A real Jim in the rough: Hydlide | NES Works 124

Well, here we are. One of the worst games of all time! A huge disaster that insults the intelligence of anyone who owned an NES!

Nah, not really. Hydlide feels incredibly archaic as a 1989 NES release, but that doesn't reflect on the game itself so much as FCI's weird decision to publish it here so late. I think it probably would have fared well if they'd shipped it alongside Zanac back in 1987. But two years later? Why would anyone want this game when they could play a dozen better, Hydlide-inspired works instead?

Still, this is a game worth experiencing and attempting to understand, because it's pretty much the Rosetta Stone for action-RPGs. Seriously, it was a big deal. Just... not in 1989.

Production notes:

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NES footage captured from Analogue Nt Mini. Video upscaled to 720 with xRGB Mini Framemeister. "Before the Storm" courtesy of Jacob Le.