Collecting Toys & Video Games - the NES Encyclopedia Book V.6

This book is made for someone who is interested in the Nintendo Entertainment System as a collector or just a gamer. The main portions of the book consists of; information about collecting, developers, NES games and checklist for your own collection. The book consist of around 10.000 pictures that includes screenshots, cover-art and more.

482 Pages

Activision

Type Subsidiary of Activision Blizzard Founder Greg Fischbach Headquarter Santa Monica, California,

United States Employees 6700 Website Activision.com

Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher. It was the world’s first independent developer and distributor of video games for gaming consoles. Its first products were cartridges for the Atari 2600 video console system published from July 1980 for the US market.

Before Activision, third-party developers did not exist. Software for video game consoles were published exclusively by makers of the systems for which the games were designed. For example, Atari was the only publisher of games for the Atari 2600. This was particularly galling to the developers of the games, as they received no financial rewards for games that sold well, and did not receive credit for their games.

Atari programmers David Crane, Larry Kaplan, Alan Miller, and Bob Whitehead met with Atari CEO Ray Kassar in May 1979 to demand that the company treat developers as record labels treated musicians, with royalties and their names on game boxes. Kaplan, who called the others “the best designers for the [2600] in the world”, recalled that Kassar called the four men “towel designers” and that “anyone can do a cartridge.”

Crane, Miller, and Whitehead left Atari and founded Activision in October 1979 with former music industry executive Jim Levy and venture capitalist Richard Muchmore; Kaplan soon joined the company. The name “Activision” was decided upon so that the company would appear before Atari in the phone book.

In December 2007, it was announced that Activision would merge with Vivendi Games, which owned fellow games developer and publisher Blizzard, and the merger would close in July 2008. The new company was called Activision Blizzard and is headed by Activision’s former CEO, Robert Kotick. The new company is estimated to be worth US$18.9 billion, ahead of Electronic Arts, which is valued at US$14.1 billion.

K.K. Atlus is a Japanese computer and video game developer, publisher, and distribution company.

It is best known for developing the role-playing video game franchise Megami Tensei. Its corporate mascot is the Shin Megami Tensei demon Jack Frost.

K.K. Atlus

Parent Sega Corporation Founded 1986 Headquarter Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan Employees 121 (2014) Website atlus.co.jp

Atlus U.S.A., Inc. established in 1991, is the American subsidiary of Japanese video game publisher Atlus.

Atlus USA publishes games created by Atlus as well as by other developers. Atlus USA is strictly a publisher, often localizing obscure or niche titles from other Japanese developers.

Many of the Megami Tensei games have not been released in North America. Jack Bros. for the Virtual Boy, Revelations: Persona for the PlayStation, and Revelations: The Demon Slayer for the Game Boy Color were the first three games in the series to have a North American release, all in the 1990s. The American release of Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne in 2004 was the first main series video game to have an American release.

Since then, the majority of the series has had an American release in addition to the Japanese, including Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3, Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Soulless Army, and Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey.

Atlus USA also has published games under the loose moniker Marl Kingdom, beginning with the relatively unheard of Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure, in 2000.

3.8.

27

10-Yard Fight

Developer Publisher Release date

Genre Players

Irem/Nintendo Nintendo (us) October 1985 (eur) December 1985 Sports 1-2 Player(s) alternating

• The game was originally an 1983 American football arcade game that was developed and published in Japan by Irem.

2.6

PAL

NTSC-U

• It is the first slightly realistic American football video game ever developed and released.

• The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette called it the “patriarch of football games”.

1942

Developer Publisher Release date Genre Players

US Rarity: 2

3.9 Capcom Capcom (us) November 1986 Shooter 1-2 Player(s) alternating

• 1942 was released for the arcade in 1984.

• 1942 is considered one of the defining games of the vertically scrolling shooter genre.

• While 1942 was not the first Capcom game to receive a sequel, but it was their first game to spawn a series, including the more successful follow-up, 1943.

1943: The Battle of Midway

Developer Publisher Release date Genre Players

NTSC-U

US Rarity: 3

7.9

Atari/Capcom Capcom (us) October 1988 Shooter 1 Player(s)

• 1943 The game was originally an 1987 arcade game.

• Capcom released their own port for the NES, but the game has NTSC-U also been ported to the Atari ST, the ZX Spectrum, the Amstrad CPC, the Commodore 64 and the Amiga.

• The game is set in the Pacific theater of World War II, off the coast of the Midway Atoll.

44

US Rarity: 4 4.2.

7.1

3-D WorldRunner

Developer Publisher Release date Genre Players

Square Acclaim (us) September 1987 Action 1 Player(s)

• The game was the first Square developed game ever to reach North American shores.

NTSC-U

• The game is known as having an all-star cast of designers who would go on to create the Final Fantasy series.

• Complete game includes 3D glasses.

US Rarity: 3

5.8

“nintendo.wikia.com”

720°

Developer Publisher Release date Genre Players

Beam Software Mindscape (us) November 1989 Sports 1 Player(s)

• 720° was originally an 1986 arcade game by Atari Games.

NTSC-U

• 720° is notable in that along with BMX Simulator, it is one of the first extreme sports video games, and has a unique timed structure that requires the player score points in order to keep the game going.

US Rarity: 3

5.6

8 Eye’s

Developer Publisher Release date Genre Players

NTSC-U

US Rarity: 3 4.2.

Thinking Rabbit Taxan (us) January 1990 Action platformer 1 Player(s)

• 8 Eye`s features a large, diverse soundtrack, composed by Kenzou Kumei, often quoting from the operatic repertoire, consisting of three pieces for each of the eight levels, each set in a different part of the world.

• Most of the inspiration of the game seems to come from the classic video game Castlevania. However, there are several features in this game to allow it to stand on its own.

45

Strider

Developer Publisher Release date Genre Players

Capcom Capcom (us) July 1989 Action 1 Player(s)

• The development of the NES version of Strider was produced in tandem with the arcade version.

• Before the release of the Strider arcade game, Comic Computique serialized a Strider Hiryu manga illustrated by Tatsumi Wada from its May to October issues in 1988.

A single collected volume was published in November of the same year

Konami Konami (us) April 1990 Action 1-2 Player(s) simultaneous

• Super Contra was originally an 1988 arcade game. When a home version was released for the NES, it was retitled Super C. • The PAL version of the NES game is titled Probotector II: Return of the Evil Forces. Like the first NES game, Probotector II, replaced the main characters and some of the enemies with robots.

Super Cars

Developer Publisher Release date Genre Players

US Rarity: 4

8.5

PAL

NTSC-U

US Rarity: 2

3.4

Gremlin Entertainment/Electro Brain Electro Brain (us) February 1991 Racing 1 Player(s)

• Super Cars is a top-view racing game from Gremlin Interactive, who later produced the Lotus series of games.

Stylistically, the game is influenced by Super Sprint.

• You can upgrade your car throughout the game via the shop section. You are given an initial price, but also a number of options of things to say to the salesman – get the right combination and the price will drop.

246

NTSC-U

Super C

Developer Publisher Release date Genre Players

8.8

NTSC-U

US Rarity: 6 4.21.

7.5

Super Dodge Ball

Developer Publisher Release date Genre Players

NTSC-U

US Rarity: 5

5.2

• Super Dodge Ball is a dodgeball-based sports game, originally released as an arcade game. The NES version of Super Dodge Ball is not an exact port, as it featured several differences such as special moves and full stats for individual team members, two additional teams, and a “Bean Ball” mode.

• The soundtrack featured stage music appropriate for each country depicted in the game.

Super Glove Ball

Developer Publisher Release date Genre Players

NTSC-U

US Rarity: 3

5.3

US Rarity: 5 4.21.

Rare Mattel (us) October 1990 Power Glove 1 Player(s)

• Super Glove Ball was specifically designed to be played with the Power Glove controller. However, it can also be played with a standard NES controller. It was sold separately from the Power Glove.

• This video game uses a first-person perspective to provide a three-dimensional element. There are three different mazes in the game; each maze holds hundreds of different rooms.

Super Jeopardy!

Developer Publisher Release date Genre Players

NTSC-U

Million/Technos Sony Imagesoft (us) June 1988 Sports 1-2 Player(s) simultaneous

Gametek GameTek (us) September 1991 Game show 1-4 Player(s) simultaneous

• It featured voice synthesis throughout the game to announce game events, dollar amounts and upcoming questions (although not the questions themselves.)

• The questions are dated, though unlike the previous Jeopardy! games, they have less to do with pop culture and more with obscure facts.

247

Joshua & the Battle of Jericho

Developer Publisher Release date Genre Players

4.6

Wisdom Tree Wisdom Tree 1992 Action 1-2 Player(s) alternating

• The game is themed on the Battle of Jericho described in the Book of Joshua, in which the Israelites topple the defensive wall of the city of Jericho by encircling it and blowing their trumpets.

• In the game, Joshua is the player character.

• Wisdom Tree later ported the game to Game Boy, MS-DOS and Sega Genesis.

US Rarity: 6

Kart Fighter

Developer Publisher Release date Genre Players

Gouder/Hummer Team Ge De Industry Co. 1993 Fighting 1 Player(s)

• The game features unauthorized appearances by Nintendo’s mascot Mario and the rest of the cast of Super Mario Kart in a port of Street Fighter II.

5.5

Reproduction

Famicom

• The same development team responsible for Kart Fighter also created other unauthorized Street Fighter II adaptations.

• Several years after its release, Kart Fighter received critical attention for its similarities to the Super Smash Bros. series.

Repro. Rarity: 4

King Neptune’s Adventure

Developer Publisher Release date Genre Players

Color Dreams Color Dreams 1990 Adventure 1 Player(s)

• You play as Neptune, as you venture though ships, oceans and Atlanti to find the orb and the eight lost treasures.

• There is a French translated version of the game.

0.8

Blue

Black

US Rarity: 8 316

6.

3.9

Internation Version

Camel Version

Intern. Rarity: 6 Camel Rarity: 7 7.4

King of Kings: The Early Years

Developer Publisher Release date Genre Players

Wisdom Tree Wisdom Tree 1991 Platformer 1 Player(s)

• Gameplay was split into three games, each illustrating a Bible story relating to the early years of Jesus. In all the games the health points are measured by scrolls, and more scrolls can be earned by answering trivia questions about the King James Version of the Bible.

• The player has the choice between two game difficulties and whether the Music is on or off.

Klax

Developer Publisher Release date Genre Players

Atari Games Tengen 1990 Puzzle 1 Player(s)

• Klax was originally an 1989 computer game designed by Dave Akers and Mark Stephen Pierce.

• After Atari Games released Klax, and soon called it a “major arcade hit”.They quickly released several home versions under the Tengen brand.

US Rarity: 5

5.1

• Dave Akers created the NES version himself.

Krazy Kreatures

Developer Publisher Release date Genre Players

Bitmasters American Video Entertainment 1990 Puzzle 1-2 Player(s) simultaneous

• The player must clear various animals off the screen by arranging them into rows of three or more before the time runs out.

• There are 32 Levels in the game. You can choose to start at any of the first 12 Levels.

US Rarity: 5 6.

317

QuickShot

QuickShot was a line of joysticks and other input devices produced by Spectravideo for video game machines and home computers including Atari, Commodore, NES, Amiga, Amstrad, Sega and more.

The world’s first ergonomic joystick, the QuickShot, was developed and patented by Harry Fox and Peter Law in 1982.

Relatively famous was its Quickshot Maverick joystick, compatible with multiple consoles and home computers. In the late 1990s they expanded their line of products to PC joysticks and mouse.

During the 1990s the company marketed a handheld game console called the Quickshot Supervision, a UK version of an Asian console designed to compete with the Nintendo Game Boy. Today the Spectravideo name is used by a UK-based company called SpectraVideo Plc, formerly known as Ash & Newman. That company was founded in 1977, and bought the Spectravideo brand name from Bondwell in 1988.

Maverick 2

Manufacturer Type Release date License nr.

Quickshot Video game controller 1990 QS-128N

• Black arcade stick similar to the NES Advantage. Features rapid-fire, slow-mo, and player 1 /player 2 toggle switch.Suction cups on the bottom provide a steady gaming platform.

• The main problem with the Maverick 2 controller is that there are many different controllers that are modeled on the NES Advantage, and it is more poorly made than some other NES Advantage clones.

Flight Grip 2

Manufacturer Type Release date License nr.

Quickshot Video game controller 1991 QS-129N

• A very unusable design - you grip the controller with both hands like a flight stick, and the buttons are on top.

• The main problem with the Flightgrip controller is that the unique design that it is recognized for is very different from normal controllers and is subsequently rather difficult to use and get used to. The player’s arms will grow tired after using the Flightgrip controller for a relatively short amount of time, and it is difficult to simultaneously press the A button and pull the B button. “nesdb.tripod.com”

358

9.2.