Dragon Power & Ikari Warriors II: Victory Road retrospective: Monkey's paw | NES Works

This week demonstrates the danger inherent in covering two games per episode as fate lands a one-two punch of mediocrity from two of the console's most dire creative combos: TOSE and Bandai, and Micronics and SNK. The results are about what you'd expect. That is to say, not so great.
Dragon Power, of course, is another halfhearted attempt by Bandai to bring a Japanese game based on a manga or anime license to the U.S. without making the effort to license or localize the original work. Where Dragon Power differs from the likes of Chubby Cherub is in the fact that its source material-Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball-would go on to become one of the most successful and beloved Japanese properties in the entire world rather than just a local phenomenon. This makes Dragon Power's superficial changes all the more conspicuous in hindsight.
As for Ikari Warriors II, it's just as crummy as its predecessor. But way more interesting, as developer Micronics made a real effort here to spruce up the NES port with some new mechanics. It wasn't a successful effort by any means, but you have to respect the hustle.
Video Works is funded via Patreon ( / gamespite ) - support the show and get access to every episode up to two weeks in advance of its KZbin debut! And be sure to check out the Retronauts podcast (www.retronauts.com), where I (and many others!) tackle a much wider array of classic gaming topics each week.

[@MAYOFORCE]

Flipping the panties upside down is a galaxy brain localization decision

[@ozzydio7233]

I don't know if it's in the english dub, but when the series aired for the first time in german, they made Master Roshi obsessed with food instead of women, and Oolong wished for a hat with two holes for his eares, instead of panties from Shenron.

[@MAYOFORCE]

@@ozzydio7233 The english dub is surprisingly faithful and even included Bulma flashing Master Roshi without any sort of sidestepping what it was.

[@DigiPen92]

Mayo Chan It's technically released in the 80s. I do think the Dragon Ball series get popular around 90s. I think it's more likely that Bandai couldn't most of the rights from Dragon Ball content from the manga in US from Harmony Gold back then.

[@MAYOFORCE]

@@DigiPen92 What is your point?

[@Pan_Z]

@@MAYOFORCE there is some censorship in the Funimation English dub. Notably there's a phallic joke that was changed. But, given the targeted audience, it's astonishing any of the crass humour was kept.

[@feitclub]

An old man obsessed with sandwiches? Suddenly Master Roshi is #relatable

[@doctorwolfman5221]

In regards to Detroit being an anime test market, this is absolutely true. Without checking any further sources, I’d guess Macek’s Dragonball aired in WXON. Local station without a network affiliate that showed old monster movies and such. I distinctly remember watching Samurai Pizza Cats at 5:30 am in 1994 or 1995.

[@jkclark5204]

In Chicago both DB and Pizza Cats aired on WPWR channel 50. Also at an ungodly hour.

[@SinisterSally]

I have a friend that grew up in Detroit and he would talk about a bunch of shows that we didnt get where I live. One of those was a show called Galaxy Rangers. It was awesome, I know it would have been a hit here.

[@jkclark5204]

@@SinisterSally Galaxy Rangers was ahead of its time. Probably looks like garbage today, but when I was a kid it was incredible.

[@Ginormousaurus]

@@jkclark5204 In my opinion Galaxy Rangers has held up better than any other animated series that was on American TV during the 1980s. It was animated by the Japanese studio TMS. TMS also worked on Akira, Mighty Orbots, Visionaries, Bionic Six, the first season of DuckTales, and the ill-fated Little Nemo movie that the NES game was based on.

[@TheCastellan]

@@jkclark5204 STILL looks good. and well made.

[@DaneeBound]

Incidental fun fact: Dragon Power did release in France and Spain with the Dragon Ball license in tow.

[@spankypants2793]

I think most early DBZ games came out over there, right? I think they got the Super Butoden games as well

[@alex_-yz9to]

Technically yes but because bandai was doing a rushjob sone of the features were stripped out because they were text heavy

[@chazmaru9583]

As far as I know Bandai only translated this game for the French market. There was no official Spanish version.

[@alex_-yz9to]

@@chazmaru9583 the manual was translated... It also contains a goof where they use a different sprite of the hermit

[@MoTheBlackCat]

Indeed we got it it in France as the original license sprites panties and all plus french texts! But... it was even less playable cause it was ofc in 50Hz... I gotta check for missing features but I do remember the texts often being heavily truncated so it was a mess comprehension wise.

[@AverageDrafter]

I love how these types of games are direct responses to American action movies. I don't know how I was so oblivious to it as a kid, but MAN its obvious in retrospect. Rambo/Vietnam/Jungle. Aliens/Terminator/Sci-Fi. Delta Force/Rambo III/Desert. (edit - and Predator... can't forget Predator) Ikari Warriors I - II - III And they are hardy alone in this pattern.

[@jedgrahek1426]

And, aside from the sci-fi influences you mention, most of that cultural content was deeply tied to Reagan-era militarism and American Exceptionalism. It's definitely eerie recognizing those things as a politically aware adult, and how invisible all that was as a kid. Of course every kid now plays CoD, so it's not like things have actually changed. We're just older and know better now.

[@MAMoreno]

"...in its journey to the west." *rimshot*

[@NAJ0202]

I understood that reference :)

[@YadonTheCat]

My condolences for any kids that got Dragon Power back in the day

[@jkclark5204]

Thank you. It was only a rental, but the trauma is real.

[@velarantube]

It's bad to have someone gift this to you, but I *bought* this with my hard earned cash from helping my grandad lay brick afterschool! :-( Got it 'cuz of the title and cool cover.(The first time this impulse screwed me, but not the last.) My very first video game disappointment(despite me owning E.T.[which I never really played] and Pac-Man on 2600[Included with the Vader Atari my uncle gave me; which didn't upset me, 'cuz at the time me and my friends didn't notice its shortcomings. We sucked it at, really...]) made all the worse for the fact I could've purchased Trojan instead!(Which I love and bought next, thankfully!). Man! 25 minutes walking each way to Lionel Playworld, and $27.00 gone. Guess I could've found something worse to spend it on, though... I didn't 'suffer' too long, as it happened. After playing it like a week or so, I passed it onto another kid at school I talked to on occasion who was looking for a new game to play. Which might've been a mistake. We never spoke again after that. Hope I didn't make an enemy! :-)

[@jkclark5204]

@@velarantube 27 dollars!!? Oh noooo! Pure nostalgia makes me miss those days of mystery, judging games by the cover and two tiny pictures on the box. Logic tells me those days sucked, and I'm glad the internet has saved me money I would have spent on trash. The hilarious experience of playing 2600 Pacman after playing 5200 Pacman was time well spent. Even my parents were like "What is this garbage!?"

[@pooglechen3251]

I don't remember much about this game other than the music and that the game sucked. Lol.. oh nostalgia

[@thecunninlynguist]

forgot how good that Rick A. song was.

[@lazybacon7520]

Seeing Dragon Power and hearing its music gives me this weird uneasy nostalgic feeling. It was one of the first video games I played, but that doesn't mean I have pleasant memories of it either.

[@absolutezeronow7928]

"Kamehameblah". Jeremy's intro game is over 8000! Thanks for the capper to 2020 being two mediocre games that nonetheless have interesting stories behind them.

[@deleteable.]

wait. how is this comment a week old???

[@Hatchet2k4]

@@deleteable. Patreon subscribers get early access!

[@RonnieBarzel]

The “Victory Road” segment reminds me just how well Digital Eclipse handled the SNK 40th anniversary collection, particularly with regards to the controls on the Imari arcade games.

[@MissAshley42]

"Kamehameblah." This alone is better than over half of all Dragon Ball games. 10/10.

[@cruiser1333]

Why is Robotech "infamous"? It introduced anime to many of us Gen X lads in the US. I was mesmerized by the story which was totally different to what I was used to back then. The series still holds a special place in my heart and fuels many trips of nostalgia. RIP Carl

[@rabiroden]

Dragon Power was a childhood game for me. Most of my family's NES games were hand-me-downs from my older cousins after they got a SNES. Most of them were great (Mega Man 2, Tetris, TMNT2, etc.)... and then there was this. I don't think we ever managed (or bothered?) to get past the first level. I have to imagine it was on discount, they looked at the cover and said "cool karate guy", and bought it lol.

[@nfugitt89]

1:42 ah you scamp

[@nr-dx4zz]

My friends older brother gave me this game cus I loved dbz and he told me this game is "kinda like dbz"

[@adrianjohnson8527]

Wow, this is the first time I’ve seen Jeremy in 4K! I love this series!

[@chazmaru9583]

Dragon Ball / Dragon Power is still a notable NES release for being - as far as I know- the very first NES game officially translated in another language than English, when Bandai France (which later became Nintendo France) translated the original Dragon Ball version in French. I remember us kids being very charitable with the game due to it adapting arguably the most popular cartoon of that time and being in a language we understood (although the translation was terrible). They later translated Saint Seiya as well before French and German became standard translations for text-heavy Super Nintendo titles.

[@georgefrankly]

"in its journey to the west" ahhhh you got me.

[@maximpact24]

I live in southern Ontario Canada, about an hour from the Windsor/Detroit border and can attest to the original Dragon Ball run. My brother and I would watch it on Sunday mornings (yeah one of THOSE cartoons) and it was on WXON channel 20. We got lots of anime here early on like GForce, Technoman (which was Tekkaman I do believe, again, channel 20). Also watched the first airing of Sailor Moon in like, late 94 early 95 on channel 3 (Global for us Canucks).

[@ValkyrieTiara]

Great video as always! Nothing else to say, I'm just here to boost engagement.

[@alanelkins2408]

Whoa, I never knew you could do a Kamehameha in Dragon Power. Having beaten the game once, though, I'm not sure how eager I am to load it back up to try that out. There's a bug in Ikari Warriors II that allows you to get past the final boss by using whatever the equivalent of smart bombs are before scrolling the boss onto the screen. The fight never even has a chance to start, and the game glitches its way to the credits screen shortly after. Good 'ol Micronics.

[@dynasoar5]

i dont play or care about videogames but ive always liked the nes victory road because of the visual design. the color palettes and everything. looks pretty badass tbh

[@idnyftw]

I dunno, maybe "sandwich" is some hyper-specific local slang for something naughty back in the 80s?

[@OrfinMusik]

Great work as always I look forward to your content

[@jlc992]

Can't 100% say when I saw it but I'm sure I've watched OG Dragon Ball on my local Boston channel in either 89 or 90. I remember watching the first saga as a little kid not knowing what to make of it seeing all the weird editing that looked so out of place when it aired and didn't really stick with it. The first airing theme song somehow stayed with me and always laugh when people talk about how it tried coming here long ago but no one remembers it.

[@DanZero77]

WARRIORS SHOWSOMEGUTS YOUCAN'TESCAPEME COMEGETMEIFYOUCAN HUHHAHAHA ~me being freaked the heck out hearing that from the Victory Road arcade cabinet and thanks to the SNK 40th collection we can also here the calmer Japanese attract mode voiceover.

[@nidoqueenadvance6798]

Nice using Together Forever in the intro. It reminded me that it's been way too long since I've listened to that song. Also I guess it could be used to describe Bandai and Tose's relationship. Or at least how Bandai and Tose probably viewed their relationship back then. Do Bandai Namco and Tose still often work together?

[@JeremyParish]

TOSE doesn't publicize its partnerships for the most part, but I have absolutely no doubt they work on many present-day Bandai Namco releases in some capacity.

[@cashnelson2306]

more like Son No-ku

[@mightygaming1365]

This was before you started the "What did Nintendo Power say?" segments in your videos, but I still remember what NP said about Dragon Power. Joining in on Bandai's de-licensing, the Pak Watch blurb mentioned that the game was based on the story from Tsi Yu Chi. Yup, based on just that, and nothing else.

[@HydraSavior]

Speaking of, I wonder if 'Warriors of the Wind' really has Muad'dib and a robot Skeletor teaming up with a guy on a pegasus, like the VHS cover shows. Google it. It's an amazing work of art. I don't know how I never owned that as a kid. Nausicaa is limited to the corner of the box, like she's some ancillary character.

[@MrJWTH]

No the Wikipedia article mentions that the boxart featured several characters not in fhe film.

[@nfugitt89]

I wonder how many people in the US were aware of Dragon Ball at the time

[@HydraSavior]

I had a friend who somehow was at least aware of it around 1994. He brought over Dragon Power and swore to me it was based on a cartoon with awesome fights, better than the Ninja Turtles or whatever was popular back then. He wasn't the most well-read kid, so I don't know how he would know this, and it's puzzled me ever since. Either he read it in a game magazine or he was a time traveler. Either or.

[@mresturk9336]

12:34 The only thing more infuriating than Ikari Warrior 2's final battle is the "ending" you receive if you actually win. No closure. It skips straight to one static screen of credits displayed for less time than you'd even be able to read them followed by the words "The End" on a solid black background with the game over music playing. Then you get booted straight back to title 😠 There is a way to cheese kill the final boss. If you use the thunder spell powerup right before you cross the boss's cutscene trigger it will kill him in one hit.

[@JeremyParish]

Seems real, real bad, man

[@SeanSigurgeirson]

Fun game. Pretty hard though.

[@Krisipoke]

I just beat Dragon Power a few months ago (actually, the Famicom version, Dragon Ball: Shenlong no Nazo), and I think it was far from horrible. Sure, it had tons of problems, but for an early-ish Famicom game, it's pretty long and varied, it's reasonably forgiving, and I just found it somewhat fun, even though I am by no means a Dragon Ball fan. Sure, Ninja Kid is better, but I found Chubby Cherub to be much, much worse. I definitely don't regret beating it, I certainly expected worse.

[@billkendrick1]

*stamps Nintendo Seal of Quality on them* NEXT!

[@atomika668]

I remember playing this as a kid before discovering dragon ball. It was a horrible game but god I love it.

[@stevenglowacki8576]

Even if I have watched absolutely every other video you've made, I was wondering about the sincerity of the "All-time greats" line even after you named them. I like, knew that these guys had made some other games, and they weren't, like, Capcom or Konami in terms of recognizability, but I was still ambivalent as to what you really meant until the game clips started. For someone who hasn't seen most of your videos, I have to wonder what they would have thought.

[@junethefox5834]

Hoo boy

[@Kojirremer]

Did I just get soft-Rickrolled?

[@MrTableDesk]

Say what you will about Micronix, I love Trojan.

[@JeremyParish]

You should! Trojan for NES was developed internally at Capcom.

[@MrTableDesk]

@@JeremyParish oh it was? OK nevermind, screw Micronix then, lol!

[@noside.foxhound]

Omg, Dragon Power and M.U.S.C.L.E. games are a joke, I actually like the Ikari games.

[@Wuss2ns]

Ice Hockey. The best sports game on the console?

[@Technosphile]

It’s not even the best sports game on the Disk System, but it is pretty awesome.

[@Wuss2ns]

@@Technosphile It's still my favorite. I love what it manages to do with very simple components, and the zamboni show.

[@Technosphile]

@@Wuss2ns I do like that the NES version is the better one, as well. The BGM on cartridge crushes the Disk System’s one, and another European team makes more sense.

[@Monkey_SK]

My girlfriend often leaves her sandwiches drying on the radiator.

[@garaschneider4808]

Carl Macek didn't work on the aborted dub of Harmony Gold's Dragon Ball. He was already fully engulfed with Streamline Pictures by then, dubbing films like Kiki's Delivery Service and prepping to distribute Akira on home video. Dragon Ball's 1989 test dub was purely an HG/Frank Agrama joint, and was their last excursion in anime dubbing for some time. Also you're missing titles on the lower thirds for some of your footage.

[@matthewlane518]

Golgo 13 is the shit!

[@johnharder3334]

"kamehame blah" -hard cut- Rick Astley. Yeah I saw what you did there.

[@JeremyParish]

What did I do?

[@johnharder3334]

@@JeremyParish Not quite Rick Roll after a bad pun as a father I applaud your humour.

[@400KrispyKremes]

If no one in the US knew about Dragonball why change it in the first place? Why change it from one thing they don't know to a hastily thrown together "New" character? It makes no sense.

[@JeremyParish]

Copyrights still apply internationally. To use characters and imagery you have to pay.

[@Riz2336]

Both of these games look like they suck

[@TheSmart-CasualGamer]

They do. Quite a bit.

[@billcook4768]

You ever wonder is anyone who worked at Micronics watches these videos?

[@JeremyParish]

They're all in jail now

[@shorterrecording]

I LOLed.

[@Skawo]

Wow. Nice semi-rick-roll, there.

[@HydraSavior]

"Okay, it's Jeremy Parish, he uploaded a new video. It's probably going to have a pun at the beginning, and you're holding coffee, so DON'T SHUDDER." ...I spilled my coffee.

[@darkcoeficient]

I developed on-set Parkinson's

[@zombiegeorge749]

life must be unbearable, u should re-think all of you life choices

[@darkcoeficient]

@@zombiegeorge749 too late! He watched the vid!

[@AverageDrafter]

Honestly, I like Rick Astley and in particular I think Together Forever is a perfect pop love song. He's handsome and charming, he has a VERY good attitude about his work and legacy (whatever they may have been) becoming a joke. And let's be clear, there's a reason he's famous in the first place, and why that song was so well traveled even before it became a meme... that man can GODDAMN SING. Sorry, just something I need to say from time to time.

[@JeremyParish]

This inclusion was not meant as mockery, if that makes you feel better.

[@AverageDrafter]

I would never take you as the type sir! More of a public service announcement and something I apparently have to do every three years or so.

[@FatMarioHeads]

Fun fact, Alex Kidd in Miracle World was originally going to be a Dragon Ball game but Sega's licensing deal fell through. It explains why Alex Kidd has a very Sun Wukong like appearance and the similarities between the two franchise's worlds

[@JeremyParish]

I love when I accidentally stumble across a historian connection I never knew about!

[@jonothanthrace1530]

I was wondering about that while watching the video!

[@pontyfaxjr]

Kind of explains the rock paper scissors boss fights too!

[@FatMarioHeads]

@@pontyfaxjr oh yeah, forgot that the Janken Punch was Goku's signature attack before adopting Roshi's Kamehameha. Sega took that concept and turned it into boss battles in the Alex Kidd series, for better or worse lol

[@FatMarioHeads]

I will say that while the Alex Kidd games weren't that great (I have a soft spot for them but man are they deceptively brutal and not in a way that makes me want to keep trying like Castlevania or Mega Man. There's a reason Sonic replaced him) they're at least competently made. Certainly more than that rushjob Bandai and Tose put out. I can only imagine that it was some sort of business deal Bandai had with Nintendo that lead to Sega's Dragon Ball game not happening, which is a shame because the Fist of the North Star game on the Master System (released as Black Belt in the US) proved Sega could make good anime games

[@ScottALowe]

It was definitely 89 or 90 when I caught Dragon Ball at 5:30am in syndication.

[@mattb1]

I'm incredibly thankful you dive into these games so I don't have to. Your videos are excellent. Thank you.

[@FlippytheMasterofPie]

“Only changed a few key details of the game in its journey to the west” I see what you did 👀

[@FloatingSunfish]

It always puzzled me why game publishers felt the need to rebrand anime games they felt wouldn't be well-received in the West with usually something even *_less_* relatable. I guess the world eventually warmed up to Japan's weirdness after all these years. 😅

[@JeremyParish]

This had nothing to do with weirdness and everything to do with not wanting to pay the rights for the Dragon Ball license for a market that had never heard of Dragon Ball.

[@TeruteruBozusama]

I read somewhere that in some European countries it was kept as Dragon Ball, in Spain and France, and the rest got the American edit..!

[@JeremyParish]

That scans. France received Dragon Ball and LOTS of other manga/anime localizations years before most of the rest of the west, along with Italy and to a lesser degree Spain. It would make sense that the license would be retained in territories where the extra expense would have actual value.

[@alex_-yz9to]

@@JeremyParish and since the nes had 2 PAL reigions PAL-A and PAL-B they only bothered with the reigion france is in... Which is sonething that would become frustratingly common for european releases untill the SNES days

[@TeruteruBozusama]

@@alex_-yz9to that's before my time..!

[@OttScott]

your videos are a must-stop-life and watch fodder. Love your content.

[@cheffdonty]

"And don't you know I would move heaven and earth, to spend together forever with you you!" 🎶

[@heavysystemsinc.]

Yes, interesting failures are preferred to safe successes.

[@elfiebranford9330]

I think now is the time for me to finally experience the original "Journey To The West". I always forget that Dragon Ball was initially inspired by it, and after seeing this video, I think it's really time that I indulge in this story for real.

[@ladsworld]

Thanks to Dragon Power I will always associate the Kamehameha in my head with "WIND WAVE COME !" Regrettably

[@Ry_81]

Another great and informative video. I need to make it a point to super binge all your videos soon. Kudos!

[@LorenHelgeson]

Try his Virtual Boy series. It's completed, has less than 20 videos, and the Japanese exclusives are pretty interesting.

[@dnice712]

is it weird that I've always had a soft spot for Ikari Warriors II? also your videos are great Jeremy. I've been binging them all week. Keep them coming

[@bundo13]

Same, I used to borrow it occasionally from my neighbor. The combination of scarcity and nostalgia leaves me with a pretty good opinion of it to be honest. Also I was like 7 at the time and died constantly in every game, so that part didn't bother me and I thought the bars with the fight for hearts were the coolest thing ever! I also think the music in that game is really good and I'm surprised it didn't get mentioned as a point in the games favor here. At least the first level theme, which is more or less the only one I ever heard...

[@mresturk9336]

I had a brief fascination with the game too. It was decidingly different for its time, worth a rental when you were bored with all the good games of the era. Its serious flaws just became more apparent as the years went on.

[@milkcarton6654]

So my best friend in 1988 asked for Double Dragon for his bday. In classic clueless parents fashion, his mom went out, sought a NES game with Dragon in the title, i mean, surely there could only be ONE, and ended up with this horrible game. To call him disappointed would be an understatement. I only learned maybe 5 years ago this was a Dragonball game. To be fair, i was a bit too old when Dragonball came out in the west and never understood the appeal of the show at all. Of course, as it turned out, Double Dragon on NES wasn't THAT good of a game (at the time we had only played the arcade version), but it certainly beats this.

[@steuph1976]

This is one of the most violent rickrolls I've experienced in years. Sudden, almost subliminal and with a lasting effect.

[@tekkensentai]

Ohh the use of Morse code in the intro. May have been a good idea but it was tedious

[@Technosphile]

Hell yeah Ice Hockey. Can’t wait. PROTIP: fat/fat/skinny.

[@bluebogle]

I got super psyched when he announced next week's game. Of all the sports games I've played, Ice Hockey is still somehow the most memorable.

[@melon3109]

I absolutely loved Dragon Power when renting it from the local PigglyWiggly as a kid. Had no idea what Dragon Ball was, of course, but the game was just fun to run around in. I miss those days.

[@MaidenHell1977]

Haha I remember playing Dragon Power back in the day. I remember many years later watching Dragon Ball on YTV here in Canada and wondering why the show had so much in similarity with that weird game from 6 years ago. Amazing episode thanks for all the research you do.

[@Unquestionable]

Ah yes two titles that are in forever embedded in my mind from a single weekend of rentals mixed in with far higher quality titles. Still was fun and interesting to see them in more detail than I would have ever imagined I would.

[@GetLostGames1]

I love Victory Road. A,B,B,A. The OST is excellent!

[@Musicradio77Network]

I got it! When you continue in “Ikari Warriors 2”, do the same as in the first “Ikari Warriors” game, A-B-B-A. Wait a minute! It’s ABBA, you know, the band from the 1970’s like “Mamma Mia”, “Dancing Queen”, “Fernando”, “Waterloo”, and more.

[@BagOfMagicFood]

That famous band Abbaaaaaab

[@Davethe3rd]

Dragon Ba--errr Power! Gotta get that Dragon Power! Don't stop until you got em all, the seven Crystal Balls That's all you gotta do to make your wish come truuuue!!

[@johnsimon8457]

Comparing Alex Kidd to Goku, interesting how a bad main character sprite reveals so much about the game just from the first few seconds.

[@williamjensen5683]

Hey I really like your channel and just want to say keep up the great work! I need this distraction with all thats going on these days

[@g.u.959]

Ikari Warriors 2: Ikariharder

[@MercuryCDX]

My favorite part of the Victory Road NES port is the voice sample, with all my favorite clips such as "COME ON LETS FIGHT" or "JESUS CHRIST". At least, that's what I assume those voice clips are saying, it's really hard to tell. Micronics trying really hard to shove voice clips into this game.

[@Musicradio77Network]

The voice samples in “Ikari Warriors 2” are godawful. Thank you Micronics for ruining the game. I beat the entire game a long time ago and I will never play this game again. Micronics was one of the worst developers ever for taking original arcade classics and ported into the NES and it looks like garbage. “1942”, “Ghosts ‘N Goblins”, “Athena”, “Elevator Action”, “Ikari Warriors”, and this game are my absolute guilty pleasures.

[@velarantube]

Victory Road! I absolutely adore this game. Hell, the very mention of this game coming to Nintendo's home system made me get a NES instead of a Master System or a 7800 Prosystem! And decades later, the desire to own the arcade version(and many other awesome SNK games) sold me on picking up a Switch in the first place!(Soo glad I did! Love the arcade comps and Smash, Blazing Chrome and Taito/Natsume's re-releases/tweaks of Ninja Warriors/Wild Guns/Bubble Bobble, and so on.... :-) ) Put many a quarter into the arcade machine at my local Amoco and the Barrel of Fun arcade. As a kid, it gave me and my friends hours and hours of frustration, but we enjoyed the unremitting difficulty of trying to master it. Once I got the cartridge, the struggle to beat it without using the A-B-B-A code began.(Me and my close friends foreswore 'cheats' after we used the Konami Code to finally beat Contra. Even though we still had difficulty doing so, it kinda felt like a hollow victory. After that, we tried[and mostly succeeded, we were kids, after all ;-)] to be hardcore about winning a game.) The Saturday me and my best friend finally vanquished Zang Zip the War Dog lives vividly in my memory to this day! Made all the more awesome 'cuz my friend died AT THE VERY LAST POSSIBLE SECOND by ZZ's final projectile tossed before I grenaded him straight to what ever Hell Alexia Lomta possesses. We still joke about how he really didn't beat it cuz he was cold meat as the credits rolled!(Kinda still a sticking point, actually. He's fired up his NES many a time since then, and attempted the feat multiple times solo and as part of a team, all to no avail... ;-)) The rush I got from completing Ikari II was unequalled to that point. The hardest game I'd personally beaten was Kid Icarus half a year before. I'd have nothing to compare to walking the Victory Road to the end until I mastered Ghost 'N Goblins! Victory Road took us months to win, but GnG took me *years* to conquer.(Bought it in '87, beat it in '89!) Man! The days of walking up to K-mart(or riding down to Lionel Playworld) with 25 bucks, looking for the latest NES arcade conversion... I really miss that experience. The SNK 40th anniversary has the arcade version of this, its prequel, sequel(the NES ports are included as well, an excellent bonus), and many other games. This collection is highly recommended for the lover of cool and classic 80's arcade games. Really enjoyed this segment on Ikari II, though I think the game is quite good myself. Different strokes and such, I guess.... Glad to see others showing love in the comments as well. Looking forward to more NES Works, especially ones that cover more of my favs.

[@kumohara_319]

My local Philly UHF affiliate, Philly 57, ran a few episodes of the original Dragon Ball in the late 80's/early 90s, around the time a cousin received this as a present & we instantly made the connection that Dragon Power was a poor adaptation of that show.

[@ascfde]

sequence break for me, I missed this one somehow. Jeremy partaking in a bit of Rick-rolling, love seeing what era-appropriate audio abortion he throws in next

[@Kevinsyel]

You think THIS Ikari warriors looks bad!? I had Ikari Warriors II for the Epson APEX 100 computer with a CGA monitor. you got 4 colors: White, Black, Purple and Cyan. You want to see this game in White, Black, Purple and Cyan!? I did...

[@bartsimpson83]

You are aware that Robotech was and still is a big hit, right? And that Carl Macek was instrumental in bringing uncut anime to America through his Streamline Pictures dubs of films like Akira and My Neighbor Totoro? Seriously, if it wasn't for Macek laying the groundwork, the late 90s anime boom might never have happened.

[@WrysWendellBoah]

holy crap, long standing mystery solved. i played a game at a go-kart place in.... massachusetts (?) on a trip in like 2002 where none of the textures loaded and everything was just a single color, but i distinctly remember it being a verticle oriented shooter where you fight a giant head who yells at you with slightly unnerving voice samples. it was victory road all along! thanks

[@milkcarton6654]

The hardest challenge in IKari warriors II was not falling asleep before the tediously slow intro was over. Anyway, among the half dozen games we rented the first and only time we rented a NES (we would get one months later). So for this reason it will always be very nostalgic for me. But it is a terrible game. We totally rented it because the box art made it look cool (mustaches notwithstanding)

[@youngloudandscotty]

Thanks Jeremy. I had completely forgotten about having played/rented/owned this game in my youth (or maybe just shoved it down into some deep, dark place inside). Now I'm having PTSD over it having watched this episode. My God what an enormous pile of crap Dragon Power is.

[@williamdrum9899]

What Ikari Warriors 2 needed was the Four Score so 2 players could each hold 2 controllers. Left D pad moves the player and Right D pad shoots in that direction

[@jeffhames7316]

Hi Jeremy- I found your channel a few months ago and I've really enjoyed your thoughtful approach. Well done and keep up the great work

[@ArcaneAzmadi]

I think you nailed it: bad, ambitious games are always better than competent, boring ones. Or at least more worthy of your time and attention.

[@Tubewings]

On the next NES Works, are you going to comment on a certain non-hockey powerhouse being in both versions of the game?

[@NoxiousLynx]

I played dragon power as a kid in 95 way before i knew what it truly was …

[@nyronarnold6024]

One of five games based on the Original Dragonball.

[@GamerGoingGrey]

Oh crap, Jeremy mentioned Harmony Gold and showed a Robotech clip. The lawyers are enroute.

[@MrTableDesk]

God I remember renting Dragon Power as a kid. The box made it look like a good follow-up to Zelda. We were so disappointed, it earned a place alongside Athena, Deadly Towers, and Star Voyager in the never again list.

[@Supramedical68]

"Cognitive dissonance, no it can't be that bad." *Five minutes later* "omg no..."

[@jamesmoss3424]

I will play ikari warriors 2 victory road. 😀👍🎮

[@michaelsalmon3450]

you are a genius

[@Jordan3DS]

I'll never understand why companies in this era even bothered to make localization changes to mask the franchise in the first place. Why go through all of the effort to redo the sprites when it won't even affect people's perception of the game? The only reason I can think of is that maybe they didn't want to pay licensing for the franchises, or something.

[@JeremyParish]

Yes, it was just about the licensing costs.

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

@@JeremyParish How I feel. At least France did get this game with the original license.

[@shorterrecording]

You should get together with Dr. Sparkle.

[@JeremyParish]

I just published a podcast with him on my Patreon over the weekend.

[@jamesmoss3424]

Dragon power sucks.