Hidden NES Gems Part One

I have been buying random NES titles lately and decided it is well overdue for me to compile a list of kick ass hidden gems. The Nintendo's library is vast and for every Super Mario 3, there is ten Dick Tracy's waiting to make you regret playing video games in the first place. Here are some of my favorite hidden gems, that are worth blowing money on and blowing cartridges over...

River City Ransom- Do you like beating people up with random objects? This is the grand dad of Final Fight style beat'ems and it has plenty of the aforementioned activity. The game involves two dudes attempting to rescue their girlfriends from a geek named "Slick." Along the way you fight random gangs, and exchange strange dialogue like "Barf" with various thugs. It is campy and fun. River City Ransom also has some weird ( and funny) RPG elements like buying items and getting nude spa treatments. Don't miss this one, it needs to be in any self respecting gamer's library.Clash at Demonhead- While this game has a super hardcore title, it is actually about a dude trying to stop a mad scientist. The game play is all about platforming, shooting stuff, and collecting power ups to reach new areas. The controls work well and the graphics are nice and colorful. It should have been a classic like Mega Man or Castlevania, but for some reason it remains in total obscurity. On a personal note, when I beat this game, the cartridge stopped working entirely and has never worked again.Faxanadu- This Zelda 2 clone is pretty awesome. Your character starts out looking like a homeless version of Jesus but you slowly gain armor and cool weapons to improve your stats and appearance. The story is fairly generic, but the game play is right on target. The password system is a pain in the ass however. This game can be found for super cheap, so I highly recommend it. Did I mention that the soundtrack is amazingly good?
Capcom Disney games- Ducktales, Little Nemo, and Rescue Rangers, etc. are all fantastic platformers for the NES. Each game captures the spirit of Disney and the wonderful game play of Capcom. I know Disney doesn't exactly bring the best gaming memories to mind, but these are all worthwhile titles. I would actually rank Ducktales and Little Nemo as some of the best NES games ever. Don't pass on these gems, every collector or true gamer needs these games in their collection.
That is a short list of NES hidden gems. I will continue this another day with even more obscure games like Shatterhand that rock your face off.

BlazBlue and Deathsmiles Fan Art

Aksys is bringing two big releases this summer: BlazBlue CS and Deathsmiles. I am super excited for both titles. Here is some nice Pixiv fan art to pay tribute to their upcoming arrivals. Only six days till Deathsmiles, look for a review to follow.

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In unrelated news, Team USA is kicking ass in the World Cup. Go America! Go soccer! I will be drinking and cheering them on Saturday then possibly rioting if we lose :-p

Top Six Cheapest Fighting Game Bosses

I love fighting games. One aspect of fighting games I hate are cheap ass end bosses. In the old days these bastards were created to take unsuspecting arcade customer's quarters, but more recently they seem to exist simply to annoy the player. I figured it would be fun to assemble a list of the cheapest bosses and talk about just why they are so freakin' lame to fight in the first place.

6. Azazel (Tekken 6) - Tekken bosses can be cheap with projectiles and flying abilities, but the 6th installment's boss takes the cake. Azazel, a huge crystal dragon, stands between you and complete victory. Why is he so cheap? For starters he blocks all the time; when you do manage to hit him the AI makes him vanish before suddenly popping out of the other side of the screen to kick the shit out of you. He has a devastating projectile attack and he does insane damage with frame stealing combos. Why the hell are you fighting a giant dragon anyway?
5. Onslaught (Marvel vs. Capcom) The original Marvel vs. Capcom took the idea of making a two part boss and going nuts with it, standard versus series fare. The two part boss is named Onslaught, a mixture of Magneto and Professor X gone apeshit. His first form teleports around firing lasers that are impossible to avoid. If you make it through that nonsense, then you will see his screen-filling second form. In this form he rains downs super attacks constantly and tries to crush you with his giant hand. He can be handled fairly easily with some heavily projectile based characters like Mega Man, but good luck with Zangief or the Hulk. He is very cheap and unbalanced, but he is from the Versus series...
4. Igniz (King of Fighters 2001) - SNK has always been notorious for cheap bosses. Igniz should earn a prize, because his fight takes cheapness to a new level. He is hard as hell to damage, his normal combos do massive damage, and if his super hits you just go ahead and kiss your ass goodbye. He can destroy a three man team in no time, and the continue bonus of "boss starts with 1/3 health" doesn't really make him any easier to kill. For fun download him for MUGEN, he puts almost every fighter to shame.
3. Gill (Street Fighter 3: Third Strike) - Gill is a self-proclaimed god. He also looks pretty cool aside from the fact he is barely clothed. However, his cool factor is negated to due some really cheap tricks he can pull. Since Gill is a deity, he can resurrect himself from the dead with one super move. I can't tell you how many times I beat him only to watch him come back to life to beat me instead. He also has a super move where he sprouts wings and delivers a super devastating rainbow attack that takes about 90% of your health bar and is unblockable. Good luck maintaining your sanity after losing a few rounds to Gill.
2. I-no (Guilty Gear XX) - I-no has two forms. One is the selectable form for players to choose on the selection screen. The other form is the hell bitch boss that looks the same as usual but gets a dramatic new move. In her boss form, I-no gets a punishing super attack that even shows a flashing warning on the screen prior to her using it. If she lands the attack, you are dead. Your only option is landing an instant kill on her prior to her getting the attack off on your character. It is much easier said than done.
1. Shin Akuma (Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo) - Akuma is a tough guy in his normal form, but when he shows his true power, watch out! Shin Akuma teleports constantly, has move priority over almost everything, and his super move is pretty much an instant kill. He is super fast and the AI is so cheap it seems like it knows your moves before you even can use them. Shin Akuma is the secret boss and he has tough requirements before he appears, but if you see him rush M. Bison on the final stage, get ready for the fight of your life.

Here are some runner ups that can be really frustrating as well:
Alpha 152 (Dead or Alive 4)
Geese Howard (Real Bout Fatal Fury)
Omega Rugal (King of Fighters series)
Goenitz (King of Fighters 96)
Magaki (King of Fighters XI)
Justice (original Guilty Gear)
V-13 (BlazBlue)