Rampage (NES review)

Developer: Data East
Publisher: Data East
Released: 1988

Rampage is an action game that was first released in the Arcade in 1986.

+ Has a whopping 128 stages and your constantly depleting life bar gives the game an edgy survival element.

+ There's some mild strategy to staying alive and recognising what items heal or harm you is crucial in the heat of the action.

+ Map detailing which U.S. states you've destroyed is a nice touch that provides a visual reward for your hard work.

- Gameplay is mind-numbingly repetitive and there's barely anything new that gets introduced to keep you engrossed.

- Controls don't always respond as expected and many times you'll falter despite clearly pressing Up to grab onto a building. 

- Unlimited continues don't even reset your high score, so there's little point in trying to top your previous best.

- Only has two of the three playable characters from the Arcade, and the between-stage tips disappear too quickly.

Bad Dudes (NES review)

Developer: Data East
Publisher: Data East
Released: 1989

Bad Dudes is a beat-em-up that was first released in the Arcade in 1988.

+ Spin kick is great for attacking foes on both sides, and there's a rudimentary, but decent attempt at speech synthesis.

- While a two-player mode is included, you can't play cooperatively and instead the fun is lessened by alternating tries.

- Sprite flicker and choppy animation are enormous problems, as it's often tough to tell if you're dishing out or taking damage.

- Questionable collision detection, especially when weapons inflict zero damage despite overlapping an enemy sprite.

- Jump and attack buttons are reversed which causes confusion, and unfortunately there's no way to change them.

- Barely any scenic variety in each stage, and once you've seen the first few seconds you've seen everything they have to offer.

- Graphics are ugly due to garish colour schemes, and your character doesn't always stand out from the background.

Heavy Barrel (NES review)

Developer: Data East
Publisher: Data East
Released: 1990

Heavy Barrel is a run 'n' gun title that was first released in the Arcades in 1987.

+ The ample storage lockers encourage you to experiment with different weapon combinations by using your keys wisely.

+ Comprehensive enemy types with unique attack patterns will test your awareness and reaction speeds.

+ Levels keep you on your toes by constantly scrolling horizontally, vertically and diagonally, often within the same area.

+ It's impressive how the stages seamlessly flow into one another (with no breaks) to simulate an epic journey.

- However, the later stages lean too heavily on reused design assets and end up repeating the same layouts.

- Hitting diagonal shots can be problematic and with no evade manoeuvre some situations result in unavoidable death.

- The end credits are a real let-down due to them displaying a text-only screen in a very anti-climactic manner.

BreakThru (NES review)

Developer: Data East
Publisher: Data East
Released: 1987

BreakThru is a side-scrolling shooter that was first released in the Arcades in 1986.

+ Stage design is basic, but gets the job done and the need to continually jump between broken roads in Level 2 is neat.

+ Checkpoints are very fair and they even carry over when you hit Continue after losing all of your lives.

- Unfortunately, the gameplay blows its load by showing you every enemy type within the first couple of stages.

- Action is extremely repetitive and frustrates players by relying too heavily on trial-and-error.

- You always feel weak as there's only one power-up which remains active for only a brief moment.

- Collision detection is questionable (likely caused by the slightly angled viewpoint) meaning spatial distancing is affected.

- The unpolished graphics look like a Colecovision game and the enemy stick-men sprites are laughably bad.

Spinmaster (Neo Geo AES / MVS review)

Developer: Data East
Publisher: SNK
Released: 1994

Spinmaster is a run 'n' gun title that was re-released on the Nintendo Wii Virtual Console in 2010.

+ Gameplay usually includes masses of enemy fighters and explosions at the same time, yet there's no hint of slowdown.

+ Each power-up is a blast to use and being able to shoot upwards helps even the odds.

+ Mine cart and raft sections are fun diversions to stop the action from becoming too repetitive.

+ Graphics are simply gorgeous with plenty of neat background details and smooth animation.

- The game is very short and after you've spent 20 minutes completing it there's little reason to return.

- The three possible endings depending on which treasure marker you choose pre-credits consist of a singular image each.

- Bosses can easily be defeated by spamming the attack button rather than forcing you to employ skill and pattern recognition.

Boulder Dash (NES review)

Developer: Data East, Sakata SAS
Publisher: JVC Music
Released: 1990

Boulder Dash is an action-puzzler that was originally released on Atari 8-bit computers in 1984.

There's six worlds (with four stages each) and your task is to collect the required number of diamonds before reaching the exit. Rocks can be pushed or dropped to either create new paths or to squash incoming enemies. Compared to the 8-bit computer versions, it's pleasing to see that your main character has a lot more sprite detail and personality, and the cutesy graphics give the worlds plenty of charm. Speaking of which, the different themed worlds are reminiscent of Super Mario Bros. 3 (1990, NES) in that there's water, sand and fire locales; while they're typical and (some would say) overused themes the varied locales help to keep players engrossed in the action and invested in what's coming up next. The World Map is a great idea to highlight the adventure ahead of you, and I like how you can choose any stage within an individual world to tackle at your leisure. It's a shame then that the bright, colourful setting is let-down by a couple of substantial issues. Firstly, there's a minor delay between you pressing a direction on the d-pad and your character performing that input; in a game that requires absolute precision this is a very disappointing oversight by the developers. Additionally, the scrolling and animation are jerky which can cause you to overshoot your intended target with alarming frequency. Still, the game does slowly introduce some cool gameplay mechanics to mix things up, including the need to trap growing amoeba in order to release diamonds. The stage solutions aren't always intuitive (and lots of trial-and-error is involved), but it is satisfying when you finally figure out what's required.

Boulder Dash is a unique action-puzzler that features some good stage design and the visual upgrades from the 8-bit computer versions give it increased personality. However, be warned that it is brutally difficult and the fact that it doesn't hold your hand means that this is likely a game that's only suited to more patient players.

Random trivia: A version was also released for the Nintendo Game Boy in 1990.

Magical Drop Pocket (Neo Geo Pocket Color review)

Developer: Sakata SAS
Publisher: Data East, SNK
Released: 1999

Magical Drop Pocket is a puzzle game that's based on Magical Drop III (1997, Arcade).

The objective is to align three drops (a.k.a. balls) of the same colour to remove them, while making sure that the rows don't crush you as they fall. The A button catches drops, while B releases them, and the modes are Story (1-player vs. the CPU with eight characters), Self Challenge (1-player endurance) and Friend Challenge (2-player battle using the Link Cable). Creating a series of chain effects is hugely satisfying and this idea cleverly gets you thinking two steps ahead by organising colours strategically rather than focusing on singular drop links. Likewise, the Special Drops (that remove all drops of the same colour) are a terrific inclusion as they encourage you to quickly link together further chains while the rows temporarily stop falling. I also like how you can collect an unlimited amount of the same coloured drops at once to free up space and form vast explosions, and the gradual addition of new drop types (e.g. Bubble Drops that only exist to get in your way!) force you to switch up your typical attack methods. The action is frenetic and you'll need to work fast and efficiently to succeed; in this sense it's not a particularly relaxing puzzle game, but one where you're constantly on the edge of success or failure at a moment's notice. There are some issues with the controls though, as analog stick pushes can be slightly delayed (compared to the precision of a d-pad), often leaving you in harms way. Also, while the individual character plots are great for replayability, everything is nonsensical (possibly due to poor translation) and there's nothing to signify that you've beaten a certain character's story.

Magical Drop Pocket is an enjoyable puzzler with plenty of advanced moves and attack methods for those who wish to learn them. Some might be put off by the steep difficulty curve, but there's plenty to love once you get the hang of it and the multiple character plots in Story mode is a neat feature to keep you playing.

Random trivia: Another handheld port (simply titled Magical Drop) was released on the Game Boy Color in 2000.