California Games (NES) Playthrough - NintendoComplete
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 18 พ.ย. 2024
- A playthrough of Milton Bradley's 1989 sports game for the NES, California Games.
The Tokyo Olympics are nearly over, and I thought that it would be a shame to let them pass without doing something.
And while California Games isn't an Olympics game, it carries the torch in the most American way possible circa 1987. It features six "events" loosely tied together by its California theme, and it features several popular at-the-time brands that gave off a California... vibe, I guess?
It started life as an Apple II and Commodore 64 game, and over the next several years it was ported across most 8 and 16-bit platforms. The 1989 NES conversion was developed by Rare at the height of their 8-bit console crunch when they were producing a new title every six weeks or so.
It was a huge success on virtually every platform it shipped for, and somehow, most of those ports - NES version included - were great. There's a good reason why an entire generation of kids the world over still harbor so many nostalgic feelings for it.
The events:
Half pipe 0:31
Footbag (Hackey Sack) 2:05
Surfing 3:53
Skating 5:46
BMX 7:49
Flying Disc 10:04
It's funny, as a kid, I seem to remember having several friends that owned this one, but I don't remember anyone ever being good at it. The controls were always a bit too overwrought for their own good. (Surfing, anyone?) Since no one ever seemed to consider consulting the manual, we'd always stumble through, each of us praying that we'd mash the buttons slightly more effectively than everyone else who was playing.
But it was always a blast. I remember getting such a kick out of discovering the Axel Foley footbag move and how to not immediately wipe out during surfing.
The graphics and sound are fine, though nothing special (unless you count the Louie, Louie cover at the title screen), but the aesthetic does an amazing job at capturing the spirit of the 1980s in 8-bit video game form.
So who else out there has memories of playing this for hours with your siblings/buddies?
I've also done a couple of other related games if you're interested:
California Games (Sega Genesis): • California Games (Gene...
California Games 2 (SNES):
• California Games II (S...
Winter Games (NES):
/ kmpd1yhnf
World Games (NES):
• World Games (NES) Play...
_____________
No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
NintendoComplete (www.nintendocom...) punches you in the face with in-depth reviews, screenshot archives, and music from classic 8-bit NES games!
California Games is such a nostalgic throwback. Anyone else have memories of sitting around with friends wiping out over and over again because nobody knew the controls? 🤣
@@Dorian_Scott surfing on atari lynx has good controls
Haha yep! The music is banging though
I never knew anyone who had the book for this. All my friends who had an NES had a copy, but just the cartridge in that black sleeve they sat in. No box, and no explanation of how to play the darn thing. And yet still a blast.
But do you remember the Captain N episode with this? Kevin’s high school got brought into Game Land, and meeting the quarterback of his high school football team, Kevin was able to get the football team to accept N-team members for the game against Dr. Wily. Why? Instead of California Games, the game to decide was Football. Wily used the Mega Man II robot squad for it.
@@doomusrlc Eh, I find the music in this game pretty dull and forgettable.
We’re all about to turn 40, aren’t we
Just did ✋️ lol
31 goin on 32 here.....take me back to the 90s🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼
One year left lol
Yepp. I’ll be 40 April 22 2024. I love this game though. Magical nostalgia
41
Dam i remember this game and that music rang in my head still to this day
I use to spend hours playing this game as a kid! My younger days I had no idea how to play the game… Then when I got a little older I figured out the controllers. This was also one of those games that just showed up one day in my NES collection. I had no idea where it came from, but it was apart of my collection!
Even when my brothers and I finally figure out how to start doing tricks on the half pipe, then later doing what we thought was it, we would crash again? We were so frustrated lol but loved the music. We ended up taping paper to our tv and acting like the disc throwing was a UFO flying.
All of us just went back to our childhood watching/listening to this. ❤
I forgot all about this game. My mind is blown back in time seeing this and hearing the music. Awesome!!
Getting the indicator to line up correctly in the flying disk event always drove me nuts lol
I just brought this game to relive my childhood 😢
So much nostalgia with this game play! Had a lot of fun sessions with friends and have to agree that the controls weren't that intuitive but didn't slow us down!
I still randomly hum along to the BMX song to this day.
BMX and flying disk were my favorite, just for the atmosphere.
That skating stage was beyond frustrating. Girl tripped on ANYTHING.
It was the funniest wipeout of the game though 😂
@@adamcolbertmusic imho it was dude on the bike in the BMX stage when he crashed.
@@briantaylor9285 I forgot about that one! The superman face dive IS really good! Another good one is the woman diving to catch the discus.
the music alone brought me back. Damn I feel old now :D
Dude, this was one of the first Nintendo games I ever played. So much feels.
I still remember the music by heart. I havnt played this in… oh… 24 years, and I still remember it exactly.
Bro, it's New Years day and this shit pops into my head. WTF. Taking me back to being 12 years old bro!
I remember playing this many many moons ago.
The main menu music of this game till nowadays comes to my mind in random moments
one of the greatest games ever. all thanks to the uploader of this fantastic and fun game for nes. I remember as a kid playing this and being in awe that I lived 20 minutes away from Santa Cruz 😎
Omg I played this game SO MUCH when I was kid!
0:13: programmer Paul Proctor, graphic artist Kevin Bayliss and employee (and childhood friend of Louise Stamper) Rachel M. Edwards, the people on the high score table!
Ah the sweet memories.. As myself and my friends called it.. Cal games.. Cal games 2 was also really good
The timing of this is amazing. I saw a reel on Instagram just now of a lady waterskiing and then she lets go and just starts sinking. I'm like, this reminds me of this NES game. It's been over 20 years since I heard this music 😅
Over 30 years for me.
@@STEJTHEGREATEST I'm not even 30 yet 🤭 But I miss those games man!
I’m gonna get it
I’m gonna get it
I’m gonna get it
_o no I didn’t get it_
I had this on the lynx, pretty much the first tony hawk pro skater besides for skate or die and 720
I love the Lynx version. It was so impressive.
I was trying to find this game again I miss playing the BMX I just forget the name of the title thank you for bringing back my nostalgia
It’s amazing how far gaming has evolved. I was playing this game as an early teen, totally concentrating on perfecting a forward flip on the BMX track with a rudimentary contrroller, flash forward thirty or so years and I’m thrashing an F1 car around Mt Panorama in a mid-level $2000 racing sim cockpit. Video games rule.
Top ten NES games hands down! Wasn't even on top 100 of IGN... did they forget about this game?? This and Caveman Games FTW!
I actually played this on my IBM computer back in 88'...I spent over an hour playing it...gr8 childhood memories
This was a great walk down memory lane :)
Oh man I loved this game. Despite sucking at it 😆
31 years old and still remember the soundtrack so vividly before the beats even again im humming whats coming up and bobbin my head🤣🤣🤣 ahh shit man...to be a kid in the 90s was the best. Take me back....
The fire deep inside to get really good at the game now that I’m not 6 is fierce and unquenchable
Use to watch my cousin Play this game for hours! Anybody growing up at this time know how great this game was!
Can't tell you how much time I spent on this one. Too much
Love the rendition of "Louie, Louie". This music was also used in the original C64 version.
The wipe out text in the BMX event was so funny what I was young.
Ah yes Casio, the company known for keeping time to the nanosecond.
Yay, the cheapest LCD display you could wear on your wrist in 1986! Super tantalizing. Almost as much as the way the rubber wristband smells in the dead of summer!
Haha it reminds me of that bit in Planes, Trains, and Auromobiles when John Candy is trying to barter for a hotel room like he's Vanna White.
Look at the sponsorships this thing had. I wonder if these days that would cost a fortune in licensing. Back then, maybe these companies were happy to be featured in these games.
"This was a favourite of mine on the Commodore 64, so I was very pleased to be working on it as a conversion to the NES. Tim Stamper took care of most of the background artwork and I was responsible for most of the sprites and character animation. I remember that I would try to incorporate the look of my friends into the characters back then: for instance, the character that you control in the Hacky Sack level looks exactly like my school friend Doug. It was something I'd always try to do at the time and I think Hollywood Squares for the NES features cartoon faces of most of my school friends throughout the game.
At around this time, Tim and Chris took Mark Betteridge and myself to the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Chicago to meet Nintendo and our US associates at 'Rare-Coin-it'. While there I also met the guys from Milton Bradley (which was releasing California Games) to get an idea of how they thought the game was progressing. I'd never met anyone from the US before, let alone talk about business or product development, so the whole thing was a bit of a blur when I think about it now, specially as I was so young at the time."
-- Kevin Bayliss (graphic artist, Rare)
Still have no clue how to do the surfing and half pipe
Man roller skating whooped my ass.
Back when games were simple and fun
Yeaah Magyari the beat is sick, big up the best producer!
I just remember these games from when Jontron played them. Now you have to play California games 2.
Haha I already have. There's a link in the description.
This Game Is The Reason Why I Always Had Such A Love For California Growing Up In New York. Only Took Me 27 Years Later To Finally Visit & Confirm Cali As My Spiritual Home!
TY for the stroll back in time. I remember playing this on my 8088XT turbo with an EGA screen. One of my favourite games of all time.
This makes me
want to connect my old NES again!
Oh my God😂😂😂
This brings back some old, old memories. Damn!
Loved hitting the seagulls passing by with the hacky sack game as a kid 😂😂😂
I liked the concept. The animation timing is miles better than other games. Couldn’t understand the controls way back when. Is it normal to wipe out at the end of each level? 🤣 Nobody I knew played this.
Agreed... forcing the Wipeout on the Roller Skating & BMX levels seemed kinda cold, & sending a frickin SHARK to eat the Surfer to force that Event End was flat out cold blooded... O_0
Oh I love this.. You crushed that footbag
Totally radical dude!
Flying Disc had such an abrupt ending
If you waited too long and alien ship would abduct the catcher
I remember in the BMX event, you could build up tons of points just by taking little jumps and moving forward really slowly lol. Each little jump would add points to your score, so it didn't matter if you didn't finish the track.
To break the record in flying disc you have to get the receiver to dive towards the left of screen to make the catch. I remember it taking me a lot of trial and error, but once you stick it, it’s very satisfying.
Horizontal hunger is for GROMMETS!
The shark in the surfing game when you wipe out always made my nes crash. Damn I wish I could go back to those times
Never thought years after playing footbag that I'd be playing hackie sack before school in middle school wit the "skaters"
Ahhhh… Good ol California Games. The 1980’s was such an awesome time. Things are so different now. Gone are the days of surfing, roller skating, and BMX. Today, the games would consist of street shitting, playing darts with syringes, hand-to-hand combat with thieves, trash stacking, and hacky sack where the footbags are filled with fentanyl. It would be funny if it wasn’t so sad. 🤷🏾♂️😢
You know that famous LA Landmark: The LA Dinosaur.
Lol. I forgot about that JonTron episode.
The part with Jon washing his face and the sad music abruptly changing to the campy music gets me everytime 🤣.
@@Dorian_Scott Grommit this and Grommit that. They couldn't stop us from saying it! Yeah it's a classic.
Omg yes!! Been looking for the name of this game for so long and my friend just told me.. I'm going to see if it's on the switch in the classics section
i never owned an nes but im learning how the nes works by programming an emulator for it :)
best music nostalgia
Captain n the game master cartoon brought me here
I ve played this arcade game before.
The footbag song is sick
Uhhh U can't believe anyone scored any points in the game let alone this many. Mind is blown.
Holy crap i had fun playing this game haha
Wow, I think this version may be the closest console version to the DOS (IBM) version I had as a kid
Played this game so much as a kid hahaha, omg xD RIP
I remember playing this a lot as a kid, but it seems like it was always borrowed from someone. My brothers preferred playing T&C Surf Design.
I don’t know anyone that was ever good at that hackey sack portion.
sorry for putting a request in the comments! surprised you didn't post blaster master. any interest? a top 10 game imo.
Damn, we were less scrutinising as kids.
I need a soundtrack to all the songs 🎵 😍
Eu tenho pra Master System
Classic!
It was the coolest games ever 😊
"Please dad just let me play one more time before bed"
I sucked at this game, i did take the time to try it but it just wasn't for me!
Swood this, Swood that. 😂😂😂.
Enjoyable but hard to master game
You hit Bertie!!!! 😂
Skating really had an end
1:17 that board hitting the body lways hurts me
This and TNC surf
I loved the skateboarding in that one.
Yes, and most of us hated trying to surf on that game 😂
@@WalkHard1 Exactly hahaha. The music was a big part of it too. What a cool tune it played for skateboarding.
I'd honestly have more fun with *_"T & C"_* than *_"California Games"_* . And, you can *actually* *_control_* it!
@@Dorian_Scott The controls are pretty okay once you know what they are. I thought so, at least.
This game was so hard to play for me
Any idea how to play this now? We have an Xbox x and Nintendo switch 😅
I loved cheating in bmx and I'd just stay near the edge the entire ride and miss all the obstacles and just do flips 😂
So is roller skating even beatable? The last stretch of sand is impossible. By far the hardest event🤬
I don't think you can go past there. I've never figured out how.
That's so silly...still such a great game tho
@@NintendoComplete Once you get there, it's Game Over because you did it... you reached the finish line!
so sad I can't get it on the Nintendo switch and it isn't in the NES download 😢
Wipeout music ripoff lol. I never realised at the time. I did always notice the Louis Louie ripoff though.
California games.
bro I'm about to turn 30, I play this when I was little kid like yesterday
how sad
I'm gonna give my kids snes game first, not playstation or else
California games
Such a good video game from Milton Bradley Company and music composer David Wise
I should literally replay it at Francine's
The bikini clad girl (on the game's box cover and sticker label) sure is beautiful when she is in her rollerblades
The prequel to Baywatch.
90's Video games!! 😂😂
I used to believe the skating girl was blonde and sort of like a Barbie lookalike...why?! Maybe there's a second game ?
Back in the days where you could use copyrighted music.
I raged alot for this game lol
I rented this game so many times and sucked at it
New sub! Liked 🙏👍😎