Jeremy Parish

NES Works #049: Athena & Arkanoid (Patreon)

Published:

2019-04-24 14:00:00

Edited:

2019-05-01 02:59:02

Imported:

2024-04

Tags:

nes nes works nintendo

Content

I like when I do one of these combo episodes and the games lend themselves to a tidy narrative. Both Athena and Arkanoid are know for being punishingly hard, and both came in jumbo special packaging (at least in Japan). But one of these games is very, very good and one of them is very, very bad... or at least badly programmed. Can you guess which is which??

Stick around for a very special B-O-N-U-S!

Files

Arkanoid & Athena retrospective: Big boxes, big pain | NES Works #049

Two direct arcade ports hit the NES here, and boy golly are these things not necessarily created equal. About the only thing they have in common is that they're both incredibly difficult to complete. But Athena is a hot mess of a conversion, as is the Micronics way, while Arkanoid is a pretty spectacular adaptation. Of course, to be fair, Arkanoid has an advantage here: It came with its own pack-in controller, designed exclusive for use with this one game. But even without the Vaus paddle, it's still a far sight more fun than Athena. Which isn't to say Athena was necessarily a barebones package; in Japan, it came with a special bonus pack-in that Americans were denied...