Silver Surfer Is Surfs Up On Presentation But Wipes Out On Gameplay, 10.0 out of 10 based on 1 rating

Last time, I took a look at Sunsoft’s Batman: The Video Game for the NES. It was a good example of how a licensed property could be given a decent video game treatment if handled well. Examining the likelihood of seeing this game again on modern systems, I determined that the outlook for a re-release was grim. Thankfully the game is easy to find at used game stores and online for a decent price.

Today’s game, however, has got some good things going for it, but also has a lot of bad things too. It stars one of the recognizable, but lesser known, Marvel Super Heroes and boasts good graphics and excellent sound along with an absurd difficulty curve. With its origins rooted in notable UK publishing and development companies, it’s time to grab your shiny metallic surf boards and ride the cosmic waves with Silver Surfer for the NES.

The problem with the Silver Surfer game can be summed up in four simple words: “This game is HARD!“

My guess is Galactus wants the Surfer to get him a planetary sandwich.

Silver Surfer plays as a standard 2D Shoot-’Em-Up in either horizontal scrolling or vertical scrolling stages. There are 6 stages in all, with each stage having 3 sections. The player can play through any of the first five stages in any order they choose. While some sections will end with a mini-boss, every stage ends with a confrontation with someone the Silver Surfer has clashed with before. There’s the alien, space-pirate, lizard: Cap’n Reptyl, another former Herald of Galactus: Firelord, one of the Elders of the Universe, like Galactus: The Possessor, Emperor of the Skrull Empire: Dorrek VII, and Marvel Comics’ version of the devil, and Joe Quesada’s favorite plot device: Mephisto.

Many people are familiar with the Silver Surfer through his role in the “Galactus Trilogy”: three issues of the Fantastic Four comics from the late 1960′s that introduced Uatu the Watcher, Silver Surfer, and Galactus. This is the story where Silver Surfer finds Earth as a suitable meal for Galactus to snack on, but is intercepted by the Fantastic Four, rediscovers himself after interacting with the human race, and turns against Galactus in order to save Earth from his insatiable appetite. It’s been told and retold in cartoons and film in addition to the original comics, but outside of die hard comic buffs like Linkara, most people are not likely to know the full story behind the Silver Surfer.

Originally, the Silver Surfer was a young astronomer named Norrin Radd who lived on the planet Zenn-La. When Galactus decided to feast on his home world, Norrin made a bargain with him. In return for Galactus sparing his home planet, he would serve as his herald. The Elder of the Universe agreed and imbued Norrin Radd with a portion of his power: the “Power Cosmic”. Norrin Radd was reborn in a new body, given a powerful cosmic surfboard fashioned by Galactus, and christened the Silver Surfer. For years, the Surfer served Galactus in seeking out worthy planets for him to devour, until the events of the Galactus Trilogy. Forced to agree to never eat Earth, Galactus punished the Silver Surfer by exiling him on Earth; creating a barrier that prevented the Silver Surfer, and only the Silver Surfer, from leaving.

After appearing in his own short lived solo series, and making guest appearances in a number of other Marvel titles, the Marvel powers at be finally agreed to remove Galactus’ barrier and allow the Silver Surfer to engage in grand, cosmic adventures as part of a new solo series in the late 80′s. Since the Silver Surfer’s powers are fueled by Galactus’ own “Power Cosmic”, it was very tricky for the folks at Marvel to come up with decent villains and antagonists for the Surfer due to his awesome powers. They did come up with a few, and would later become the bosses in the Silver Surfer video game.

Yeah… I really don't know any of these guys, except maybe for Mephisto.

Now since the Silver Surfer has a portion of the “Power Cosmic”, he has a wide array of powers that let him travel faster than light, change the molecular structure of objects, and in a few rare instances, even time travel. Yet, in the Silver Surfer video game, the Silver Surfer dies in one hit.

Let me repeat that.

One of the most powerful characters in the Marvel Universe, who can survive not only in the vacuum of space, but also within black holes and the center of stars…

…dies in ONE HIT!

Normally, I wouldn’t go into so much back-story behind a character in a licensed game, but a lot of this is key to understanding much of the frustration about this game. Silver Surfer has been reviewed by i-mockery.com, the Angry Video Game Nerd, and was played by Channel Awesome’s own LordKat on his former show: “Until We Win”. These guys can show you in much more detail about why dying in one hit in this game is so frustrating. I just wanted to give some background on the Silver Surfer to emphasize how dying in one hit is so absurd for this character!

To give a full disclosure, I have never, ever beat this game normally. I always cheated and can’t imagine anyone playing through this game without cheats, but in my defense, these are game-sanctioned cheats. If there are two controllers plugged in, a simple trick will open up a password screen. The passwords allow for full weapons, invincibility, level selects, infinite continues, and more. I have never even bothered to play without these passwords since my thumbs and fingers would fall off if I tried otherwise.