Remember back in the day when you were younger and that new NES game came out that you just couldn't wait to get your hands on and try out? Okay, so if you're not my age, then replace NES with your system of choice. You'd check out the ads, see the commercial on TV, got a glimpse of some screenshots, and just became so pumped up for the game. For me, it's about that time again. Time for me to get excited about a brand new NES game coming out. Wait...what?
Yep, you read that right. Visitors of www.retrousb.com know that they have a decent amount of homebrew and reproduction NES and Super NES games. Their repro selection typically consists of games like the Nintendo World Championships and Campus Challenge carts, games released only in Japan, and "repros" of the Vs. System arcade games. Heck, you can even get the Japanese version of Super Mario Bros. 2 (known in the US as The Lost Levels). The best part is that all of these games can be played on either the NES or Super NES, depending on which game you get of course.
A couple years back, a man known as Sivak created and released a game called Battle Kid: Fortress of Peril for the NES. Now of course it wasns't officially published or endorsed by Nintendo as there's no official Nintendo seal of quality, but the game itself is amazing, mixing elements from games like Mega Man, Metroid, and I Wanna Be the Guy. With those qualities, the game is sure to be awesome. Sure enough, I picked it up for about $30 and never looked back. As you play, you go from screen to screen defeating enemies and picking up items, and once you get certain items and keys, you can go back to previous areas and take paths you couldn't before. The catch? One hit kills you. The game did have checkpoints and a password system if you played on Easy or Normal difficulty in which you have an unlimited number of lives, and on harder difficulties you have a set amount (either 50, 20, or 1). The game is tough, but a fun challenge.
Not too long after Battle Kid came out, Sivak began working on the sequel: Battle Kid 2: Mountain of Torment. It's been in development for almost two years, and there's no set release date yet, but the game looks like it's about done. You can even download a demo ROM of the game from Sivak's website (as well as a demo for BK1). If you've played the first and enjoyed it, you'll enjoy Mountain of Torment. I've checked out the demo and haven't completed it yet, but it's looking every bit as tough as the origianl, if not moreso. Since the game's not yet released, there's not much more to say right now, but once it's released, you better believe I'll be picking it up.
If you're curious about my opinions on the original Battle Kid game, check out my review over on blip.tv.
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