Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers

Introduction

I was browsing amazon the other day, and I came upon a game for Chip ‘n Dale. Me being a Chip ‘n Dale fan growing up, I decided to purchase it for ten bucks. Five days later, a crummy, beat up cartridge arrived in the mail. I was a bit disappointed (on the website, they described the cartridge to be “Like new”) but popped it into my NES anyways (note to people: don’t buy the crummy rip-off versions of the NESs. They don’t work). To this day, the cuddly critter duo is still in my top 5 favorite video games (And I have a Wii).

Story

The story is pretty basic. To be put simply, you try and save Gadget, a cute female mouse, from the evil tycoon Fat Cat after she was kidnapped.

Gameplay (10/10)

The game is one of the best laid out games I have ever seen for NES. The programmers were really on to something when they made it. You basically make you’re way through Mario-esque levels, collecting stars and lives along the way. Sounds simple, eh? But then there’s the fact its two player. You and your friend can kick evil cat-tycoon butt together, which is something you see rarely in Mario-ish games.

Graphics (9/10)

The environments, levels, characters and enemies are all very clean, and when I went through it the first time, I was able to tell what all the characters, enemies and stage props were (unlike games, you know, like Zelda, where those funny enemy goblin things look like turtles…).

Sound (7/10)

Pretty decent sound. Expected a little bit more bang for my buck, but still, its pretty decent. The theme sounds like the “Rescue Rangers” theme, and the music isn’t so annoying you want to never play the game again, but it was just too plain.

Replayability (9/10)

I have played, and completed, this game several times before, and it has never really gotten old or annoying.

Challenge (5/10)

Not really challenging whatsoever. It’s intended for kids around the age of 5. Yeah….

Frustration (0/10)

I think this game only frustrated me once, and that was when I over-played the NES and it broke, and I blamed it on the game. I later learned that it wasn’t the game, but the system. The lack of challenge and puzzle have made this game very stress-free.

[Note: For the grading the frustration, 0 means no frustration and 10 means a lot]

Value (10/10)

Great replay value and gameplay have made the game was well worth the $15 Amazon price.

Overall (10/10)

All in all, this game continues to be one of the better NES games out there, and it saddens me to see how little attention it gets. Well worth it. You may have been frightened off when I said “it’s intended for five year olds” but heck, I’m 14 and enjoy it. :3

Screenshots