I had heard stories of this games difficulty and I even watched Angry Video Game play through the levels and everyone looked insanely difficult to maneuver. However, having finally played this game myself, I have to report this game was not as insanely hard as its reputation suggests. Sure it was hard, but during the time I have been playing older games I have played much more difficult games than this one. This one was intense, yes, but not an impossible journey. I managed to even make it through a couple of levels without dying once.
The story has Galactus summoning Silver Surfer. Seems there is trouble in the realm of magic, and it is up to the Silver Surfer to visit different realms to search for a piece of a device to make sure it cannot fall into the wrong hands. He has to go through many enemy realms in order to accomplish his goals. Though the only recognizable character I came across was Mephisto. The last guy looked a bit like Mr. Sinister, but I am not sure if it was him or not considering he is more of an X-Men villain.
The game play is at times side scrolling and at other times an overhead view. You play as the surfer, blasting away at the enemies. The game is hard, I am not saying it isn't, as the surfer can take only one hit before dying. Kind of odd seeing as he is one of the more powerful Marvel heroes there is. If they simply let him take three hits or something before he died then I think this game would have been much easier and its reputation would never have formed. You can choose your level, Mega Man style as you fight through six stages and then you have your final stage thrown in for good measure. Kind of bummed the Surfer and Galactus never got to duke it out.
So a fun game for the NES, who over the years and thanks to AVGN has developed a reputation of being one of the most difficult games ever. Not even close in my book, though you do need a turbo firing controller and it is essential to collect the spheres to power up the surfer. It is worth a play if you can find it and perhaps you will be pleasantly surprised as I was. Also, the music is totally rad, man!
