NES Alphanumeric! #008: THE ADVENTURES OF BAYOU BILLY
1I write young adult science fiction and fantasy stories (Novels: FAIR COIN, THE SILENCE OF SIX), and I love playing 8-bit Nintendo games. But it's hard to find time for both; over the years, I've collected more than 250 NES games, yet I still haven't played most of them for long—or even once!
POST-STREAM THOUGHTS: This game lives up to its abysmal reputation. It is brutally difficult and not much fun; however, I was able to make incremental progress, which was somewhat satisfying and suggests the game can be mastered with enough effort. But who wants to go to that trouble? The first level seemed interminable with wave after wave of difficult enemies. I would have liked to sample a light gun or driving stage, but I doubt I'm going to revisit this one anytime soon. Save states might make it more possible to compensate for its grueling difficulty, but there's still the issue of the low fun quotient. Ugh.