Jeremy Parish

NES Works 124: Hydlide (Patreon)

Published:

2024-01-24 12:00:02

Imported:

2024-04

Tags:

FCI action rpg hydlide nes nes works t&e soft

Content

Man, what's up with all these long videos lately? I try to target 10 minutes as my ideal length, but just look at this mess. Stupid NES publishers, releasing games that generate interesting commentary.

Anyway, Hydlide is another one of those NES carts that kind of sucks, but in an interesting way. In this case, it fails as an NES release because it came out in 1989, long after every other developer in the industry making action RPGs had said, "Dang, that looks awesome!" and ripped off its best ideas in more interesting ways. That's not a flaw in Hydlide, but if I were FCI I mighta skipped this one for U.S. release and jumped straight to the more advanced and contemporary Hydlide 3. But what do I know? I'm not a shell front for a major Japanese media conglomerate.

Please note that I am currently traveling across the Atlantic at the time of this publication, so if something goes horribly wrong with this upload or post, please be patient and I will fix it upon my return. Yowza!!

Files

A real Jim in the rough: Hydlide | NES Works 124

Well, here we are. One of the worst games of all time! A huge disaster that insults the intelligence of anyone who owned an NES! Nah, not really. Hydlide feels incredibly archaic as a 1989 NES release, but that doesn't reflect on the game itself so much as FCI's weird decision to publish it here so late. I think it probably would have fared well if they'd shipped it alongside Zanac back in 1987. But two years later? Why would anyone want this game when they could play a dozen better, Hydlide-inspired works instead? Still, this is a game worth experiencing and attempting to understand, because it's pretty much the Rosetta Stone for action-RPGs. Seriously, it was a big deal. Just... not in 1989. Production notes: Video Works is funded via Patreon (http://www.patreon.com/gamespite) — support the show and get access to every episode up to two weeks in advance of its YouTube debut! Plus, exclusive podcasts, eBooks, and more! Why watch when you can read? Check out the massive hardcover print editions of NES Works, Super NES Works, and Virtual Boy works, available now at Limited Run Games (https://limitedrungames.com/collections/books)! SG-1000 Works: Segaiden Vol. I is available NOW, and Metroidvania: The First Decade is due in 2024. NES footage captured from Analogue Nt Mini. Video upscaled to 720 with xRGB Mini Framemeister. "Before the Storm" courtesy of Jacob Le.