RGR Game #003: Nightshade

Part 1? Of 1?

The action-packed intro!

All right, folks, it's time for a new game! This time around, I'll be taking jaynova's suggestion and playing Nightshade for the NES. Nightshade is an adventure game with side-view action fighting sequences. The story follows the titular investigator/superhero-to-be as he works to avenge the death of Metro City's previous superhero, Vortex, and to become the city's new superhero.

However, things don't start smoothly for Nightshade, as he is quickly captured by the city's creepy Anubis look-alike crime lord, Sutekh, and tied to a chair in a sewer next to a bomb... and a candle. Of course, you can nudge yourself over to the candle to burn the ropes and set yourself free, but not before the bomb goes off. It won't kill you, but it'll do enough damage to make the near future really tough. So the trick is to hide behind a thin sliver of wall until the bomb explodes, and then make your way back to the candle.

Nightshade was known primarily for two things: its goofy dialogue and its series of its series of increasingly difficult but not inescapable traps. When Nightshade runs out of energy, he doesn't immediately die, but is instead knocked unconscious and placed in a trap. Each has a specific method of escape that must be figured out in order to continue playing (except for the fifth, which actually is inescapable). Failure to escape any trap actually does result in Nightshade's death. This happens often.

In order to beat the game, I'll have to gather the five Scarabs along with a few other items, and make my way to the final battle with Sutekh himself. It's not going to be easy, as each Scarab after the first is guarded by a boss. But the game is easy enough to break down into a series of steps, so that the fights are the only tricky parts.

Some hero we are!

It's a really sturdy wall. Yeah.

Awesome logo.

I see this a lot.

But man, are some of those fights tricky.