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A playthrough of Storm's 1993 platform action game for the NES, Rod Land. Rod Land, based on Jaleco's 1990 arcade game of the same name, is one of those rare NES games that saw an official release in Europe and Japan but not North America. This playthrough is of the PAL version, which was only sold in Italy, Spain, and Holland. As you might imagine, the PAL game is exceedingly rare. The game follows in the general tradition of Bubble Bobble and Snow Brothers. Most of the 32 stages are single screen arenas that are filled with enemies, and the goal is to either clear out the bad guys or to collect all the flowers, all while collecting as much loot as possible. Instead of blowing bubbles or throwing snow, the fairies Rit and Tam stun their enemies with their magic rods and then smash them to death on the floor (that swinging animation makes me think of Bam-Bam every time!), and they can place ladders to reach higher platforms or to evade pursuing enemies. It looks and sounds great for an NES game, and it feels faithful to the arcade game, even though some stuff has been added to the version that wasn't part of the original or any of the other ports. There are a couple of new stages here, and you can jump in this version. It's missing the second quest from the arcade game and the graphics and sound have been cut back considerably, but those don't stop this from being an impressive effort on the NES. It's simple, it's easy to pick up and play, and it's a lot of fun. If you can find a way to play it without spending hundreds on a cartridge, Rod Land is an entertaining way to pass a few hours. Wow, talk about awkward phrasing. (Quick question about that ending. At 32:12, all I can see is a pregnant elf woman who is rubbing her boob with her left hand and petting the green hamster that's sat on her shoulder with her right. Am I completely nuts, or does anyone else see that? She also looks an awful lot like Princess Zelda, and that tower that you save her from looks like it's been pulled straight out of the intro of Crystalis.) _____________ No cheats were used during the recording of this video. NintendoComplete () punches you in the face with in-depth reviews, screenshot archives, and music from classic 8-bit NES games!
