Chapter 352: Nintendo Power II
As it turns out, Nintendo actually had a chance.
They've just been too caught up in the fanciness and advancedness of the enemy. Making them blind to what they have.
It took quite a while for them to realize but when they did. They noticed that they actually had a lot going on for them.
Who cares if they're up against something that's a generation better than what they're offering?
Despite being better, the enemy actually has lapses of its own. Which were quite straightforward to circumvent.
This was their chance.
If anything, their prized home console wasn't anywhere close to obsolete at all.
They just needed to accept these facts and roll with it.
And rolled with it, they did.
Besides, with something like the NES being able to gain an edge, doesn't it just make perfect sense for NES games to be able to do so too?
It just so happens they have quite the selection for it... there are actually 17 to be exact... and it's as follows...
[1] 10-yard Fight.
A video game emulating the sport that is American football. American, to not be confused with the rest of the world.
Viewed in a top-down perspective and vertical scrolling, its offense-defense gameplay is sure to appeal to fans of the sport, which happen to be quite numerous in these United States.
It even has a level difficulty called Super Bowl. Probably aiming for a title like the patriarch of football video games.
[2] Soccer.
The football of Americans. Not to be confused with American football.
As it is with soccer, the objective is to kick the ball into the opponent's goal.
[3] Baseball.
If there was something for same-not-same footballs, then there surely was something for baseball as well.
Akin to the real game, the object of the game is to score the most runs, against the computer or another player via the two-player mode.
Aside from baseball's somewhat universal appeal, Nintendo doubly made sure to make this available as this has been quite instrumental during their test marketing.
Much more so when real MLB athletes lobbied the games for them.
[4] Excitebike.
A side-scrolling racing game or another sports-themed game when you consider that motocross racing is the whole deal.
Of course, like any other that Nintendo is offering, this has its own uniqueness, is relatively addicting, and should hopefully demonstrate gaming at its finest.
Perhaps proving that fancy graphics that certain parties are proud of is surely not needed to have fun.
[5] Golf.
What else could it be other than a golf-based sports simulation video game?
Either play a white-shirt or red-shirt player and duke it out like a golfer against 18 holes.
[6] Tennis.
Simply tennis.
[7] Clu Clu Land.
Essentially Nintendo's try at Pacman with a puzzly twist.
Instead of a yellow muncher, a balloonfish either named Bubbles is what you'll be.
The goal is simply to uncover gold ingots while avoiding sea urchins called Unira and Black Holes.
Not exactly Pacman but it feels like so.
[8] Ice Climber.
A game wherein you can play as Ice Climbers, the mallet-wielding blue Popo or pink Nana...
And scale vertically scrolling, ice-covered mountains to recover the vegetables of a giant condor.
[9] Kung-Fu Master.
The player controls Thomas, the titular Kung-Fu Master, as he fights his way through the five levels of the Devil's Temple to rescue his girlfriend Sylvia from the crime boss Mr. X.
As he ascends the tower, he has to fight many enemies along the way and five end-of-level boss battles, a concept obviously inspired by Bruce Lee's Game of Death.
[10] Pinball.
A pinball video game with a ball and two paddles.
It's as simple as that.
Of course, if it's not clear yet...
Then, these are the games that Nintendo was offering with their NES at its fundamentals...
They may be bland and conventionally lacking compared to others...
They may not be wowing crowds with graphics, advanced game elements, and inexplicable functionalities...
However, make no mistake because they are absolutely not something to be dismissed.
These are the games that have been entertaining Japan for years now and they're not silent in North America either.
Through the Nintendo VS. System, some of these games have quite the following in American arcades.
Arcades may have been droll as it was, however, the presence of these game titles is enough of an indication that it is viable as can be.
When ported and used to reinforce the NES, wouldn't Nintendo be quite the force to be reckoned with?
Of course, if that isn't overkill as it is, Nintendo actually still has a unique sub-set of gaming that will set them apart from the competition some more.
For instance, there's the NES Zapper!
An electronic light gun accessory. Quite the throwback to the light gun range that Nintendo of old had dabbled in.
Whether it may look like a revolver or a ray gun, its function is more or less the same...
One can play shooting games with it.
Its internal optical sensor allows the player to point at a television set and "shoot" at in-game targets such as ducks, clay pigeons, cowboys, and criminals.
Sometimes it is even used for title screen necessities like selecting a game mode and even starting a game.
Granted, not all games are Zapper-compatible but those that do are tailor-fitted for one to just shoot the TV screen for fun.
Light shooter games are what they're called. Which was quite the game genre to revolve around a supposed revolver-esque accessory.
There's [11] Hogan's Alley. A game that presents players with "cardboard cut-outs" of gangsters and innocent civilians. The objective is to shoot the gangs and spare the innocents.
For a bit of an extra tidbit, Hogan's Alley is actually a shooting range on the grounds of the Special Police School at Camp Perry, a training facility used by the National Guard of the United States.
Then there's [12] Wild Gunman.
This one's not about the national guard, however, it does have to do Wild West.
If anything, it's a western shoot 'em up for anyone who fancies letting out their inner Clint Eastwood from time to time.
Then most notably is the third but not the least... [13] Duck Hunt!
The objective is to shoot moving targets on the screen in mid-flight. The targets... well... it's ducks.
To break the monotony, there's actually a Laughing Dog in-game to mock you for the duck-shooting failures you do.
That's pretty much it for the selection for now but the fun that could be had doesn't stop there...
Cause R.O.B. the robot is quite the accessory as well.
Then again, as fancy as something called the Robotic Operating Buddy might be, games like [14] Gyromite and [15] Stack-Up aren't exactly something to write home about.
When all of this collectively put together though, isn't Nintendo shaping up to be something that they themselves had been quick to dismiss?
As it turns out, they were actually quite the gaming powerhouse, with power that's been messed up because of a certain chaos that came along.
It was quite stupid of them to forget.
Besides, didn't they have quite the commercial boasting about what they were all about?
"When you get hold of the Nintendo Entertainment System..."
"When you master R.O.B. the video robot..."
"And meet the challenge of Gyromite..."
"When you shoot the light-dispensing zapper..."
"When you play the system with the most arcade hits..."
"YOU'RE PLAYING WITH POWER!"
They were Nintendo Power, as the NES tagline says.
How could Creed and their Creed Chaos System hope to compete with that?
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Admittedly, even Alexander himself didn't actually have a quick answer to that question.
Maybe the NES wasn't oozing desperation as he thought it was.
It was desperate but probably desperate to finally live up to how its old potential.
Anyways, with such a lineup of classics and titles, his own Creed Games sure will have quite the challenge, wouldn't they?
Tetris, Cat vsv Dog, Dino Jump, Flappy Birds, and Top Gun: Flight and Fight...
They were something but the competition was not nothing.
Interestingly enough, this whole video game business sure did get a whole lot more interesting.
Much more so when amongst the Nintendo power line-up, a certain Nintendo character was about to make its North American console-gaming mark...
Amidst the NES' long list of game titles, certain titles need special attention, after all.
Something like [16] Wrecking Crew can actually be dismissed as it is. A game tailored for people with a thirst for wrecking.
It may also have Mario and Luigi, however, [17] which is Super Mario Bros. is undisputedly in a league of its own...
Even Alexander and his Creed Games have to watch out for it cause it's a true Nintendo power, as they say.