Welcome to the 79th issue of the GBAtemp Recommends Revival Project! Wanna know what happened to 78? Fast pointed out to me that there are two issue 61s...so there you go! This is a weekly feature where we share some our favourite games. Some may be well known, others I feel have been ignored but all are fantastic and deserve at least a play.
We're week two in showcasing four "lesser known" NES titles, games that may not be famous but are still some of the highlights of Nintendo's iconic console.
Next up
aka Bortzy aka Sexy Longstockings aka BORTZinator has written about a game based on what happens when you go too deep when you wipe your bumhole...or something...SHATTERHAND![prebreak][/prebreak]Listen to this while reading the review.
Shatterhand is an excellent game I did not have the pleasure of playing till a friend gifted me a disk of every single NES rom he could find in 2005. He came over one night and was like "dude lets play some BIOS NES". So we played random roms from the disk for the rest of the night. One of the games we happened to find was this one. We had a few goes at the game, but didnt get very far. Eventually we moved on to other games but I made a mental note to come back and try this when he left.
Shatterhand his a platforming game with some interesting twists. For an NES game, the graphics are great and a step a head of most games at the time. The into to the video features some pretty snazzy sprite work that is good enough to make some early SNES games jealous.
You play this game as an action hero by the name of Steve Hermann, a police officer from the Bronx. After losing both of his arms in a fight with the "Metal Command" (the organization you are waging war with) Steve gets his arms replaced with robotic appendages he now uses to bash in the faces of the MC. The game is an action/ platforming bonanza that sends you on a quest to beat the MC into pulp, with your own fists. Levels are quite megaman-esk and the game progresses in kinda the same way. After clearing the first stage you are presented with 5 more stages to choose from.
Most of the game revolves around combat with your fists and platforming around levels. When you arent punching in the faces of robots, youll be maneuvering around cleverly designed levels that will test your Mega Man/Mario platfroming skills. You wont be alone for the whole time. Well. If you consider a floating robot following you around company. You get them by finding these little white boxes laying around the stages and punching them. They display the character for "alpha" or "beta" which can be changed by punching (surprise surprise) the box. Collect any 3 symbols will summon a levitated outrigger robot that emulates your movement but most importantly, your attacks. When you punch, depending on the robot, he attacks too with whatever weapon he has. Some have flame throwers, guns, swords, etc. There are 8 you can get, depending on the combination of symbols you pick up. Be forewarned: Too many punches from your cybernetically enhanced arms will smash the box (lol like I did to this chick once- Hadrian) and it will likely turn into a giant coin, which, as far video games go, giant coins a rarely bad. Enemies also drop coins that you collect and can use for upgrades you can get from kneeling over white platforms.
The game is great, even if it does have heavy overtones of being a cheesy corny action movie flick. Oh and it would probably be a good thing if you would listen to some of the songs. The chip tunes in this game are outstanding. Anyways, fans of Mega Man, punching, robots, and punching robots should enjoy this game. You will not be disappointed!
Thank you Bortzy, tis indeed a punch ass game, though could do with more sharks imo.
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Platform NES
Released 1991
Developer Natsume
Publisher Jaleco
Genre Action/Platform beat-me-do
