As is typical with this series, my first reaction is "Hmm, I've never even heard of this game" until I watch the footage and go "OH WAIT! I played some hacked up version of this on a bootleg '100 games in 1' cartridge my friend bought at a flea market in 1986"
One great thing about this series is the nostalgia for the early 80s places that these games lived. In my small town, there was rarely a repeated arcade cabinet. Elevator Action was at the roller rink, just left of the middle of the row of cabinets. Xevious was randomly at the front of a department store. Other games were tucked away in mom-n-pop grocery stores, restaurants, or the local Putt Putt and amusement park. So for me, a game like Elevator Action is fully associated with disco balls and the smell of roller skates.
And the chronological debut of Micronics. They definitely peaked with Elevator Action. Three vertical shooters in a row definitely shows how popular shooters were in 1985. And July 1985 takes us within 3 months of Super Mario Brothers for Famicom, which would begin the ascendance of the platformer.
I’m really impressed with how Field Combat looks so busy but isn’t flickering or rampant with slowdown. That it was developed within its first year makes it feel even moreso to me.
if only someone had combined xevious with heiankyo alien, sokoban, and hydlide to produce a digitally interactive lovecraftian abomination of legendary proportions
If Ubisoft had been a thing in Japan in 1985, they absolutely would have found a way. Complete with a special edition preorder including Sokodlidvious Alien's iconic hat.
@@philmason9653 Honestly, they were close. Ubisoft was founded in 1986, but they didn't start developing for consoles until the fifth generation, primarily for Playstation.
Zunou Senkan Galg, coming soon in late ‘85, is a Star Force clone mixed with Tower of Druaga! It bills itself a shooter RPG right on the box! It’s ridiculously hard and cryptic.
No matter how many times you cover a game, you always manage to have some fresh and interesting new talking points, its seriously impressive. I could watch a million more videos about elevator action and not get bored because each one has a new perspective.
Experienced all these games through multicarts back in the day, brings back a ton of memories. A buddy just recently bought one of those 110 games in one multi carts with all these games on it because the info we're getting from this series is making it all that more enjoyable.
oh yea! field combat! one of the first games I ever played back on the powerjoy bootleg console that looked like an N64 controller with a light gun tip
The Famicom Elevator Action is riddled with bugs like you can teleport into an elevator that's squishing you. It's the usual Micronics work. Star Force for the Famicom is one of those games that has an ambiguous release date. Hudson says it was released on June 20, which would put it before Hyper Olympic and Spartan X, though other sources have it on June 25. Not that the exact position of the game makes a whole lot of difference.
Unlike other "late" NES localizations, Tecmo actually did try to overhaul Star Force's graphics and audio to better match its contemporaries of 1987. The results... well, if you put them side by side, you might say "oh yeah, they do seem kinda different."
Elevator Action was a ground breaking game in how it presented ranged combat as sort of a puzzle of exposure vs opportunity and giving the player with intuitive environment effects that pay off as expected. Compare the squat and shoot puzzle like action here to a much later game like NES Batman and you can see the formula didn't evolve much except to make jumping more navigatory than evasive.
Japanese parents had the same complaints at the time. Mid-1985 had a bit of a moral panic in Japan over violent video games, though the poster child on the Famicom for that was Front Line.
Ufff...i Had Star Force and Field Combat in my 90 something clone cartridge...I had the same feelings you express about the first and I loved the second...and about the thing you play in that game...I never thought of it as a UFO, but as some sort of submerged into the land mobile base!
Loved and played Elevator Action on the NES back in the day and is still one of my favorites to go back to on an occasion. Also, I liked Field Combat as well and need to play that some more. Not a fan of shooters, so not even going to bother with Star Force.
Star Force could have been a launch title for the NES in the US. Imagine how this “black box” game would have blown everyone and the competition away. Instead we got a Star Force release in 1987 where it was mostly overlooked as being too simple in comparison to everything else out by then. Anyway I look forward when you get to the Star Force clone Zunou Senkan Galg in late ‘85. It takes inspiration from Druaga and bills itself as a shooter RPG. Brutally hard with lots of mystery and hidden secrets.
I was surprised to hear the slight on Famicom Space Invaders and so checked out the referenced NES Works review of that. I actually may consider it to be my overall favorite version. I appreciate why the visual shortcomings may ding it, but honestly the gameplay of that one is somehow the most addicting to me - more so than even the arcade!
Wow! I had Field Combat on a pirated multicart and I never knew about recruiting with the tractor beam! I just thought it was a ho-hum vertical shooter
Another good episode. It really is fascinating to see how Hudson's story unfolded in Japan, it explains a lot. From a North American perspective, inasmuch as I was aware of them as a gaming magazine-obsessed kid, they just seemed like a B or C-tier developer attached to a lot of games that looked kind of crusty and behind their times (in hindsight, owing entirely to their comparatively late releases here). Which is why it seemed bizarre and completely out of left field when they emerged as a major force attached to the TurboGrafx. Understanding their early relationship with Nintendo it suddenly makes sense why NEC would trust them to guide their entry into the console space; they'd been there before. On the subject of Field Combat, I've seen reference to games with the set of characteristics you described (casually) referred to before as a 'tactical shooter' subgenre, in consideration of how titles like Ikari force you to choose angles very carefully, and move in and out of range of enemy fire rather than continuously advancing. Looking at Field Combat, I can see elements that would eventually reach an apotheosis of sorts in Sega's Gain Ground, which similarly revolves around a tension in forward movement and recruiting soldiers from the field (albeit framed as rescuing friendly captives).
Wow, Ran. 11:10 - A little correction here: The SG-1000 could display 15 simultaneous colors on screen, while the NES could display 25 (3 per (8) palette + omni color). So... Not even twice as many. The NES did, however, as you know, have a larger palette to choose colors from (56). And you could swap those sprite/bg tile colors at any time, so that could give you the impression of it having more than 25 colors on screen.
How I knew back then, with my multicart, about pressing both buttons at the same time on Field Combat? Clearly, as a kid, you spend a lot of time goofing around with a game and you eventually discover this stuff.
Hudson on the label, quality on the table! As far as other 3rd party shops subcontracting their work -- how about Broderbund passing the ball to Lenar for Deadly Towers?
I noticed that before talking about Elevator Action you showed a "random" music video in an elevator shaft. So I gotta ask, how do you even find such as video? Were you previously aware of its existence?
![ปฏิเสธไม่ไหว (Crush on you) - LIPTA feat. No One Else [TEASER MV]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/VC689EgdSIw/mqdefault.jpg)
Xevious is to NES Works Gaiden what Heiankyo Alien is to Game Boy Works
Don't forget Tower of Druaga! These games are to Video Works as James Bissonette is to History Matters!
I think Hustle Chumy seemed to be mentioned a lot in Segaiden, I had never heard of the game before then.
As is typical with this series, my first reaction is "Hmm, I've never even heard of this game" until I watch the footage and go "OH WAIT! I played some hacked up version of this on a bootleg '100 games in 1' cartridge my friend bought at a flea market in 1986"
One great thing about this series is the nostalgia for the early 80s places that these games lived. In my small town, there was rarely a repeated arcade cabinet. Elevator Action was at the roller rink, just left of the middle of the row of cabinets. Xevious was randomly at the front of a department store. Other games were tucked away in mom-n-pop grocery stores, restaurants, or the local Putt Putt and amusement park. So for me, a game like Elevator Action is fully associated with disco balls and the smell of roller skates.
And the chronological debut of Micronics. They definitely peaked with Elevator Action. Three vertical shooters in a row definitely shows how popular shooters were in 1985. And July 1985 takes us within 3 months of Super Mario Brothers for Famicom, which would begin the ascendance of the platformer.
I’m really impressed with how Field Combat looks so busy but isn’t flickering or rampant with slowdown. That it was developed within its first year makes it feel even moreso to me.
I wasn't expecting the clip from the Akira Kurosawa masterpiece Ran at the beginning.
if only someone had combined xevious with heiankyo alien, sokoban, and hydlide to produce a digitally interactive lovecraftian abomination of legendary proportions
If Ubisoft had been a thing in Japan in 1985, they absolutely would have found a way. Complete with a special edition preorder including Sokodlidvious Alien's iconic hat.
@@philmason9653 Honestly, they were close. Ubisoft was founded in 1986, but they didn't start developing for consoles until the fifth generation, primarily for Playstation.
Zunou Senkan Galg, coming soon in late ‘85, is a Star Force clone mixed with Tower of Druaga! It bills itself a shooter RPG right on the box! It’s ridiculously hard and cryptic.
@@dpgreene there's also King's Knight, from 1986
I'm sure the indie scene will take care of it. Some indie loves feature creep. (Not to automatically badword them tho)
Someone could slap together a playlist of the episodes featuring Micronics and call it "NES Allegedly Works" or "NES Sometimes Works".
Also, the fact that Micronics' 1st game was pretty well done explains how they kept getting work as long as they did.
No matter how many times you cover a game, you always manage to have some fresh and interesting new talking points, its seriously impressive. I could watch a million more videos about elevator action and not get bored because each one has a new perspective.
Thank you, but I hope I am done with Elevator Action for a very long time. And Lode Runner. And Xevious. And Star Force. And
Experienced all these games through multicarts back in the day, brings back a ton of memories. A buddy just recently bought one of those 110 games in one multi carts with all these games on it because the info we're getting from this series is making it all that more enjoyable.
The satellite on the UFO is so hypnotizing.
Micronics. And so it begins.
I have never seen Field Combat before and it fascinates me!
This entire series is seriously underrated and I would love to see more of it!
Those little clips you show in the beginning are ALWAYS from something I just recently watched and it's freaking me out...
oh yea! field combat! one of the first games I ever played back on the powerjoy bootleg console that looked like an N64 controller with a light gun tip
This channel is so relaxing, informative, and well-written. Watching every day while I brush my teeth!
Great video, Jeremy!
Classical music identification: I enjoyed hearing the demake of "Ride of the Valkyries" from Wagner's Die Walküre at 12:45.
The Famicom Elevator Action is riddled with bugs like you can teleport into an elevator that's squishing you. It's the usual Micronics work.
Star Force for the Famicom is one of those games that has an ambiguous release date. Hudson says it was released on June 20, which would put it before Hyper Olympic and Spartan X, though other sources have it on June 25. Not that the exact position of the game makes a whole lot of difference.
Unlike other "late" NES localizations, Tecmo actually did try to overhaul Star Force's graphics and audio to better match its contemporaries of 1987. The results... well, if you put them side by side, you might say "oh yeah, they do seem kinda different."
Oh yeah? I didn't notice any big differences, but I'll look again!
Elevator Action was a ground breaking game in how it presented ranged combat as sort of a puzzle of exposure vs opportunity and giving the player with intuitive environment effects that pay off as expected. Compare the squat and shoot puzzle like action here to a much later game like NES Batman and you can see the formula didn't evolve much except to make jumping more navigatory than evasive.
I had field combat on a famicom multicart as a kid, my mom thought it was too violent. 😅
Japanese parents had the same complaints at the time. Mid-1985 had a bit of a moral panic in Japan over violent video games, though the poster child on the Famicom for that was Front Line.
The real violence in Front Line was perpetrated against our wallets
Ufff...i Had Star Force and Field Combat in my 90 something clone cartridge...I had the same feelings you express about the first and I loved the second...and about the thing you play in that game...I never thought of it as a UFO, but as some sort of submerged into the land mobile base!
Thanks for showing sf some love Ifelt I was the only fan!
Loved and played Elevator Action on the NES back in the day and is still one of my favorites to go back to on an occasion. Also, I liked Field Combat as well and need to play that some more. Not a fan of shooters, so not even going to bother with Star Force.
Elevator action is so good it's insane
Star Force could have been a launch title for the NES in the US. Imagine how this “black box” game would have blown everyone and the competition away. Instead we got a Star Force release in 1987 where it was mostly overlooked as being too simple in comparison to everything else out by then.
Anyway I look forward when you get to the Star Force clone Zunou Senkan Galg in late ‘85. It takes inspiration from Druaga and bills itself as a shooter RPG. Brutally hard with lots of mystery and hidden secrets.
I was surprised to hear the slight on Famicom Space Invaders and so checked out the referenced NES Works review of that. I actually may consider it to be my overall favorite version. I appreciate why the visual shortcomings may ding it, but honestly the gameplay of that one is somehow the most addicting to me - more so than even the arcade!
Field Combat is yet another of Yuki Ito's favorites.
Wow! I had Field Combat on a pirated multicart and I never knew about recruiting with the tractor beam! I just thought it was a ho-hum vertical shooter
Another good episode. It really is fascinating to see how Hudson's story unfolded in Japan, it explains a lot. From a North American perspective, inasmuch as I was aware of them as a gaming magazine-obsessed kid, they just seemed like a B or C-tier developer attached to a lot of games that looked kind of crusty and behind their times (in hindsight, owing entirely to their comparatively late releases here). Which is why it seemed bizarre and completely out of left field when they emerged as a major force attached to the TurboGrafx. Understanding their early relationship with Nintendo it suddenly makes sense why NEC would trust them to guide their entry into the console space; they'd been there before.
On the subject of Field Combat, I've seen reference to games with the set of characteristics you described (casually) referred to before as a 'tactical shooter' subgenre, in consideration of how titles like Ikari force you to choose angles very carefully, and move in and out of range of enemy fire rather than continuously advancing. Looking at Field Combat, I can see elements that would eventually reach an apotheosis of sorts in Sega's Gain Ground, which similarly revolves around a tension in forward movement and recruiting soldiers from the field (albeit framed as rescuing friendly captives).
Wow, Ran.
11:10 - A little correction here: The SG-1000 could display 15 simultaneous colors on screen, while the NES could display 25 (3 per (8) palette + omni color). So... Not even twice as many. The NES did, however, as you know, have a larger palette to choose colors from (56). And you could swap those sprite/bg tile colors at any time, so that could give you the impression of it having more than 25 colors on screen.
How I knew back then, with my multicart, about pressing both buttons at the same time on Field Combat? Clearly, as a kid, you spend a lot of time goofing around with a game and you eventually discover this stuff.
Hudson on the label, quality on the table!
As far as other 3rd party shops subcontracting their work -- how about Broderbund passing the ball to Lenar for Deadly Towers?
“Extraordinarily poor architectural planning.” Take your thumb.
30 years later I learn how to play Field Combat
How did nobody ever design a shooter where you ship fired forward or dug holes to trap tanks?
As good as NES games got I always loved elevator action, loved the arcade too but the NES version was just as good in my opinion
Ran!
Now I'm gonna have Takemitsu's score in my head half the week! 'That heavy Mahler sound'.
With those identical to famicom game boxes, i wonder how many Japanese grannies mistakenly bought their grandchildren games for the wrong system
On Star Force was that annoying pop in at the top of the screen visible on old TVs back in the day?
Depends on the TV.
Elevator Action Returns the arcade game is really good
It rules, but sadly that's 10 years away from the chronology of this episode -_-
@@JeremyParish That's going to be a long wait
It's pretty good, maaaan.
Is Star Force is Soldier Blade's grand daddy?
Yep. Star Force > Star Solder > Super Star Soldier > Final Soldier > Soldier Blade
@@JeremyParish cool. Soldier blade came a long way.
I just took a huge micronics. I had to flush 4 times
Field Combat should have been released in the USA in the first place. 😀👍🎮
I've played the elevator action port quite a bit, it's decent
Up until now I’ve been able to follow what’s being covered and why. This is the first time I’ve lost the thread.
If it helps, these three games were released chronologically after the games covered in the previous NES Works Gaiden episode.
I noticed that before talking about Elevator Action you showed a "random" music video in an elevator shaft. So I gotta ask, how do you even find such as video? Were you previously aware of its existence?
It’s “Love in an Elevator” by Aerosmith, a pretty big hit in the ‘90s.
@@JeremyParish Ah, I see. I didn't really start paying attention to music until the grunge/alt music era with Nirvana/Green Day and the such.
Elevator Action > Xevious. But tbf I simply have never liked Xevious. Don't hate it but its.. eh.
Calling Elevator Action a "vertically scrolling shooter" makes me so upset, but I can't really say that you're wrong.
"Technically correct but morally wrong" is the best kind of correct