Arcade Games of 1990: A Brief Comparison

 

©1990 Irem
Hammerin' Harry

©1990 Atari Games
Pit Fighter

©1990 Capcom
Magic Sword

©1990 Williams
Smash TV

      As you can see, Hammerin' Harry had some impressive graphics for 1990. Of course, mediocre graphics don't necessarily hinder a good game. Smash TV didn't have the best graphics in the world, but it was still fun as hell. The forgotten Capcom classic Magic Sword had good graphics for the time as well, but not quite as good as Harry. Then there's Pit Fighter. Pit Fighter sucks in about 800 different ways. Cutting open my scrotum would be more than playing Pit Fighter. If I ever give that game a proper review, it will only be to demonstrate how Atari plummeted from video game giant to steaming pile of shit. Interestingly enough, Hammering Harry's graphics were so well done that ports on two different home consoles failed to recapture their glory. Below are screenshots from a 1992 NES game and a 1993 Super Nintendo game:

 

The first boss in the NES game is Randy Savage. Mohawks, pickaxes, and Shakespearean outfits... Talk about a fucking identity crisis.

      I don't know what the fuck Irem was thinking releasing an NES game in 1992, especially one that looks like that. I think maybe they hired a fucking five year-old to do the graphic design because the whole game is done in about ten classic Crayola colors. Oh well. At least you get a life bar. SNES Harry looks good, but he doesn't look noticeably better than Arcade Harry despite a three year gap. Of course, the styles are so different it's hard to properly gauge the difference. If you've never seen these two games, it's understandable. The NES game, simply called Hammerin' Harry, was only released in Europe. The SNES game is known as Ganbare Daiku no Gensan and it was only available in Asia. Thanks to the magic of emulators, you too can give them a try. All three games are worthwhile, especially if you like beating the shit out of people with hammers.

 

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