The game itself is a side scrolling game, but I would call it a fairly easy side scrolling game. There are a few things that you have to figure out with the game, but most of it is intuitive and there are a few fun things. The best part is that when you get a whip, you can use it in certain spots to swing over dangerous areas of swing through water. The speed of the side scrolling and your ability to deal with things pops up means that unless you’re not paying attention, you’ll probably be able to avoid most things.

One of my favorite levels thus far on the game is running from the boulder. With the boulder, there is a fair amount of luck involved as it is rolling after you and you are trying to avoid being squished. However, because you are running so close to the right edge of the screen (going right), you can’t see everything that is coming up, so you almost have to learn where the dangers are so that you can jump at the right times. Now, you probably won’t ever do it perfectly, but you can start to figure out when you might have to jump and what to look for. They only have the traps or monsters along the bottom of the screen and when it’s level. So it took a number of times to make it through it, but it was a blast trying to figure out exactly how to make it work.

Beyond the actual game play, which I like for it’s level of difficulty, there are some other interesting things. It really leans into the story with cut scenes in the game that are movie stills and then text showing up. That’s a fun feature to the game because you do get that story as compared to some of the other games where it just takes you from level to level. The fact that is part of the movie also makes it fun and makes it feel more thematically tied into the game. Add in a few voice acting cameos from Harrison Ford and Sean Connery there is a nice nostalgia to the game.

So, is this a game that is worth checking out? Grading this out, I would say that this game is a PLAY on the scale of buy, play, or pass. There’s a definite nostalgia to Indiana Jones that makes it really enjoyable and makes me glad that I bought it, but when thinking about it as compared to other side scrolling games like Super Mario Bros., Indiana Jones just isn’t as iconic a game for the genre. If you’re an Indiana Jones fan I think that this can definitely be a buy for you, but generally, I think it’s a fun one to play, and I’ll definitely get back to it, I’m still grinding through Final Fantasy.

Have you played this game back in the day or even recently? Have you tried any other Indiana Jones games, like the one for the NES which sells for around $120 now?

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Cartridge Capers

Is going to be a new series or articles that will come out from time to time as I play through classic NES/SNES games. I might make it through the whole game, and I might not. It’ll really depend on the game, because there are some poor ones out there. We’ll also get to learn about how well I can play these old games, and generally the answer will be not that well. I didn’t grow up on these systems so now I get to be a kid again and play through a lot of them for the first time.

Beyond that, why do I want to do this?

Reason #1 Because it’s kind of a crazy right now. Nintendo has put out their own retro systems, you can build or buy a RetroPie or you can find the old games.

For those who might want to do it, which would I recommend. Being a not to nostalgic, but liking to have the cartridges myself, I went with an option that isn’t fully up there. I have a RetroN gaming system from Hyperkin. It’s something that’s fairly new and fairly cool in that it allows me to play both NES and SNES games on the same system, and it has the unique controllers for both. However, I have played on the RetroPie as well, which is an emulator that can play basically any system with everything loaded onto it. It’s generally built on a Raspberry Pi micro computer. It’s also fun, and allows you not to have to buy specific games. However, you have a single controller for a lot of systems, so you do miss out on the feel.

Reason #2 I didn’t get to play these as a kid. Now that seems kind of goofy, why would I want to play them now? I grew up playing a number of computer games like Jazz Jackrabbit (which was awesome), other side scrolling platformers or side scrolling shooters but I didn’t have a gaming system. I don’t think I was a kid who really cared that much that I was missing out on that, but looking back on it, I want to know what I was missing out on, plus, I like that style of game a lot better than a fair number of modern games, because they can make me motion sick at times (the modern ones that is). It’s annoying.

I also like the idea of a game being “simple” enough that I can sit down and play for a few minutes without feeling like I have to learn a massive specific lore. I love games that do that, Dragon Age, for example, has tons of lore and adventure to it, but often times I like to get my stories through other mediums like TV Shows, Movies, and Books. So having a game that is easier to just play and have my brain turned off for, that’s great.

Reason #3 There’s an awesome little retro shop with retro video games, a lot of other off the wall stuff, and a big board game selection. So naturally I had to go and check it out. That’s where I stumbled across the RetroN system and decided that I should get one. Mainly because I could look at their selection and see games like Final Fantasy Mystic Quest, Super Mario, Teen Age Mutant Ninja Turtles, Chip & Dale Rescue Rangers, Ducktales, Mortal Kombat, and so many more. I’ve played some of those now, but I want to play even more.

Also, let me plug the shop a little bit. Heroic Goods and Games is an awesome little shop. I already said that, but I think I deserves to be repeated. The owner of the shop is really friendly and loves the shop. They almost always have a ton of inventory, in fact, they’ve had so much that you can go in there decently often and find that they are having a sale on retro video games. Put it’s the little store that you can come in and find whatever you want. Last time Kristen and I were in there, there was a family from Wisconsin who was in there, and they had been looking for things at larger game stores in Minneapolis and St. Paul but hadn’t been finding what they wanted. They had just stumbled across this place and were finding so many things and loving it. It’s a wonderful place to shop, and if you want to sell your old games, or maybe get even more old video games, they have a great selection. It’s a small town place in the heart of the big city, and it’s amazing.

I think those are good reasons to be wanting to do this, also it’s going to help me play through some of these games that it might take me a bit to get to otherwise. But the big question coming out of this, and check us out on Facebook/Twitter, what game should I play first? Facebook and Twitter will each have polls.

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