PixlBit

There are a lot, so I may save some to mention later. The earliest of the games either didn't grab me, which means I only played them for 15 minutes or so, or they did, in which case I beat them in about an hour. I found some more of them than I mentioned before by cruising through collections too. I'm being pretty arbitrary strict in my choices: it has to say "hack 'n' slash" in the game's description or as part of the genre on wikipedia. So here's what I played (most of it) this week. 

Gauntlet (1985) - I managed to get to level 17 with the valkyrie and infinite continues within Midway Arcade Origins before I kept repeating the level without success. Some levels you have to find enough keys to open the path to the stairs. Open the wrong barriers and you get stuck. This is basically a quarter munching nightmare in a sense. You take too much damage and there is not enough food to recover. Even with infinite continues though it gets trying for me. 

Legend of Kage (1985) - I played this on PS2 via Taito Legends 2. It's difficult. I used more throwing stars than anything else making it feel more like a shooter game, but I slahsed 'em up when they got close enough. Unfortuneately it's one hit kill, though, and close combat is not a viable option. I didn't get far in this one. 

Gauntlet II (1986) - Played in Midway Arcade Origins. I got to level 13 before giving up. I like the opening J.S. Bachean theme song. I may learn it. It's basically more of the same from Gauntlet. It's still a quarter munching monster and even frustrating with infinite continues eventually. Some levels have invisible walls. Oh heck no! 

Trojan (1986) - Part of Capcom Arcade Cabinet. Also called Tatakai no Banka. You use a sword and a shield. The shield was handy in the first boss fight. You can angle it a surprising number or positions and works well against that guy. You can jump too. It gets really difficult though, another quarter munching jerk of a game. I like it though. Wish I could adjust the setting on it to make it more fun. 

Gladiator (1986) - Played within Taito Legends for PS2. Sword and shield gameplay on a 2D plane, mostly fighting other sword and shield opponents. Pretty difficult. I didn't play it long. Solid controls though. 

Shinobi (1987) - Luckily I still have this on Xbox 360 as part of the Sega Vintage Collection because it is no long available on Switch I found out and not in Sega Genesis Classics on Xbox Series. It is unlockable as part of Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection but that is only on 360/PS3 (I have to get another copy of that). Weird but this is the case. Anyway it's a well done ninja game but very unforgiving. One hit kills and you repeat the level after each one. If there's one thing I don't like it's repeating levels. Let me respawn where I die, that's where I like it. 

Tiger Road (1987) - Played it on Capcom Arcade Stadium 2. Cool game but hard. Hack with a sword or axe, jump over obsticles, some light platforming but all tricky and kept me from enjoying it. 

Rastan (1987) - As part of Taito Legends for PS2. This game looks great but it's difficult to avoid hits and deaths resulting in replaying the level. Item pickups are put in some bizarre and seemingly impossible to reach places. Just really frustrating. 

Dark Chambers (1988) - Played it on the Atari 50th Anniversary collection. This was a late 2600 game adpated from Dandy, the game that inpired Guantlet. It's very much like Gauntlet except you mostly shoot projectiles. With the simplistic 90 degree angle wall structure of the maze, it feels more like Berzerk. It also feels a lot like Adventure and pretty empty of detail and coherent structure. You have no sense of your overall position in the maze with nearly identicle rooms in every direction.

 

Nastar Warrior (or Rastan II) (1988) - Part of Taito Legends 2 on PS2. Lousy hit detection and some unavoidable pits made me move on pretty quickly. 

Astyanax (1989) -  I played it on NES with the cart I got recently. A bit of a Castlevania feel here but with alot of cheap deaths. A 16-year old in the modern world is taken to medieval times to save a princess from an eveil sorcerer. You know, the typical story. I managed to take in the story in this one because of the lengthly intro. I usually never even understand what the story is in these games. 

The Revenge of Shinobi (1989) - More shisterism from Shinobi. I played it on Sega Classics Collection. It's for the Genesis but is still difficult. I end up throwing more shirukens than sword play since you can't take any damage. 

Golden Axe (1989) - On Sega Genesis Classics. Weirdly Golden Axe II and III aren't descirbed as hack 'n' slash on wiki like this first one and Beast Rider. I'm stickin' to my rule though and so only this first one for now. This is an old favorite. I can beat the game pretty quickly. 

Strider (1989) - Part of Capcom Arcade Stadium. Amazing graphics and a cool futuristic setting. You fight with an energy sword against hoards of robots. The 2D plane is often put at unique angles so you can traverse upwards on the screen. Most of these games seem to keep you more on level ground in a straight line. I had a hard time with it though. Hard not to get hit a lot and die. 

Ninja Gaiden (1988) - I saw it on the Switch subscription service and despite wanting to avoid it for difficulty, I tried it. It's still difficult, but I was mightly impressed with its accurate controls and your ability to cling to walls or objects. Its seems fair in its challenges, which makes me want to revisit it again. 

And that's what I call the NES era of games I played. I'll have to save the Genesis/SNES era stuff I played for tomorrow's blog. What yah think? Any favorites?