Video Games from the Vault!

I am sure there are a lot of video game nuts out there. I'm also sure that when someone mentions video games, people automatically think Mario, Sonic the Hedgehog, Legend of Zelda or Pac Man. This is not what this article is about. We are going into the vault to take a look at some rare video games that not very many people know about! All of these games are games that I have enjoyed playing in my life.

Kickle Cubicle:

Kickle Cubicle is a pretty interesting game. This game for the NES is probably one of the greatest strategy games ever made. The characters are quite interesting as well. In this game, you are playing Kickle Cubicle, a chubby little guy who lives in this icy world, and your job is to save four kingdoms from the power of a Wizard King. Your method of attack is to blow your icy cold breath at your enemies and break them or kick them into the water. It's kind of frustrating at first, but with a little practice, you're sure to enjoy this game.

Quack Shot:

Quack Shot for Sega Genesis is a really weird game. In this game, Donald Duck is traveling around the world to find the secret treasure of King Garguzia. Along the way, he encounters some strange enemies. Some of which include clones of Pete who shoot rotten tomatoes at you, green-headed penguins who wear bibs, viking warriors who wear pink shirts and have large breasts, and boxers disguised as dogs disguised as vultures disguised as turtles. There are also many obstacles and things that are encountered like large walls put in with no seen purpose, unseen forces blowing chunks at you, and ghosts with gingivitus. Need I go on? In this game, you are armed with a gun that shoots plungers, popcorn and exploding bubbles. You can also pick up red hot chili peppers to make you go insane. It's a weird game, but it's still pretty fun.

Mega Man (original series):

Okay, the Mega Man francise may be a fairly popular francise, but most people are not too familiar with the original old school Mega Man series. The original series has eight official games. The first of the series, which came out in 1987, was very bad and extremely difficult. As time went by, the games continued to be made, each introducing a new feature. The first six games of the series were for the NES. Game #7 was in production when Nintendo was retiring the NES, and this one came out for the Super NES. The final game became part of the Sony Playstation as Nintendo retired it's Super NES. If you want to start getting acquainted with Mega Man, this series is a good place to start. Check out the Mega Man Mega Collection for Gamecube, which contains all 8 games in one. This will get you in the mood to love the blue bomber. Once you're ready for a bigger challenge, check out the Mega Man X series.

MediEvil:

Now this is a great video game that time forgot. MediEvil for Sony Playstation tells the Gothic tale of Sir Daniel Fortesque who has risen from the dead to battle Zarok and his zombie minions. The graphics, sound and replay value are totally awesome. And the music...I could have sworn it was Danny Elfman who made the music to this game! But it wasn't. If you have a Playstation or Playstation 2, you have to get this game!

Castle of Illusion:

One of the earliest games for the Sega Genesis. Mickey Mouse has to go save Minnie from an evil witch. The overall quality of this game might be bad, but if you enjoyed the two games that followed this, then this should be in your collection as well. Mickey attacks enemies in this game by throwing apples or marbles at them; in case he does not have any ammunition, he just attacks them with his seat. Now that I think of it, this game is actually good for a laugh. Some who have played the crappy Donald game, "Quack Shot", and remember those bats from the game would probably find them here too in the crappy Mickey game.

Seaman:

Now this is a game that is true for a laugh. This is the best kind of game to play late at night when you're really tired. In Seaman, you are raising your own fish, who can apparantley talk and has the face of a human being. This Sega Dreamcast game requires a microphone. The microphone is used for you to personally talk to Seaman, and he'll give you some kind of response. Most of the stuff he says is completely random, but sometimes it's a real response to what you say. There's other fun stuff you can do with him too. You can tickle him, flick him, and even pull him out of the fish tank. Playing this game will have you laughing for the rest of the night!

Bugs Bunny's Birthday Blowout:

I don't have much to say about this game. In this NES game, Bugs Bunny wins some kind of award, but his other Looney Tune friends get jealous and decide to take him out. I'm serious, those are the bosses of this game! I'm sure some you wouldn't be surprised to see Yosemite Sam, Elmer Fudd, Wile E. Coyote, Taz or even Daffy Duck going after Bugs, but try characters like Foghorn Leghorn, Henry Hawk, Sylvester, Peppy Le Pew and Tweety! I must warn you gamers, this is a pretty difficult game, and it's almost impossible to beat without the Game Genie codes. It's still amusing in some ways.

MC Kids:

Okay, I admit it. This is an extremely crappy game. The graphics may be bad, the sound may be bad, the game may be extremely difficult, but it's very memorable and funny. In this game, Ronald McDonald's bag of magic has been stolen by the Hamburglar. It's up to two kids, Mick and Mack, to stop him and get it back. Along the way, they have to collect cards for the residents of McDonaldland who help them throughout the game, while at the same time bounce around really high places, turn themselves upside down, go through gigantic zippers, and throw boxes at gophers running around all over the place. Every time I pick up this game, I always felt like kicking Ronald's butt every time he bent down to talk to me! I've played this game so many times, I know pretty much all the secrets in this game! Overall, MC Kids for the NES has earned a reccomendation from me. It may not have the best graphics or the best sounds, but it may just be the most fun.

The Jungle Book:

In 1994, Disney's 1967 classic, "The Jungle Book", was released as a video game for the first time. Why? I have no idea. There were five different versions of this game. This game was made for five different systems: Sega Genesis, Super NES, Game Gear, Game Boy and NES. The NES version was probably the second to the last game ever made for that system before it retired (right before the very last, which was "Wario Woods"). If you're a fan of MC Kids, you'll probably enjoy the NES version. Virgin developed this game, so the music sounds very similar. The most popular version of this game is the Genesis version. I've only played three of the five versions. The Genesis and NES versions are both great, but the Super NES version is a lot different and a lot more difficult; in short, it sucks. If you have a video game emulator on your computer, I reccomend checking out either the NES or Genesis version of The Jungle Book, but stay away from the Super NES version by all means.

Chameleon Twist:

This is a cute game, and it's also rather fun. I don't really know much about the plot to Chameleon Twist for Nintendo 64, but I still find it fun to play. You get to choose to play one of four different chameleons depending on which one is closest to your favorite color. This game takes a lot of practice and patience to get really good at. In addition to using your head, you gotta use your tongue! The only thing that really annoys me about this game is the white rabbit. He just hops in one place, tells you something then dissappears. This is also a reccomendation from me, but Chameleon Twist 2 is nothing like it's predecessor, so I don't reccomend the sequel.

Gex 64:

My brother plays this game a lot, but I don't hear him rant about it very much. This game is about a gecko who travels through all these different worlds to battle some evil gecko. Each world is a pop culture parody of some kind. You get to do all the cool fundamental things that lizzards do in this game, and you even get a cool outfit for each world you enter. Gex even makes annoying comments throughout the entire gameplay, which are really funny to listen to. That's all I really gotta say about that.

Aero the Acrobat:

Aero the Acrobat is also a pretty fun game. This game for the Sega Genesis is about an acrobatic bat who lives in the circus, and his mission is to get out of the circus and defeat an evil genius dude while killing all his evil clown minions along the way. The only reason I wouldn't reccomend this game would be if circus stuff gives you nightmares or if you think this game will give you very bad memories of "Dumbo's Circus". If you're up for a challenge, though, I'd say you should give it a try. The levels are long and complicated, but it's still okay. Get used to hearing Aero's "YEOUCH!" You'll hear it every time you die in the game.

Yo! Noid:

Hands up, everyone who remembers the Dominos Noid! Capcom made this guy his very own video game for the NES nearly a year after his commercials were banned. This is a really frustrating game. You are armed with nothing but a yo-yo, and you sometimes get magical powers, which are very difficult to pull off! You also have minimum energy in this game; one touch will kill you. The pizza-eating contests against the evil Noids take some delicate strategy, so develop a good one and collect a lot of cards before facing one of them! I don't reccomend this game to most gamers.

Mickey Mousecapade:

Now here's another really weird game. Mickey Mouse gets his own NES game. In this game, Minnie is always following him around, and they get to shoot stars at all their enemies and treasure boxes. It seems as if Minnie is totally synchronized with Mickey. When he jumps, she jumps. When he gets hurt, she gives the same reaction. When he dies, she dies. May I also point out that if Minnie dies, Mickey dies with her as well. One of the funniest parts of this game is at the beginning of each level, Mickey comes up to a sign that directs one to the next level, then he says, "Minnie!" and Minnie runs on, and then they go off to the level. If you're a sucker for 8-bit games, I reccomend this game, but if you're one of those who thinks of something stupid easily, I don't reccomend it.

Fantasia:

A classic Disney movie made into a video game. I don't see how they can possibly make Fantasia into a video game, but they did. This early Sega Genesis game is about Mickey Mouse as the sorcerer's apprentice going through four of the Fantasia segments picking up missing music so the orchestra can finish their songs. Fantasia never had any sound effects, so the game designers cleverly made this game by making the game's sounds sound like music. I must warn you that playing this game with the Game Genie codes could cause some serious glitches, and you may not be able to ever complete the game.

World of Illusion:

Okay, I've talked about Castle of Illusion with Mickey Mouse, and I've talked about Quack Shot with Donald Duck; now, here's the third game with both of them in it at the same time. This game is probably the best of the trilogy. This game is so magical. It contains beautiful graphics and cool music. In this game, Mickey and Donald have become professional magicians and are supposed to get ready for a magic act, but they stumble across a strange box, which takes them to a strange new world. Mickey and Donald have to defeat every enemie in their way by using their magic capes to transform them into harmless objects. This game was very well made because Mickey and Donald each explore different levels throughout the game individually and together. The 2-player mode requires some teamwork. Sometimes there are out of range places you have to jump, but you can reach them by climbing onto your partner and jumping up there, then bring him up by magically throwing a rope down to him. The final boss in this game is the wizard who (no big surprise) is clearly Pete. This is overall a wonderful game, so I say you should check it out.

Rocket Knight Adventures:

Now this Konami game for the Sega Genesis is kind of messed up. A game about some possum in armor with a sword and a jet pack going to save a princess from a big evil pig guy. He has all these armored pig dudes sent out to attack the hero, Sparkster. It is funny the fact that you get to see them running around in their underwear after you take them out...with the sound wave of your sword! If you listen carefully to the music, some of it sounds very similar to the music from "Buster's Hidden Treasure". I gotta say, while the game is frustrating, it's still a cool game. The fifth boss is probably the most frustrating part of the game. The best boss in the game is the giant pig pirate robot who does the Boogie Dance!

Bible Adventures:

I've saved the best for last. In Bible Adventures for the NES, you are playing one of three different beloved bible stories. You get to play the story of either Baby Moses, Noah's Ark or David and Goliath. You get health points by picking up Bible scriptures lying around all over the place. There's really only one music that is played throughout the whole game, so get used to it (at least it's quiet). Noah's Ark is probably the most fun game of the three; the other two are a lot more difficult. The animal sounds and the reactions the characters give off when they get hurt are pretty good for a laugh...not to mention being given the ability to throw Baby Moses into the water. This specific game has a very strange cartridge, and it often doesn't work on most NES systems. Electronic Gaming Monthly rated this game as one of the Top 20 Worst Video games ever made, and this was the only one of their 20 that I have actually played. I'd have to agree with those guys that this really is a crappy game. (Sorry, God, but it is.)

And there you have it, a rare collection of video games that time forgot. I hope you all enjoyed learning about these little games as much as I enjoyed playing them. But now it is time for me to close the vault, so, goodbye.