Do you know what I really miss these days? Truly shitty games.
Yes, I enjoy a bit of self-flagellation from time to time. Take a good look at our review archive: some of the games we’ve covered might be uninspired, clinging to current trends, or just a bit lackluster. But structurally dysfunctional, completely broken, or cheap movie tie-in cash grabs? We hardly run into them anymore. And honestly, we all need to vent once in a while.
YouTube legend James Rolfe, through his foul-mouthed alter ego The Angry Video Game Nerd persona, built an empire on tackling those disasters head-on, ranting, raging and swearing his way through the worst cartridges ever made. “Asssssss!”.
He gained so much traction as AVGN within the retro gaming community that Screenwave Media and Retroware managed to launch two 16-bit style platformers, alongside a full-length movie and countless other appearances during his almost 20 years existence.
The cartridge from the pits of Hell
Now, almost ten years after the second 16-bit release, we’re getting a follow-up with Angry Video Game Nerd: The Game 8-Bit. The Nerd, tired of suffering through garbage games, decides to “play a good one for once” only to be interrupted by Super Mecha Death Christ 2000 B.C. v4.0 Beta. After a faulty update, his once collaborator (The Super Mario 3 episode), turned evil overlord and infected the Nerd’s NES and corrupted it.
With only the option to fight evil with more evil, the Nerd performs an ancient ritual to channel the power of the worst games he’s ever played into one powerful cartridge. Armed with this cursed creation, he sets off on a platforming adventure through retro-themed levels to battle corrupted games, twisted bosses, and ultimately make Super Mecha Death Christ a patch note in history.
This premise is set up eloquently in a roughly five-minute live-action opening sequence. For nostalgia’s sake, we’ll stick to what the marketing machine behind the game and call it FMV too, a nod to the classic way of adding video sequences to games like Wing Commander III and Mad Dog McCree.
FMV
Between levels, the Nerd appears again in shorter FMV clips, cheering you on with his trademark rage and sarcasm. It’s a surprisingly polished touch. The sequences are well-produced, genuinely funny, and for long-time fans, a nostalgic treat in their own right.
Best of the worst, and the good from the best
Fans of AVGN can probably guess which games got morphed into the cartridge. There are levels nodding to Fester’s Quest, Jackyll and Hyde, and Top Gun, among others. You can play the levels in any order you like, just like the Mega Man games on NES. In fact, the whole thing feels built on that same DNA.
You play as the Nerd, and much like Mega Man, you can’t crouch. You shoot left and right with your NES light gun, and the platforming structure follows all the familiar early-Mega Man hallmarks. You don’t absorb boss powers, but you’ll find plenty of upgrades along the way. Picking up weapon boosts gradually turns your gun into a three-way shot and eventually into a powerful wave weapon.
Snappy Nerd
The developers clearly understand what made NES-era movement and controls great. The Nerd’s movement feels snappy and responsive, allowing you to hop around with precision. Vertical layouts are challenging without being unfair, keeping jumps and routes engaging.
You’ll also find secondary weapons like beer bottles you can toss at enemies and “The Middle Finger,” which makes you temporarily invisible. The most chaotic power-up is Shit Pickle, the bizarre side character from the show. Once activated, it flies around the screen attacking enemies and bosses for a short time. You can even find an upgrade that turns you into the infamous Robo-Nerd, though its exact advantage remains unclear.
Cheat Pickle
To balance out the difficulty, there’s Cheat Pickle. It appears when you’re on your last life, much like the Invincibility Bell in Super Mario 3D World. It doesn’t make you invincible but summons a super-powered version of Shit Pickle while maxing out your weapon.
So, is the game hard enough to need that lifeline? Not quite, but it’s tough in classic NES fashion. Each stage demands careful timing, pattern recognition, and a bit of endurance to reach the boss in one piece. The real challenge lies in its limited checkpoint system, which sends you back to one of a few points whenever you die. The Nerd’s “beer bottle” health bar drains quickly, and falling off ledges (something you’ll do often) costs a life. Still, once you learn the patterns, moderately skilled players should be ok.
Difficulty balance
Dropping the game to ‘Easy’, though, mode makes a big difference. You can take more hits, find extra lives and falling into pits no longer kills you outright. Bosses that once felt brutal become pushovers. This sounds like overdoing it a bit but Cheat Pickle breaks the game completely. Once activated, it annihilates everything on screen. I even beat a boss by doing almost nothing, just dodging in coming projectiles while Cheat Pickle did the work. On normal difficulty Cheat Pickles seems toned down a little, but it still wrecks the game’s balance. When I start your last live It’s placed right at the start of the level, so you can’t go by it and unless you grab another power-up first. In other words, you have to actively avoid using it, which you should to get the most out of the game.
Without the accessibility features, it feels right in line with the “good” NES games of the late ’80s, surely the kind the Nerd himself would actually respect.
NES compatible
Visually, it’s spot-on. The game is a NES game, emulated inside a PC framework. You can even toggle emulation options like filters and scanlines. Later this year, Mega Cat Studios will publish it as a physical NES cartridge of the game. I find that a genuine accomplishment, crafting a new game that runs on original hardware yet plays like a polished modern throwback.
The chiptune music produced for the game is, for lack of a better word, outstanding. The composers clearly took inspiration from some of the best the platform ever had to offer. You can hear echoes of Sunsoft and Capcom’s finest 8-bit compositions throughout. Beyond simply sounding great, the soundtrack hits that nostalgic nerve perfectly too.
NES limitations
It comes with one caveat, though. True NES authenticity and compatibility means platform limitations. With only six levels and a final boss stage, it’s light on content. Each level is well designed and offers multiple routes, but most players will beat the whole thing in a few hours. Replay value mirrors a genuine late-’80s game too: there’s a hard mode, but no unlockables or collectibles to chase.
Short retro-inspired indie or elaborate modern NES game?
So, as a modern PC release, it’s charming but fairly lean on content. In that respect, asking €/$20 might be a bit steep for what’s on offer. Fans of AVGN and NES-era challenges will surely find a nostalgic, foul-mouthed gem worth their time and money — I certainly did, having followed the show since its ScrewAttack days. Beyond that, potential buyers should recognize that this is a genuine effort to create a true NES game above all else, and if they do, it goes a long way toward justifying the cost of entry.
