Smash TV, baby! YEAH! OK, so I'm no Austin Powers, but hey, even Austin probably would have thought that Smash TV was a real (no pun intended) smash, even on NES, thanks to it's control options and two player support. Features One or two players Each player can use one or two joypads High Points Good graphics Digitized voice-overs are a plus! The ability to recreate the two-joystick feel is excellent! Carnage on the NES! How can it be?! Low Points The difficulty is extremely high..What? NO CONTINUES?! Have you got a 4 player adapter? Nope, me neither. Review Remember Robotron: 2084? That game where you used two joysticks to move and shoot at the same time? That game that had that control method implemented because the designer had hurt his hand and couldn't use buttons but could use joysticks? Of course you do! And you remember how they retooled it and made it into Smash TV, don't you? WHAT? You don't remember? Here you go. Smash TV was basically like Robotron: 2084, but with a lot of enhancements added, like two pairs of joysticks so two people could play at once, a more violent and futuristic setting, and even some blood! Quite frankly, I don't see how Nintendo even allowed this game onto the NES in the first place! In the NES version, the premise is still the same. You still run around the arenas, shooting everything that moves for prize money (points in this case,) grabbing prizes, and taking any power-ups you see. All the while, mercenaries armed with clubs, guns, you name it, are trying to beat, shoot, clobber, you-name-it the living daylights out of ya! Gee, I wonder if this is how TV game shows are gonna be after Y2K?!! The graphics lost little in their transition. Although they aren't as detailed as the arcade, they still have their original charm. If you look closely, you can still see the blood explosions when you shoot one of those competitors! Thanks for the oversight, Nintendo! So this isn't one of those big hardware machines that you find standing up in those dark rooms. Big deal, the music is still done as original as possible, and there's still some digitized speech effects from your M.C. like "Good luck, you'll need it!" The controls can be done in NES style, where A fires in whatever direction you are moving, and B fires in the last direction you shot, regardless of what direction you're moving. You can also play with two joypads, where one controls you and the other controls your gun. If two people want to play this way, you need four controllers and a four-player adapter. Ugh. I strongly recommend getting plenty of practice before you seriously try to beat this game. It's extremely difficult and there are no continues! Nope! None here! However, in every arena, a one up will appear. Grab it, for if you don't, you will not be able to get one again. In summary, if you really want to have a smashing good time, try Smash TV. If you have four controllers and a buddy, you'll be able to recreate the arcade experience! Isn't it great what technology can do?
