What do you think?
Rate this book
The NES Endings Compendium: Years 1985 - 1988
The Video Game Museum presents the NES Endings Compendium, covering the finales of Nintendo Entertainment System games from 1985-1988! Revisit the memories of beating games like Super Mario Bros, Castlevania, Contra, Bionic Commando, Metal Gear, both Zelda games, and many more, all designed in the nostalgic style of a 1980s era video game magazine!
132 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 1, 2021
2 people are currently reading
22 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 22, 2021
I think the point of this is pretty obvious from the title, but just in case, our esteemed author is off to chronicle all the endings of every NES game that was made and you probably immediately knew from that statement whether this book is for you or not.
This is a light, fluffy hit of nostalgia that I really appreciated. It’s pretty brave starting off from the beginning - a lot of these early games barely had endings, if they had any at all. So, this might not be the most amazing set of endings, but it’s still a ton of fun.
And commitment to the bit counts for a lot - Rey even has a shot of him winning the ancient Jeopardy! game (to sound even older than this book, I am more familiar with this version of Jeopardy! in screamingly ugly 4-colour CGA on my PC) and the old Anticipation drawing game. There is no stone left unturned in the NES’ early years.
As somebody who recorded SNES endings on his VCR, this really taps into a way of gaming I used to adore when I was young and had all the time in the world. But what if that’s not your point of reference? Is there merit to this?
Definitely, but I’m not sure that’s going to seal the deal for you, really, unless you have a particular fondness for this sort of thing. The localization sidebars are what I’m referencing, which are unquestionably the most fun part of the book.
Yes, almost everybody knows that Super Mario Bros. 2 is based on Doki Doki Panic, but once you get into Nintendo’s hilarious censorship in America and Japanese product placement it’s a lot goofier.
Sometimes it’s a simple change, other times it’s something like Karnov, which I have never played, but the North American ending is so insanely altered into a huge ‘screw you’ that I’m glad somebody else documented this so I don’t have to find out by playing it.
I will say genuinely that this book is worth the entire asking price for the story of the sponsored Gradius releases in Japan.
3 stars without nostalgia, but an easy 4 from me. This took me back to late nights with my cousin, sitting and eating chips and playing dozens of games of Jackal together. I’m glad somebody is cataloging these goofy relics of a bygone era of gaming and I cannot wait for the next volume.
This is a light, fluffy hit of nostalgia that I really appreciated. It’s pretty brave starting off from the beginning - a lot of these early games barely had endings, if they had any at all. So, this might not be the most amazing set of endings, but it’s still a ton of fun.
And commitment to the bit counts for a lot - Rey even has a shot of him winning the ancient Jeopardy! game (to sound even older than this book, I am more familiar with this version of Jeopardy! in screamingly ugly 4-colour CGA on my PC) and the old Anticipation drawing game. There is no stone left unturned in the NES’ early years.
As somebody who recorded SNES endings on his VCR, this really taps into a way of gaming I used to adore when I was young and had all the time in the world. But what if that’s not your point of reference? Is there merit to this?
Definitely, but I’m not sure that’s going to seal the deal for you, really, unless you have a particular fondness for this sort of thing. The localization sidebars are what I’m referencing, which are unquestionably the most fun part of the book.
Yes, almost everybody knows that Super Mario Bros. 2 is based on Doki Doki Panic, but once you get into Nintendo’s hilarious censorship in America and Japanese product placement it’s a lot goofier.
Sometimes it’s a simple change, other times it’s something like Karnov, which I have never played, but the North American ending is so insanely altered into a huge ‘screw you’ that I’m glad somebody else documented this so I don’t have to find out by playing it.
I will say genuinely that this book is worth the entire asking price for the story of the sponsored Gradius releases in Japan.
3 stars without nostalgia, but an easy 4 from me. This took me back to late nights with my cousin, sitting and eating chips and playing dozens of games of Jackal together. I’m glad somebody is cataloging these goofy relics of a bygone era of gaming and I cannot wait for the next volume.
May 5, 2021
Great art and description
This book took me back to my childhood. Great read if you want to go back on video game time, so you can revive several popular game endings or if you want to learn some of the history about several popular games in the past.
This book took me back to my childhood. Great read if you want to go back on video game time, so you can revive several popular game endings or if you want to learn some of the history about several popular games in the past.
January 14, 2024
An awesome collection of classic nes facts and endings!
This was a breath of fresh air and brought back some of my best memories from my youth. A retro masterpiece! A recommend this book to anyone who had a nes and zapper.
This was a breath of fresh air and brought back some of my best memories from my youth. A retro masterpiece! A recommend this book to anyone who had a nes and zapper.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews