Let's Play 59: IGN's Best NES Games Ever: 20-11 Quiz

Answer: Kid Icarus

"Kid Icarus" is the sister title to "Metroid". It used the same game engine and developed by the same team. However, "Kid Icarus" is not as open as "Metroid", with two long vertical stages, one long side scrolling stage, three castle stages, and a final stage called Skyworld. The series is famous for having only two installments: this title and a Gameboy sequel. Twenty years after the last installment, Nintendo announced a new 3DS game called "Kid Icarus: Uprising".

The boss's name is Hewdraw and he is the guardian of the third palace. He is the third of four bosses in Kid Icarus. The final stage is a shooter and is known as Skyworld, where you must end up fighting Medusa, the queen of all evil. "Zelda II" has a very similar boss fight where you must battle a giant serpent known as Volvagia in the Japanese release and Barba in the US release. Unlike Hedraw, Barba does not jump out of the lava into different pits, nor is he only vulnerable in the head. "Castlevania III" has a similar fight as well, though again like "Zelda II" this serpent does jump completely out of the water.

Still regarded as one of the most annoying video game enemies ever conceived by the human imagination, the Egg Plant Wizard will turn you into a Walking Eggplant. Depending on where you get transformed, you will have some serious hiking and backtracking to get healed. On top of that, as soon as you get back in that same room if you're not careful you'll get hit again. Shigeru Miyamoto said if they did a modern day installment to "Kid Icarus" they'd bring back the Egg Plant Wizard.

Here's what the manual says on the final boss Medusa:

"The big, evil gatekeeper who has occupied the Palace in the Sky. The goddess who was turned into an ugly monster by Palutena, she does all she can to be evil and nasty."

Answer: Castlevania

The original "Castlevania" came out in 1987. The game is short and brutally difficult. There was an arcade version that doubled the damage you took by enemies, in order to eat as many the gamer's quarters as possible.

Answer: Howard Lincoln

"Super Mario Bros. 2" has long been one of my favorite NES titles from childhood. It is well known now (though not back in the 1980s and early 1990s) that "Super Mario Bros. 2" began life originally as a game called "Doki Doki Panic" for the Famicom Disk System. The Japanese FDS version of "Super Mario Bros. 2" is pretty much a clone of the original, only with slightly modified graphics and a much more difficult game.

Nintendo would not publish the original Famicom Disk System outside of Japan for over twenty one years. The game first appeared in 1986 in Japan, and America and the PAL region did not get the original 8-Bit version until 2007 for the Virtual Console.

Another famous Howard in Nintendo lore is Howard Phillips who appears in the early issues of "Nintendo Power" in the comic strip "Howard and Nestor". There is also a photograph of Phillips next to a TV that has the main title screen of the (American-European) "Super Mario Bros. 2".

Published in 1987 for the Famicom Disk System, Nintendo published "Doki Doki Panic" for Fuji Television. The game was to promote Yume Kôjô '87 (translates Dream Factory '87), and included Fuji's mascots. Overall, the levels from Doki Doki Panic were left alone. The majority of the changes were swapping out sprites and cosmetic changes.

When Nintendo released "Super Mario Bros. 2" in Japan as a Mario game rather than the non Mario "Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic", they marketed the game as the American "Super Mario Bros. 2" and released the game as "Super Mario Bros. USA". The only difference between the American version and this version is a different title screen.

There is a slight level change in one level. In 7-2, in the cloud section there is a portion of the stage where you must go back and forth on stationary cloud platforms that are stacked on top of one another in order to get to a ladder that has a column blocking access. In "Doki Doki Panic", there is an additional cloud platform, with a small column with a Snifit sitting on top. The most probable reason Nintendo removed this platform was even with the Mario and Toad character a super jump could completely bypass the cloud section and the player could simply jump over the column to get to the blocked off ladder.

The original characters are a family, with two parents with one son and one daughter. Mario replaced Imajin, the average skilled brother. Luigi replaced Mama. The Princess replaced Lina, the sister. Toad replaced Papa. There is speculation that Mama appears to be pregnant.

When Nintendo adapted "Yume Kojo: Doki Doki Panic" into "Super Mario Bros. 2", they replaced the third Mouser with a new boss character, Clawgrip. Mouser appears the same as World 1-3, though his chamber is shaped differently and there are two sections with spikes on the floor.

I remember my parents buying this game for me and being puzzled why Phanto looked different in the manual than he actually appears in the game. The reason is Nintendo published the "Doki Doki Panic" sprite in the manual, rather than the sprite that actually appears in the game. Phanto in "Doki Doki Panic" has small eyes and he is frowning. He does not look nearly as menacing as he does in "Super Mario Bros. 2". The game manual also includes pictures of the Magic Jar and the Heart sprite from "Doki Doki Panic".

According to the manual, Clawgrip "grows suddenly and is surprisingly skilled at throwing rocks". It is possible this refers to some gameplay concept of Clawgrip that never got into the final game, as Clawgrip does not change sizes in the actual game.

There were numerous errors in the Cast of Characters section of "Super Mario Bros. 2". Ostro, an ostrich that Shyguys ride, are given the name Birdo, and Birdo is labeled Ostro. Personally I believe this was a localization error, as the error was repeated in the game manual itself. Strangely enough, when Nintendo released "Super Mario Allstars" for the Super Nintendo, they did not correct this error, though they did correct it in the "Super Mario Advance" release. I remember back in the late 1980s all us gamers thought Birdo had two names, Birdo and Ostro, as Nintendo Power referred to Birdo as Birdo, not Ostro.

The Albatros, the only flying bird in "Super Mario Bros. 2", appears to be Subcon's natural resident before the Wart invaded.

Here is the game manual entry related to the Albatros. "He used to be the only resident in the world of dreams. Now, by order of Wart, he works as a carrier of Bob-Ombs."

In "Doki Doki Panic" he only has two frames of animation, making him appear to fly much faster. For the "Super Mario Bros. 2" conversion Nintendo added three more frames of animation, bring the total to five.

Answer: Ninja Gaiden

"Ninja Gaiden" is famous for its cut scenes, involved plot, and brutal difficulty. In fact, if you die at any one of the three main final boss fights, you have to start all over at the beginning of Act 6. Not only is Act 6 the hardest part of the game, without a doubt they are some of the most incredibly difficult stages in video game history.

Your father Ken has been killed by Jaquio. With elaborate cutscenes between the stages, which at that time were unprecedented, the plot of the game unfolds. Eventually you will face not only your father but Jaquio himself.

Tecmo released the universally hailed classic platform action game "Ninja Gaiden" in 1987. Unfortunately, the last few stages of the game are nigh on impossible. If you do manage to beat the four levels in Stage Six, you will have to face three bosses. If at any time you die during the boss battle, you go ALL THE WAY BACK TO 6-1. The game's enemies also respawn constantly, creating one of the most difficult games in the entire NES catalog. Here's the epilogue from the manual:

"Epilogue: Cinema action "Ninja Gaiden" is depending on your skills to save the world. Can you do it? It is essential that you succeed! Awaiting you is an ending that you just have to experience for yourself. May the spirit of the Dragon be with you!"

Most people, whether the Spirit of the Dragon is with them or not, will never see the end of this game.

Answer: January 1991

"Mega Man 3" appeared on the twentieth issue of "Nintendo Power". It was the second time a "Mega Man" game graced the cover of the magazine, with the first game being "Mega Man 2". "Nintendo Power" reused the Dr. Wily UFO from the "Mega Man II" cover, albeit it much smaller, in the "Mega Man III" cover.

"Mega Man 3" is one of the best "Mega Man" titles, despite the flawed Wily Castle. I wished they had kept the doc robots in other titles, as that was always one of the better parts of "Mega Man 3". You can tell Wily's Castle feels rushed, with way too many energy tanks, and simply not quite as polished as MM2. Still, overall fantasitc.

Answer: It's the third installment in the series

"River City Ransom" is the third title in the "Kunio-kun" series, the first two being "Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun" ("Renegade") and "Nekketsu Kōkō Dodgeball Bu" ("Super Dodge Ball"). Like the previous two titles, there are numerous differences between the Famicom version and the NES version. The title in Japan is "Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari". There were eight total Famicom titles in the series.

The following were fighting titles: "Renegade", "River City Ransom", "River City Ransom EX", and "Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun: Bangai Rantō Hen".

These were sports titles: "Super Dodge Ball", "Super Dodgeball Brawlers", "Nintendo World Cup", "Crash 'n the Boys: Street Challenge", "Nekketsu! Street Basket: Ganbare Dunk Heroes", and "River City Soccer Hooligans".

Answer: Excitebike

"Excitebike" was one of eighteen launch titles for the original NES. Although you were unable to save your courses unfortunately, "Excite Bike" is most likely the first video game to feature user-generated content with its level editor.

These are the launch titles for the NES (US Launch was October 18, 1985):
"10-Yard Fight"
"Baseball"
"Clu Clu Land"
"Donkey Kong Jr. Math"
"Duck Hunt"
"Excitebike"
"Golf"
"Gyromite"
"Hogan's Alley"
"Ice Climber"
"Kung Fu"
"Mach Rider"
"Pinball"
"Stack-Up"
"Super Mario Bros."
"Tennis"
"Wild Gunman"
"Wrecking Crew"

Answer: R.C. Pro-Am

"R.C. Pro-Am" is an early Rare game for the NES, released in 1988. It features 32 tracks, and features various weapons you can use to blast away the competition in an attempt to secure the number one spot in the race.It is also the first racing game to have speed boost regions to certain parts of the track. The game also features numerous environmental obstacles on the track itself that will slow down or impair the racer.

The AI on the game is also very strange. If the blue car is far enough back from the player's car, the blue car will suddenly go well past the maximum speed of the car and get past the player's car. Likewise, if the blue car is far enough ahead of the player, it will suddenly drastically reduce its speed. The green and yellow car constantly race at a slightly lower maximum speed just behind the second player. If the player shoots and destroys one of the cars it is possible for the yellow car to speed up to 127 miles an hour, making it impossible to beat. Once you hit track 29, all three computer cars will be at 127 miles immediately, meaning you must be constantly shooting or destroying one of them at all times or else lose the race.

Answer: Contra

The famous Konami code actually debuted in the 1986 game "Gradius" and has been used in a very large number of "Gradius" titles. "Contra" began life as an arcade title, and was released in the Pal region as Probotector, and in the NES release the two humans were replaced by robots.

Answer: Chaos

As far as end bosses go, Chaos can be smashingly difficult. He has 2000 hit points, and can replenish himself. You have to be on the top of your game to get past this monster!