GRAPHICS SOUND CONTROL FRUSTRATION FUN FACTOR OVERALL

NES 1 Player Power Pad Now, I know most people think the power pad was just Nintendo's way of trying to get fat kids to slim down while they think they are loafing it on the Nintendo. And if that's what they thought, then they would be right. Fitness and Nintendo just don't mix. If you look it up, child obesity has risen steadily since the NES came out, and rightfully so. What kid would want to go outside and run around like a little idiot when they can just sit on their asses all day, eat potato chips, and play games like Mario, Zelda, or Bionic Commando. So naturally, the Power Pad was not a huge success. Especially since the library of games released for it are not all the great. The only game for the Power Pad that I have played and that I really liked, was Short Order / Eggsplode. This game is divided into two separate games, which are both pretty entertaining. Short Order is a game where you get an order for a hamburger, and you have to put it together by memory using the power pad. Initially, this is an easy game, but as soon as you get into the long burgers, it gets pretty hard. It is kind of ironic that they would make this game for the Power Pad. Since the Power Pad was designed to make fat kids slim down, they would make a game featuring hamburgers that would really make these fatties plump up a lot. When I was playing the game, I got hungry. I really wanted to go to my local McFatburger's and get a quadruple decker fattieburger with extra secret sauce (read: special ingredients added by disgruntled employees). The second part, Egg-splode, is my favorite of the two. The object of this game is to make sure the bombs that the little foxes running around on the screen plant under your chickens don't explode. Also, you have to make sure that you don't break any eggs that the chickens might lay. The chickens are all lined up on the screen in corresponding places to the buttons on the power pad. The pace of the action gets faster and faster, and also the bombs take less time to explode in later levels. The highest score I have ever gotten in this game was about 500,000 something, and I was playing for about a half an hour. In terms of making fat kids less fat, this game sure gets the job done. By the time I lost, I was sweating like a pig. Graphics: This is not a very graphic-intensive game, so I wouldn't take much stock into it. The graphics aren't bad, but they are not spectacular either. But the good thing is, they don't need to be spectacular. They get the job done just fine the way that they are. The graphics are on par with other NES games form the same period, like, SMB 2, or Marble Madness. No complaints here. Sound: The opening music will sort of startle you a little bit. It's like if someone came into your room while you were just starting to go to sleep and they started screaming bloody murder while clanging on pots and pans in your ear. But when you get used to it, it's not that bad. During the Short Order game, the music is your basic series of low toned beeps that make you want to concentrate harder. The music gets faster as soon as your timer gets low. On Eggsplode, the music is much the same, just a different melody, and it gets faster as the foxes go faster. Not bad music at all, really. I think it fits the game quite well. Control: If the Power Pad wasn't a good idea, its execution is pretty good. Every button does what you want it to do, and only a couple times did the button on the Power Pad not work at all, which can probably be attributed to the old age of my Power Pad. And the fact I bought it for 2 bucks at a garage sale. On Short Order, one part I don't like is that in order to make a piece of the hamburger come down, you have to press 2 buttons on the Power Pad. This can get awkward, especially at high speeds. Eggsplode has the tendency to have the chickens lay eggs whenever you are standing on a button and you don't know about it, so you blow up the egg and lose. Not bad overall, though. Frustration: This game can get a little frustrating once you get into the later parts, but there is a steady progression up to it. The game does a good job of setting you up for the inevitable fuck ups near about 200,000 points, so it really isn't that frustrating. Don't worry, you won't be stomping your Power Pad to pieces or taking the knife to it with this game. ......BOTTOM LINE: Are you fat? Is someone you know fat? Are you out of shape? Are you bored? Do you want to play naked twister on the Power Pad and listen to annoying opening music? Then GET THIS GAME!!!!!!!!!!! Otherwise, get it anyways because it is worth hours and hours of Power Pad fun. -gimmethebaaawl