Review Fix: Inside Justice Duel on the NES

Review Fix chats with Mega Cat Games’ Frank T. who lets us know why Couch-Co-Op isn’t dead on the Nintendo Entertainment System.

For More on the Game, Click Here.

About Justice Duel:

Take to the skies on the back of scientifically-engineered eagles and joust against AI patriots from America’s past. Dodge fireworks, bear traps, and dead presidents. The history might be wrong, but the justice is so right.
• Mech-eagle based combat for true patriots
• Firecrackers, bear traps & land mine eagle eggs to amp up the carnage
• Old Glory and Lincoln’s Axe activate the ultimate power-ups
• Want Justice for All?  Grab an NES Fourscore and enjoy 4-player combat the new fashioned way!
Go Fourth and Couch Co-op!

Review Fix: How was this game born?


Frank T.: Any time I can replace a smart phone with an NES controller on the same couch is a win for me.  We all love couch co-op games at Mega Cat Studios. Many of my fondest gaming memories were hanging out with my friends in person and bonding/fighting over a game.


Review Fix: What was development like?

Frank: I work on games on many different platforms.  NES has an extremely limited tile and color space.  You really need some pixel fung shui to make an 8×8 grid with 4 available colors look like an asset to a naval battle ground.

When working at such a small scale, one pixel can make a huge difference.  In the end it is the restrictions that make creating art for it fun

.

Review Fix: What makes this game special?

Frank: I have played this game with a few friends on several occasions and it’s been fun every time.  It’s easy to pick up and play.  I just tell them “spank that button to flap your eagle, press that button and your eagle will launch stuff from one of two orifices…. Drop your eagles booty on an enemy and they take even more damage,” that’s it!

After the sweaty carnage is over, we laugh at the fun time we had while putting the furniture back into an upright position.  

I’ve seen other modern NES games be created just because they run on a cartridge, but really aren’t much fun to play.  This game brings you that warm fuzzy 8-bit nostalgic embrace but is legitimately fun.


Review Fix: What game influenced this one the most?

Frank: Joust, Balloon Fight, Towerfall.



Review Fix: Any fun stories or wild moments during development?

Frank: A few of our employees are avid eagle enthusiasts now. One unnamed team member has been searching for tiny eagle hats for the office ever since I made the splash screen for that game. Maybe it would be a good etsy shop?

Review Fix: Who will enjoy this game the most?



Frank: Red blooded, patriotic Americans
 Eagle enthusiasts
. Anybody with a couch, house bench, love perch, 4-person living room hammock.

Review Fix: How do you want this game to be remembered?


Frank: Nothing would please me more than seeing someone, someday, dressed as an eagle with a top hat on. The main reason I joined this team was because one of their missions is to bring people together in a society where new technology is replacing socialization.



Review Fix: Anything else you’d like to add?

Frank: I’ve wanted to work on games since Kindergarten. Some of my best memories were playing NES & SNES with my family and friends. It blows my mind that I am able to work on these games that people will be creating memories with others.

One request: When you are playing single player mode drop an egg on a presidential boss for me. I died laughing the first time I did it and now I type this from the grave.

mm
About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14230 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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