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.

Splatterhouse 2 for Genesis (1992)

Original ad featured in the July 1992 edition of GamePro magazine.
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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

Low G Man for NES (1990)

Original ad featured in the November 1990 issue of EGM (no. 16).

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Average platformer with gimmicky gameplay

Released in 1990, this game represented the avalanche of ho-hum side-scrollers being pushed out of every corner to take advantage of the Nintendo craze. Sadly, like a lot of titles of the era, it was not a good product. Graphics were below average and music was obnoxious and the whole game rested upon the concept of you freezing your enemies and then spearing them to death.

Street Fighter 2010 for NES (1990)

Original ad featured in the November 1990 issue of EGM (no. 16).

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An average game with some nice publicity

This was just an average side-scroller until someone at Capcom decided to market it as a sci-fi spin-off of the original Street Fighter. In the North American release, the protagonist is named "Ken", just as the famed martial artist of the arcade brawler. Not until that, it was subtitled "The Final Fight" to complicate matters more.

Turbo Express (1992)

Original featured in the July 1992 edition of GamePro magazine.
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A luxurious portable system with a personality disorder 

You can't blame NEC for not trying.  During the late 80s and the beginning of the 90s the Japanese electronic giant promoted aggressively its video game products. The outcome would not be favorable, yet gamers still remember the company for its particular set of consoles and handhelds. The Turbo Express, which you see here, was the absolute king of the entire 16-bit generation.

Nano Breaker for PS2 (2005)

Original ad published in the April 2005 edition of EGM (no. 190)

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A sea of red for a Castlevania clone 

The early to mid-2000s saw a new concept of video game previously controversial that now became commonplace. About this time we saw extremely violent games that reveled in their obscene depiction of human death, such as Manhunt, Hitman, Postal and of course The Grand Theft Auto series. This was a strong departure from the survival horror and fighting games games of yesteryear. Violence was now a complete game experience, not a highlight point or a cheap gimmick. Nano Breaker falls somewhere in this mix.

GameShark for 32-bit consoles (1997)

Original ad published in the January 1997 edition of GamePro (no. 100)

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Risqué advert for a risqué product 

During the latter half of the 90s, a curious device called the GameShark appeared for 32-bit consoles. A direct successor to the GameGenie, this new contraptions would let you modify the code of practically every video game to achieve more lives, stamina, ammo, etc. Its printed add followed that same devious path.