Rambo retrospective: Stallone in the dark | NES Works
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 ก.ย. 2024
- In the year 198X, an elite American ex-soldier traveled into the jungle for a stealth mission that ended in a showdown with a Soviet HIND-D helicopter. Sound familiar? No, this isn't Metal Gear (that's next episode), but instead a game based on a film that very clearly has served as a primary text for Hideo Kojima through the years: Rambo, aka First Blood Part II.
Rambo for NES is widely reviled as one of the worst games ever released for the platform. Not only is this a factually incorrect perspective, it grievously sells short the actual ambition behind this game-not to mention the many ways in which it actually pushed the envelope of NES releases (thanks in large part to the lengthy delays that its own inspirations, Zelda II and Castlevania II, suffered en route to their U.S. localizations). Rambo is a long way from being a great game, but it's a game that makes a sincere effort to do something interesting with a licensed property. It trips over its combat-bootlaces more often than not, but you definitely have to respect the hustle... especially within the context of its original release window. And "context" is what this video series is all about.
Video Works is funded via Patreon ( / gamespite ) - support the show and get access to every episode up to two weeks in advance of its TH-cam debut! And be sure to check out the Retronauts podcast (www.retronauts.com), where I (and many others!) tackle a much wider array of classic gaming topics each week.
Rambo is, unfortunately, another example of an Angry Video Game Nerd video being taken 100 percent seriously as a review, which they're not really meant to be. The game is by no means perfect, but it does plenty of interesting stuff for an early NES game. I'm glad TH-cam has moved beyond the angry reviewing fad and we now get more in-depth, and well researched reviews that also explain the wider context of a game's release.
Your channel is a real gem, Jeremy. It doesn't just deliver entertainment, but is an academic exploration of a piece of pop culture history.
Same with Simon's Quest. It's scary how much AVGN formed people's opinions.
yeah but simon's quest is still nigh impossible to beat without a translation patch, manual, or walkthrough, so even though it's a fun castlevania game you can't beat it and get interrupted constantly by the day/night cycle, so i understand why people get frustrated with it
castlevania good
Jeremy makes veiled references to AVGN occasionally, including this video. I don't think it needs to be mentioned though. If someone takes AVGN seriously, that's kind of their problem.
It's just someone making fun of awkward and bad video games from our childhoods, not really meant to be a retrospective analysis. 🤷♂️
Also, Friday The 13th. Which is, like Rambo, an ambitious and ahead-of-its-time game trying to do justice to its license, although it does definitely have some design flaws that hold it back. But if it weren't published by LJN - and if AVGN's review weren't so popular - I genuinely think it would be seen as a prescient precursor to 90s survival horror games.
youre all just bad game design apologists and contrarians
Cave Story does a similar thing: helping an injured character means confirming his death and sets you on a path towards the bad ending. I could never comprehend the logic.
Clock Tower on SNES does that too. At one moment you hear a scream that you must ignore. If you look in the window there is a girl falling, if you don't she survives.
God, that's stupid. I mean, I see how it works, it makes sense, but it's such a "screw you" to the player.
Schrödinger's Booster.
"Kept you waitin’, huh?"
"And you'll have to keep us waiting for some time. Get back in the box, Snake!"
Sure... a week or two.
@@JeremyParish I think it will be more than two weeks lmao
What? Zelda 2 In Nes Works 104? But Zelda 2 In Nes Works 99, But Something Else Are Not Nes Works 104!
I always have found this game bewildering solely due to the OST being way too good for what you’d expect from not just a licensed game from the era, but any in general: surprising how good they made it here
Glad you mentioned the Die Hard game because this always reminded me of that game and I never realized they were made by the same dev.
I really admire those way too ambitious licensed games that try their best to somewhat capture the spirit of the stuff they're adapting, even if they fell short most of the time.
I need to say how happy “Stallone in the dark” made me. Definitely the best title joke yet.
I played Rambo after my childhood and I can confirm that it's a pretty okay game. On a scale of Zelda II to Battle of Olympus, I'd put Rambo in the middle.
this guy doesn't miss. i love these.
This game toes the line between being a sincere homage to the films and a parody of them. The expanding heads of bosses, the scheming COs literally turning into slimy toads, and even the dialog ("But the game won't start until you say yes!") makes me wonder about Pack-In Video's true intentions.
Also, if you lure the toad to one of the N/S portals and stand on it, you can go back to the battlefield, just in case you weren't ready for the game to end after you finished your mission.
I think if this game was either marketed as a quirky parody of Rambo or had the strange, out of place elements removed it would have been better received. I like the idea of a Rambo game with gameplay like Zelda II. The emphasis on exploration and Rambo surviving in the wild with limited resources is an interesting contrast to the numerous Rambo-inspired run and guns. The music is good. The game's plot roughly follows the movie, despite such bizarre additions as killer flamingoes, flying skulls, and robots. The game ultimately suffers because of its inconsistent tone. For example, there's dialogue at the end of the game where Rambo expresses his feelings about the Vietnam War and his country and the sentiment of the scene is undercut by Rambo's goofy-looking portrait.
You know a video game review is gonna be good when it starts with a Jethro Tull reference.
Can confirm.
What, the guy who invented the Seed Drill?
Yep. Dragging that joke out. Can't stop me.
Did Pack in Video also make the Predator game? Also the unreleased Aliens NES game? They have a similar style.
Nope square made both of those before final fantasy1
Nice to see you Larry! Your channel is awesome :D.
Yeah, Pack In Video did make the Predator game. And boy, what a pungent turd that was.
I love the Predator game! So weird, so psychedelic! And the music is great in it.
Good to see you here Larry.
I spent so much time stumbling around in this game in my youth. I was always of the notion then that it was my fault when I did not understand what the game required to move forward.
This soundtrack blew my eight year old mind. The main theme still give goose bumps. Thanks for the great work, Jeremy. Your work has been and continues to be important and provides great escape.
This was one of my favorite games as a kid and I still find myself humming the main theme from time to time.
Been waiting for this one, Jeremy! Great job summing this up in sub 14 minute style. I remember wanting to do this one with ya before the pandemic. Maybe Rambo could do something about it? Or Pack-In Video?
Wait, so you don't rember when Rambo yelled kanji at the CIA officer to turn him into a frog in the movie? I must have the secret director's cut...
my mind cannot even fathom stallone saying one word in japanese without giggling like a schoolgirl
This could have been an okay game if not for some of the bizarre choices made by the developers. It's like if Ed Wood made a Rambo movie.
Or the version “directed” by George P. Cosmatos?
It's ironic that the Rambo movies influenced so many video games, such as Ikari Warriors and Contra, but the officially licensed Rambo game for the NES turned out so strange.
My favorite bit about this game is Rambo's sprite, with its unified red stockings and the bold, hips-first stance of a dancer preparing to leap
This game truly captures the essence of Stallone
@@JeremyParish Well Stallone did co-write, co-produce, and direct Staying Alive (1983), the sequel to Saturday Night Fever in which Tony Manero (John Travolta) becomes a dancer in a Broadway show called Satan's Alley.
For a system marketed at younger children in general, it's quite crazy looking back that Rambo (an R rate movie), Friday the 13th and other R rated licenses would be allowed by Nintendo of America, as well. Obviously, this was a thing outside of Nintendo as well, there was a Rambo cartoon, RoboCop cartoon and toys, etc. but at the same time, it's quite a head scratching set of IPs to get through Nintendo. Also, Rambo was the first (and last?) game to feature 'naughty words' and it wasn't some blunder buried in the ending that Nintendo's censorship staff would miss like Bionic Commando, but in the opening mission dialogue. So much weirdness.
Also, I think the game has a reputation it does not only for the clunky controls but because of the seemingly nonlinear, nonhandholding the game decidedly is. As someone once put it, it's a lot easier to have a chance at answering multiple choice questions correctly than having to write an essay as your answer because in multiple choice, even if you have no idea what the answer is, you still have 1/4 shot at getting it right and on top of the at least the possibility of eliminating answers you know are absolutely incorrect. That, in a videogame, requires a little more perseverance and determination to make heads or tails of the game's goals, all while trying to not get lost. I think most of us were lost when we played this game in our youth. I know I was.
So I just got a nifty retro gaming console (Powkiddy A13 - Looks like crap, but it's actually rad for $100) and I had to figure out a way to curate a list so I'm not just facing a massive list of ROMS with 1942 and AAAH!!! Real Monsters always at the top (not to mention the mountain of hilarious Japanese/Chinese, poorly named and straight up knockoff roms it came packed with). So, after a half dozen attempts I decided on taking advantage of Jeremy's insane attention to detail and use his Works series as the backbone of the collection. I have loaded up all of the NESWorks videos and the corresponding ROMS in their own directories and it has turned a humble gaming device into a retro gaming education machine! Watch the video, play the game!
The black box series of games are GREAT to watch and get context, and take in a Baseball or Golf game for the minimalist joys that they are. Also, since I got this device for sharing, its perfect to have these short, well organized, consistently formatted info dump for younger people new to this era of gaming and old asses like me who get all sorts of background they never knew.
In particular using the title of the game as the opener, and then having the title of the actual game show up again on the same screen gives it a weird immediacy. "Oh yeah, these aren't just random videos I like to watch - these games are real and I can still play them!"
To sum it up, Thank You Jeremy for your amazing Works! I know all of you aren't as broke as I am but watch these videos all the time - SUPPORT THIS MAN! The amount of work he puts into this project is staggering and is clearly a work of love of games and their history.
Every Wednesday, when I see Chubby Cherub in an NES Works video, I drink.
Rambo, for NES, is underrated. It is not a great game but it is also not an awful game. I believe that it is, at worst, a "slightly above average" game.
A lot of the jank in the game is standard fare for 8-bit games at the time, even for games now considered classics. As Jeremy notes, the developers were trying something. Where it falters or fails it does so because of inexperience, not apathy. The music is very well composed, especially the main action area theme that carries an undertone of melancholy that really fits the narrative. The developers also accounted for some player decisions and even had an optional variation on the ending that differs from the film's ending where a key character survives instead of dies if the player thinks to do (or, rather, not do) something.
Excited for the upcoming metal gear episode!!
I love the music and the atmosphere of that game.
This and Rygar are my all time favorite NES games. There's something about the unrefined and unpolished design and game play that I just find entertaining. Hydelide was also a joy to play back in the day because it felt like a real accomplishment to finish it back in the day without any game guides or hints.
It’s crazy to see the ideas flow between Rambo and Zelda 2. Such great video game commentary as usual
Nice review! Just want to point out some things:
1) Pack-In-Video also released 'Super Rambo' for the PC-88 and Sharp X1 in 1986 (presumably before 'Super Rambo Special' for the MSX2).
2) Metal Gear is actually a MSX2 game.
3) It's weird to see a MSX2 game listed as MSX/2 in the video (Super Rambo Special).
Those tracks shifting directions immediately made my mind go Tomba. Though that was a 2.5D platformer with RPG mechanics.
Interesting how a lot of these ideas always seem to converge with genre crossovers, often maybe even without direct contact or inspiration.
Interesting idea that Zelda 2 was a deliberate style that designers were striving for. It explains a lot of things that seem weird in hindsight.
There are really quite a few games on NES that openly copy Zelda II's style, Battle of Olympus being the the most blatant. Rambo is unusual in that localization delays caused it to arrive here half a year before the game that inspired it!
Yeah, Zelda II was oddly influential for a brief period of time and yet the Zelda series has never returned to that style.
I had no idea this even existed. Its funny how many violent movie games there were on NES, Snes and Gameboy, yet this suddenly stops once film studios realise the value of the rights, in the video game market.
Actually love the portraits in Rambo, they have a careless sketch cartoony look that I dig
I am glad you made this video. I have been curious about this title ever since I heard it compared to Zelda 2. I'm also glad I didn't attempt to play this, as map-free NES games are utterly impenetrable to me.
Rambo was one of my most memorable NES experiences. It wasn't a great game obviously, but the controls were responsive enough to keep it playable while you enjoyed it quirky surrealness and amazing music. Maybe it's nostalgia speaking, but I think Rambo has some of the most underrated music on the NES
I'm really glad to learn about this game, I want to try it out now!
I don't think I've played this since renting it as a kid, and yet I will never forget that music. Also, because I hadn't played it in so long I never made the Zelda II connection.
Whats sad is this isn't the only licensed movie title with a baffling North-South navigation system.
8:00 So Co is the precursor to Professor Booster in Cave Story?
I bought Rambo at a yard sale when I was a kid. I couldn't make heads or tails of it. Never figured out what the heck I was supposed to do or where I was supposed to go. And I remember being annoyed at fighting the dang snakes over and over.
"It's NES Works episode 79." Upper left corner says '78'. =)
My favorite is when Rambo meets Co for the first time, one of the first things he says to her is "What do you think of me?" and her reply is "What? You look good." and he gives the dumbest most dopey smile imaginable. And her reply even expresses her confusion like she's thinking 'we're on a ultra-risky top-secret military mission... wtf you talking about what I think of you?!?" XD
This game was $50 down the drain as a kid. The cover makes it look like an awesome, explosive game. Then you pop it in your NES...
$50 in 1988 would be equivalent to around $110 today after adjusting for inflation.
@@Ginormousaurus Yeah, that makes it even worse. This game was a train wreck in my opinion. I have had zero desire to go back and revisit it over the years.
And Rambo is certainly thick as a brick. Love your videos!
Just wanted to say: it's been a long while since I've watched these videos, and I love the new format, especially the intro and classic channel effect. What an absolutely interesting game! Looking forward to watching the backcatalog.
I love the Stallone portrait sprite in the dialogue sequences.
They had fun with the portrait designs, but weren't good at making them.
One of the weirdest Rambo games ever if you ask me.
My favorite enemy that clearly doesn't belong in the game is flame throwing robot.
This was on point. It was so close to being a "good game". I tried my hardest to finish it with a friend, but sadly it was to much of a pain.
I never had a chance to play this as a kid, but I love these kinds of weird experiments in games, back when you could do something really different - a part of the industry that really died off during the PS2 era (but fortunately has started to come back due to the explosion in indie game development). I could see myself giving this a go now, even if it looks really rough around the edges.
I will always stand up for this one. It was one of the very first video games I ever played, and my introduction to the NES. Yes, a lot of that is pure nostalgia, but the game "works."
Sure, it's got jank, but like you said, it's not the same as what LJN shoved out the door constantly.
My favorite scene in the Rambo movie is when Rambo was dodging boulders while fighting gorilla's.
Haven’t you ever heard of the Viet Kong? They trained a whole army of weaponized simians for gorilla warfare
It's almost too bad there will never be an MSX Works. I liked Rambo when I played it as a kid. It will be interesting to see how you like the Rambo games on the Sega Master System as well.
you never know, it could happen. the MSX does have quite a number of gems on it to warrant such a playlist.
@@locke103 Jeremy has enough 8-bit retro systems to go through as it is. 2021 is gonna be the big 8-bit SEGA year for the Works videos with occasional Nintendo videos (NES World 1988 will also advance slowly).
Man, every time I think I’ve seen all your videos I come across one I’ve missed! I LOVE IT!
This was one of the many games my grade school friend owned. As kids we obviously loved Rambo, but this game was confusing (the N/S directions) and overall not as fun as we hoped it would be. Of course we played it a lot, but it was just frustrating. However, the game soundtrack is pretty solid.
I will always respect a failed attempt at doing good far more than a passable half-assed job.
That is to say, I may not enjoy Rambo but I can't hate it either and I am glad to have it in my collection.
The kind of video where you hit like before it even starts.
Heh, this brings me back. Had this one as a kid, Never beat it until teen years/emulation though. Man as a kid, in the password screen, I inputted 0000000...throughout the thing and found I guess a debug screen (scrambled screen all weapons), but I thought I was a genius for discovering it, I'd show all my cousins/friends.
I rented this game back then. I remember being confused and not progressing forward early in the game. It was the late 80's-early 90's so not internet for references. I didn't really enjoy it then.
9:50 Valkyrie Profile on the Playstation/PSP also used this "N/S" 2D plane navigation system, which allowed your character to enter the "foreground" or "background" passages of a dungeons. All of the passageways were two-way, though.
+1 Like for this fascinating retrospective. I avoided this game like the plague as a kid, based on "Akklame" label and the lack of coverage in magazines I read.
They drew first crud.
Next time on NES Works: I feel asleep!
I always loved Rambo for Nes. I couldn't understand why most people didn't like it.
I was so confused when I rented this game. I expected it to be like Contra, and instead I got. . .I didn't know! I hadn't played Zelda II yet, so I had no point of comparison. I just remember being annoyed that I had to rely on the knife.
This game was really neat, and would have been better if the designers would have focused more on surviving and traversing the jungle instead of abandoning it halfway thru and turning into a more traditional run-and-gun.
Already knew this was gonna be a banger video when you dropped a Jethro Tull reference in the intro
i remember hearing the game had some japanese quirkiness in it, I guess PIV being a japanese developer would explain it! I do remember seeing an ad for one of those NES tip cassettes that made reference to a secret way to have Co not die at the end, who knew it was as easy as not talking to her?! may have to track this one down for the collection!
I love your NES works videos. Are you going to keep making them?
Yes, once Sega coverage catches up to the current point in the chronology.
I loved Rambo. Owned it and played the s**t out of it.
hearing Metal Gear described as a "super Rambo special rip-off" is really funny
That's good, because it was meant to be
Surprised you didn't mention the similarity between some of those inner base background and enemies to Rush 'N' Attack (eg: @12:00)
You certainly earned your TH-cam views this time.
That was not the Taliban in Rambo III. It was supposed to be the Mujahideen.
And the Taliban was established by....?
@@JeremyParish The Taliban splintered out of the Mujahideen, but they are as much the same entity as the Confederates are the same entity as the US colonials. The character "Masoud" was named after real-life Mujahideen leader Ahmad Shah Massoud, who fought against the Taliban.
7:33
Co Bai is wearing pants.
9:04
She's wearing a dress.
I wonder why they gave her two different outfits.
In the movie, she attempted to seduce the general by putting on an aó dài and masquerading as a prostitute. Obviously that was glossed over for the game, but they kept the costume change.
7:00 is this a censored version? I distinctly remember it saying “complete your assignment and get the hell out”.
Jeremy is clearly trolling the audience who've called him on former videos; at the end, he's talking about "hot mess" games and cuts to footage of T&C Surf. T&C might not be everyone's cup of tea, but its far from a hot mess. It's actually as/more playable than Rambo, though I enjoy both on their merits.
Good video overall
Sorry, but I'm afraid T&C is, and I'm speaking technically here, poop from a poopy butt
@@JeremyParish ....but that would make Rambo the dingleberry on an already technically poopy butt?
OK THIS IS JUST GETTING CHILDISH NOW
I was offered the choice of either this game or Silver Surfer. I didn't know it at the time, but I was choosing between two of the worst NES titles to have uncommonly rockin' soundtracks.
I picked Rambo, and for years I thought Rambo First Blood Part 2 was a film about a man fighting nature in Vietnam. I only ever saw human enemies once, the map was so obtuse.
Would you ever considered uploading longer videos containing for example NES works #1-#25, #25-#50 and so on? Same thing for Gameboy works. Please let me know, I’d share the hell out of them.
That’s what the playlists are for.
@@JeremyParish I suppose. Consider that those longer videos will get you more added views? Idk. Just throwing out some ideas your way bud. 😊
I was so pissed when I started playing. That is all.
Did it cause you to scream a giant "IKARI" kanji?
@@JeremyParish Uh...no. Just a good ol original US swear word. Didn't turn anything into a frog, though.
i liked rambo.
Wonder if Sylvester Stallone played this game be kind of funny
Apollo Creed never fought Clubber Lang
But doesn't Rambo help the guys that would eventually go onto fight the Taliban in the 90s? I don't believe they were actually the Taliban themselves.
The way I understand it, is that the group that he helps splintered into two several years later, one half ending up as the Taliban. At least that's what I gathered from watching 12 Strong, a Chris Hemsworth movie about US soldiers going to Afghanistan and teaming up with the non-Taliban half.
This game was the shitz
The weird and completely unknown-to-me connection between Rambo and Zelda 2 is why I watch this channel.
So I take it you never watched the Rambo episode of AVGN?
I still find hilarious they had to make a second revision to remove the odd light swear words like "Get the hell out"....
Most of these R rated Movir based Nes games never came to europe but if they did i'm certain the light curse words would have probably been kept since europe was mostly soft about this "Mild language" as the ESRB puts it
I remember the day it came out. I was 15 and biked 2+ miles to the computer store to buy it with my paper route money. I think it was $40 (a king’s ransom in what could have been records and comic books). I even remember calling beforehand to make sure it was there and to ask, to the penny, how much money I needed. Rambo 2 was one of my favorite movies at the time and I couldn’t wait to relive it through my NES console. Bringing it home, I soon realized it wasn’t what I was hoping for…I wanted something like Commando or Contra. Hell, I’d have taken a Rush'n Attack clone! The sting burned that memory into my brain and the hard learned lesson to always try before I buy. Definitely goes down (next to Athena) as my most regretted NES purchase. That said, if I hadn’t taken risks, I wouldn’t have bought the first Mega Man when it came out which is my all-time favorite third party NES game (2 is great, too. I just have more nostalgic memories for the original). Anyway, I didn't hate the Rambo game...it just didn't make me feel like Rambo...and 40 bucks is a lot to pay to not feel like Rambo. Great video and love the work you do!
The best part of the Japanese Famicom version is on the title screen - REND THE FEELINGS THE HEART WITH PAINFUL FEELINGS
I have fond memories of playing this game as a kid. Fond, and frustrating memories. Trying to find where to go with the map laid out the way they did it made it very difficult sometimes. Kind of reminded me of Goonies 2, which was even more frustrating.
Man. that Rambo portrait where he's surprised is priceless!
This is one of those games that I've been meaning to give another go. Not because I enjoyed it back in the day, because I certainly didn't, but because maybe it will be much more palatable with the modern convenience of save/load states.
I was just posting about this game on a forum yesterday as a game that confused the hell out of me but that through sheer perseverance i finished some time in 1989 at age 10, i'd borrowed it from someone for about a month and i remember getting really involved with it and really wanting to complete it. In the years since i have heard it was very bad and certainly remembering how weird it was for a Rambo game, i had kinda come to embrace this opinion. Seeing you defend it to a degree then makes me think i wasn't wrong in sticking to this game for a month when i was a kid. Also because it's a game i only played in one specific period of time and never again since, it evokes strong nostalgia whenever i see it in action. Like a very powerful sensorial recall of its gameplay, of its feel. Kinda like a perfect time warp to that exact period of my life.
Just watching the traversal through those north/south entry doors is giving me PTSD from spending days lost in the labyrinthine hellhole that is Dr. Franken's castle, on Gameboy. It's somewhat relieving, at least, that it was such a rarely used gimmick.
Was waiting for this one. I feel like 1988 was really the year the NES came into it's own with unique titles that began to take a more-detailed graphical approach.
I do wish there had been an 8bit Rambo and Mujahideen playing goat polo.
I'm glad you touched on the Zelda 2 similarities, I thought I was the only crazy one that saw that as a kid.
Tons of nostalgia for this one. I rented it a handful of times when I was 5 or 6 and couldn't comprehend the idea of interacting with background elements like doors. First attempt at playing was basically a weekend of me walking back and forth across the air base at the beginning being unable to progress. Eventually figured it out during a future rental and was immediately struck by how it reminded me of Zelda 2 and Metroid. Since then it's been in the back of my mind as one of those curious titles that comes off as misunderstood.
I rented this a few times as a kid and the music has stuck with me all this time
Now I want a Rambo game that’s a Breath of the Wild clone.
Man, Clubber Lang never even fought Creed, you jive turkey!
Look, it's been like 30 years since I last saw Rocky 3, and I'm very old and confused now, OK
Also, retired Creed would have fared better than Rocky did on the first match considering his style was the perfect counter to Lang.
It’s all good, I just hadn’t hit my jive turkey quota for that day and panick posted. Love your vids
I remember renting and playing through this game as a kid, years before I ever saw a Rambo movie, although I was aware of Rambo as an action hero. I remember liking it overall, but finding it very frustrating in many ways as well. The part with the bridge and bubbles is something I haven't thought about in over 30 years!
I also never noticed the similarity to Zelda II, but it's obvious now just seeing the game in action.
When you finally saw a Rambo movie, were you disappointed at all? Like - "Hey! Where are the man-eating flamingos???"
@@Zeffarian Nah, I don't think I actually saw the second Rambo movie until my late teens for whatever reason. By then I had mostly forgotten the NES game!
Aight then.