Showing posts with label 90s Video Game Print Ads. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 90s Video Game Print Ads. Show all posts

Sunday, June 24, 2018

Shadow of the Ninja for NES (1990)

Original ad featured in the November 1990 issue of EGM (no. 16).
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A true hidden gem for Nintendo's 8-bit machine


Well-known publisher Natsume, of Harvest Moon fame, released what could be called the perfect cross of Ninja Gaiden and Contra. Sandy for them, no-one paid attention to their game during the begging of the 90s.

Tuesday, June 19, 2018

Sinistron & Tricky Kick for TurboGrafx-16 (1990)

Original ad featured in the November 1990 issue of EGM (no. 16).
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Two for the price of a grey one

Two-game ads were the norm in the late 80s and the begging of the 90s. Unfortunately for these two games, both ads failed to capture the imagination of young readers.

Sunday, June 10, 2018

Mario Golf for N64 (1999)

Original ad published in Tips & Tricks, issue of August 1999, no. 18

Download an HD version of the image by right-clicking with your mouse.

Simple and clean, just like Nintendo


A fun game for the N64, Mario Golf used a distinctive style for its publicity, neither too garish nor too loud, just like you would expect from the Big N.

Sunday, June 3, 2018

Granada X for Genesis (1990)


Original ad published in the December 1990 edition of EGM (no. 17)
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An atypical shooter for Sega's 16-bit monster 


One of the earlier shooters for Genesis/Megadrive has a surprisingly cool advertisement that is probably 10 times more interesting than the actual game.

Friday, May 25, 2018

Ninja Gaiden & Ninja Gaiden II (1990)


Original ad published in the September 1990 issue 

of Electronic Gaming Monthly (no. 14).

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No frills advertisement for hard-as-nails series


A game this good needs no supplementary material to extol its virtues. Word-of-mouth built the notoriety of its legendary level of difficulty before gamers repeating "git gud" were even born. Oh, and both NES games were actually fun.


Sunday, May 13, 2018

Heiankyo Alien for Nintendo Game Boy (1990)


Original ad published in the June 1990 issue 

of VideoGames & Computer Entertainment (VG&CE).

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Awesome art, terrible writing

Another puzzle game that comes from a long line of classic PC and arcade versions. The printed material shown here is probably the best I've come across for Nintendo's Game Boy.

Sunday, May 6, 2018

Hyper Lode Runner for Nintendo Game Boy (1990)


Original ad published in the September 1990 issue 

of Electronic Gaming Monthly (no. 14).

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Strange artwork for an all-time classic

Released at least on 28 different consoles, the original Lode Runner was a 1983 game developed firstly for Apple, Atari, Commodore, VIC-20 and PC systems. It then spread absolutely everywhere. The artwork for the Game Boy version remains curious, to say the least.

Tuesday, May 1, 2018

Bill Lambeer's Combat Basketball for Super NES (1992)


Original ad published in the April 1992 edition of Electronic Gaming Monthly (no. 31)
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Crap game, pragmatic advertising


Released around the same time as Base Wars (NES, 1990), Jerry Glanville's Pigskin Footbrawl (Genesis, 1992) and Mutant Football League (Genesis, 1993),  Bill Lambeer's Combat Basketball for Super NES was shoved for Nintendo's 16-bit juggernaut in late 1991. It was the first b-ball game for the SNES, but other than that, it retains no other distinction. Some have called it one of the worst game released for that great console, while others routinely place it the list of most violent video games. Before hitting North America, it was called Future Basketball (Amiga and Atari ST, 1990).

Saturday, April 14, 2018

Virtua Cop 2 for Sega Saturn (1997)

Original add featured in the January 1997 issue of Ultra Game Players magazine (no. 93).
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Arcade quality action right in your living room


If you ever visited an arcade hall during the 90's you remember Virtua Cop fondly. It was one of Sega's most well-known brands and an absolute quarter-muncher. Graphics were very impressive for the time, thanks to the brightly colored polygons that gave the shooter a very futuristic feel. The same could be said about the sound and the overall feel of the game. It just encompassed Sega arcade quality and made for a memorable visit right next to other arcade classics like Daytona USA and Sega Virtua Racing.

Monday, October 30, 2017

NIGHTS into dreams...for Sega Saturn (1996)

Original printed ad featured in volume 4 issue 9 of Gamefan magazine.


The best 3D game that does not a feature a Mario character


Few games have been so well-received as “NIGHTS”, released by Sega for the Saturn in 1996, just when 3D was starting to dominate the video game market. Nintendo had of course Mario 64 and Sony’s Playstation was starting to gain ground with the 3D crowd, but the majority of titles that featured this graphical style were horrible. NIGHTS changed that forever. Of course 2D was still very popular and the SNES was still going strong (Yoshi’s Island was released in 1995; Super Mario RPG in 1996).

Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes of the Lance (1990)

Original ad featured in the November 1990 issue of EGM (no. 16).
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Terrific artwork, terrible game

Heralded as one of the worst games ever for the NES, this side-scrolling action RPG featured terrible graphics and gameplay, yet decent music. It was a ported to various different systems, including DOS, but never gained any traction on Nintendo’s console. Having said that, the box art and publicity material was absolutely beautiful.

Saturday, March 18, 2017

Mechanized Attack for NES (1990)

Original advertisement published in VG&CE (June 1990)
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A ho-hum game with a decent ad

Little can be said about the game you see above. It was a first person view mode shooter in the same vein as Operation Wolf. Both of them were successful arcade games (they even had fake rifles to round out the experience), but lost quite a bit when ported to the NES.

Thursday, March 16, 2017

Demon Sword for NES (1990)


Original advertisement published in VG&CE (June 1990)
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Yellow and bland publicity


Demon Sword for the NES, released in North American in 1990, was a typical side-scroller as so many other of the era. It featured floaty gameplay, repetitive stages and very little sense of control. Graphics and music were meh, as were the sounds. In consequence, the ad for the game was also mediocre.

Wednesday, March 15, 2017

Golgo 13: The Mafat Conspiracy for NES (1990)


Original advertisement published in VG&CE (June 1990)

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Adults-only game for your Nintendo with beautiful artwork

Japanese and American gamers are well known for having different aesthetic values, specially in video games. Most of those differences were molded by Nintendo themselves, since they held a rigid censorship system for games sold in the Western world. But some games were able to pass the big N’s censors and left the original Japanese game practically unchanged. One such instance in Golgo 13 (1988) and its sequel, which you see here.

Monday, March 13, 2017

Technos company NES games (1990)



Original advertisement published in VG&CE (June 1990)

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Game developers can also make good print ads

Technos was a prolific Japanese developer during the 80s and a better part of the 90s. Now defunct, the company nevertheless left its mark on the console and arcade fronts with such classics and Double Dragon, Super DodgeBall and River City Ransom.

Sunday, March 12, 2017

Gate of Thunder for Turbo Duo and TG-CD (1993)


Original advertisement published in Turbo Force (January 1993),

a pack-in magazine of Electronic Gaming Monthly.

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Possibly the best system-starter game ever

By 1993, NEC had tried and failed to establish the PC-Engine brand in North America. Their Turbo-Duo system would be their last effort to break Nintendo’s and Sega’s fierce control of the American video game market.

Wednesday, March 8, 2017

Battle Chess for NES (1990)


Original ad published in the September 1990 issue 

of Electronic Gaming Monthly (no. 14).

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Great artistic concept but slow gameplay


Animated battle chess is possibly the only subgenera of games that originated from the Star Wars scene were the heroes are playing the space version of the game. Ironically enough, the Star Wars version of the game, released in 1993, is still considered the best realization of the concept. 

Tuesday, March 7, 2017

Rolling Thunder II for Geneses (1992)


Original ad published in the April 1992 edition of EGM (no. 31)

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Spy vs. spy with and lots of guns

A competent port of good arcade side-scrolling action game, Rolling Thunder II became well-known as one of the better Genesis offerings by Namco thanks to its outstanding soundtrack and sound effects. Gameplay was smooth and responsive, very Shinobi-like, something that makes or breaks this kind of fast-paced shooting games. Even though the graphics on Sega's console could not compete with those of the arcade, they were still noteworthy, specially when you take into account that the home-console port featured additional levels and cut scenes between stages.

Wednesday, March 1, 2017

Wizardry: Knight of Diamonds (1992)


Original ad featured in the July 1992 edition of GamePro magazine.
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A classy RPG gets some handsome marketing 


The Wizardry series represents one of the more fortunate collaborations between Japan and the Western world. It was originally developed in the West by Sir-Tech for Apple machines, yet gained a second life when Japanese developer Asciiware re-released it on popular consoles like the NES. The second installment of the game was a continuation of that logic.

Monday, February 20, 2017

Splatterhouse 2 for Genesis (1992)


Original ad featured in the July 1992 edition of GamePro magazine.
Press to view or download image in higher resolution.
A gory follow-up to a 16-bit classic

Most retrogamers will fondly remember the original Splatterhouse, released in 1990 for the original TurboGrafx-16. It’s a good side scroller that became very famous for its shockingly gory level design and constant references to classic horror films, starting with the protagonist himself.

The sequel, now released for Sega’s Genesis, which was far more popular than NEC’s machine, is considered the best of the trilogy. It’s a fun and dumb sidescroller that emphasizes tenacity in place of actual gaming skills. Punch and punch away until to reach the final boss. Enjoy the gory, big sprites, and the superb music. That’s it.
Now the artwork is very kid-friendly, even though this kind of game was not meant to be played by children. The box-art is anything but scary and that same illustration is replicated in the background of the ad. Same goes for the particular font used at the top of the page: it’s more playful than frightening. 

The printed page does feature some neat game screens of different levels of the game. Six in total. That alone would be enough to entice most players to buy the game. Sadly, the copy leaves a lot to be desired. It’s banal and does nothing to expand on the original game, which had been released on a different game system all together.


Splatterhouse 2 for Genesis print ad copy

Just when you thought it was safe to play video games again.

Splatterhouse 2

Terror comes to the Sega Genesis in Namco’s stomach turning sequel to the smash hit Splatterhouse. That’s right, lock your doors. Splatterhouse 2 is raging. Rick’s buffed, bad and back. Ready to trash anything to save his girlfriend Jennifer. Love is never pretty.

Eight levels of horror.
Eight megabits worth of gross graphics and chilling sounds.
Gnarly new weapons and bosses
Bone crushing action
Zealous zombie zonking!
Swinging good time!
Horrific hurls!
Eye popping boss encounters!

Warning: This game may not be appropriate to younger players.

Namco

The game creator