aliens sack's off and feed it to them. They should have just changed them to apes and made this a Planet of the Apes game. Get your hands off me you damn dirty APE! Voice and Morse Code? What the...?



By now the Ikari Warriors are so famous that SNK doesn't need to hire a professional artist for the box art. The Ikari Warriors are so tough now that they don't need guns. They'll just toss you around. Why is the dude in blue standing on the girl's leg who's about to give the evil guy a ******? Nevermind. Come up with your own conclusions.

Seriously though, SNK made some really badass games. Despite the weird boxart, you can tell they really cared about their craft. In the coming weeks I'm going to demonstrate exactly what I mean. Gosh, I can't wait for tomorrow or the next day.

P.OW: Prisoner Of War

I received a bunch of games this week and I'll follow up later on this week's NES collecting progress, but I wanted to point out this awesome gem. P.O.W: Prisoner Of War is a perfect example of how I feel a game should be made. The combat system is fairly simple- simpler then that of Double Dragon but certainly higher then say Kung Fu. I mention this first because it would be my only criticism.



Otherwise lets start with the music. It's fantastic. It has a hint of urgency that really sets the pace. The next time you are racing home from work because you feel explosive diarhea coming on just think of this game's music. I promise you'll make it in time.



Lets talk about items. Beating to death the guards in the barracks and trucks earns you gear. Body Armor: Cool. Brass Knuckles: Instantly turns your enemy into a quadralepligic. Machine Gun: Your mother would be proud.



Graphics? Detailed stages with a layout requires no convincing that this is a prison camp. Parts of the environment scrolls in front of you adding depth that many platformers miss.



That's all I'll mention about this game. Its badass. It's a testament to the spirit of any American Veteran P.O.W. Make sure you play it on Veteran's day. And be thankful that real life P.O.W.s sacrificed a lot so we can have the freedom to play this gem.