Raid 2020 (NES) Playthrough - NintendoComplete
197A playthough of Color Dreams' 1989 unlicensed action-adventure game for the NES, Raid 2020.
Like many bootleg NES games, Raid 2020's content made it unlikely to ever see an officially-sanctioned release. Originally intended to be named Drug Czar, the game's premise and gameplay seem to have been patterned after Williams' NARC.
Just to give you an idea of what we're working with, here's how the manual describes the hero:
"SHADOW THE DRUG BUSTER: The last surviving paradigm of justice--protection of our nation from the clutches of crack cocaine carnage."
Holy consonance, Batman! And then there's the villain:
"PIT BULL: He is an ex con from Columbia, murderer, martial arts expert, genius and kingpin of a nationwide drug operation. No one has ever come back alive after paying him a visit."
So Raid 2020 sounds like Dirty Harry facing off against... every 80s villain archetype, but all at the same time? Pit Bull sure has accomplished quite a bit so far in life, hasn't he?
And just think, all of this comes on a round-edged baby blue cartridge! Nothing says cracked-out murder spree like baby blue plastic, wouldn't you agree?
I really wish that Raid 2020 could have lived up to its ridiculous premise. I mean, Death Race was pretty outstanding, so there was some hope, but alas. The main issue with Raid 2020 is that the collision detection and the controls actively work against you the majority of the time. For example, you can jump on enemies to hitch a ride, but in doing so, you all but guarantee taking damage when jumping off. And what is with the 2.5D perspective? One would generally assume that pressing up and down would move your character toward or away from the "camera," but here, it also forces you to walk in a diagonal line, making it ridiculously difficult to avoid many of the enemies and obstacles.
That having been said, though the game is plenty difficult, it's pretty easy to beat. Here's the trick: hoard as many hearts as you can. You can hold far more than the on-screen gauge shows, and you'll need them in the final stage - I have no idea how someone would kill the last boss without standing toe-to-toe with him and becoming a bullet sponge, but as long as you have enough life in reserve, you can just mash the shoot button until he goes down.
Raid 2020 deserves props for its ambitious design, but the team making it seemed to lack either the skill or the resources to pull it off. The graphics are ugly as sin (though they get the job done without too much slowdown or excessive flicker), the music is repetitive and irritating, and the wonky controls and arbitrary kill-count requirements make it all feel like a slog.
I found Raid 2020 vaguely entertaining for the short time it took me to get through it, but the "adult content" does little to distract from how poorly made it is. It's not the worst NES game by a longshot, but you'll find much better elsewhere.
Let's all hope that the year 2020 turns out to be better than what this game portends.
(If you want an unlicensed NES game that's both good and not child-friendly, check out this gem: https://youtu.be/nRo0Iv99CXw )
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
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