Look who's Gakken: Mr. Bomb / Robotan Wars / Chitaikuu Daisakusen | NES Works Gaiden (Gakken) 57
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- Опубліковано 29 вер 2024
- Big thanks this episode to Seth Robinson (rtsoft.com) for helping me to secure a complete copy of the elusive Robotan Wars!
Our second foray into the epic odyssey that is the Gakken TV Boy brings us three-three!-games in a single painful blow. Well, I guess not totally painful. Admittedly, I can't imagine anyone would actively seek out these three titles in the modern day and age unless they were doing something deranged like trying to cover the entirety of the Gakken TV Boy library in video form, but these cartridges do at least contain competently programmed code... which is more than you can say for many other carts we've look at here.
Mr. Bomb puts an interesting (and ultimately hopeless) spin on Activision's Kaboom! (or maybe Atari's Avalanche?). Robotan Wars does its best to clone Robotron 2084 on wildly inadequate hardware. And finally, there's an actual licensed adaptation of Konami's Super Cobra that, for some bizarre reason, appears under a completely different title. Gakken really didn't seem especially fussed about setting themselves up for success with this console, or so it would appear.
Production notes:
Video Works is funded via Patreon ( / gamespite ) - support the show and get access to every episode up to two weeks in advance of its UA-cam debut! Plus, bonus videos, eBooks, and more!
TV Boy footage recorded from original hardware, modded for S-Video output by Christa Lee of Sound Retro Co. NES/Famicom footage captured from @analogueinc Nt Mini; SG-1000 footage recorded from Analogue Mega Sg Video; arcade footage generally captured from a MiSTer. All capture upscaled to 720 with an xRGB Mini Framemeister.
I'd guess Mr. Bomb's antagonist started as human, but after the in-game representation ended up looking more like a Frankenstein's Monster, the artist ran with the idea.
I got a NES cartridge version of the homebrew port of Beat ‘em and Eat ‘em… What I assumed was the only other Kaboom on the platform.
I saw the title of this episode, and I said to myself, "There's no way he can top the incredible pun in the title," and then after THE VIDEO'S OPENING SENTENCE, I said to myself, "Jeremy's still got it."
I don't have kids, so all of my Dad Energy is concentrated into bad puns
Kaboom! is probably my favorite 2600 game, I loved it growing up. A few years ago I stumbled across Atari's Avalanche (1978) arcade game, but nothing compares to the frenzy of Kaboom! though when the game really gets going!
The avatar in Robotron kind of looks like a piece of bacon.
My god, was there really no other choice in background colors besides eye-searing neon green? My color vision is messed up now just from watching these clips. I can't imagine playing these for more than a few minutes without wanting to tear out my eyes.
I assure you that these games look like hell even on an old CRT
You're really driving the point home as for why nobody talks about this thing. Sheesh.
At least there's some soul in these. Mr. Bomb in particular seems like an honest attempt by those nameless programmers to squeeze something cool out of this handlebar and that's something to remember in the history books.
Yeah it really feels like the developers were struggling uphill the whole time.
Didn't you say that the TV Boy had similar capabilities to the Tandy CoCo? 'Cause the CoCo had its own share of Scramble/Super Cobra clones, some of which like Whirlybird Run and Sea Dragon looked a lot better than Chitaikuu Daisakusen.
Yay! Bonus Works video to temporarily cure my Sunday boredom.
Daisakusen best translates as "operation", since sakusen is strategy/tactic and normally in a military context. "Dai" in this context increases its scope, so it's similar to a military operation.
Also daibouken is what is typically "great adventure"
I was Gakken at those colors. It’s a cheap and dull joke and I know why they had to use such a limited color palette but my goodness.
Thank you sir, your videos are masterpieces.
Wait what's a TV boy?
It's short for "television." And don't call me "boy."
🤣
Cat's Eye song in the eyecatch, nice. Interesting that the TV Boy had a few Western game knockoffs, Kaboom! and Robotron 2084 are definitely good material to try and imitate. And good for TV Boy for pulling off a better Konami port than SG-1000 did.
Kaboom is an iconic game, but we played the hell out of Eggomania.
Isn't that the guy Sonic the Hedgehog fights?
Chitaikuu Daisakusen looks like it's running off of BASIC code.
"Avoid missing bomb for high score." Ha, I see what you did there.
I'll be awaiting with bated breath to hear your next dad pun about "Gakken"-don't disappoint me!
The little ditties in Robotan Wars are super catchy and earworms on their own.
Ooh, nice sunday night drop.
Really surprised Mr. Bomb is not a mouse.
So that's what that play-video that was uploaded some time ago was all about. I had actually never heard of Kaboom before this video, and witnessing the efforts of these Gakken-developers to make their experiences happen on their little box (and have them be semi-decent experiences at that!) is impressive. A fine histort-lesson, this.
Those games were painful to watch. Games were very crude back then. Even as a kid, someone got me a Ping console. Played it once. Me and my older brother laughed at it. Nintendo was the thing. Anything before NES and Master System never appeared to me
If you think this super cobra port sucks you clearly haven’t played it on odyssey 2
10:44 Right from ...what? I must know! j/k
That Mr Bomb cover artwork rules