This update’s title begs the essential question: are we punching clones, or being punched by them? Such are the ambiguities of the English language. This damnable tongue! I think, however, you will find nothing to curse in these articles — unless, of course, you are disgusted by ethnic stereotypes and a brazen lack of creative integrity. Which isn’t to say the authors in question are guilty of those things! No, the fault lies within the games they’ve dissected. For shame, 8-bit video gaming. For shame.
Golden Axe Warrior
Here we have the “clone” mentioned above — I’ve never actually played Golden Axe Warrior, but I’m happy to know that Sega released interesting (if admittedly derivative) Master System games after the Genesis became thoroughly entrenched; those late NES games like Kirby’s Adventure need be lonely no longer.
Punch-Out!!
And here we have the “punching.” Heck, it’s in the title. I’m not a fan of boxing and this game has never really done much for me. Still and nevertheless, I can’t help but respect a family-friendly game that nakedly announces its emphasis on pure, visceral violence right in the title.
Coming next week: That Thumbnail Theatre I owe you guys. I was gonna do it for today, but I haven’t exactly been wallowing in free time of late.
I’m comfortable calling Golden Axe Warrior the first mod. You might argue, but its status as prototype will pretty much handle the argument for me.
No, sorry. Ms. Pac-Man is the first mod.
This 2002 article from Popular Science http://www.popsci.com/gear-gadgets/article/2002-07/mod-squad describes Adventure as the first mod, but then immediately follows it up with Ms. Pac-Man. Your move, Parish.
I’d like to nominate God Hand as the official successor to Punch-Out!. As Video Gaiden succinctly put it, it is a game about punching people, and upon looking at the case art, that principle is immediately apparent.
Lithros: Which Adventure? I do recall that the most common variant of Adventure/Colossal Cave is built on an earlier game (itself derived from an actual cave system), but which is which, and whether it was before Ms. Pac-Man, I don’t remember.
Parish – is them’s Kirby’s Adventure fightin’ words I hear? Don’t make me come up there!
Merus: The article I linked dates the modded version of Adventure, whichever it is, to 1976, a full 5 years before Ms. Pac-Man. Game set and MATCH.
I enjoy the blatantness of Golden Ax Warrior’s rip-offery. I think it really came home to me the first time some dude ordered me to pay for the door damages.
You know what else I like? Ax Battler on Game Gear, starring the blue fighter guy from Golden Ax. It’s every bit the rip-off GAW is–only this time of Gargoyle’s Quest, of all things. That’s not something you see every day.
Also, not to be a super-big pedant, but in the Punch-Out!! write-up: “bowdlerized,” not “bowlederized.” Dude’s name was Thomas Bowdler. Why am I saying “dude” so much lately?
In regards to Kirby’s Adventure, I think the parallel being made was, ‘Here’s a not-entirely-shabby game made for an 8-bit system long after most had stopped paying attention.’ He’s actually said in the past that he regards Adventure as the best of the Kirby platformers.
@Panda – That’s what I was hoping he meant, since Kirby’s Adventure is definitely one of (if not the) best in the series. GAW came out in 1991 while Kirby came out in 1993, but when you think about the Megadrive’s 1988 release date, I suppose the analogy fits pretty well.
Either way, I fully support any Zelda fan trying GAW. I really enjoyed my time with it, and even if it wasn’t the first mod, it’s hard to argue with calling it one.