Developer: Software Creations Publisher: Arcadia Released: November 1990 Genre: Shooter Platform: NES
Any time the Silver Surfer NES game is brought up you’ll hear a bunch of phrases. One of the worst games of all time. Quite possibly one of the most difficult games ever created. Awful. And the list goes on. Now I’m going to be honest, only some of those things are true. Personally, back in the day I was just glad that the character even had a game. I loved the Ron Marz/Ron Lim run that was going on at the time but even though I liked the character I never thought he would receive a game. Unfortunately, it is one of the most frustrating games you’ll ever play, cancelling out any of its decent qualities.
The story is odd. Galactus tells the Silver Surfer of an incursion from the Magik Domain. To combat this, he must assemble six pieces of a cosmic device, with each being held by one of his frequent adversaries. The developers have done an extremely deep dive for the villain roster. Some will recognize Firelord and Mephisto but Reptyl? He had only appeared in a few issues at that point. I wasn’t even aware the Skrulls had an emperor. And the Possessor? I had to read a god damn Wikipedia entry to even remember him.
Like Mega Man you can tackle the bosses in any order. You aren’t gaining any new weapons so the choice is entirely superfluous. Each level is has three sections that alternate between horizontal and vertical shooting. So far, so good. Its an odd choice to switch between both styles but at least the Silver Surfer does both decently. But the game has serious problems.
The Silver Surfer is one of the most powerful characters in comic book history. Chances are if you can think of it, he can do it. Yet for his video game debut he is no more effective than a Contra soldier. Your only weapon is a pea shot that is so pathetic I still can’t believe it. There is only one other power-up, orbs that function like options. In the side-view stages you can position it to fire backwards or beneath you. In the overhead levels they can cover your sides or supplement your (weak) fire. There is nothing wrong with a lack of power-ups so long as the game is still fun without them. But the Silver Surfer has issues beyond that.
Most shooters feature single hit deaths. It’s a staple of the genre. The Silver Surfer takes that to the extreme. If you even slightly touch anything you die. You can’t even slightly graze a wall without falling off your board and seeing that disappointment screen. This game is especially touchy in this regard and frankly it ruins the game. It wouldn’t be as much of an issue if the game weren’t designed specifically to highlight this egregious flaw. It is most notable in the vertical levels. Tight passageways and such ordinarily add a welcome layer of challenge to the regular action. But in this case, where you second guess your every move and can’t risk a single pixel touching a wall? It doesn’t work and is aggravating.
You’ll be seeing this a lot.
The Silver Surfer is one of the most difficult games of all time. That is no exaggeration. You are exceedingly weak and every enemy feels like they take a few too many shots to kill. Even though power-ups are few they are necessary. Death sends you back to a checkpoint with nothing. In this game that might as well be a death sentence as checkpoints aren’t picked well. One death starts the spiral and it is all over real fast. The cherry on top of this ridiculously difficult game is that there are no passwords or continues either. How badly did these developers hate kids?
Beyond the damn difficulty the most frustrating aspect of the Silver Surfer is that it could have been a good game. You can obviously see the work put into it; this is not an LJN crapfest. The rare moments when you can focus on the action instead of bumping your head are legitimately fun. The game is well paced and while the boss battles are anti-climactic you at least look forward to them. And the game has a better soundtrack than it deserves. Seriously, this is some of the best music on the NES. Too bad you’ll have to overlook so much to enjoy it.
In Closing
So there you have it. The Silver Surfer is bad game, but one of the worst of all time? No. I envy you if this is one of the worst games you’ve ever played. It has its qualities but I sure as hell wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.
