Little Nemo, Dream Master

It was 1905, a simpler time. A young boy had only his thoughts and dreams to play with. Nemo's parental figures forced Nemo to sleep, on threat of what can only be imagined. Being summoned by the Princess of Dreamland, Nemo entered into a creative dream world encompassing such lands as the Mushroom Forest, the Flower Garden, and the House of Toys.

Armed with only candy, Nemo fed lizards, frogs, bees, moles and the occasional hermit crab in order to hitch a ride to his destination. After seven levels of what can only be described as "jolly frolicking," Nemo found Princess Camille and discovered her intent. The evil Dream Master wanted to permanently end good dreams and replace them with nightmares and she needed a hero.

With pure intentions, Nemo battled flames, bottomless pits, rabid bats and crazed machinery on his way to meeting the Dream Master in a showdown of epic proportions. Armed with the magical sceptre, a gift from the Princess, Nemo squared off with three evolutions of the Dream Master, finally conquering his laser guided ammunition and projectiles with the hidden power of the sceptre.

As a reward, the King intended to crown the young conqueror as Prince. Nemo, however, humbly declined the invitation out of loyalty to his family. Instead, as a reward, the Princess embraced Nemo and poured all of her gratitude and love into one majestic kiss. The blimp flies calmly past the moon.

I am grateful for the opportunity to aid Nemo in his pursuits as my wife, daughter and son are away for the evening to Grandma and Grandpa's house. Video game play is getting few and far between as I grow into fatherhood.

This game is a solid 7 out of 10. It is very challenging, but short enough to be able to feel accomplished at beating each level. The controls are precise and leave the player happy with the overall game play. Graphics are cartoonish, but just right for a game such as this. As I type, I can't help but hear the soundtrack to the game replaying. From level to level it is as good of a soundtrack as exists for Nintendo, but listening to the opening credits greater than twenty times consecutively is not recommended. As of now, I am adding a new method of rating Nintendo games that is very self-serving, the daughter compatibility method. My daughter would love this game due to its cartoonish style and the moving around of the players/enemies. There is also a funny typo in the credits as you can see in the final picture.

After a quick Autumn in the trenches with an under-performing football team, hopefully the Winter leads to a few more games being checked off the list. Looking back, it was also a very slow summer for NES, playing and acquiring games. It does not seem like the Nintendo was played once this summer, and only two games were added to the collection. Life.

Tecmo Super Bowl 

When motivation meets opportunity, amazing feats are possible; today was such a day. After a 4-day vacation to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, the family and I returned to a sweltering 100+ degree house at about 11:00 p.m. We all fell asleep almost immediately as the air conditioning stumbled to life in order to aid our faltering bodies. I awoke at about 8:30 by myself in the basement and found two surprises. The first surprise was "the opportunity" - Sophia (she's 2.5 years old now...holy smokes) was taken to day care by Mom. The second surprise was "the motivation" - a package, sitting on the front stoop; a little brown box from a long lost friend (many adventure/fantasy movies begin much like this); in the box was a shirt; a relatively simple shirt; it was a plain grey/black cotton t-shirt with a picture of the NES controller. This package also contained a note; it said "Play some Tecmo for me". Well, Ryan Carrigan, consider it done. Fourteen hours later, kids and wife put to sleep, '90s alternative music playing in the background, the Super Bowl Champs, the San Fransisco 49ers, 19-0.

There are many ways to play Tecmo; when more time was available, each alternative strategy was tested thoroughly. The strategy used today was to dominate with the 49ers passing game; yes it is common opinion that this is cheating. The first eight games were limited to Joe Montana and Jerry Rice; the only other players to touch the ball were kick/punt/fumble returners. Going in to game eight, the NFL Leaders board developed an apparent glitch; it seemed to error on Montana and on Rice. One more game was needed to test the theory that an error had occurred. Half way through game eight, Joe Montana got hurt and Steve Young got called in for back up duty for the rest of the regular season. Rice caught eleven touchdown passes that game, ten from Montana. After the game, the error was confirmed; Montana's and Rice's statistics had limited out. It appears that neither the yards nor the touchdowns added on to the stats. With this knowledge, the season's strategy was modified. The second half of the season, Steve Young to John Taylor was the only connection. The goal was to get two quarterbacks and two receivers statistics limited out. It did not happen. The second half of the season is much tougher than than the first; however, if Rice's and Montana's statistics were transfered over from that eighth game to Young and Taylor, it would have been achievable. Once the playoffs rolled in, the only goal was a very passive attempt  to get everybody into the endzone. It was close, but the tight ends couldn't make it; each got tackled on the one-yard-line.

Some fun statistics mounted up and as the season went along. The top three sackers, each with over 30 were Charles Haley (39), Bill Romanowski (36), and Ronnie Lott(33). The top scorers were 1st place - Rice (63+ at least 10 touchdowns, unofficial because of glitch, 378 points), 2nd place - John Taylor 52 touchdowns, 312 points) and 7th place - Mike Cofer 131 extra points. The total defense was 240 yards allowed. The best game was against the Vikings; the hatred must shine through; Score 88-0, Montana to Rice 808 yards. The first game of the season was a similar one, but just really got the team off to a great start. It was disappointing that the offense couldn't score 1000 points in the season.

The playoff brackets were very nostalgic. It seemed to represent football before it was thoroughly corrupted by Paul Tagliabue and furthermore by Roger Goodell. The playoffs were a breeze as the 49ers and the Raiders dueled it out in the Super Bowl. It was not very much of a duel. Bo Jackson was overhyped. He never busted a run for more than a couple yards. It was rather unfortunate to see the best running back ever stifled in the biggest game of his career. The 49ers defense was as good as advertised and the offense was unstoppable.

Tecmo Super Bowl remains the best football video game of all time. The multiplayer is fantastic, the statistics are organized and simple. The gameplay is challenging and fun. The parity amongst teams keeps all of the teams competitive and games unpredictable.

Thank you again Ryan for getting my priorities straightened out. Teachers shouldn't be this busy in the summer.