Fun fact I learned in Greek mythology class! Astyanax was a baby someone threw off the top of a fortress during the Trojan War. More relevant is that Demon Sword was a sequel to Legend of Kage, which in turn got a sequel on the Nintendo DS. It's not all that similar to the first two games, but at least it looks nice.
I thought the gameplay looked familiar! I only ever played Legend of Kage. The game was short. That's so cool that sequels exist! I gotta track em down!
Yes, Astyanax was the son of Hector, the greatest Trojan warrior. After Hector was slain and had his corpse disgraced when Achilles drug it around the walls, Astyanax was thrown off the walls during the sack of Troy to help ensure that Hector's lineage would not survive. Brutal.
Jess Ragan dam you are all kinds of loose end mending. Who knew? You knew it seems. Now was that supposed to be a ‘good’ thing to be tossed off the fortress?? Is this guy the equivalent of the hunchback in 300???
I bought Astyanax based solely on the fact it had (I saw in Nintendo Power) big 'arcade sized' sprites (plus Nintendo Power seemed to promote it). I wasn't disappointed. I only recently learned it was first an arcade game.
2600 to SNES? That's a huge jump, and a long wait! When I was a kid we had the 2600, which was... fine. And then a 7800 which, aside from being a nearly useless upgrade, is actually one of my favorite old consoles from a design perspective. And then we had the NES. And I think that's why my mother vowed to never buy us another game console ever again after the NES, she was probably getting sick of spending decent money on those things that we always asked for for Christmas. Thankfully, my grandma was vying for our love and bought us the SNES for Christmas the year it came out! And then later I bought a used N64 from Gamestop right after launch for a staggeringly good price of $130. Eventually my mom broke her promise and bought me a Dreamcast for Christmas in 1999 (it was THE ONLY thing I wanted, so she really had no choice), like a full month before Christmas and so I promptly stealth opened the wrapped present fully knowing what it was and played it for hours before putting it back as if it had never been touched. Good times. I wish more of these games saw 16-bit sequels. I would have especially loved to see a SNES version of the first Ninja Turtles game, without all the ridiculous quirks. I love and hate that game simultaneously. Great video, thanks!
It was a massive jump, going from games where your character is a friggin square (Adventure) to playing SMW. I did play plenty of NES though, but it was usually the same games over and over, stuff like Mega Man 2 and 3, SMB3, LoZ, Arch Rivals, RBI Baseball, Tecmo Bowl, etc
@@bes03c Nope. I learned that from my oldest brother. My mom would typically buy presents early and then hide them up until like a week before Christmas, but we always knew where she hid them. I would very carefully remove the tape on one side and slide the box out of the wrapping paper, then when I was done just very carefully put it back together so that the tape lined up where it originally was, like I hadn't even opened it.
At first I thought it was a God of War rip-off but turns out it came out a couple of years BEFORE God of War! So... I guess God of War ripped off Rygar. Huh.
Destiny of an Emperor was one of the best RPGs for the NES, so many different parties you could make and the quick battle system! too bad the 3rd one that came out in Japan for the Super Famicom ditched that formula for a 3 kingdoms clone gameplay
Thank you, snesdrunk. For taking time out of YOUR day to make these short entertaining videos about old school video games! I always look forward to this!
Little Samson was a top 3 best platformer in NES history which only flaw was to be launched less than a year before all support ended for the console, making it an overlooked title because everyone already moved on to 16 bit pastures. An open world 2D sequel in the SNES would have been fantastic because all ideas implemented in the first game (which were a lot) could have had room to shine properly. The "art" systems of titles like Kick Master or Wrath of the Black Manta (where you basically overpower your character by giving them different ways to defeat their enemies) could also benefit of bigger and longer environments to show themselves, so I think those would be good candidates as well. Thanks for the video, man. Your ideas were spot on. Have a great rest of your day :)
Astyanax was one of my favorites as a kid. Now I'll never not think of it as a prescription medication. "Side effects of Astyanax may include slowdown and worrying your parents. If your weapon is fully charged for more than 4 hours, see a doctor." One thing I LOVED about it was (spoiler warning for a game likely older than people reading this) that the girl Astyanax ends up with in the end is actually Cutie, his fairy companion. I thought that was sweet, that they actually became friends during the adventure because too often in these games its "He saved the Princess and they lived happily ever after despite having just met" (looking at you, Zelda). Cutie was a character you got to know and it was a fun touch.
I’m pretty much in awe of your consistent and large volume of quality work. Not a lot of people in the world can boast having finished this much artistry in their life.
W.U.R.M. has some awkward memories for me. I got it for Christmas and of course immediately proceeded to play it. 6 hours later, I had beat the game. My mom noticed that I wasn't playing my game the next day though and asked me why. After finding out I had already beat it, she was mad that I could have just rented the game instead. For fear of my mother boycotting video game presents, I told her there was still some secrets in the game I hadn't found yet. So for like 6 months, I kept playing the game, borderline speed-running it, to keep my Mom happy (and my game collecting safe).
And thanks for taking time out of YOUR day to make part 3 of NES games that should have had sequels on the Super Nintendo. ;) Good video btw and selection of games. DoTE is actually one of my favorite RPGs (it's simple but fun) on the NES and got me into RoTK tbh. Wish we could have had part 2 localized here but oh well. SNES sequel would have been awesome.
What I like about Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom is that you don’t have any idea how you exactly look like in the game at first but the first section shows the shadow of your long head. Trying to imagine a brave and stalwart warrior with a head like that just sets the mood for this game.
Ooh yeah! I love Demon Sword. I got a used copy of it as a gift back in the day. I didn't have the manual, so I had to experiment a little before I figured it out. But once you get it it's a pretty easy but enjoyable 30 min to finish it. The trick is to level up your HP by collecting as many of the black circle and red circle power-ups that enemies randomly drop, and stock up on special attacks and increase your throwing star range and strength by going through the doors and collecting items and defeating the guardian bosses inside. Your sword range and strength automatically improve as each stage is completed (except the last one, of course). It also had an excellent soundtrack that was somewhat reminiscent of Ninja Gaiden.
heck yea Ninja Turtles was a great game, but real rough probably due to being released so early in the NES lifetime. The formula and design was fantastic, where a sequel on NES or SNES would've perfected everything.
Oh man, I would’ve LOVED a SNES sequel to Rygar and Princess Tomato! Thanks for your video, and I hope you have a great rest of your day! Your channel is the best.
Also Astayanlmnopax is a perfect candidate for a rom patch. Did you see the sonic bonus level patch where they smoothed out the rotation????? If it had been that smooth back in the day we would have freaked but what we got was ‘obviously not mode7’.
I also went right from atari to snes in 1991. My family was poor so i have no idea how they afforded the system. And we mostly rented games. But i’ll never forget that christmas.
as a teenager. I was so much in love with Rygar I told myself I would have made a homebrew sequel if I became a programmer..that never happened,but maybe someone else who is could make something like that as homebrew on the snes appears to be growing. I heard that the lead programmer for Legendary Axe is the same person who did Astyanax on the NES as well. don't know his name,but as both titles,flawed and all, I still adore the hell out of those titles.
Haha, I have played/owned/seen footage of exactly 1 of these games, TMNT (tho I've heard about all)! Demon swords jump reminds me of The Legend of Kage. Thanks for another fun video Drunk! Good "what ifs." I bet you've thought "what if [age appropriate you] I was in charge of what games got sequels?"
I completely forgot about Astyanax! I used to own it! This is why I love your videos! BTW I told a friend of mine at work about your channel. So I hope he checks it out!
Wow these games look awesome! The graphics on Astyanax look really impressive for the NES and the overpowered abilities of the character in Demon Sword reminds me of the Monkey King from Journey to the West. And then there are the games that combine different genre styles and it blows my mind that games like that existed on the NES.
I feel that game should have been a lot longer. Then again, most early Game Boy games looked like they were designed to be played and beaten in less than an hour.
Destiny of an Emperor is part of the Tenchi wo Kurau series and it got another NES game that was never released here but DID get a fan translation (I have a repro of it), some Game Boy games (not sure if fanlated), and an SNES game (not sure if translated). Capcom also did two arcade beat-'em-ups, the first (Dynasty Wars in arcade) one got a JP only PC Engine CD port, and the second one (Warriors of Fate) got JP only ports on the Saturn and PS1, but it also was included in the recent Beat em Up Bundle. Check out the SNES game if you want another RPG, and if there's no fanlation, at least you can play the second NES game translation.
The first Turtles game had a sort of follow up, the third game for the Gameboy featured a very similar gameplay, but with more Metroid elements. Game was solid and fun IIRC.
The Krion Conquest was one of those games I rented once and NEVER forgot about it! Being a HUGE Megaman fan, I actually appreciated the changes made to the formula and loved that it was not hiding that it was a "rip-off". In turn, Capcom also "borrowed" from this game: Megaman didn't start charging his Buster Cannon until AFTER this game allowed you to do it. Apparently, the Japanese release (Magical Doropie) had quite a decent story that was all but scrapped for the overseas release...😒 I'm sure there's a fan translation of it running around...
Solid choices all around, I think the G.I. Joe games could have received a decent sequel on the SNES, the only issue there is timing since that franchise had lost a lot of steam by the early 90's, but from a game play perspective, that 16 bit polish would have made an amazing sequel. Another game that I think could benefit from a 16 bit polish would be Trojan. A weird choice, because it's a rough arcade port and it's very tough, but I think you could give it the Ninja Warriors treatment and turn it into a very serviceable side scrolling beat-em-up, and the dystopian atmosphere would have be much better fleshed out with some aesthetic improvements on the SNES.
Hi SnesDrunk! I also had an Atari and went straight into Snes, but It was in 1999 hahaha. To see how expensive games always were here in Brazil. My first game was River Raid, and my first Snes game was Top Gear.
Why is TMNT remembered as notorious? It stayed on Nintendo Power's top 30 for over a year! I think it's one of the best games on the console, with possibly my favorite soundtrack, different strategic approaches, and the perfect level of difficulty, just under the Ninja Gaiden/Battletoads/Ghosts 'n Goblins tier.
NES titles that needed a SNES follow up: - Vice: Project Doom - Batman: Return of the Joker - Golgo 13: The Mafat Conspiracy - Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers (four player!) - The Wrath of Black Manta
For those that don't know, Romance of the Three Kingdoms is the same universe as Dynasty Warriors, which means Destiny of an Emperor is part of that universe.
I loved the original TMNT so much when it came out. I must have been like 8. Despite its RIDICULOUS difficulty i played it so much I could eventually get to the last level consistently, but I never beet it.
I did, with all 4 turtles... and I'll never be able to do it again. So many times I reached the Technodrome, but only actually beat it and got inside the one time. Once inside... I made a mad crazy dash, dodging almost every single enemy in a zig-zag corridor scheme, and only killing what blocked my path. Eventually I reached Shredder, and with my adrenaline beyond pumping, I beat him with Leo solo... never switched to the other 3... never will happen again.
TMNT had sort of a spin off on the PC called TMNT The Manhattan Missions. I say "sort off" as it still had quite some elements not seen in the NES game (that also appeared on home computers) such as some minor puzzle elements and there was a bit more focus on various combat moves. The game is also rather small compared to the NES game. Oh the jumping was also pretty terrible. I would like to have seen a follow up to that game with more missions and longer levels.
I was a kid who went straight from Nintendo Virtual Boy to N64. My father got the former console as a gift with much of the library in 1995 making it the perfect Trojan horse into my home thus helping end my mom’s no game policy
The NES Japan-only sequel to Destiny of an Emperor has a translation patch. Both games also have patches available that change the game to be about the Wei or Shu campaigns Astyanax looks to be more ambitious than the hardware would have ever allowed; with the NES only being able to generate 8 sprite blocks per scanline, getting those kinds of graphics without flicker would have necessitated halving the framerate and letting the system double-render each frame
Astyanax is quite easy you can do it. I can beat it without dying now. Just don't rush. You also have unlimited continues which is quite forgiving. Just take your time because there are monsters that will pop up and cheap shot you during a jump. Also on the stage Marshy, the time stop magic is your best friend.