NES Challenge - NightShade in 1:12:01 [222/724]
0NightShade is a point and click adventure game. It feels like Deja Vu meets King's Quest in a way. I have to say when I played this originally I really didn't care for it. The puzzles were fun, but the fighting can be over so quickly and the hits can feel cheap. Also if you don't grab the Urn, the ninja's can rock you. Once you learn their patterns a bit, it becomes much easier.
The graphics and music are fantastic even for Ultra (Konami). Puzzles are logical, but there are a few gaps; if you don't put the tents (domes) on the artifacts first, the game will have you fight several bosses at the end again. The artifacts get stolen one at a time as you defeat bosses, so you want to cover them up first before going for the scarabs. The control can be a bit off too as the game will feel like it is eating inputs.
My real gripes are the lack of saving/passwords - this is an hour long game when you know almost everything, when your searching around, it can take several hours and then if you get stuck on puzzles it is even longer. A save/password would really fix that. The fights can be brutally unfair. The rats and... I'm not sure what they are called, the blue guys that spin once you hit them. They can be very tough until you learn the pattern to them and then become manageable. The ninjas can be downright dirty and every fight can feel like you are getting lucky as manipulations can be off. The blue officers are generally horrible and that's why I avoided them as much as I could.
On the plus sides, the story is top notch; an Egyptian detective tale is always fun. The one liners really add some originality and it's a shame we didn't get a true series out of it. This is definitely a game which should be played more often and with the quality, I'd place it in the 200-300 range in the library.