The Code

The Konami Code, as shown by our friends at Wikipedia.

It's as synonymous with 80s video gaming as Mario and Luigi. It's probably the biggest reason we love to play Contra so much. Yet, the "Konami Code" stretches far beyond 30 lives.

Oh yes, the code goes far beyond the original NES. Much farther.

In fact, the code is used in games on the NES, Super NES, Sony PlayStation and even mobile phones. And the numerous games that utilize it go far beyond even the realm of Konami. A list of games where the code can be used is found here.

A little bit of video gaming history: The code was created back in 1985 by Kazuhisa Hashimoto while designing the NES port of the game Gradius. Inputting the code gives players all the power-ups, which normally you'd gradually collect during the game.

The rest is history. The code spread like wildfire.

For those of us who became gamers back in the 1980s, the Konami Code was a part of our video game lives and to this day runs through our blood. Lest we never forget "The Code."

Fun and excitin' ridin', jumpin', bobbin' and weavin'

Excitebike was, in a word, exciting. Even though the number of tracks was limited, the game was still tons of fun.

Crank up the engine, hit the track and go back to 1985! Excitebike was one of the Nintendo Entertainment System's oldest original titles, and today the game is still enjoyed by many, myself included.

There is no underlying story or character in Excitebike. You take control of an unnamed rider and race him (or her) to the best time possible, hopefully qualifying for the Excitebike race, a replay of the track you just hammered only more difficult. My friend Kevin was disappointed you couldn't actually win the super-duper Excitebike in the NES version, which I believe you could at the arcade. If anyone knows any different, let me know.

While tackling the predesigned tracks was fun, I spent lots of time building my own tracks. I don't know if this was changed in any of the game's re releases, but you could place a bunch of those little ramps on the track, jump out of the top of the screen and come out at the bottom.

One of my favorite things about the game is the graphics. Even though this game was released in 1985 in North America, the track looks pretty sharp and you can tell it's actually a guy riding a motorbike. The haystacks and camera guys are a nice touch, too.

If you still have an NES, or own a system that allows you to purchase a release of the game, I highly suggest it. It's unlockable in Excitebike 64 (GCN) and Animal Crossing (GCN). It's also available for Game Boy Advance.

Top 10: Video game characters as Summer Olympians

With the Summer Olympics in full swing, I decided to offer a list of video game characters from the past who'd make great Olympic athletes. I know some of your favorites will be left off the list, so as always, feel free to suggest some entries of your own.

10. The Special Operations Soldier from Rush'n Attack: This guy would make a great distance runner, and I can imagine him stealing one of those flame throwers to light the Olympic Flame during the opening ceremonies.

9. Pit (Kid Icarus): Imagine having a guy with Pit's archery skills helping the U.S. win the gold. He evn looks the part of an ancient Olympian.

8. Anyone on fire on NBA Jam: Settling for bronze would never be an issue when you're sinking buckets from 80 feet away. And watching the ball fly through the air like a comet would be awesome, too.

7. Balrog (North American version of Street Fighter II: The World Warrior): Those little white spots on Olympic fighter's boxing gloves won't matter when this guy starts pummelling you. Chances are after about 30 seconds you'll be running for the exit.

6. Pitfall Harry (Pitfall!): Guy can run, jump, swing and steal your gold. Start him off with a round of gymnastics, and he's still fresh enough for some distance running.

5. Little Mac (Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!): The Olympics are full of great stories, and what a story it would be for the little 107 lb. guy from the Bronx to take the gold over his much larger opponents.

4. Luigi (North American version of Super Mario Bros. 2): Want to win the gold in the high jump and long jump? Recruit this guy immediately. Wins spot over Princess Peach for being able to jump high as well as far.

3. Bowser (Super Mario Bros. 3): The SMB strongman villain would be a nice fit for either weightlifting, wrestling, shot put or a combination of the three. Though despised throughout the Mushroom Kingdom, Bowser would be a great addition to the Olympic roster.

2. Sonic the Hedgehog: Chances are Sonic would sweep all running events, especially at the shorter distances. The other runners would finally reach the finish line to find Sonic laying on the ground doing that taunt pose.

1. Samus Aran (Metroid): The ultimate endurance athlete. Keep in mind the original Metroid is actually a continuous game with no pauses or cut scenes unless you die or turn the game off. Realistically, you can play the game from beginning to end without pausing or quitting the game. She can do it all - runs, jumps, shoots, rolls and drops bombs without even stopping for a drink. Now that's an athlete!

Madden before the monopoly: Part II

Madden 97 for the Nintendo Game Boy gave you most of the elements found in its large-console brothers, the key word being most.

Since the new Madden is game will be soon released to the public, and because I've reviewed the other two football games I own for the Nintendo Game Boy, I figured I'd go ahead and take a look back at Madden 97. But instead of breaking the game down by graphics, sound, etc., I'm just going to give you a "What I like/don't like" rundown. The game was released in 1996, the same year the series made its debut on the Sony PlayStation and Sega Saturn. Other consoles, such as the Genesis and SNES, also featured this title.

What I like: This game is all retro Madden and reminds me of my favorite Madden, John Madden Football '93 for the Sega Genesis. From the vertical, top-down gameplay to the use of passing windows, this game is old-school. Even though this is a Game Boy title, it still features the complex offensive and defensive playbooks featured throughout the series. There are some stats available for viewing during gameplay. Cutscenes and sound bytes featuring the referees and crowd are also present. And I really like the little dances players do when the score.

What I don't like: Notice the title of the game is "Madden 97" and not "Madden NFL 97," meaning the game doesn't feature actual team names (only cities, like in Tecmo Bowl) or player names (only numbers). Also, it took me quite some time to differentiate what was actually the ball (which is abnormally huge) and what was actually the shadow under the ball. Passes fly through the sky in slow-motion, and punts by the computer have a hang time in the 8-second range, as if you're playing football on the Moon. And since it's built on the Game Boy platform pre-GBA, you have to keep track of the medieval password save system to keep a season going.

If you're going to play this one, I'd highly suggest doing so using a Super Game Boy or Game Boy Player. My Game Boy Player gives the title screens and menus a green tint and the in-game screens a blue one, unlike the screenshot above. If not, you may have trouble seeing so many players on the screen at the same time. If you don't necessarily need Madden to get you video game football fix, then I'd suggest finding a copy of Tecmo Bowl instead.

Retro Game Review: Tecmo Bowl

Even though Tecmo Bowl for the Nintendo Game Boy was small, it was still better than no Tecmo Bowl at all!

Platform: Nintendo Game Boy
Released: 1991
Developer: Tecmo, of course!

Background: Duh, na, na, na, na, na, na... dum, dum...Duh, na, na, na, na, na, na... it's Tecmo Bowl! Yes, fans, it's that game we all wasted many a summer afternoons playing one another, hating your best buddy because he picked L.A. and ran all over you with Bo Jackson. Your only solace was you had the Giants and blocked every kick with Lawrence Taylor. In 1991, Tecmo released this classic in portable form for the Nintendo Game Boy. The game was essentially the exact same game as the NES version released a few years earlier with a few tweaks, the most obvious being the monochrome screen, the score and clock being located under the player names instead of in between and some sound issues, which I'll go through later. Licensing allowed Tecmo to use actual player names but team nicknames were forbidden (Punter Sean Landeta, who officially retired this year, was the last player from the original TB still playing in the NFL). The game features 12 teams based on those which made the playoffs when the original NES version was developed. Each team had four plays to choose from, and defense was played by guessing which play the offense picked. In TB, you played each of the other teams once apiece to earn the title and become TB champion. This game didn't have a save feature, so you had to write down a password after defeating each opponent.

Note: I played this game on my Nintendo GameCube through the Game Boy Player, which automatically adds color to the game. One team is always white, and the other is always red, no matter who you are or who you're playing. However, I'm grading visuals on what the game looked like on an original Game Boy, circa 1991, like in the screenshot above.

Graphics: 3/5
Compared to other football games for the GB I've reviewed (see Jackson, Bo), the graphics are above average, at least. The ball itself is still larger than life, but you can actually tell they are people playing football. Even if it's 9-on-9, it still looks good.

Sound: 1.5/5
This is where the Game Boy version slips away from its NES counterpart. The GB version keeps the same music throughout the game from the title screen on (including during plays). However, hardware restrictions (I suppose) forced Tecmo to remove all the voices from the game. So no hearing "Hut!" 100 times, no "Touchdown!" and no "It's good!" Instead, the voices are substituted with sound "blips" that take a little away but not enough to throw this game in the trash.

Controls: 4/5
Tecmo Bowl certainly isn't known for its complex control scheme. If you can press the D-pad up and down diagonally, you can pretty much run the ball without any trouble. Passing is nothing more than choosing your receiver with one button while pushing the other to throw. How hard is that?

Gameplay: 4/5
Other than the voices being nonexistent, my only gameplay complaint is that the players on the screen flicker insanely when everyone is on the screen doing something at once. And it's not the same during every play, either, which can be even more annoying. But based on what football video games were like back in 1991, I can give it a pass for this. Otherwise, it's nearly flawless fun, especially with two players.

Overall: 3.125/5
Before Tecmo Bowl, football video games were, in two words, pretty bad. After Tecmo Bowl, they grew into complex affairs that casual gamers can be turned off by. And while I sometimes like to delve into the more complex Madden franchise, there are other times a good pick-up game of Tecmo Bowl is all I really need to get my fix. If you find a GB or NES copy of Tecmo Bowl anywhere, pick it up and play it!

Running on empty: The Power Pad saga

Games like World Class Track Meet did a great job of showing us how out of shape we were.

Years ago, long before Grand Theft Auto ruled the world, I read that kids who play video games become more intelligent over time.

Smarter, maybe. In shape, I don't think so.

Years and years before Wii Fit, the folks at Nintendo attempted to chisel young gamers into shape with the introduction of the Power Pad for the NES, technology that would become popular again years later with Dance Dance Revolution. The Power Pad was a simple concept: a two-sided, rug-sized pad multiple players can look like idiots running and jumping on. OK, it's exactly like Dance Dance Revolution.

While there were around 10 or so games released for the Power Pad in the U.S., Europe and Japan, the only one I ever played was World Class Track Meet. The game featured several Olympic-style events, such as 100m dash, 110m hurdles, long jump and triple jump. And in order to move your player in the game - that's right - you had to run in place really fast and jump in the air like your feet were on fire.

The game was actually fun, but tiring. I remember many a times playing sandlot sports with my friends and never getting worn out like after an hour of this game. And you have to be the kind of person not easily embarrassed by looking like an idiot while playing video games. This game probably won't get you any chicks. Of course there were ways to cheat - only moving your heels really fast while keeping your toes on the ground or simply using your hands - but that kinda took the fun out of the game.

All in all, the Power Pad was one of the best accessories for the NES. Along with WCTM, it made you feel like you were actually a track star, even though in reality I could barely finish a short jog just around the block!

Retro Game Review: Evander Holyfield's "Real Deal" Boxing

Screenshot snagged online. Long before "Eargate," Evander Holyfield was the man, and his game was 1,000 times better than the other guy who beat Tyson's video game.

Platform: Sega Genesis/Mega Drive

Released: 1992

Developer: ACME Interactive

Background: Before Knockout Kings came around, this was my all-time favorite boxing video game. So, I guess you can say it's my favorite retro boxing game. In the infancy of the Genesis/Mega Drive, boxing games were scarce, the most notably of the early titles being James "Buster" Douglas Knockout Boxing, a really bad game from all aspects (the fighters are so ripped, I'm surprised they could actually move!). Enter the "Real Deal," a game that was fun and ahead of its time from some aspects. While Evander himself is the only real fighter in the game, you have the option of creating your own fighter to lead through a 40-fight career. I used to create a guy who looked like Rocky Balboa because I thought the idea of Sly taking on Holyfield would be awesome... Give me a break, I was still young then.

Graphics: 5/5

Remember I said this game was ahead of its time? While the camera during fights always gives you a 2D perspective, the ring and crowd is in 3D. Fighters actually look like humans, you know, proportional and stuff and not overly ripped (Can you say 'roid rage?). The spectators actually have faces, and the ring girl between rounds looks like the redhead from the B-52's ("Rock Lobster," anyone?). Overall, ACME did a fantastic job with the visuals.

Sound: 3/5

First, the negative sell: Some of the music is cheese, and after a while you get tired of the gurgling sound a fighter makes when they get hit, since it never changes. But the game's speech isn't half-bad, and by pressing the A,B and C buttons together at once makes your fighter taunt your opponent by saying "Come out and fight, you wimp," which was usually followed by you getting pummeled, especially by higher-ranked fighters.

Controls: 2.5/5

The punch buttons are A and C, with a stop at B for blocking. And which direction you press on the D-pad decides what kind of punch you throw. Moving toward and away from your opponent can be slow at times, especially if you haven't acquired many speed points yet.

Gameplay: 4/5

This is about the closest thing you'll get to real boxing as far as retro video games go. The fighters aren't too cartoony and they do move around the ring 360 degrees. You can see where you're positioned by looking at the overhead cam at the top of the screen. There's also cuts, blood and TKO's for beating your opponent into submission even though they won't fall down. And with so many fighters to face and just 40 fights to beat Holyfield's $50 million mark, you won't want to stop playing any time soon. But truth be told, this game is even better when beating the tar out of a friend in two-player mode.

Overall: 3.625/5

This game is fun all-around, but it's the most fun with a friend. That is, even though you might not be speaking after beating each other to a bloody pulp. I spent countless hours playing this game, and it's still today one of my favorite Genesis/Mega Drive titles. If you don't have this one, I'd highly recommend picking up a copy if you stumble upon one.