Some games suck. That's just the way of life in the video game world. But sometimes, games that everyone thinks sucks get a bum rap, and looking back on them, we realize they don't suck as much as we thought they did. Consequently, there are other games that we once thought were awesome, but looking back, they weren't so great. And some games just suck no matter what.

With Destructoid Boot Camp spending the month , and Dontrelle Willis and Miguel Cabrera being traded to my Detroit Tigers, it's only natural that the second edition of Does It Suck? is sports-themed. But tonight, we're not just doing one game. No, we're doing three games, all from the same legendary developer, all from the 1980s. Yes, one of them is just two versions of the same game, but those two versions have substantial differences. And so, hopefully not striking out, it's time for...



Basic Info

Blades of Steel
Developer/Publisher - Konami
Console - NES
Year - 1988



The premise

It's hockey.

Oh, you want more? There are eight teams. You pick your team, the opponent's team, and just try to win.

The game




Blades of Steel clearly stood out among the sports games on the NES. Like other Konami sports titles, it had a very fast timer, meaning that a 20 minute half often only took 5 minutes. Every shot in the game is a slapshot no matter where you were on the ice, but given that this was back in the 80s, that was probably the best they could do. You also got to take goaltending responsibilities, as there was no auto-goaltend option.

The game itself featured 8 teams based on NHL squads, except unlike in Ice Hockey, everyone's the same. No big guys and skinny guys here. There were two modes of game play - exhibition and tournament, each being self-explanatory. You could play with either one or two players.

When you get the puck, you start flashing like you picked up a power star from Super Mario Bros. mostly so you knew which player you were. With the puck, you could pass or shoot, and without it, you bumped into rivals to lodge the puck loose or knock someone down. Too many bumps, though, and you could start a fight, perhaps the best part of the game. The game actually let you take control of the fight, allowing for five hits before you went down. And losing? Losing meant a trip to the penalty box, you pussy.

If everything stayed tied up, the game went into a shootout, where the perspective changed to being behind the shooter. Shootout mode was one of the best features, but it didn't hold a candle to the 2nd intermission scoreboard. If you let it sit there during the 2nd intermission, you either got a bear shooting a puck or you got to play a Gradius mini-game that lasted about 30 seconds, followed by an advertisement talking about Konami's new titles and how all your friends will want them. It's cool stuff.

The controls

The controls for Blades of Steel are pretty simple. You have buttons to pass and shoot, and checking is done automatically by running into opposing players. There's nothing wrong with this, and in fact, the checking makes the game fun.

Goaltending is more complex. An arrow behind the goal shows where the puck will go, and you have to move the goalie into place to block the shot. It's sometimes hard to tell and pucks can still defect off you into the goal, but it's nothing too bad.

The fights have controls that let you block and punch high or low, and it is perhaps the most fun part of the game. If you're like me, games will take an hour because you keep getting into fights for the hell of it.

The only bad part comes in passing, because you have little control over where the puck goes. It simply goes to the nearest player, which means sometimes it misses them entirely or goes to the opposite team.

The graphics and sound

It's 1987. What do you expect?

Well, I guess I can say more, like that Blades of Steel was a pretty good-looking game on the NES. When you jumped into fight mode, the graphics actually were pretty good. The character and background animations were fantastic for a NES game in 1988.

The sound quality on the NES port was poor, making "With the pass!" sound like "Grabs the ass!", but it really doesn't detract too much from the overall experience.

The conclusion

Blades of Steel is a great, great game, just as good as Nintendo's earlier Ice Hockey title. Whole you weren't able to set up your own line-up, you did gain the ability to fight, which was much more fun anyways.

And hey, any game with this...



... is fine with me.


FINAL VERDICT: Does not suck. Passing the puck is the only real bad part. The rest of this game is fantastic.

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Basic Info

Double Dribble
Developer/Publisher - Konami
Console - Arcade/NES
Year - 1986/1987



The premise

It's basketball.

Wait, you want more? Then read on, because I can't think of anything witty.

The game




Double Dribble was the first big basketball title to hit the arcades and NES. The NES version featured 5-on-5 game play and was one of the first games to use cut-scenes, which showed up when you dunked the ball. It was very cool in the day, and today, it's still pretty neat.

Unfortunately, Double Dribble only had three playable teams, with the Boston team being unplayable by the player. They fixed that in the sequel, but even having 8 teams in the console version would've been acceptable. Pallet swaps, anyone?

The game begins every quarter with a jump ball at center court... which isn't what happens in real basketball at all. Also, due to a translation error, every basket scored results in the phrase "Goal in" being displayed.

Several positions on the court are 'hot spots,' high-percentage areas where your shots are more likely to go in. These spots are usually where Double Dribble players will shoot from, because it's almost a guaranteed shot every time. However, shooting three-pointers is something of an inexact science, and the only places you can really hit them from is the hot-spots on the court. Other than that, it plays like a basketball game, complete with foul shots and dunks.

In the arcade version, though, you had to put in one credit for each minute you wanted to play. All 24 minutes. That's $6 for a guaranteed full game. You could win free minutes by leading at each minute counted down, but since the timer moves so fast - not unlike in Blades of Steel - this is pretty hard.

The controls

The controls of the game are simple, with only five possible actions: pass, shoot, jump, steal and run. It's all pretty simple stuff that's easy to play, but for some reason, the controls feel a little sluggish at times, even for a NES game. Otherwise, the controls are pretty good, though as I stated before, shooting three-pointers is a royal pain in the ass unless you're at a hot-spot.

The graphics and sound

The graphics on the NES version doesn't look so hot. The in-game graphics aren't too bad, but the crowd is pretty much just a bunch of dots. The graphics are better in the arcade version, though, and the colors are much more vibrant in that version as well. It's one of the big advantages the arcade has over the NES version.

And the sound... well, let this video speak on that:



This isn't in the NES version, but the sound isn't any better.

The conclusion

Graphics weren't too great. The dunk thing was cool, but shooting three-pointers was a pain unless you were really good at the game. The sound quality on the NES version wasn't really good, and there were a whopping four teams, but only three were playable. Double Dribble might be a classic, but it's aged terribly. While I'm not going to factor the aging into the game, it's still an average game to me. The arcade version, though, is actually worse.

FINAL VERDICT (NES version): Moderate suckage. Shooting three-pointers blows.The graphics aren't too great here, the sound quality is poor, every quarter begins with a jump ball, and there's only three playable teams. But it's still a fun game.

FINAL VERDICT (Arcade version): Heavy suckage. Paying for each minute you play is a terrible idea, plus there's the awful Star-Spangled Banner rendition. It's one of the few occurrences when the arcade game sucked more than the NES one.