As mentioned in the vid, yes, Rocky's visuals are very impressive. I still think about those detailed sprites to this day. Also, the lighting effect after the bell rings is super cool. Props to the artists that worked on that title.
Holy g'damn, I'm impressed by the graphics in Rocky. It genuinely beats out low-end SNES/Genesis games, and this was from flippin' 1987?! Sheeesh. Even considering the limited gameplay, it's expertly crafted. Also, being Norwegian, I have to point out that The Living Daylights has one of the best Bond themes. So there.
Sega released the exact same game twice for two different controllers a few years later with Assault City, which came in pad and light gun variations (the light gun version is also super rare)
The Living Daylights is an underrated James Bond film. Nice to see it in eyecatch. Great Football reminds us that American football on console won't get good until Tecmo Bowl. And Rocky is OK, better than Ring King. Rocky films did give us some great music though. Rocky IV had two bangers in "Living in America" and "Hearts on Fire".
Weirdly though, the game uses absolutely no music from the films, not even in the title screen like Rambo's quite good rendition of Jerry Goldsmith's tune.
I played a lot of Great Football, so I would like to clarify an important point regarding the "formation select" screen and blitzing. You mention that sometimes the QB doesn't respond and just gets sacked. This is a "blitz". When playing 2 player, during the "formation select" screen, if the defending team presses the 2 button on the same play that the offensive team presses the 2 button, then that will initiate a blitz. There's no way to avoid it and the QB will always get sacked. During a 1 player game, this is also why the "formation select" screen is still shown when you're on defense, it gives you a chance to blitz the CPU on offense. When you're on offense, perhaps it's random, but the CPU seems to get an unfair number of blitzes during the game. I fondly remember my dad and I always making fake button press noises on various plays while secretly pressing the button on the actual play we want to run. It was probably 50% the fun of the game.
I loved Rocky. Well, for the Apollo fight. Then I got to Lang and I barely made it, and then Drago, I hated the training from that one so much I never got to get good at it and so I never beat him. It’s a fantastic tech demo of the console though, along with Wonder Boy it probably sold the console to me !
By the way, the only way I got to beat Lang was to win the speed bag game and then use only low punches that seemed to land more easily than high ones.
As others have mentioned, for the Lang fight you need to go with body blows. Combo that with mega fire and we were finally able to beat the game. For the Drago fight, it’s the same strategy as the Apollo fight, spam straight punches. It doesn’t work every time, but 3 out of 4 and you’ll see the end game as a champ. Got to experience this as a tike back in the day.
As a young child who grew up not knowing the rules to American football (and still really only grasping the absolute basics of the sport), Great Football was totally inscrutable. For some reason, the other team had more points than you at the start, you could pass, but you'd always miss, you could run forward but you'd get tackled immediately. And then the play selection came up, where my controls didn't appear to work at all, to which the point completely eluded me. 30-odd years on I can still hear the music in my head once in a while, though. I was also completely baffled by last episode's Ghostbusters as well, so maybe I was just a very stupid child.
I know you like the Old Tape Filter, but it really flushes out all the color. just a simple rant: I'll take my lashings in the comments lol Otherwise, I rather enjoy the Format & Artwork, well done!
9:03: "...Apollo Creed, or Carl Weathers, fresh from his supporting role in 'Rambo'." Did you mean Predator? Rocky IV? Either way, I really enjoy your videos. They've taught me a lot over the last few months.
Nah, that was a callback to my SMS Rambo video, where I speculated that the second player sprite was meant to be Carl Weathers who crossed over into Stallone's jungle from the one in Predator.
The game doesn’t look that great to play, but those Rocky visuals are easily the best looking home console visuals anywhere in early 1987, rivaling PC engine (not sure when in 87 that gets released)
Aaah a reference to Atari Football! One of the earliest arcade games that's really playable today. They should do an arcade rerelease! Sadly, the specific "they" who could do it is more interested in milking nostalgia dollars.
Lang you need to get with body blows. The first several times I played Rocky I thought you had no control of your character. Play it enough and you get comfortable enough and can beat the game in under 15 minutes. You need to over qualify on the trainings. Specifically the second one to be able to take out Drago. You can also skip the trainings if you want.
Great Football? Great googily moogily, that game sucked. I played a lot of football on the NES in that generation and this was far worse than any of the games on that console. I wasn’t expecting Tecmo Bowl but this made John Elway football look like a masterpiece. Rocky? Not great considering Punchout came out around the same time but I’ve played worse. The idea of having the training scenes in order to strengthen your character was a nice touch for a game of that era. Rocky was still a lot of fun into the early 90s simply because it was different from anything else available in that timeframe until you got to Buster Douglas Boxing (Final Blow). And despite having played the game for years, I never beat Drago. It didn’t help that the last mini game was one in which you have to hit Mickey’s hand wherever he wanted you to hit. Getting the right number of touches in the timeframe was damn near impossible, by design.
I was able to beat Drago…..but nailing that last training segment is damn near essential….And I mean flawless execution. Call it the boredom of a child …but I figured it out.
My dad's friend had an old arcade football machine with a trackball (old as in 1992)... a cocktail style table.. (edit, just found it).. Gridiron Fight. Man that was fun... way better than this Master System garbage.
![Panel de ’Pot: Great Soccer [JP] / Great Golf [JP] / Fushigi no Oshiro Pit Pot | Segaiden #039](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/5Bg89Qw-B6o/mqdefault.jpg)
As mentioned in the vid, yes, Rocky's visuals are very impressive. I still think about those detailed sprites to this day. Also, the lighting effect after the bell rings is super cool. Props to the artists that worked on that title.
Between the "Oh, great.... SPORTS" line and the Living Daylights clip, this is probably my favourite opening to one of your videos ever.
Holy g'damn, I'm impressed by the graphics in Rocky. It genuinely beats out low-end SNES/Genesis games, and this was from flippin' 1987?! Sheeesh. Even considering the limited gameplay, it's expertly crafted.
Also, being Norwegian, I have to point out that The Living Daylights has one of the best Bond themes. So there.
The Rocky movies are still great to watch. 😀👍🎮
Rocky looks like a cat against that speed bag 😅
Especially with the turbo on xD
Sega released the exact same game twice for two different controllers a few years later with Assault City, which came in pad and light gun variations (the light gun version is also super rare)
Hello yoooo
Loved Rocky. Actually wrote a GameFAQs FAQ for it over 20 years ago.
This reminds me what a revolutionary game Tecmo Bowl was
"Segaiden, ugh." - Jeremy Parish, 2023
Love the coverage of Atari X’s and O’s football.
I would love to play that once
The Living Daylights is an underrated James Bond film. Nice to see it in eyecatch. Great Football reminds us that American football on console won't get good until Tecmo Bowl. And Rocky is OK, better than Ring King. Rocky films did give us some great music though. Rocky IV had two bangers in "Living in America" and "Hearts on Fire".
Weirdly though, the game uses absolutely no music from the films, not even in the title screen like Rambo's quite good rendition of Jerry Goldsmith's tune.
No way Dalton was the crappiest Bond, even worse than George Lazenby
I played a lot of Great Football, so I would like to clarify an important point regarding the "formation select" screen and blitzing. You mention that sometimes the QB doesn't respond and just gets sacked. This is a "blitz". When playing 2 player, during the "formation select" screen, if the defending team presses the 2 button on the same play that the offensive team presses the 2 button, then that will initiate a blitz. There's no way to avoid it and the QB will always get sacked. During a 1 player game, this is also why the "formation select" screen is still shown when you're on defense, it gives you a chance to blitz the CPU on offense. When you're on offense, perhaps it's random, but the CPU seems to get an unfair number of blitzes during the game. I fondly remember my dad and I always making fake button press noises on various plays while secretly pressing the button on the actual play we want to run. It was probably 50% the fun of the game.
I loved Rocky. Well, for the Apollo fight. Then I got to Lang and I barely made it, and then Drago, I hated the training from that one so much I never got to get good at it and so I never beat him. It’s a fantastic tech demo of the console though, along with Wonder Boy it probably sold the console to me !
By the way, the only way I got to beat Lang was to win the speed bag game and then use only low punches that seemed to land more easily than high ones.
The only way I was ever able to beat Drago as a kid was with a turbo stick
As others have mentioned, for the Lang fight you need to go with body blows. Combo that with mega fire and we were finally able to beat the game. For the Drago fight, it’s the same strategy as the Apollo fight, spam straight punches. It doesn’t work every time, but 3 out of 4 and you’ll see the end game as a champ. Got to experience this as a tike back in the day.
As a young child who grew up not knowing the rules to American football (and still really only grasping the absolute basics of the sport), Great Football was totally inscrutable. For some reason, the other team had more points than you at the start, you could pass, but you'd always miss, you could run forward but you'd get tackled immediately. And then the play selection came up, where my controls didn't appear to work at all, to which the point completely eluded me. 30-odd years on I can still hear the music in my head once in a while, though.
I was also completely baffled by last episode's Ghostbusters as well, so maybe I was just a very stupid child.
I was looking away when I heard some familiar music - The Living Daylights!
I know you like the Old Tape Filter, but it really flushes out all the color. just a simple rant:
I'll take my lashings in the comments lol
Otherwise, I rather enjoy the Format & Artwork, well done!
What filter? Kids these days can’t recognize real VHS tape when they see it…
@@JeremyParish Probably got 10yrs on ya lol.
Then Go back in Time and fiX the LiGhtIng lol
Oh... so sorry, I didn't realize this was a memory issue thing. Best wishes.
So good! The AVGN Rocky elisode gives the best explanation of those controls. Thx!
I don't know what you're talking about, bro. I love SPORTS, especially the one with the ball. You know, that one. GO BEAVERS!!!
Another great episode Jeremy. Excuse the"great" pun, how about, another "excellent" episode, see, no joke bro.
I had this game as a kid. It took me so long to finally beat Drago. He's almost as tough as Tyson in P.O.
I could never beat drago even after winning the mini game preceding his fight. Well done!
@@johnmp3828 🙏
i had no idea rocky on master system was so good looking and fluid
9:03: "...Apollo Creed, or Carl Weathers, fresh from his supporting role in 'Rambo'."
Did you mean Predator? Rocky IV? Either way, I really enjoy your videos. They've taught me a lot over the last few months.
Nah, that was a callback to my SMS Rambo video, where I speculated that the second player sprite was meant to be Carl Weathers who crossed over into Stallone's jungle from the one in Predator.
I lost track how many episodes in a row there are zero mentions of xevious and tower of druaga, I miss those.
The game doesn’t look that great to play, but those Rocky visuals are easily the best looking home console visuals anywhere in early 1987, rivaling PC engine (not sure when in 87 that gets released)
PC Engine was released in Japan in October 87. Rocky was April 87
It looks like the Atari 2600 RealSports Football would still be your best bet for football in '87
Aaah a reference to Atari Football! One of the earliest arcade games that's really playable today. They should do an arcade rerelease! Sadly, the specific "they" who could do it is more interested in milking nostalgia dollars.
Surprised you made no mention of Street Fighter II, always thought the "Punch a Car" sections were borrowed from this game, or the movies at least.
Lang you need to get with body blows.
The first several times I played Rocky I thought you had no control of your character.
Play it enough and you get comfortable enough and can beat the game in under 15 minutes.
You need to over qualify on the trainings. Specifically the second one to be able to take out Drago.
You can also skip the trainings if you want.
I love Great Rocky
Great Football? Great googily moogily, that game sucked.
I played a lot of football on the NES in that generation and this was far worse than any of the games on that console.
I wasn’t expecting Tecmo Bowl but this made John Elway football look like a masterpiece.
Rocky? Not great considering Punchout came out around the same time but I’ve played worse. The idea of having the training scenes in order to strengthen your character was a nice touch for a game of that era.
Rocky was still a lot of fun into the early 90s simply because it was different from anything else available in that timeframe until you got to Buster Douglas Boxing (Final Blow).
And despite having played the game for years, I never beat Drago. It didn’t help that the last mini game was one in which you have to hit Mickey’s hand wherever he wanted you to hit. Getting the right number of touches in the timeframe was damn near impossible, by design.
I was able to beat Drago…..but nailing that last training segment is damn near essential….And I mean flawless execution. Call it the boredom of a child …but I figured it out.
5:27 meanwhile, on screen, there are four defenders chasing you and, immediately after you break diagonally, they tackle you 🤷♂️
My dad's friend had an old arcade football machine with a trackball (old as in 1992)... a cocktail style table.. (edit, just found it).. Gridiron Fight. Man that was fun... way better than this Master System garbage.
Count me as another who could beat lang but not drago.
Go Boomers!