Following the absolute epic that was Castlevaniathon, James decided to stick to something a little more straightforward for the next episode of the Angry Video Game Nerd. Still, he manages to pick one of the most odd games yet, in this case, Little Red Hood on the NES.
This one is interesting. It’s an unlicensed NES game which has a weird cartridge slot on the top of it for you to insert another NES game onto. This is to use the lockout chip on the cartridge to allow the game to be playable on the “front load” NES consoles, as since it’s an unlicensed title it lacks said chip. A simple, but efficient (and safe, as it doesn’t do the “shock the 10NES chip until it lets the game run” trick) bypass. Of course, it isn’t necessary on the “top loader” NES.
So, for the actual game itself, it’s an arcade style title that’s, well… you already know. The Nerd wastes no time commenting on just what the game looks to be about based on what he sees in it, in the typical absurd Nerd style.
This is yet another game that just makes no sense. James can’t figure out how to attack, even though there are enemies everywhere – eventually discovering a dog under a rock can be used to maybe kill enemies. Great!
He continues to explain the game, covering the shop system which is, conveniently, the only way to get a proper weapon in the game, which only lasts a few shots. lame. That’s not to mention the re-spawning enemies, which makes killing them kind of pointless.
So, how the hell do you get further in the game? A random staircase which appears. Yeah. There’s a bonus stage, sure, but as it stands the Nerd cannot figure out how to get past level one.
It turns out you need to get a key in one of the random staircase stages which then lets you access another randomly appearing staircase which is the exit. One that appears only when you collect enough cherries by kicking trees.
Wonderful. What an absolute mess. A random mess. What’s the point? Where’s the fun in this?
This is where the episode kicks up. We get more classic Nerd ranting on everything — the terrible graphics and color choices, the awful music, the buggy controls and collision detection, how items can appear in areas where they are inaccessible, the whole game is a buggy mess. James even addresses how many times he’s said “Random” in the episode, and likens the whole experience to that of a lab experiment testing negative reinforcement!
We hit full Nerd rage with some of the later levels, especially World 8, where the key just never appears. James actually has to look up a walkthrough to the level to discover you have to buy a specific set of items in the shop to get the key! It’s absolutely insane!
Still, James pushes through, expecting a terrible ending. The game delivers, of course, with the best ending screen since Ghostbusters on NES.
Final Rating: 4.0/5
This is certainly a more traditional episode — some aspects of it feel like Season 1 or 2 Nerd, while the overall quality is that of a then-current episode. It’s a nice, almost relaxing trip back to those early days of other bootleg NES games.
Nerd Rage is high, but he does touch on far more of the game than he would have in those early 3-5 minute episodes. Still, due to the game being as odd as it is it doesn’t have that same nostalgia factor as some other episodes can have tied in with their games, so the rage just doesn’t hit home the same way as it would with a more well known bad game.
Still, it’s an enjoyable episode all the way through.