Godzilla | Godzilla-kun
The Japanese version (Godzilla-kun) was released for the MSX in 1986, and the North America Game Boy port, simply titled Godzilla, was released in 1990.
Platform played: Game Boy emulator
Date beaten: 11/3/25
A very odd game featuring a "super-deformed"/chibi style Godzilla and other monsters. Specifically, it's based on the children's show "Godzilla Land." However, it's not an action game, but rather a sort of sokoban-style puzzle game, where the goal of each level is to destroy all the boulders. By punching a boulder, it will move one tile, unless there is an obstacle in the way such as a wall or another boulder. So you have to push all the blocks to where you can destroy them. The tricky part is that strangely, Godzilla can't jump, so if you fall down, you may not be able to get back up, and you have to strategically climb ladders/vines and make sure the boulder doesn't fall into a spike pit where you can't reach it or something like that. All whle avoiding enemies which have different movement patterns and abilities, such as one that's indestructible unless you drop a boulder on him (others can simply be punched to death), some can fly, etc. If you take too long on a given level, a three-headed monster (Ghidorah?) will appear and chase you. He can't be destroyed and deals constant damage as he touches you.
There are a total of 64 stages, but you don't have to play all of them. When you beat a level, one or more arrows will appear, and you choose which one you take to get to the next level in the maze. Your ultimate goal is to get the center of the maze and rescue Godzilla's son. The pause menu allows you to access a map that shows where you are in the maze, and the arrows connecting the levels, but only for those stages you've already beaten. Sometimes you might find out the level you're in is a dead end, and have to backtrack, which unfortunately means you have to play the whole level again.
The North American release has significant differences from the Japanese release, especially the graphics. The levels were also changed somewhat - I wasn't actually able to complete the Japanese version because I got stuck on a particular level, and I was only able to find walkthroughs for the English version - which as it turns out, removed two boulders to make it easier!
Anyway, fairly mediocre game, but I played it a lot as a kid. Glad I was able to finally finish it and put it behind me lol.
The Legend of Zelda (Feb 21, 1986)
Platform played: NES Classic Mini
Date beaten: Nov 4, 2023
Beat it with the help of a guide to navigate the overworld and a couple places where I got stuck, but for the most part, explored the dungeons myself while making my own maps (there are in-game maps but they lack detail). Compared to later entries in the series, it's much more non-linear and open-ended. Pretty fun overall, but later entries in the series definitely made some much-needed quality of life improvements to the formula.
Dragon Quest (May 27, 1986)
Platform played: Game Boy (Dragon Warrior 1+2) / NES emulator (Dragon Quest DeLocalized patch)
Date beaten: unknown (GB) / November 11, 2023 (NES)
I beat this when I was younger and I remember thinking it wasn't that hard. I was curious to see if I would still think that or if I'd have less patience for all the grinding and stuff now, but I could not get the cartridge to work :( However, I then decided I wanted to try out the "Delocalized" fan re-translation, so I played the NES version on emulator. Now I can clearly see how it was influenced by Wizardry and Ultima, which also explains why you have to open up a menu to use doors and stairs; it's trying to copy the Ultima style of gameplay, which used a keyboard with 26 keys, on a NES controller with only 2 buttons! I guess it was a little later before they figured out the idea of just having one context-sensitive button. Having to open up the menu to use stairs has an upside though, it means you can walk over a stair tile without accidentally leaving the dungeon and such.
I still think the Game Boy remake is actually better, it adds a lot of little quality of life changes, fixed glitches, improved graphics, more varied dialogue, and rebalances the gameplay to make it a bit easier. The main downside to the GB version is the character limit resulting in enemies with names like "MtlScrpio" (for "Metal Scorpion") but I guess in Japan, there was a Super Famicom remake as well, so that may be the best version. Also, the grinding and such would definitely be more tedious playing on an actual cartridge versus using the emulator with save states and speedup.
Metroid (August 6, 1986)
Platform played: NES Classic Mini / NES emulator
Date beaten: 6/28/25 (NES Emulator - Metroid Mother+99 hack)
This is another one I initially sort of skipped over. I played a bit of it on the NES Classic Mini, but found it too difficult and figured I would have to content myself with only having beaten the GBA remake, Metroid Zero Mission, and not the original. After finding the Metroid Mother+99 romhack which adds some quality of life improvements I decided to give it another try. My biggest frustration with the original game is that for some inexplicable reason, you start with only 33 health. If you die, you have to grind back up from 33 health all over again. The rom hack fixes this by letting you start with full health instead.
Somewhat similar to Zelda, the game is a fairly open-ended adventure game, in which you are given little direction and left to explore for yourself, but as you explore, you will find more powerful weapons and upgrades as you go along. The game has a very cool aesthetic and sense of isolation and exploration, as there are no NPCs to help you on your quest. As is typical of NES games, the final boss is annoying as fuck, although interestingly, Mother Brain doesn't really attack you herself. Instead, her chamber is guarded by various turrets and things that constantly fire at you. There are also several pillars of "Zebetite" in your way that you must destroy to get to her. It takes eight missiles to destroy one of these barriers, but they reform if you don't destroy them fast enough, so that "eight missiles" is ONLY if you hit them directly and don't miss any shots, and fire them in rabid succession. Since shit is constantly firing at you, that's basically impossible. Mother Brain takes 30 missiles to destroy. Also, the screen slows to a crawl since there is too much stuff on the screen. Luckily however, the Zebetite stays destroyed if you die and return to the start of the area (and this final area is the most linear in the game, you won't get lost or anything). Also the game is merciful in that, from Mother Brain's room, you can go back to the previous room and farm Metroids for missiles. You shoot them with the freeze beam, then hit with 5 missiles to destroy them. They will always drop a health or missile pickup, and the missiles are more than it takes to destroy them. The titular Metroids only appear in this final area of the game. If they touch you, they will latch onto Samus and constantly drain health unless you bomb them off of you (or go through a door).
Another notable thing about this game is that Samus is a girl, which at the time, was treated as a surprise twist/secret. English language materials even used "he" for Samus at first, such as in the manual. But if you beat the game fast enough, you would be treated to a scene of Samus taking off her suit, revealing that she is in fact a woman.
Oh yeah, despite the nonlinear nature of the game, you are supposed to defeat the bosses Kraid and Ridley first, which will then unlock the way to the final area. Though speedrunners figured out a trick to get there early, which was removed in the remake.
Castlevania | Akumajou Dracula (Sep 26, 1986)
Platformed played: NES Classic Mini
Date beaten: 1/27/24
This is a game I "gave up" on three or more times before FINALLY coming back to finish it after I beat Castlevania III - it felt wrong to have completed the second and third games in the trilogy, but not the first one.
Prior to reaching Castlevania on my list, I attemped Ghosts n Goblins since it's included on the NES Classic Mini. Playing that game made me appreciate Castlevania so much more, as the games feel very similar, except Castlevania does everything better. There are frustrating parts in Castlevania, like when there are a bunch of birds flying above you that drop Fleamen. It's pretty much hopeless if you don't destroy the Fleamen as soon as they appear, but they appear semi-randomly, so some luck is involved. Well, ALL of Ghosts n Goblins is like that. Plus, Castlevania has an actual health bar in contrast to GNG's "two hits and you're dead" system.
The game is very generous with its infinite continues and letting you get your upgrades back after you die, including the area leading up to Dracula where there are no enemies, just a lot of candles for you to break until you get 99 hearts. Unfortunately, doing this requires going up and down stairs, which I found almost impossible to do without dying and having to start grinding for hearts all over again. Save states helped here but it was still annoying having to save a state every single time to make sure I kept all the hearts during my grinding. But since the final stage is JUST Dracula, you will always be able to challenge him again right after you die, without having to run through a whole stage first.
I tried to keep the holy water subweapon for Dracula along with the "III" upgrade which lets you have 3 on screen at once, but I found it impossible to keep it, I just couldn't get to Drac without losing a life. However, there is a Cross subweapon right before Dracula, and a candle in his boss arena that gives you the Holy Water, so you can use the Cross for his first phase and the Holy Water for the second phase. Because the cross acts like a boomerang, at first I wasn't sure how to use it without breaking the candle and losing access to the Holy Water for the next phase (as it will disappear if you don't pick it up right away), but then I remembered that you can catch the Cross as it comes back to you, preventing it from going all the way across the screen. I used save states so I didn't have to redo the whole grinding session every time (but didn't really abuse them), and it took many, MANY tries, but I finally beat it! Dracula's first phase is annoying as shit, he constantly appears right on top of you and I feel like there is a lot of RNG to his movement pattern. However, his second phase is quite easy if you have the Holy Water, which will stun him in place briefly, letting you get many hits in (This doesn't work in the first phase, because there, only his head is vulnerable, and the Holy Water can't reach that high). Death, likewise, is one of the toughest bosses in the game, but can be easily stunlocked with Holy Water. I still can't beat the Frankenstein boss consistently though, I feel like it's purely a matter of luck being able to beat him.
Game of the year: There are so many iconic games from this year that it's hard to pick just one. This is the first year from which I played games that felt like an adventure, not just a game. In the end, I think I have to choose Castlevania as my favorite, primarily because of the challenge. I initially thought I would never be able to beat it, which made completing it much more satisfying. I also really enjoy its tone and aesthetic.