Dangerous professions, movie licenses galore and a very different sort of chart – It’s the Retrogaming Chart Show.
You are going to see something a little different this month. Usually, I’d give you a rundown of the best-selling games of a certain time in gaming history. Most of that remains unchanged for this charts, but I’m going to be looking at a rental chart.
This month will be focusing once again on the Nintendo Entertainment System, more specifically the Blockbuster Top ten rental charts as seen in June 1992 issue of North American magazine, GamePro.
Let’s get on with the chart.10. Roundball: 2-on-2 Challenge
10. Roundball: 2-on-2 Challenge
We’re getting our dose of sports action in early this month, courtesy of Roundball: 2-on-2 Challenge, an 8-bit take on the sport of basketball, although it only takes place on half a court and matches take place between two teams of two fictional ballers. It’s no NBA Jam of course, but what is, to be honest?
We’re getting our dose of sports action in early this month, courtesy of Roundball: 2-on-2 Challenge, an 8-bit take on the sport of basketball, although it only takes place on half a court and matches take place between two teams of two fictional ballers. It’s no NBA Jam of course, but what is, to be honest?
We’re getting our dose of sports action in early this month, courtesy of Roundball: 2-on-2 Challenge, an 8-bit take on the sport of basketball, although it only takes place on half a court and matches take place between two teams of two fictional ballers. It’s no NBA Jam of course, but what is, to be honest?
9. Terminator 2: Judgement Day
Terminator 2: Judgement Day is a juggernaut of a movie – A heart-pounding roller coaster ride of action, special effects and Schwarzenegger at his best. Being that this game was published by LJN, as expected this game completely fails to translate the movie to the home console. Here it is as number 9.
8. Paperboy 2
At number 8 is the second instalment of the thrilling Paperboy series. Sorry, probably sounded too sarcastic there. Anyway, this sequel to the arcade classic struck a blow for diversity by allowing you to play not just as a paperboy, but a papergirl as well. Now you can cause property damage with newspapers on both sides of the street, and swear at the game’s difficulty.
7. Hatris
How on earth do you follow up on the gargantuan success of Tetris? If you’re Alexey Pajitnov, you make a game about hats. Hatris, in at number 7 is about dropping hats on heads – Drop four of the same hat in a row, and it disappears, ala Tetris lines. It’s incredibly weird, and sadly not as engaging as Tetris.
6. Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
The sequel to JVC’s original Star Wars game, The Empire Strikes Back reaches number 6 in this month’s chart, and it’s an absolutely horrible mess of a game that controls poorly and is just so ridiculously hard that I refuse to play anymore. Next!
5. Hook
More movie madness with a game based on the Robin Williams movie, Hook. Play as Peter Pan in this boring platform game. At number 5, I hope people bought this instead of renting it. Next!
4. Mega Man 4
That’s more like it – Mega Man IV, in this rental chart at number…4! It’s pretty much the same as the other games in the series, but honestly when it’s still good, who cares? The world hadn’t gotten tired of Mega’s adventures yet by this point, and this one adds the brand new Mega Buster, which can be charged by holding the fire button, before unleashing a more powerful shot.
3. Yoshi
At number three is Yoshi, also known as Mario & Yoshi in some territories. It’s a puzzle game that seems reminiscent of Hatris, although this game came much sooner. Here, you control Super Mario himself and have to switch around four trays to catch various enemies from the series and match two together to make them disappear. Sometimes segments of a Yoshi egg will drop too, and if you sandwich enemies between the bottom and top halves together, they’ll all disappear too. It’s no Tetris, but it’s not completely terrible.
2. Tecmo Super Bowl
Last sports game this month at number 2, and being an American chart you would expect an American Football game. Tecmo Super Bowl is the sequel to the NES sports favourite and is notable for being the first ever game to have both real NFL teams and players. To this day, fans still hack the game to update the team rosters every season.
1. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III – The Manhattan Project
Turtle Power hasn’t yet released its grip from America’s youth, as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III – The Manhattan Project is the most rented game this month. Despite the title, this is not a game about America’s World War II nuclear research project and instead is about four Heroes in a Half Shell trying to stop Shredder, who has floated the entire city of Manhattan into the sky. And captured April O’Neil, as usual.