Angry Video Game Nerd 8-bit Review

Chances are, if you’re here, you’re familiar with Angry Video Game Nerd (AVGN) and his long-running series on YouTube. I used to watch these episodes back on the original Twitch, Justin.tv, back in 2009. The series started in 2006 and is based on The Nerd, a short-tempered and foul-mouthed gamer who loves his beer. He delivers commentary on retro, usually NES, games that he considers crappy, unfair, or of poor quality. This is the third AVGN game to be released, all of which have you playing as The Nerd, challenging retro-inspired platforming levels.

AVGN 8-bit opens with a full-motion video introducing you to The Nerd and his vulgar history. If you know the series, you won’t be surprised by the non-stop swearing, references to diarrhoea, and the appearance of our main baddie, Super Mecha Jesus Christ (SMJC). There’s the option to turn off the FMV clips in the menu if you wish, though, chances are, you’re not checking out this game if you don’t enjoy AVGN humour.

All The Nerd wants to do is play a good game for once, but SMJC has declared that this isn’t going to happen. He blasts the NES console, putting a curse on it and forcing The Nerd to continue playing rubbish games. The Nerd puts on the Power Glove and says “groovy”, then quickly changes his mind and says “not groovy”. If anyone has played the NES, I’m sure you know how awful that peripheral was!

When you begin the game, there are three difficulty settings to choose from: Chill as Hell, Normal, or Hard as Balls. From here, you’re taken to a stage select screen where you pick between six NES enemy boss carts to challenge: Specimen, The Devil, F-14 Tomcat, T.P. (looks like E.T.), Letule, and Festerdrome. Each boss is in a stage that spoofs older games he’s made videos on before, such as the ridiculously challenging Ghosts ‘n Goblins, Terminator, Top Gun, Fester’s Quest, E.T., and Jekyll and Hyde (the hardest boss by far). Once all of these enemies are defeated, you’ll take on the final boss, Super Mecha Death Christ 2000 B.C. v4.1 Unstable Beta, in the Glitch Abyss.

When you clear a stage, you won’t steal a weapon from the main enemy like you do in other boss battle games. Instead, your default weapon is the orange zapper from the original NES, and you can pick up additional firepower items to upgrade your armament, making it fire more shots, and eventually obtain the Super Scope blaster from the SNES. You’ll also receive a password placed on a grid, just like in Mega Man, so you can continue where you left off next time you play, that is, if you’re smart enough to take a picture of it or write it down.

Control-wise, AVGN 8-bit feels a lot like playing a Mega Man title. Moving your character around feels precise and responsive, though the D-pad is far better for movement, as using the thumbstick can cause you to slide when you don’t intend to. The Nerd can jump, fire his weapon, and slide. There’s also an extra ultimate attack you can use when you pick up the corresponding item, such as an F-Bomb, a &@&# Pickle, a Middle Finger, or bottles to throw directly at enemies. My favourite is the pickle; there’s nothing funnier than seeing a legume target and repeatedly hit an enemy. It even works on bosses, too!

The maximum number of lives you can have is nine, and if you run out, you’re greeted with a pretty brutal Game Over screen stating, “You’re dead, your friends are dead, your family’s dead,” and it goes on from there. Once you’ve failed, you have the option to retry, go back to the level select screen, or quit the game. The game is generous with extra lives, so I only ran out once after repeatedly dying in a boss battle. Going back to the start of the stage sucks, but fortunately, they’re quite short, so it doesn’t take too long to return to where you were.

Out of all the stages, the one I found most challenging was Airworld. It’s full of trampoline blocks (one of my most hated things in platforming games). You never know if it’ll be a little bounce or a huge jump, so it’s hard to judge when to move. Though I realised, after dying frequently, that if you hold down the jump button when you bounce, it’ll always be a large one; thank you, game, for not being evil!

Angry Video Game Nerd 8-bit is quite fair, especially if you’ve selected the Chill as Hell difficulty. If you touch spikes or fall into a hole, instead of instant death like in Mega Man, you just take a bit of damage, which is especially good in stages where you’re on a moving platform, having to jump over spiky balls or cross large pits.

The game has a great retro-inspired look with pixelated enemies, stages, and a sprite for The Nerd that looks just like the real character. Working alongside it is a super catchy chiptune soundtrack that feels just like the classic music you remember from the best NES titles. Developer, retroware, has done a great job with this game, capturing both the look and feel of retro games and the personality of the AVGN videos it’s based on!

I’m having a great time playing Angry Video Game Nerd 8-bit; the developer has done a brilliant job with this title. I’ve played through it once, but I’m looking forward to trying it on a harder difficulty to challenge myself. There are so many fun references to the original videos that fans of the series really need to try out for themselves. Honestly, it feels like I’m playing a Mega Man game with lots of swearing and beer to replenish my health instead of pellets, and videogame peripherals in place of the Mega Buster. Once you beat the game, you'll get a password that unlocks a Boss Rush mode for added challenge.