JoeTheDestroyer's Elevator Action review

Nice job, Joe. The last paragraph, which is also your front page box text, needs an "it's" for "its" swap. Also, this sentence: As with most things ugly and irritating, I only felt pity could be misleading. Anyway, I'll stay away from this 'classic' based on your review.

I'm glad you acknowledged that the real problems go beyond dated visuals and sound, since I had some concerns at the beginning that you were ripping into the game basically just for being old.

I have no urge whatsoever to play Elevator Action. A job well done, I'd say!

Thank you, gentlemen. I made some modifications that I hope will work.

Now that I've gotten this painful experience out of the way, I can move onto some other NES reviews and finish up that personal challenge. I think the letter 'I' is up next.

Joe, despite your complaints against the NES version of Elevator Action, I'm still somewhat interested in hunting down a copy and taking it for a spin.

I played the original arcade game via Taito Legends on the PS2. The issues you have with the NES port -- the glacial pace and repetitive levels -- are certainly present in the arcade original, but there are some interesting mechanics, too (not dying by mere physical contact, shooting the lights out, among other things). I'm rather curious if the NES version keeps these ideas intact.

I guess one thing I didn't mention in the review is that the mechanics are fairly sound.

That and it's pretty entertaining to see a spy get crushed by an elevator.

I don't understand the line: 'Even the gameplay, relevant in 1983, was dated.'

Are you saying the gameplay of the original was bad? (Obviously it can't simultaneously be relevant and dated). Or of the NES version? What's the date of the NES version vs the original? This line is too vague for me on an important point.

I haven't played the NES version (and I'm a NES skeptic. Not a superskeptic, but I have seen enough ports of games where the NES version is what everyone knows, and it's the bad one) but I don't understand this comment. I'm moved to comment because, even though I had infinitely fewer critical faculties when I was 8, I was there when this game was new, and it definitely felt new. The stuff I remember thinking was coolest was - how the guys went in and out of the doors (so it was like an extra dimension) and how your karate kick move accounted for the scenery. That is, you could try the kick at any point in the scenery, and depending on where you were, you would move differently. This is really just a long way of saying 'You had a modicum of logical interaction with the scenery', but most games didn't have that. A jump was a jump. You couldn't jump and bump into complicated stuff like ceilings and elevator floors etc., and see your guy react accordingly, like you could in Elevator Action.

Does the NES give you the ability to shoot the lights out, also? Also as qxz said, it was the first game I played where you and the bad guys could actually walk through each other and nobody got hurt.

I took that sentence to mean that the gameplay was good at the time but hasn't aged well - that if the gameplay was ever good it was because of context rather than being fundamentally fun (in contrast to, say, Tetris - still fun today). That's my interpretation, but you're right, it is unclear.

If I'm right about the intended meaning, then you're actually pretty much in agreement. The things that were good about it in 1983 were good only because it was 1983.

Both bloomer and Sam are correct.

bloomer:
Yeah, that does sound vague. I'll fix it (most likely tomorrow). Thanks for the input!

I should probably separate my judgment on the NES version from the arcade. I haven't played the arcade one, but still want to. Yes, you can shoot the light and karate kick, but these things still didn't raise the interest level for me. I honestly think I'll enjoy the arcade one more, if and when I do get to play it. Arcade-style games on NES don't seem to age well (like Door Door, which I also reviewed), but there are some that I enjoy even today like Bubble Bobble and Tetris.

Elevator Action Returns is awesome.

This review would be a lot better if you also review that because you will be that much cooler after playing it.

I've wondered if that was good or not. It looked awesome.

JoeTheDestroyer wrote:
I should probably separate my judgment on the NES version from the arcade. I haven't played the arcade one, but still want to. Yes, you can shoot the light and karate kick, but these things still didn't raise the interest level for me. I honestly think I'll enjoy the arcade one more, if and when I do get to play it.

I dunno about that. In the likelihood* that the NES version is a 90% (or better) accurate port of the arcade version, your "enjoyment" of Elevator Action won't be much higher.


* Again, I've only played the arcade game, NOT the NES port.

It's always difficult to tell. There were a number of NES home conversions that were better than their arcade inspiration (usually because they added depth rather than trying for pixel-perfect conversions)... and then there were many that the NES just couldn't handle what it needed to and the developers weren't smart enough to compensate.