8-bit madness
When it comes to video games, I am a classic gamer more than anything. I love my NES to death, and am building a fairly impressive collection of games for it.
I do more than simply 'enjoy' them, however. I'm damned good at them, and that is a point of pride. There are a number of games people have called impossible over the years that I've finished. Games such as Mike Tyson's Punch Out, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1 (yeah, the one with the water stage), Contra, Ninja Gaiden, Marble Madness, etc...
Batman has just been added to that list.
This is a MAJOR add for me, as I've been a Bataholic since I was a kid, and have always loved this game despite its far from modest difficulty level. Younger years saw me getting no further than the first level boss, who is now an absolute cakewalk.
I managed to get my hands on a copy of Batman about a year or so ago, and was playing it from time to time, making small bits of progress as I went, but still finding it one of the games that even I called unbeatable. A couple weeks ago I started playing it with a bit more vigor. I was determined to at least -see- the final stage, and just how ludicrous it would be. It's capped off with two bosses. One without a name, followed up by The Joker. I reached The Joker last night and nearly laughed at his patterns and difficulty level. Sunsoft knew exactly what the term "final boss" was supposed to represent, and made no mistake in delivering exactly that. He is the first enemy in the game to have an attack that does more than 1 point of damage. In fact, it does 3, and it's quick. You have 8 points to work with, and no items that replenish it. Also, health pickups through the levels are the rarest of drops, and extra lives do not exist. Tonight saw about 30 attempts at The Joker fight before I was finally able to topple him, and the satisfaction washed over me with no sort of subtlety. This is a 17 year old fight, and I've finally won. Eat it, Sunsoft.
I do more than simply 'enjoy' them, however. I'm damned good at them, and that is a point of pride. There are a number of games people have called impossible over the years that I've finished. Games such as Mike Tyson's Punch Out, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1 (yeah, the one with the water stage), Contra, Ninja Gaiden, Marble Madness, etc...
Batman has just been added to that list.
This is a MAJOR add for me, as I've been a Bataholic since I was a kid, and have always loved this game despite its far from modest difficulty level. Younger years saw me getting no further than the first level boss, who is now an absolute cakewalk.
I managed to get my hands on a copy of Batman about a year or so ago, and was playing it from time to time, making small bits of progress as I went, but still finding it one of the games that even I called unbeatable. A couple weeks ago I started playing it with a bit more vigor. I was determined to at least -see- the final stage, and just how ludicrous it would be. It's capped off with two bosses. One without a name, followed up by The Joker. I reached The Joker last night and nearly laughed at his patterns and difficulty level. Sunsoft knew exactly what the term "final boss" was supposed to represent, and made no mistake in delivering exactly that. He is the first enemy in the game to have an attack that does more than 1 point of damage. In fact, it does 3, and it's quick. You have 8 points to work with, and no items that replenish it. Also, health pickups through the levels are the rarest of drops, and extra lives do not exist. Tonight saw about 30 attempts at The Joker fight before I was finally able to topple him, and the satisfaction washed over me with no sort of subtlety. This is a 17 year old fight, and I've finally won. Eat it, Sunsoft.