Forget about Nancy Regan’s “Just Say No” campaign. This is how you fight the war on drugs. You, bad ass DEA enforcer/SWAT Power Ranger agent Max Force and your buddy, the equally bad ass DEA agent/SWAT Team Power Ranger Hit Man grab your machine guns and rocket launchers, and arrest every dope fiend, d-boy, thug, and even dog (yes, dogs can be arrested) you come across, and if they refuse to come quietly, then use your rocket launcher to blow the ever living shit out of them, and watch as they explode in a shower of blood and guts. You’ll visit seedy places such as the K.R.A.K. stop, which believe it or not, is a drug lab. Wow, these cats are so flagrant that they’ll put it right out there that they’re running a crack den. Along the way, you’ll either blow up, arrest, or arrest AND blow up heroin dealers, killer clowns, super strong retarded dope fiends who dumpsters stuff at you, and guys wearing mullets who throw hypodermic syringes at you, which are presumably full of their product. You even get to get behind the wheel of your car and run criminals over.

It’s obvious that American Gangster Frank Lucas doesn’t run this drug cartel, and your main enemy is a remarkably evil bastard named Mr Big, a huge head in a wheel chair. When you beat him, he turns into a demonic robo-skull-snake thingy which you also have to kill. This was ported to Nintendo thanks to Acclaim. In a hint of irony, the NES version was promoted as the first NES game with a strong anti-drug message…yet all references to drugs were removed. Even the K.R.A.K stop was changed to K.W.A.K stop. Oddly enough, the blood and gore was still retained. Of course this was one of the many games that were re-released on the Midway Arcade Treasures compilations. The main theme is even easy to hum along to as well.

Narc was the first game that bought a real solution to the drug problem facing our nation: dress up like a Power Ranger, grab your guns, get behind the wheel of your corvette, and kill everything that moves, including dogs, hippies, and morbidly obese heads stuck in wheel chairs that turn into giant demon robo-snake skull heads after taking enough damage. It’s just too bad that Midway’s 2005 attempt at a remake was nowhere near as interesting (or original) as this classic.

Fun Fact: Narc’s Max Force was featured in the Power Team animated series, which was Acclaim’s answer to Captain N. The series centered around a teenager named Johnny Arcade as he commands a team of semi-popular characters from Acclaim Video games such as Wizards and Warriors.

A few weeks ago, I included another classic Electronic Arts developed game, Lakers vs Celtics. With NBA Elite 11 being canceled, I figured I’d take another stroll down basketball memory lane. Most people don’t know this, but this game is actually a sequel to an earlier basketball game called One on One: Dr J vs Larry Bird. Jordan vs Bird was one of those games where were more more fond playing it as kids than as adults. At its time, it featured some of the best animations and graphics in a basketball game, and some pretty cool moves. Along with the standard one on one, the game featured a 3 point shootout featuring Larry Bird and a Slam Dunk contest featuring Jordan. As time went on, the game got a bit monotonous (with there only being 2 players and all) and the ref’s calls were a bit too unforgiving, but hey, it was two of the greatest players of the time going at it. Who would win? Jordan’s monster dunks, or Bird’s deadly-accurate 3-point skills? You be the judge.

During the late 80s and early 90s, there was no bigger story in basketball than the LA Lakers and the Boston Celtics, and this title from Electronic Arts bought it home like never before. More so than that, the game forever changed the way developers approached video game hoops. Lakers vs Celtics is perhaps one of the most significant sports games ever released. Playing off the successful and hugely popular rivalry, Lakers vs Celtics features the two titular teams along with six other teams that made it to the NBA playoffs during the 1988 – 89 season (Dos) or the 1989-1990 season (Genesis).
[Read the rest of this entry…]

This odd Super Nintendo game can pretty much be described as Araknoid meets Zelda. Although it doesn’t look too much graphically, it has a unique style of gameplay that you just don’t see in action games. Playing as a firestriker known as Slader, you make use of the Traillight (which is basically a fancy ball) to stop an evil archmage. Along the way, you’ll battle monsters and rescue any comrades you meet along the way. You’ll be accompanied by a mage which acts as a goalie. You can play co-op mode with another player, or battle up to three of your friends in competitive multiplayer modes. Hopefully it won’t be much longer until someone brings this game to virtual console. Better yet, why not a 3D remake using the Wii remote?

Times are tough, especially in the midst of this economic recession. That’s why we here at powet are proud to help bail gamers out of the hell of playing the same things over and over again. For the past 5 years, we have helped gamers like yourself find cheap ways to increase your gaming library. TO celebrate, we have formed this special stimulus package featuring 10 games that are available for $20 or less. Some of them are even available for free. So click after the jump, and check out some cheap gaming.
[Read the rest of this entry…]

If you believe Capcom’s ‘history’ of this downloadable title, then the company discovered this secret cartridge of a game that was in development for the NES. Supposedly, Capcom began work on the title only to cancel it due to the emergence of the Super Nintendo, only to rediscover it in a vault 2 decades later. Late Night talk show host Jimmy Fallon’s name is in the game as part of a supposed ‘contest’ that he won as a kid. Of course after seeing this game in action, I’m sure that most of you briefly forgot that this game was released in 2010 and not 1989. I know I sure did.
[Read the rest of this entry…]

Since the alphabet is the building block of our language, the Powet Alphabet is the building block of what makes us geeks.

In the short time they had been around, manufacturers took steps to make video games available in as many formats as possible. After their arcade origins, games were made available on home computers, and consoles. After making consoles which allowed interchangeable cartridges, the next logical step would be to make games that you could take with you on the go. From the tabletop electronic games of the 60s and 70s to the Nintendo DS, Sony PSP, and everything else in between, there has been no better way to pass the time.
[Read the rest of this entry…]

These days, the Duke Nukem franchise has regulated to a running gag, especially with Duke Nukem Forever being delayed so much that it has been all but confirmed as canceled. However, it wasn’t already like this for the series. In fact, when it was released in the mid-90s, it stood alongside games like Doom and Rise of the Triad as one of the early great first person shooters and to this day it’s still well-loved by fans. Also like those early FPS titles, Duke has managed to earn its fair share of controversy with it’s sex and violence. Starring as the titular character, your job is to thwart an alien invasion. You’ll shoot up dozens of mutants across a variety of environments. While the game’s premise is nothing new, the game’s sense of humor sets it apart from the pack. The game parodies many pop culture icons, and the cover itself was inspired by the film Army of Darkness. You’ll also encounter women in various states of undress, which caused the game to earn a considerable amount of controversy.
[Read the rest of this entry…]