Video Works by Jeremy Parish

By a perfectly timed request by patron TheyCallMeSleeper, this episode arrives just in time to be positioned between this channel's coverage of Super Mario Bros. and its American sequel. Of course, this Japan-only sequel has almost nothing to do with that latter game besides the addition of Luigi as the Mario Bro. whose controls and physics turn his adventure into hard mode. But every mode of Super Mario Bros. 2: The Lost Levels amounts to hard mode, doesn't it? Nintendo took no prisoners with this one. No, they took those prisoners and tossed 'em in the wood chipper, laughing cruelly the entire time. Harsh.

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!

NES/Famicom footage captured from disk via RGB from  @Analogue  Nt Mini with Famicom Disk System. Game Boy and Super NES footage captured via RGB from MiSTer FPGA. Video upscaled to 720 with  @Retro Tink  5X.


The Famicom finally reaches maturity with the arrival of Mario's greatest adventure—and perhaps the greatest action game anyone had ever created to this point in history. Pushing the Famicom hardware to its absolute limits, Super Mario Bros. would become one of the most beloved games of all time and transformed a character that began as the star of a string one-off arcade machines into a reliable, franchise-carrying cultural icon. Not that Mario wasn't recognizable before, but Super Mario Bros. turned him into true video game royalty.

Also, Namcot delivers a pretty fun arcade conversion called BattleCity, which would have likely been the highlight in any other NES Works Gaiden episode. But, well, Super Mario Bros.

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!

NES/Famicom footage captured from  @Analogue  Nt Mini Noir. Video upscaled to 720 with  @Retro Tink  5X.


As we head into the final quarter of 1988, we have three classic Nintendo games appearing on what is decidedly NOT a classic Nintendo console. Atari published ports of three vintage Nintendo creations (Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Junior, and Mario Bros.) on a variety of platforms in late 1988, including the 2600, their various 8-bit platforms, and as seen here the 7800. While the 7800 releases can't quite punch with the actual Nintendo-programmed NES versions, the fact that these three carts exist at all turns out to be more than enough to fill an episode with speculation and musings.

I'm pretty sure I accidentally mixed up the names Atari Inc. and Atari Corp. here once again, so apologies for that, sticklers.

Also this episode, a little touch of errata: I somehow overlooked the fact that Centipede appeared at the 7800's launch in May 1986, so that also gets some air time this week. Unlike the Nintendo conversions, this take on Centipede is top-notch, with some surprisingly cool additions courtesy of General Computing Corp.

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!

Atari 7800 and NES footage captured from  @Analogue  Nt Mini Noir. Arcade footage captured from MiSTer when possible (courtesy of  @MiSTer Addons  ). Video upscaled to 720 with  @Retro Tink  5X.


Capcom kicks off one of the most important creative threads of the NES's history: Their collaboration with Disney, back in the days when Disney was simply an animation studio struggling to reinvent itself for a new era rather than an all-consuming media megalith. Ah, but this isn't really a Capcom Disney game, is it? Appearances (and packaging logos) can be deceptive... but the proof is in the gameplay, which is pretty uninspiring in this case.

Also this episode: A salvo of classic games from HAL and Nintendo. The former gives us acceptable ports of arcade masterpieces Joust and Millipede, while the latter simply slaps a new wrapper on two Famicom launch ROMs without bothering to tidy up those releases' shortcomings despite the availability of more advanced cartridge tech that could have made for, say, a proper conversion of Donkey Kong. For shame.

Production note: NES footage captured from  @Analogue  Nt Mini. Video upscaled to 720 with  @Retro Tink  5X (which accounts for the tearing and distortion in vertically scrolling sequences).

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!


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