I bought the first NES G.I. Joe game against my better judgment; I’d totally outgrown the (increasingly crummy) toyline by that point, and I was even losing interest in the comic. But some vague sense of loyalty tugged at my heartstrings and I dropped 50 hard-earned dollars on the game, bracing myself for the worst. To my astonishment, it was actually really good: a deft mix of platforming, shooting, and light exploration that actually captured the essence of the property and played well. Loved the unique visual style, too.
Later, the obvious visual similarities between G.I. Joe and Low-G Man inspired me to rent the latter, and upon doing so I experienced the dreadful disappointment I’d expected from the former in full. Tricky Taxan, faking me out like that.
Low-G Man was kinda crappy but I borrowed it as a kid and had a fun weekend with it. It had some neat vehicles even if the core gameplay was balls.
Hey Parish. I like your writing lately. This and your Tron piece are really good. Sincerely, some dude on the internet.
I agree that the G.I. Joe games were far better than they had any right to be, but I’d like to stick up (mildly) for Low-G Man. No, it was not a great game, but I enjoyed the jump up/spear down mechanic quite a bit, and dammit, it was one of those weekend rentals I had from Friday until Monday, so I had to like it, okay?
I thought Low-G Man was also pretty decent. Not the best thing on NES, but far from the worst. The game mechanics were interesting, what with the Demon Sword-esque high jumps, the spear / stun-gun mechanics, and optional subweapons.
That guy’s not wearing any pants.
That’s what makes them a DARING highly-trained special missions force.
To be fair, Low-G-Man did have an awesome opening theme.
Also, don’t forget that G.I. Joe was not entirely unknown in Japan at the time. The toys had been made available there in 1986. (And the box art looked awesome, check it out: http://www.yojoe.com/international/japan/japan-zartan.shtml)
I actually have a couple of vintage Japanese G.I. Joe figures (Scarlett and Roadblock) on their original cards, and they are indeed pretty great.
I have to say, it fills my heart with holiday joy to know that other people are overcome with the same tepid, non-dislike with which I associate Low-G Man.
The Atlantis Factor is better than the original in a lot of ways. Visually it was a slight step back, but the branching map made it delightfully nonlinear and rescuing/rendez-vousing with the rest of the team already on the island gave the made the game actually feel like one big mission.