Let's Play 56: IGN's Best NES Games Ever: 50-41 Quiz

Answer: Nintendo 64

"Shadowgate", a point and click adventure originally developed for a Mac, appeared on the NES in December 1989. The game is noteworthy for the large variety of deaths that are possible, including, but not limited too, dying by being burned alive by a dragon, sucked into outerspace. murdered by a cyclops, melted by acid slime, eaten by sharks, destroyed by a wolf-woman, and even suicide. The game is also very challenging, because if you miss an certain items or weapons early on your doom is certainly spelled out for you.

A direct sequel, "Shadowgate 64: Trials of the Four Towers" appeared on the Nintendo 64. A second sequel, "Shadowgate Rising" was in development but the title was canceled as the Gamecube was soon to be released.

"Shadowgate" was also released on the Gameboy Colour in 1999.

Answer: Kickle Cubicle

"Kid Niki: Radical Ninja" is a typical sidescroller where a kid ninja must go and save his girlfriend (shocker) from some evil hoard.

To see Kid Niki, hold down the A button on Controller 2 and power on the game. Once the title screen appears release the A button and Kid Niki appears.

Both "Ai Sensei no Oshiete: Watashi no Hosh" and "Holy Diver" were to be released in outside of Japan, with "Holy Diver" even being advertised in some magazines of the era, but neither made it to the western shores.

Answer: Tengen

By 1989, the legal status of "Tetris" was quite a sticky matter with over half a dozen companies claiming rights to make and distribute their own version of "Tetris". Tengen released their own unauthorized version called "Tetris: The Soviet Mind Game".

To give some back ground, Tengen was the company that falsified records to get access to the patent for the 10NES Lockout Chip, which Nintendo used to make it impossible to play unauthorized cartridges on the console. They then reversed engineered the chip in order to bypass it, which resulted in a lawsuit which Nintendo won.

When Tengen released "Tetris: The Soviet Mind Game", Nintendo sued them. After a mere four weeks on the market (with an estimated 268,000 cartridges sold), the judge in the case determined Nintendo was the only company with the rights to publish the game, and Tengen was ordered to pull their version from the store. The Tengen version is actually more highly regarded, as it featured multiplayer, a feature the Nintendo version noticably lacked.

Answer: Beat 'em up

"Vice: Project Doom" features three distinct gameplay genres: Side-Scroller, First Person Shooter, and Driving. If you imagine "The Adventures of Bayou Billy" with all that game's numerous problems fixed, you'd have a good idea of what to expect in "Vice: Project Doom". This is another classic, obscure NES title.

Answer: Metal Storm

Programs continuously redrew the titles that composed the background scenery, which caused them to scroll at different rates than the foreground. "Metal Storm" pushed the NES capabilities to the max. It appeared on the cover of Nintendo Power which featured a 12 page strategy guide over the title. The game relies heavily on reversing gravity, a relatively new innovation in platformers at the time. There were also puzzle elements in the title as well related to the gravity mechanic.

There are numerous regional differences between the Japanese version of "Metal Storm" and the Western and Pal versions. The Japanese version features an opening cut intro scene not present in the American release, though it can be accessed with a Game Genie code. Stage 6 of the Japanese version is much more difficult as well.

Answer: Blaster Master

"Fester's Quest" is a title which combines the overhead shooting elements of "Blaster Master" with the dungeon crawling and item collecting of action RPGs. The game can be complicated and, like several other NES hallmark titles, is notoriously difficult.

Answer: Klax

The catch phrase is rather dated, obviously, but the Atari puzzle game "Klax" proves to be one of the better puzzle titles on the NES. Originally it was an arcade title that was ported to several different consoles. The prototype of the arcade version used the same hard ware as "Escape from the Planet of the Robot Monsters".

There were also 16-bit versions released as well. The point of the game is to control following blocks that come down a conveyor belt, yet another variation on the "Tetris" theme.

Answer: Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos

Released a year after the original "Ninja Gaiden", "Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos" takes the original format, throws in some new game mechanics for good measure, and calls it good. Every bit as challenging and formidable as the original (though thankfully there is no equivalent in "Ninja Gaiden II" to that hell on earth Act "6-2" in the original", Ryu Hayabusa can now clone himself so there are three Ninjas that can fight your battles for you. The game's plotline is very bit imaginative and thought provoking as the original, though there is no cut scene from "Ninja Gaiden II" that is quite as memorable as the scene in "Ninja Gaiden" where Ryu faces Jaquio's fortress for the first time.

For all its worth, this is my personal top pick of the "Ninja Gaiden" trilogy, though the original is a genre defining masterpiece as well (though both games are almost gamebreakingly difficult).

Answer: Crystalis

"Crystalis" has long been a cult favorite of NES aficionado. The world suffered nuclear annihilation on October 1997. One hundred years later, a young boy who awakens from cryogenic sleep must go and capture four swords, each representing one of the traditional elements of earth, wind, fire, and water. With the swords united they form a master sword Crystalis. In 2000, Nintendo released the title (with numerous changes from the NES original) on the Gameboy Color.

This title should have been much higher on the list. Like "Little Samson", it is simply a fantastic title of that era.

Answer: Pizza Hut

The Turtles love their pizza, and they wanted to share the love by giving the player a five dollar discount off their next order at Pizza Hut.

The arcade game came in two distinct versions: a four player cabinet and a two player cabinet. In 1990 when Konami ported the game to the NES, they released the title as "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game", although the Famicom version retained the original title as "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" had been released under a different title in Japan.