Game 9 - SimCity (SNES)

System: Super Nintendo                                                           
Release Date: 1989
Genre: City-Building
Developer: Maxis

For Starters:

    Sim City. The very name should conjure up memories in the minds of most gamers, of all ages and platforms. SIMply put, the Sim City series has been a cornerstone of the video game industry for a long time. Sim City has been available on PC's and consoles for decades. It's success has even spawned sequels, and spin-offs (The Sims, Sim Pets, Sim Copter, Sim Tower, etc.), and even clones.
    Two of the versions that found their way on to the Super Nintendo were the original Sim City, and Sim City 2000. Super Nintendo also provided Sim Ant, and Sim Earth, but those are entirely different games than the original Sim City. Now that I have some of the background out of the way, let's move on to my own experience with this fine game.



The Good:

    Even though this game was available on the Super Nintendo, the graphics used for this game were not a full demonstration of what the SNES could handle. But when it comes to Sim City, it's not necessarily required to use full graphic capability. That being said, the graphics used for this game were good enough to
provide a basic feeling of an overhead city scape. Could some of the graphics been better? Yes, did it matter that they weren't? Not at all. Sim City is about planning and designing, and managing a city's growth and it's associated problems (crime, pollution, traffic etc.), so who has time to worry about weather or not the skyscrapers look realistic enough? So to begin with, you choose a name for your city, and a name for yourself (mayor). Then you can select the land structure, and finally the difficulty level. The 'Easy' setting has the highest amount of starting funds, so who wouldn't choose that( I know I always did)?
    Now begins the actual game play. Move the D-pad to control your on-screen cursor, to select the building items from the menu, and begin building the city of your dreams.All seems fairly easy as you get started, but you soon find out that the money goes quickly when you go on building sprees, and it takes an eternity for you to earn enough back in taxes to meet the demands of the citizens, when they begin demanding stadiums, or when you are finally prompted to build things like an airport, or a seaport to boost commercial and
industrial growth. The best thing to do is to bump up your taxes for a while, and then go outside and jump on the trampoline, stopping occasionally to check on the growth of your funds.
    When all is said and done, the over all game play is fun, but very time consuming for a SNES game. You can literally spend hours, days, and weeks playing this game. Mostly due to two facts, one being that it takes forever to accumulate funds, even with the game speed set to high, and the second being that the game is more or less open-ended. Meaning that even though the goal is to eventually reach the level of 'Megalopolis' (500,000 population). Even after reaching the level of Megalopolis, the game doesn't end, it just continues to
run, and run, and run. Of course reaching that level is tough enough considering that you have to run through statures of town, city, capital...etc. The best advise is to just keep plugging away at it, and turn off the disasters.

The Bad:

    Normally I follow my good comments with the bad comments, but with a game like this, I will skip it, due to the fact that, even though it can take a long time acquire money and the Megalopolis status, there really are no bad aspects to this game.

Overall:

    SimCity has been on multiple platforms over the years, and each one provided the same basic gaming experience, so anyone who has played SimCity on any platform already knows that this game is addictive and fun. The SNES version rewarded players with special Mario Statue gift, as well as a city attack by
none other than Bowser himself. But other than those two things, the game is the same from system to system. Enjoy!

Update: I have made a video about SimCity and posted it on YouTube. PLease visit it here:

ROM With A View: SimCity 

With a little patience, you can build a Megalopolis like this one.

Game 8 - Cool Spot

System - Super Nintendo (SNES)
Release Date: September 1993 (US)
Genre: Platform
Publisher: Virgin Interactive

For Starters:

    I am not entirely certain where to begin when it comes to doing a blog about the SNES game Cool Spot. It's a game that is on the lesser known side when it comes to most gamers, yet most people over a certain age remember 7-Up's marketing campaign in the late 1980's that involved an animated red circle wearing sun glasses. Simply know as 7-Up Spot, this little icon from the late 80's spawned a small series of video games. The only one I ever played was Cool Spot on the Super Nintendo. I found out later that this same game was also released on the Sega Genesis, and that it had a predecessor game (Spot) on the Nintendo and the Gameboy that was basically a flop. Having never heard of, nor played the NES or Gameboy game, I only stumbled upon the Cool Spot game at a local video rental store,that also rented out a large library of SNES games. Being a child of the 80's, and being purely sold on the game's potential by the screen shots on the back of the rental box, I decided to give this game a go. With that little intro out of the way, on to the game itself.

The Good:
   
    After being captivated by the game's potential, albeit based off of the screenshots on the back cover of the game box, I quickly learned that this game did in fact meet the expectations I anticipated. Simply put, Cool Spot is a fun game. The graphics are amazing, the controls are responsive, and the actual game play itself is challenging, and fun. I would like to add here, that the game designers got one important aspect of game play right. The ability to shoot in multiple directions. Yes, Cool Spot allows you to fire left, right, up, down, and even in diagonal directions. If you think back to Contra on the NES, one of the things that made it fun to play, was the ability to shoot in multiple directions. I can't think how much better games like MegaMan would have been, had they consistantly provided multiple directional firepower. I know some MegaMan games did allow for multi-directional shooting, including, diagonal, but I digress.
    The basics of this game are to rescue your friends, who have been captured, and held in a cage that is hidden somewhere within each level. Your only line of defense are carbonated 7-Up bubbles that you can fire relentlessly at the enemies that stand in your way. Once you have blasted your way through each level,and collected the required number of "cool spots" you must then locate your captured compatriate, and rescue him. Levels include a beach, the inside a wall, a pier, a toy room, and an inflatable kiddie pool. The enemies
that block your path are mice, crabs, bees, worms and a variety of everyday items, such as nails, and push pins are scattered throughout the levels that can cause damage.
    The greatest aspect of this game are the real world feel of the levels. 7 Up Spot exists in a world where everyday objects are larger than him. As such, each level utilizes a "Honey I Shrunk The Kids" look and feel. The open world feel of each level, allows you to explore not only left to right, but up and down through a simple, yet complex maze in search of each cool spot point. The game is generous in that it provides in-game means to restore your health meter, by means of collecting 7-Up logos, that are actually distributed somewhat
generously throughout each level. Each level has a time limit, but you can collect various extenders that will add additional time to the game. Some of these extenders are placed in precarious areas, but generally speaking, they are plentiful, and easy to reach.
    I have decided to save one of the best aspects for last. The music. The music of Cool Spot is well rendered, and sounds like it was composed by someone who actually understands music. I would guess that this is one advantage to having Virgin Records produce a video game. A little research found that the music for Cool Spot was actually compsed by musician Tommy Tallarico, cousin of Aerosmith leadman Steven Tyler. Tallarico also provided musical scores for games such as Earthworm Jim, Prince of Persia, and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series. Not a shabby resume. No wonder I liked the music in this game.
    Even though this game is exciting, fun, and imaginative, it is not without it's frustrations. I will now move on to the lesser aspects of this game.

The Bad:

    As mentioned above, the game play is open, and allows for fast fluid level exploration. While this is an attribute to the game's better qualities, it  is also the source for one of the bigger frustrations, being blindsided. The open world aspect of Cool Spot, requires you to travel up, down, and around various stages, and sometimes, you cannot see hazards that lie just off-screen. You may drop off a ledge and land on a nail, or an enemy, or, you may be trying to jump from one baloon/bubble to another, and miss it, since it is hidden just
out of view. You can use the L and R buttons on the top of the controller to scan up and down from your current view, but it doesn't always give you a clear idea of what is above or below you. Nothing is more frustrating than working your way through a level, only to miss a bubble or baloon, and then fall all the way back down to the beginning of the stage. When time is a factor, this causes you to sometimes hurry, and become careless in your leaping. The best way to beat a level is to take your time, and ALWAYS, look before you leap.

Overall:

    When I think back to how I randomly encountered Cool Spot all those years ago at Hastings Video in Logan, Ut, I often wonder who else may have stumbled across this hidden gem. If you can look past the fact that the game is a giant endorsement for 7-Up, you will be rewarded with a fun little game, that will challenge even a hardened gamer. I know this game did not have a huge following, as most people were soured by the games initial stint in the 8-bit world of the NES and Gameboy. But those like me that never experienced the
original Spot game on the NES were rewarded with a decent platform game, that has a high replay value.

Console 2 - Dingoo A320

Dingoo A-320

Well, here is a blog about a new device I got from my AMAZING girlfriend for Christmas this year (2011). The Dingoo A-320. What the hell is the Dingoo A-320 you ask? Well, simply put, it is a hand-held gaming device, that allows you to emulate NES, SNES, Sega Genesis, GBA, and original GameBoy, and GameBoy Color games.

This little device, made in China, already has the emulators loaded on to it, and has a full 4G of available space to store the various game roms on. So far it has met, and exceeded my expectations. It plays almost anything I have thrown at it thus far, with the exception of Mario Kart.

The SNES emulator is not always good with running sound, but the graphics seem to emulate well.

The GameBoy Advance emulation is by far the best on the entire system. I have re-lived the wonders of Castlevania: Aria of Sorrw, as well as Metroid Fusion. I am also experiencing Zelda: Minish Cap for the first time ever.

This little slice of heaven also runs all NES games....with the exception of RC Pro-AM (the cars are invisible).

Truely the best thing about this little handheld device, is that it not only plays classic games, but also allows you to play mp3 files, and movies.

This thing is truly amazing. It is considered open-source, and can be modified with an open-source version of Linux. I am sure most of the problems I have experienced thus far, although minor, can be solved through various downloadable items.

This device is available on both Amazon and Think Geek.

Highly recommended piece of hardware for those of us who love retro-gaming.

Console 1 - Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES)

A Basic SNES System.

Released: US - 1991
Bit: 16

    I know up to this point I have only made blogs about the games found on the original Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), but I decided to take a small break from that, and discuss my favorite game system of all time, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.
    I was never aware of the so called console wars, as they have been called by various groups, but I did know growing up that you were either a Nintedo kid, or a Sega kid. Simply put, you either owned a Sega Genesis, or a Nintendo. I had heard about debates as to what system was superior, but I myself had never engaged in any such debate, as all my friends were Nintendo kids. As such we engaged in a regular
diet of all the classic Nintendo games that were associated with the NES.
    Some history is required at this point, in order to put things in to perspective. Sega was the first to release a 16-bit system in to U.S. households in 1989. This system was called the Sega Genesis. The Genesis was released a full 2 years ahead of Nintendo's 1991 16-bit Super Nintendo System. This means that Sega
Kids had 2 years of thumbing their nose at Nintendo Kids for having an inferior gaming system. (Technically there was another 16-bit system released in 1989 called the Turbo Grafx 16, but I will be damned if I knew of anyone who owned it. I do not recall it being included in any video game dialogue as a kid. As such, I will not mention it again.) In fact I do remember seeing the advertisements for Sega Genesis systems with the taunting words, "Sega Genesis does, what Nintendon't".

The famous Genesis Ad

 This was the first time I was acutely aware of the war between the 2 systems. My friend Ben, a Nintendo Kid by all means, had a friend who was a Sega Kid named Mark, who I only knew by name. I sometimes heard Ben talking about going to Mark's house to play
Sonic (Sonic The Hedgehog) on his Genesis system. It's funny how life operates. Mark, the Sega Kid, would later become my first college roommate. Imagine that, a Nintendo Kid, and a Sega Kid rooming together in college. But I digress. 

     Rumors began circulating about Nintendo's anticipated response to Sega's 16 -bit console. While I didn't subscribe to Nintendo Power Magazine, I heard rumors about advertisements in said magazine that declared Ninendo's plans to release a 16-bit console that would once again level the playing field. It really wasn't until
sometime in Jr. High or High School that I began to hear more about it from my friend Ben. He had gotten a Super Nintendo, and was raving about playing games like Street Fighter on it. To this point I had really only played Street Fighter at the 7-11 by my middle school on the arcade cabinet. I wasn't very good at it, and was mostly a button-masher when it came to playing most arcade games.
    My first experience playing the Super Nintendo had to then be Street Fighter. I do not recall playing anything else for the first few months. I am sure there were other games, but Street Fighter tournaments at Ben's house were weekend regulars. Yeah we eventually bagan playing other SNES games like Sim City and Super Star Wars, but it was quite some time later.
    I didn't get my own SNES until years later. In fact I think the first Super Nintendo I bought was used, and was sometime between graduating from high school in 1995, and beginning college at Utah State later that same year. It may have actually been sometime after my first year in college, after I had come home for the summer to work, but I do not recall. I do remember playing Super Star Wars, and Sim City on my own system, and I remember going to the local video rental store in Logan my 2nd year there and renting all sorts of SNES games for the weekend, and playing them.
    To this very day, the Super Nintendo remains my favorite gaming console. It had such a great library of games, and the controls were awesome. The graphics allowed for most games to be done in an amazing way. The Super Star Wars series, for example, fully utilized the power of the Super Nintendo's graphics and sound to produce some awesome games.
    I am hoping to start mixing in a few SNES games in to my blogging rants here shortly. I will remain faithful to the original NES system, and it's games, but I need to balance out the two systems I experienced the most amount of time with.

Game 7 - Marble Madness

System: Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)
Release Date: 1984 (1986 to Nintendo)
Genre: Platform/Racing
Publisher: Atari Games (Rare)

For Starters:

Ledges and Vacuumes....watch out!

    Marble Madness is a simple enough concept. Race a marble through a 3D environment, and try to beat the clock. As a child, I loved playing with marbles, and especially loved making courses for them to run through. I remember my grandparents having a plastic cube, that was actually a marble maze, that required you to drop a marble in one end, then rotate the cube around, guiding the marble through the inner workings of the maze, and out the hole on the opposite side. So when I saw Marble Madness on the Nintendo, I was at once captivated by it. As with most of the early Nintendo games I played, this captivation was short-lived.
    Marble Madness was originally developed in 1984 for Atari, and was later ported to the NES by Rare Limited in 1986. I bring this up only because of the fact that the NES version of this game is the only one I have ever played. I imagine that the controls for the Atari (i.e. trackball) would make game play a lot easier than the awkward game play one experiences using the D-pad found on the NES console. If using a D-Pad on a 3D game isn't challenging enough, the game also allows you to select from two different control options, those being 90 degrees and 45 degrees. Since the game grid was set at a 45 degree angle, as it relates to the television screen, the 90 degree control option simply meant that the ball itself would move left/right/up/down as it correlated with the same directions on the controllers d-pad. The 45 degree control option meant that those same directions on the d-pad would correlate to the grid on the screen, making the game a little more challenging.

The Good:

    Since my starting points pretty much cover most of the important points of this game, I still feel it necessary to not deviate from my standard format. Simply put, the best aspects of this game have to be the fact that it's a marble game. There is no denying that this game, while short, is very challenging. But then again, the physical cube I played with as a kid was also challenging, so it's a wash. The graphics, while basic, are decent. The 3-D feel of this game is really amazing, and the virtual world in witch you maneuver through was captured well by the developers.
    As far as the actual game play is concerned, the better aspects of this game are definitely the real-world physics that were incorporated. Should you move to close to the edge, gravity will take over and you will fall off the ledge, and with a large enough drop, your marble will actually break in to tiny pieces, that are then swept up by a little broom and dust pan animation....actually quite clever. There are speed boosters in some of the further levels, that are fun to try and hit, and the various obstacles, such as the vacuumes that pop up and suck your marble down the pipe,are just plain fun.
    Another fun factor is the game's 2 player mode. Race your friends through the various stages, all while trying to avoid the various pitfalls and obstacles. Add on the fact that you can bump each other off the track, and you have a recipe for a fun and friendly competition.

The Bad:

    I realize I am about to contradict myself a little bit in this section, but hey, I never claimed to be perfect. The same aspects of Marble Madness that are fun, are also a big part of what make the game frustrating. Honestly the biggest enemy in this game is time itself. As mentioned, each track is timed, and if you don't reach the finish line in time, you are done. Your other biggest enemy will be yourself. I found myself getting panicked when the time was running out, and would always end up trying to hurry too much, and would inevitably make a panicked mistake.
    The obstacles themselves, while fun, and innovating, are also very frustrating. Amongst them are, the marble-eating worms, and the roving pools of acid. That's right, there are roving pools of acid that will melt your ball, hammers that try and smash you to smithereens while navigating a narrow path with drop-offs on both sides, and a myraid of other hazards all out to get you. Good luck.

Overall:

    Marble Madness captured a childhood fascination, and brought it in to the video game realm. Oh sure, pinball machines, had the corner of this market sewn up years before Nintendo even existed, but who has the money or space to put multiple pinball machines in their house? I love pinball, but let's face it, any pinball video game I have ever seen has failed to recreate the experience of playing an actual pinball machine. Enter Marble Madness. While different from a pinball machine style of play, it captured the same elements that made playing with marbles in real life fun. Oh sure, the frustrations associated with trying to beat the clock and win will eventually cause you to shelve the game, and let a few colorful expletives fly from your mouth, all while swearing you will never play the damn thing ever again. But you will eventually forgive and forget, and find yourself once again reaching for this old friend. It will be enjoyed even more so if you can find someone to play the 2 player mode with. After all, what's more fun than beating your friends?

Game 6 - Captain Skyhawk

System: Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)
Release Date: 1990
Genre: Scrolling Shooter
Publisher/Developer: Milton Bradley/Rare Ltd.

For Starters:

    Imagine a world where everything is a geometric shape, and all the terrain around you is one color. Imagine flying over this simulated 3-D landscape in a fighter jet, blasting alien enemies shooting diamonds at you. Have you got a mental image? Good. You just visualized the 1990 NES game Captain Skyhawk.
    I don't recall how I came to know about this game's existence, but I do remember that I wanted this game very badly. I think I had seen an advertisement in Nintendo Power, and fell in love with the concept of flying over landscapes destroying enemies. Little did I know that it would be a short-lived affair.

The Bad:

ALCATRAZ SANDWICHED!

    I know I usually start with the better aspects of games, but with this particular dish, it makes more sense to serve up the bad, and then follow that with the few garnishing pieces that do make this game at least somewhat playable.
    As I mentioned in my opening, the graphics of this game are simple. Hell even using the word "simple" to describe them doesn't truly describe how plain and boring the game graphics are. I have played a lot of Nintendo games in my life, and have seen what can be done with 8-bit graphics (Karnov, for example). Also consider the fact that Nintendo had been in existence for 5 years by the time Captain Skyhawk was released (1990), and you can see why this games graphics fail to meet expectations. Compare the graphics to another 1990 NES game like Sunsoft's Batman, and you will see what I mean.
    Now that we have gotten the graphics out of the way, it's time to move on to the mechanics of the game. While not terrible, this game is definitely far from being great. As would be expected in any flying game from the 8-bit era, you use the D-pad to maneuver your jet (down = up; up = down; left = left; right = right - basic flight controls). The A and B button of course, are used to fire your primary and secondary weapons (and to drop supplies in some stages).
    The biggest problem with the controls, is that sometimes your plane loses altitude while you are flying. This could be just a matter of accidentally hitting the up button on the D-pad while you are going through the normal flying procedures, but nothing sucks worse than smacking unexpectedly in to a mountain side because your plane has lost enough altitude to be able to clear it. I know there is an altimeter on the screen that shows you how high you are, but to be honest, with the number of enemies, and the rate of flight, who has time to check. If you take your eyes away from the action for even a split second, you are dead.
    This brings me to my next point. The game play itself. To be honest, the game play itself is not all that bad. The worst aspects of this game are simply that there are too many enemies stuffed in to the tight space they give you to operate in. Our hero, Captain Skyhawk, maneuvers through narrow canyons, evading the gunfire from enemies. The narrowness of the canyon, and the density of the enemies really does provide a challenge, but due to the graphics, it's often difficult to see the enemies bullets, so you usually end up dying for no apparent reason.
    If you manage to survive this mission, and defeat the fortress at the end of stage 1, you will be treated to a blatant Top Gun ripoff stage. Yes, you now get to destroy enemy fighters from a first-person perspective, just like the NES game Top Gun. And if that weren't enough, the final stage of level 1 is to dock your ship in your home base. While different in the mechanics, this is basically the same stupid Top Gun bullshit, where you are required to land on the aircraft carrier. The only difference is, that you are in space, and the docking bay to your base is a spinning slot. To succeed you must line up horizontally to the opening, and then initiate the "spin" dive when you and the opening are lined up. Should you make the mistake of acidentally tapping right or left on the D-pad, consider yourself dead. No amount of readjusting will ever bring you back in to the dead center of the screen. The easiest way to dock is to wait until the base stops moving, then use up and down on the D-pad to bring yourself in to alignment with the opening. Then, once the rotating bay is aligned with your wingspan, hit the A button, and hope for the best. It baffles me that even entering your home base could potentially kill you.
    Level 2 is almost the same as level 1, except for this time, your goal is to drop supplies off to scientists working on some top secret weapon. Normally the B button would be used to launch your secondary weapon (missiles, bombs, etc.) but on this stage, it is used to drop the supply crate, parachute included, in to the 2 drop off points. The biggest challenge, outside of maneuvering through the narrow enemy infested canyons is the timing on dropping the supplies. It's difficult to know how to time them, and may take you a few passes before you get it right. The fact that they recycle the stage until you complete both drops is nice, but like Top Gun, you can run out of fuel, and crash, so you better learn how to drop these supplies quickly, or you will be eating an Alcatraz Sandwich.
    The rest of the game is basically a repeat of the two stages listed above, but in different colors, and with a few different enemies. There is also at least one stage that has water instead of the standard ground, but you are still navigating a narrow canyon, while being blasted by the enemies naval forces.

The Good:

    If you are still with me, and haven't left, here are the better aspects of the game that make it at least somewhat playable.
    One of the things that makes this game decent is the music. I realize that there is no music during the actual game play, but the musical score during the opening sequence, and the stage intro screens are pretty good, not great, but good enough. I think adding some music to the actual game play would have made this game a hell of a lot better, but I guess I can't expect much from a game designer that chose to use such rudimentary graphics to begin with.
    Aside from the music, or lack there-of, the sound effects are actually quite good. The explosions, and the sound of the jet engine are all quite nice, even if they are exactly like the sound effects from Top Gun.
    The game play itself, is nothing to write home about, and as mentioned above, it has its issues. This does not mean that it holds no merit though. For me, the challenges and frustrations associated with the poor game design do actually make the game somewhat enjoyable to play.

Overall:

    If you enjoyed Top Gun on the NES, then Captain Skyhawk is for you. Considering that this game borrowed a lot of it's graphics and features from Konami's worst game, some may consider Captain Skyhawk to have a Top Gun sequel feel to it. While I may still play this game on occasion, it is not one that I regularly reach for when I am in the mood for some classic console fun.
    Milton Bradley made some great board games during my childhood, so I expected their venture in to the video game world to be on par with their board games. Unfortunately their vision of Captain Skyhawk was not fulfilled through Rare Ltd. I feel like this game could have been better by adding music to the game play sections, and by using better graphics. I imagine that Captain Skyhawk could have done really well had it been designed as a side-scrolling game similar to Life Force or Gradius. But alas we are left with a boring, bland, game that will fade quietly in to history.

Game 5 - Karnov

System: Nintendo Entertainment Syatem (NES)
Release Date: 1987 (arcade); 1988 (NES)
Genre: Platform (side-scroller)
Publisher: Data East


For Starters:
   
    Finally, a game about a Russian circus strong-man that runs through 9 mythical worlds, collecintg treasures, while destroying abstract monsters from classic literature. I will admit that this game was unlike anything I had ever played before. I don't even really recall how I came to know this game even existed.
All I do remember is that I wanted it. So I asked for it for my birthday, and in return, received a game that I still love to this very day.

The Good:

    For me the best part of this game has to be the music. Yes it's repetitive, but the score for this game really adds to the overall gaming experience. I enjoy it so much, that I have used it as a ringtone on my phone.
    The graphics, simply put, are great for an 8-bit game. Data East released a lot of games that, in my opinion were great examples of what could be done with 8-bit graphics. The only minor complaint I have about the graphics, is that it is sometimes difficult to distinguish the foreground from the background, and it makes it difficult to know when you have obstacles you can't walk past, or if you have to jump over them.
    While the enemies are annoying, and sometimes difficult, I do like the fact that Data East did not simply recycle enemies. Yes there are common enemies in every stage, but they also added unique enemies to each stage.

The Bad:

    Earlier I said that this is still one of my favorite games, and it certainly is highly replayable. That being said, there are some things about this game that I didn't like.
    The ability to use sub-items is great, and you are given a plethora of unique items to use, including, jump boots, wings, ladders, and diving helmets. The biggest problem with these items is that you have to either press pause, then use the d pad to select the desired item, or you have to use the d pad during live action until you get to the item. When you are concentrating on defeating enemies, it makes it obnoxious to have to either pause the game, or tap the d pad to get to the desired sub item.
    The other problem with these items, is that you are given a limited number of these items when you pick them up, so if you use them all up before a critical point, you are basically fucked. It would be nice to be able to retain unlimited numbers of certain items (like you have with the ladder), without having to use a
cheat code.
    The other problem is that certain items are only available when the game allows you to use them. The wings for example are only available when the game alerts you to it, and you see that they are selectable in your item menu. In some ways this is good, because it prevents you from running out of critical items, but
it would also be cool if you had free reign to use the wings whenever you felt like using them.
    The enemies are another frustrating feature of this otherwise fine game. I know I said earlier that I enjoyed the variety of enemies that were provided on each stage. While this is true, there is also a certain amount of frustration that goes along with them.
    Golden statues that, if not destroyed quick enough will explode, and basically kill you. They emit two levels of projectiles, and you cant duck the lower ones, and can't jump the higher ones. So unless you figure out a way to hover in mid-air, so that you are in between them.....you are dining on an Alcatraz Sandwich
my friend.
    Blue birds that swoop down upon you from above...again at a level that you can neither jump over, nor duck under. And usually they will wait until they are almost off the screen before they attack, and if you  jump too soon, they will guess your elevation, and dive-bomb you at the level you jumped to.
    The bosses at the end of each stage are unique, and different, but damn are they difficult to defeat. The will charge, shoot projectiles at you, and basically makke life difficult for our hero. With enough practice however, you will learn tricks and what sub-items to use to defeat them.

Overall:

    Karnov is a classic 8-bit NES game, that will forever live in my library of Nintendo games. While frustrating, and difficult, it is a game, that with a little practice, and a shit load of patience, can be beaten, and even played at a level of skill that makes it fun. The music,along with the graphics, are amazing, and the
catchy little tunes can easliy get stuck in your head, and may find their way on to your cell phone as a ringtone in the near future. ENJOY!

Up Next: Captain Skyhawk