Name that NES game!!

[nixzero]

Hey guys! This is my first post, but I've been lurking for a while.

I'm trying to remember the name of an NES game that I played a while back. I can't remember if it was even released in the U.S. I'm even drawing a blank on what language it was in.

What I DO remember is that it was a mix of overhead strategy/map scenes and 3D Worldrunner-esque battle scenes. During the battle scenes, your character drove some kind of hoverbike vehicle (there may have been more vehicle types).

I know that's not much to go on, but I'm hoping someone on here will recognize what I'm describing. My only other option is to rip out my old PCs hard drive and dig through my save states...

[Hobie-wan]

Venus Senki/Wars?

[nixzero]

That's it! Thanks Hobie-Wan!!

I thought it was "something Wars", but I searched for any files with "Wars" in the name and didn't find it. Now I can see why: The actual rom is called "Venus Senki", but the front- end I used to use to load my games (GameEx) listed it as Venus Wars.

Thanks again, that was quick!

[greg]

Is that tied into the anime movie, Venus Wars? They rode bikes in that movie. I don't remember much else, other than the animation was superb.

[nixzero]

Sure is. I've been looking into the franchise, and I guess there was the manga, a movie, and an NES game. I kinda figured this was the case, as the game definitely has an anime art style. If you're a fan of the franchise, you should definitely check out the game. The strategy parts are a lot like Advance Wars, but instead of merely watching a battle animation, the game switches to a pseudo 3D driving/shooting scene. I don't remember seeing this in stores, and my romset shows it as being a fan-translated game, so I'm not sure if it got a U.S. release.

I don't normally feel the need to familiarize myself with import games' lore/franchise, and this game is certainly good enough to stand on it's own, but WOW!!! I just saw the first 8 minutes of the Venus Wars movie on YouTube, and you're absolutely right, the animation is incredible!! I'm definitely gonna have to find it in high quality, and it would be cool to get some backstory before I play through the game.

[greg]

I just looked for this game in my Old Gamers, vol 3: Simulation & Adventure Games book (Japanese only) and I couldn't find it. I wonder how much the game goes for? I've been tempted to pick up a Famicom. I've never owned a NES. I had an Atari 7800 in junior high while all my friends had NESes. So, I just played NESes on their sytems.

Anyhow, Venus Wars is getting a proper remastered, anamorphic widescreen DVD release through Discotek. I am considering buying this to replace my old one. The movie is excellent, and it is a shame that modern-day anime fans only focus on recent anime (most of which I find boring, in my opinion) and stuff like Venus Wars is pretty unknown, unless you were an anime fan in the early '90s. The animation is extremely cool and advanced for its time. The best is when they were racing the bikes through the canyons on Venus. That impression stands out the most for me.

[Gunstar Green]

Yeah, anime's golden age has definitely come and gone in my opinion. The fans of modern anime and older anime are pretty much two completely different audiences.