Video Games of the 80's Round 1

Hello everyone and welcome to round 1 of Video Games of the 80's!



Revenge of Shinobi (16-seed)

Publisher:                 Sega
Date:               December 2, 1989
Console:                 Sega Genesis
Average Critic Rating:          93%

Plot:  
Revenge of Shinobi is a sequel that is three years after the events of Shinobi.  Neo Zeed rises back to power and takes revenge on the protagonist, Joe Musashi.  Neo Zeed wipe out the Oboro Ninja clan, killing Joe’s master, and kidnapping his bride-to-be, Naoko.  Joe must go through 8 levels throughout the world finding Neo Zeed and exacting his revenge and rescuing Naoko.

Gameplay:
The gameplay is a side-scroller where you can control Joe Musashi.  Along the way, you can pick up shurikens as projectile ammunition.  This makes it easier to eliminate distant enemies.
This game is also one of the first to introduce a “double-jumping” mechanic.  Joe is able to jump an additional time in midair to reach higher platforms.  However, it is said the mechanic can be buggy from time-to-time when you need it the most.
Joe also has four Ninjutsu techniques which will come in handy from time to time:

Art of Thunder:  Gives Joe a protective shield of lightning which can absorb four blows of damage.
Art of the Fire Dragon:  Summons four pillars of fire to consume the screen and damages all enemies.
Art of Levitation:  Allows Joe a low-gravity jump.  The double-jump almost makes this the least-used technique.
Art of Particles:  Joe goes kamikaze and kills himself to damage all enemies on the screen to sacrifice one life.  He will come back with fully-restored health and magic.

Trivia:  In later releases in the game, developers had to edit a few enemies because of copyright infringements.  Because the development team were movie and comic book fans, they made look-alikes in the game!  Not only does Joe have to fight Neo Zeed, he has to fight Batman, Spider Man, Godzilla, and the Terminator!





Super Mario Bros. 3 (1-seed)

Publisher:                 Nintendo
Date:               October 23, 1988 (Based on Japanese time)
Console:                 Famicom/NES
Average Critic Rating:          96%

Plot:
This takes when Bowser capture Princess Peach; and allows his seven, debuted children, the Koopalings, to take over the seven kingdoms in the Mushroom World.  Mario and Luigi must travel through all the kingdoms to restore order and rescue Princess Peach!

Gameplay:
The gameplay is what you would expect from any typical Mario platformer.  The game does, however, introduce four new power-ups:

Raccoon-suit:  Gives Mario/Luigi cute raccoon ears and wings and enables them to attack by spinning or flight if they run fast enough
Frog-suit:  Allows Mario/Luigi to swim really fast underwater and to jump very high
Hammer-suit:  Gives Mario/Luigi hammers to lob like the Hammer Bros.
Tanooki-suit:  Does exactly like the Raccoon-suit, but also allows the ability to turn into a statue to avoid enemies for short periods of time.

Trivia:  This game was debuted in the Universal Studio’s film, The Wizard (Along with the Power Glove).  It served as the final game in a video game competition in the film.  This allowed fans to be extra-hyped about the game.  It also had it’s own cartoon spin-off series.  Unlike the game, it did not have many fans...