NES Hidden Gems: ZEN THE INTERGALACTIC NINJA (Nintendo Entertainment System Review)

[@blueberry5574]

Bucky o’hare had an amazing cartoon i used to watch religiously. I got my parents to buy the game and it did not disappoint. Play it occasionally to this day.

[@BigOleWords]

I’ve heard there was a show but never saw it. That game is amazing.

[@ser6Ijvolk]

It's kind of ironic that by the time developers have learned to use everything the NES could do the the fullest and make the best games for it, people have moved on to SNES and SEGA. Also Sulfura's forest level has triggered a childhood memory for me. I've seen that level on some TV game-review show: "you play as a ninja, who has to revive these flowers by hitting them".

[@BigOleWords]

Yeah this and Bucky were a marvel at the time and no one really played them.

[@skRapKlan]

Yet another underappreciated game! Damn I love these videos of yours! Thank you so much for sharing your life stories as well as your game library!

[@BigOleWords]

Hey thanks so much! Yeah this was a fun one to do :)

[@johnmorey720]

Zen also had a really short-lived toy line. I think they were trying to shop it around for a cartoon series that never got off the ground.

[@BigOleWords]

Yeah I would love one of those toys. Let me check the ol eBay…

[@chfrankc]

​@@BigOleWordsoh man! I forgot about the 1/2 issues.

[@roguerifter9724]

I had this as a kid, and the Bucky O'Hare game was at the top of my wish list for my eighth birthday. I loved that show and I still have the comic books both the original one volume collection (I found that while browsing through the bargain section of a comic store in 91 some time during the cartoon's first run though I don't remember which episodes it was between) and a manga style re-release from about fifteen years ago.

[@BigOleWords]

Nice! Never knew about the more recent Bucky comic.

[@roguerifter9724]

Sorry I wasn't clear. It was a re-release of the original comics. I got it so I could read it without risking damaging the older one'.

[@aburninglandfillofbadmovie2930]

One of the best and MOST overlooked NES games EVER! And one of the very few I never beat! You are an A+ Gamer if you beat this game! Side note: Faxanadu is surprisingly good, the trunk of it's problem is that the point of the game is unclear, you must avoid leveling near the start of the game for a short time due to the design of the flying boots, and the pendant makes you weaker, instead of stronger, due to a programming error, but now that you know this, why not 'branch out' and 'open a new leaf' and try the game. (spoiler alert: trees are making people pine as part of the plot, that's why the wooden tree jokes everywhere)

[@BigOleWords]

Glad you agree, Zen rules!!

[@aburninglandfillofbadmovie2930]

@Doggy Doggy6416 I totally agree.

[@Silverpourer]

Wow, I’ve never heard of this one. Looks very fun, and there’s a lot of different styles of gameplay! A quick eBay search says it’s pretty expensive, but I’ll keep my eye out for a discounted copy

[@BigOleWords]

Woof, yes it is! This is one of the few rare ones I actually owned as a kid and only one of a few bullets I got to dodge in the collecting game ;)

[@ChapterMasterDad]

“If you read Wizard back in the day…”. Aaaaaaand subscribed lol

[@BigOleWords]

Haha I sadly got rid of all of them after thousands of read throughs. I do still have a bunch of those “1/2” issues you could order!

[@MockingjayYT]

Looks tough but fun! Nice color palette and the rail car stage looks fun!

[@BigOleWords]

It does have a ton of colors for an NES game!

[@AllCoolThingsStoneMountain]

Your 16 Bit deprived Life reminds me of my NES deprived Life my Mother sentenced me to. We gotta hand out, Man..! BTW, I was actually impressed by not only the music and advanced parallax scrolling, but that scaling! That was some impressive shit.

[@BigOleWords]

Yeah Zen is the real deal for sure!

[@FreneticZetetic]

I finally got a cart copy of this game after years of wanting it! Great game, great video and channel OP!

[@BigOleWords]

Awesome, Zen rules!

[@brenttebbetts4582]

Bucky was a great cartoon, and I had a few of the toys. So that game was for me. I also vaguely remember Monster in my Pocket, and Mission Impossible was a pretty well known TV show.

[@retroprojections]

Rad review! This is a game that a friend of mine would often bring up in conversation, and I was always like "no one has ever played that, we don't know what you're talking about!" Nice to finally put some visuals to the memory, thanks dude!

[@BigOleWords]

Hahaha to be fair if someone told me this was the name of a video game I would’ve called them a liar. Props to your friend for trying to keep that fire stoked!

[@FitProVR]

Underrated channel. Great video.

[@BigOleWords]

Thanks bud!

[@elakiyanst]

Hey man thank you for reminding me the game I thought it of sudden and I came here i am happy that it is still alive it was very long time ago my(early child hood ) since it was the first game i completed by seeing this i still think of the happy younger self of me and how happy I was after finishing this game , it's a true nostalgic river flowing through me now I'm New to your channel and i sub ed you good luck man i wish you the best , thanks for the few happy minutes

[@BigOleWords]

Hey that’s awesome. Wishing you many more happy minutes!

[@jovandjuric9694]

Oh, dude! Way to go referencing Wizard! It was the source of all relevant knowledge and wisdom to me back in the day. Excelsior!

[@jovandjuric9694]

Also, great review of the game. Even though Zen has been covered many times by many channels, only now do I realize what this game is actually about. It's like seeing it for the first time really. Cool!

[@BigOleWords]

I was way into it back in the day! I’d spend hours tracking all the pricing updates on back issues like a total goober 🤓

[@BigOleWords]

Haha thanks! I haven’t watched any other reviews, but I’m glad it’s gotten some attention. Definitely a great one through and through.

[@bigron309]

When this came out, Archie was publishing a color comic for kids, at the same time they were publishing Ninja Turtles Adventures. The villains in this game come from that run. There was a line of action figures as well.

[@BigOleWords]

Damn, I’d love some Zen action figures!

[@Hawk_Eye_Retro]

Like you, I was rocking the NES after its prime. I was a fan of the buckey o hare TV show and got the game for a birthday back in the day. Glad I did!

[@BigOleWords]

Nice, that's a great one!

[@Yungbeck]

I had a PS2 game called Rogue Trooper and this reminded me of that! Little blue men, yay!

[@BigOleWords]

Never heard of that one!

[@ChicagoRetroGamer]

I've never played this game before, but I might need to check it out now! Thanks for the video, cool to see the gameplay!

[@BigOleWords]

It’s a solid one for sure!

[@Jackrost01]

You can defeat Sulfita very quick that you don't even need to fall down even once. Also you can backdrop Sulfira if you hold attack button and pressing opposed direction

[@ZensMeatSlab]

I always wanted this game as a kid. Saw ads for it in Disney Magazine.

[@BigOleWords]

Nice! Yeah I’d see it a lot in early 90s comics

[@honorb4glory606]

I aquired one Zen comic book, and one Bucky o Hare comic book when I was a kid. I thought they were both pretty awesome, but I never actually found another example of either one at my local comic book store. They must have been very obscure titles.

[@BigOleWords]

Yeah I never saw this comic except in magazine ads!

[@cmfort2696]

ZEN, The ELF, Ninja.

[@noaht2005]

I’ve heard of this in passing. Never knew it was based on a comic though it makes sense with the art style

[@tomaturtle7790]

I believe I have played the a couple of times when I rented it for a video store in my neighborhood. I should have bought it when it was in sale years ago.

[@BigOleWords]

I got lucky that I had it as a kid. Great game but super pricy these days unfortunately.

[@mrblond750]

This game looks great! I can’t wait to try it on my Playchoice. Great video!

[@BigOleWords]

Hell yeah, Zen rules!

[@broseb8050]

I got this sealed 😄 Great doc series on this brother. Loved it

[@BigOleWords]

Dayum! Nice. And thanks!

[@DadRacer]

I’ve heard of this one, but never seen gameplay. Looks like a good one for sure! Man, you made me miss my Monsters in my Pocket toys. Sigh….

[@BigOleWords]

I’m glad someone got to! I vaguely remember them but they did look awesome.

[@eversosleight]

Can tell by the excellent graphics it's later on in the nes life 😁 Looks like a lot of fun! One of the best gifts for birthdays and Christmas was NES games! Tearing open and gazing upon the colorful artwork, only to crack it open, briefly glance at a page or two of the manual before popping it in and hitting the power bottom (no need to blow in the cart since it's new 😅). Great review my friend!

[@BigOleWords]

Hey thanks so much :)

[@youreallyplaythat]

I experienced some of that Image comics garbage. I recall lots of blank backgrounds. Eventually they ran a Turtles comic, that was interesting. This game looks really interesting. Never saw a review on it before. Nice.

[@BigOleWords]

Definitely some blank backgrounds, obscures limbs so they didn’t have to be drawn, lots of characters that looked like Cable or Wolverine, and some interesting stuff like The Maxx, Savage Dragon, and Spawn. I was a kid so it was all great to me back then, but nowadays a lot of it was straight doo doo :)

[@Lunitarium]

Zen comics continue to be made. There was a recent Kickstarter reprinting the run by Bill Maus. I have the vast majority of Zen books and the biggest flaw is that very few of them get conclusions or continuations. Still, the character has more than 30 comics and prose novellas and continues to be a worthwhile character. It’s great that this video game exists and is actually a pretty good game.

[@productreviewproductions439]

all NESW games except the baby ones like sesame street are hard AF

[@BigOleWords]

Some aren’t too bad but yeah even the easier ones are really hard

[@Sinn0100]

Any man *or alien that beats the shit out of acid rain and chucks batteries into a furnace deserves his own game. Hell, I want to emulate his awesome lifestyle.

[@ZachAttackIsBack]

4:02 That's not a T1000. That's a ripoff of Armus, the oil slick creature that killed Tasha Yar in Star Trek: The Next Generation.

[@BigOleWords]

I like it!

[@Churtis_Churner]

My favorite channel when I'm winding down

[@BigOleWords]

Haha “It’s the wind down hour with your Dj Big Ole Words, ready to guide you down to sleepy town”

[@Lunitarium]

One thing worth mentioning is that this game was based marginally on the short lived Zen series produced by Archie Comics. That book was aimed at kids while most of Zen’s catalogue is more appropriate for teens or even mature readers in some cases. There is a single Zen book that has a pretty disturbing tentacle monster that was definitely only for mature readers. I would suggest anyone interested in the character to follow Steve Stern, the original writer, as he gives updates fairly often about what is going on with the character.

[@onemorequarter1087]

Dang this game looks tough. Kinda has that battletoads style gameplay. Great vid cheers

[@BigOleWords]

For sure. Not quite as soul crushing as Battletoads, but a prickly pear indeed!

[@vadenk4433]

Damn this game looks sick! Gotta play it now. These late NES games are fire.

[@BigOleWords]

Late era Konami and especially Zen are the best

[@Wineman3383]

You mentioned bad dudes I had that, actually was my first game if you don't count the pack in Mario/duck hunt. Next was paper boy then Hogan's alley and then Zelda oh yeah and Mario 2. There were too many rentals to mention lots of crap mostly but knowing you didn't have them for long made em that treat you didn't pass up. Most of my friends had SG, and I got the yeah those are baby games tease from all of them. Whatever the Nintendo was more my speed with things like Zelda and way more strategy type games.

[@shaynecarter-murray3127]

Bucky ohare wasnt obscure, that had an Saturday cartoon slot in the early 90s. And a toy line.

[@BigOleWords]

To that I’d say ask 1000 people right now and tell me how many have heard of Bucky O’Hare. Not saying people didn’t watch it at some point, but it’s not exactly Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

[@LevitatingCups]

I had heard of this, but not played it, looks kool. Something close to a konami or natsume type action games. Gotta give it a try.

[@BigOleWords]

Yes! That’s the best description of the action, it’s Natsumesque!

[@Tolbat]

Very cool game here!

[@BigOleWords]

Yeah it is!

[@sethdownn575]

You have no idea how badly I wanted to play this game after seeing that add in the back of my monthly Game Pro showed up!

[@paulcampbell8696]

I wonder if the quality and variety in some of these later games came from larger memory availability at a lower price? I don't have any evidence of that, I'm just wondering if they were suddenly able to pack more information on a cartridge without messing up their bottom line as they got closer to the next generation. I always kind of assumed that much of what made game programming difficult back then was figuring out how to squeeze all your hopes and dreams onto that little memory chip on the cartridge.

[@GigTube]

We must have the same birthday (9/9/76) because everything you were doing was at the same time I was going it. 🤣

[@BigOleWords]

Haha not exactly, but good to know someone else was paralleling my journey!

[@lis6502]

as a kid i couldn't get over factory stage (one with isometric view), but i totally loved music. To that degree that i've recorded audio output on tape recorded and listened in walkman, killing batteries in one afternoon :D But after all these years, i must admit that Konami delivered, and did it in very Konami style. when first playing Zen i was 10, maybye 11 yo, now i am... oh f$#@#@ xD anyway i still remember music and that we have only one planet so everyone has to take care about it. I was segregating my trash before dedicated bins appeared, packing similar materials together to "help people at recycling facilty" :D Thanks for reminding this gem. remember kids, wacking your dead flowers with sitck won't heal then - been there, seen that ^_-

[@BigOleWords]

That’s an awesome story! I had a really hard time with the isometric level too as a kid. Love that you recorded the music on tape back in the day!

[@KristopherBel]

Oh man so cooli never thought to output my nes to a tapedeck! So smart I wish I had caskets of some of my fav nes soundtracks my copy of this game and my nes were tossed by a clueless family member 15 years ago when my grandmother moved house but the music is always in my head to this day.

[@tootyuk]

Another great watch Ole

[@BigOleWords]

Thanks!

[@Xa1234qazwsx]

I wonder why konami doesn't make game like this anymore in nes. This game bring everything in 1 pack. Adventure, entertainment, great graphic, fun difficulty and so on..

[@BigOleWords]

It’s a unique one for sure, but I think late era Konami NES games like Bucky O’Hare and Monster in My Pocket are just as good :)

[@Xa1234qazwsx]

Sure..bucky was a good game. But you must remember its 1993 when this game was release. Genesis are on its mature cycle, snes are following and nes on declined. And suddenly you have this game on nes. At least you could brag about this game to your friend who have genesis and tell "hey dude, nes are not finished yet.. they have this games. Check it out!!" Unfortunately.. the character of the game are not popular enough and people forget about it. Thing might be change if you change zen character with TMNT for example

[@gullpayne]

Looks Good this one

[@BigOleWords]

Yessir!

[@wargameboy72]

Yo, Bro! I love your videos and your Channel! Do you happened to know if this game was released on the Famicom as well? I know at first it might sound like a stupid question, but I can't find any mention of this game outside of the U.S. I know (Kick Master) and (G.I. Joe) were only released in the U.S. , so maybe (Zen) is in that category as well? If that's the case, then (Zen) is in good company.🤩👍👍👍👍

[@BigOleWords]

It was not! For some reason Konami made a bunch of games late in the NES lifespan that only came out in North America or Europe

[@scottbogfoot]

Looks like it plays as good as a 16bit game. Could use more buttons to do more things. The background scrolling is like something the nes wasn't meant to do. Did this come before donkey Kong country? That mine car ride is very similar. I'm impressed with everything except the plot and title.

[@BigOleWords]

It does predate DKC and for sure it’s pretty damn impressive for an 8bit game!

[@anthonybernero9720]

@2:20 Me. I loved Bucky O'Hare.

[@BigOleWords]

Nice! Bucky rules!

[@Chris_Landry]

Spider-Ham was the best comic Peter Porker

[@Debbie-qs2xo]

0:54 Sweet!! I love me some pre-Entourage receding hairline Jeremy Piven.

[@kokhen]

Super cool!

[@krtolebiohazardcs1.681]

Wow what a great game!

[@BigOleWords]

Yes it is!

[@ThePreciseClimber]

When it comes to indie comics from the 90s, Scud: The Disposable Assassin (1994-1998) was pretty fun. Completely bonkers but that was the appeal. Coincidentally, Scud also received a video game (Sega Saturn, 1997) and nothing else, just like Zen. No movie, no TV series, no cartoon, just a comic and a game. As a manga reader, I'm a pretty big sucker for black & white western comics. Especially the bonkers indie variety.

[@BigOleWords]

I used to read SCUD as it came out! I only recently learned that Dan Harmon of Community/ Rick and Morty was good buddies with Rob Schrab and even contributed to the Scud comics. So cool.

[@OneTato]

So i got this game by trading in two games for 1 at a book store. And really felt like I hit a jackpot lol

[@BigOleWords]

I mean depending on what those two games are, but yeah most likely!

[@alanfike]

I guess it makes sense that Konami would buy obscure titles to make games around, because this ensures that the story will probably not be the reason for it to fail.

[@truemperahzentertainment6133]

I checked that shite and played it never beat it but enjoyed it.

[@Mutantoons]

What is that game at 7:15?

[@BigOleWords]

Defender of the Crown! Pretty terrible, but I honestly haven’t given it too much time.

[@Mutantoons]

@@BigOleWords I have vague terrible memories of it from a rental as a kid that all came roaring back when I saw that clip- so you're probably right that it totally sucks haha!

[@KristopherBel]

I love your content but there is something I noticed you keep mentioning and maybe it's a joke, I am bad at telling when people are joking, but you sometimes ask about Nintendo games "what child wanted to play these" but in the 80s and 90s lots of adults owned and played Nintendos. My grandmother was in her 60s and played Nintendo constantly. Also, my uncles all owned an NES and had tons of games. So I don't know if you are just remembering being a kid and loving the nes so "the nes is for kids" is sort of imprinted onto you. Or like I said this is some joke I am missing. I am just a bit older than you, I think I am in my late 30s, and I love your content thanks for the nostalgia and the recommendations.

[@BigOleWords]

I think as a kid I didn't really know any adults who played NES and the ones that did only played Tetris and Dr. Mario (and they were OBSESSED). So yeah that's where my generalization comes from, I'm sure non-kids played these games too, it was just a different time where video games were definitely targeted more at children. And I'm early 40's so I'm a little bit older than you my friend ;)

[@GenerationPixel]

Isometric top-down platforming! No, please, you'll trigger 80s gaming nightmare flashbacks 😱

[@BigOleWords]

Haha only a couple sections thankfully ;)

[@GoodVibeCollecting]

I'm also curious how this game came to be and why Konami made it. This used to be a hidden gem but I feel enough people know about it now. It was a $10 game 10 years ago. Now it's $150. Ooof. The Gameboy version is harder to find IMO and is still reasonable.

[@BigOleWords]

Yeah it’s a real puzzler for sure, so I’d Bucky as well. I need to try the Gameboy version, looks pretty great!

[@GoodVibeCollecting]

@@BigOleWords At least with Bucky the cartoon and toys were popular and it had been a comic book series for awhile.

[@claudiasolomon1123]

I give your KZbin channel 5 out of 5 Dunkaroos. Stay rad 😎

[@BigOleWords]

Tasty!

[@JohnDoe-wq5eu]

"Nintendo hard" may be kind of a meme more these days than anything but it was very real back in the NES days. Yeah most of it was to try to combat the rental market but suffice it to say it was still hard AF.

[@BigOleWords]

I owned Zen as a kid and never beat it til 25 years later. It’s easier for me now, but at the time yeah it was beyond difficult.

[@JohnDoe-wq5eu]

@@BigOleWords I beat the game boy version multiple times as a kid I loved that game. I wouldn't stumble across an NES copy for probably two decades after that 2005 or 6 I don't know. I tried playing it and it just kicked my ass extremely hard and viciously. The jumping is what makes it absolutely insanely hair pulling out difficult. It's not like the original ninja gaiden where it was just hard it was hard and at the ridiculous jumping sections that I hate and can bring a game to a grinding halt.

[@BigOleWords]

@@JohnDoe-wq5eu The factory is for sure the hardest part as the isometric jumping never really works. If the whole game was like that I'd give it a hard pass.

[@SchizoMelody]

Lone Ranger was far from obscure

[@BigOleWords]

I mean if you’re saying the Lone Ranger was well known, sure, as a kid I knew who it was. But prior to the recent movie there hadn’t been anything for like 70 years

[@asa-punkatsouthvinland7145]

Zool (ninja of the Nth dimension) could beat up Zen (intergalactic ninja) 😂

[@uncolober]

I used to know a guy who wouldn't shut up about this game. I was always curious because of the name but STILL haven't played it, and I clearly should

[@BigOleWords]

Haha well I’m with you. If someone wouldn’t shut up about a game, it’s take me a LONG time to give it a chance!

[@knightimusprime25]

i used to have this game it was pretty good and i beat it then i tried it on the hard setting and it was hard as fuck (that's what she said)

[@BigOleWords]

It’s definitely a different level of challenge on hard!

[@knightimusprime25]

@@BigOleWords almost impossible

[@sidneyvandykeii3169]

Is your sister Hungry Goriya?

[@BigOleWords]

I wish! Although my sister is pretty damn cool, I am a big fan of Hungry Goriya :)

[@RetroRivals]

Another awesome review. Never heard of this one but it looks pretty damn cool. Thank god your parents didn’t buy you a Genesis or SNES.

[@BigOleWords]

Haha honestly I never would’ve been this gung-ho about the NES if they had! I blame/thank them!

[@gregoryl.levitre9759]

Genesis is awesome.

[@christophe2201]

Zen is a hidden crap! The first isometric level is just a joke. It's not for nothing that this game is unknown!!!

[@SilentMott]

Ironic that all the titles kids didn't know about were all solid games. All the well-known titles were garbage, who the hell enjoys playing top gun?

[@BigOleWords]

Well, many of the "NES Games No One Played" were not so great, definitely at Top Gun level or worse. The Zen's are few and far between unfortunately!

[@onithedemonslayer3142]

Someone had to be reading zen because he has a shit load of comics.