Jeremy Parish

NES Works 139: Super Sprint & Defender of the Crown (Patreon)

Published:

2024-08-28 12:29:30

Imported:

2026-06

Tags:

Cinemaware atari defender of the crown nes works super sprint tengen ultra games

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You know, I had originally planned to relegate Tengen's unlicensed releases to the realm of NES Works Gaiden. But as of this episode, I've decided against that approach. (Sorry, Tetris.) Not just because it would be fueling Nintendo's corporate revisionist history, but also because, well, these games were out there, and kids were playing them. You couldn't buy Super Sprint at Walmart, but that didn't stop the mom-and-pop video store down the street from carrying it. Not that I did, admittedly, but that's OK too; it means that Super Sprint turned out to be a pleasant surprise for me here in TYOOL 2024. It's good!

Defender of the Crown I did play back in the day. And, I gotta say, I like it a lot less today than back then. I forgot to mention a few notable firsts in my video, I realize: It's the first NES release by Beam, and the first to sport a cover rendered in the bizarre art style of Tom duBois, who painted comic book action scenes like he thought he was an understudy in Peter Paul Rubens' studio. Weird, but distinctive.

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Fast cars and loose Saxon: Super Sprint & Defender of the Crown | NES Works 139

The NES got its start on the strength of a library imported from Japan, produced by Japanese developers—even the games based on American properties like Jaws, The Karate Kid, and Rambo. But as the system matures and its popularity in the U.S. grows, its library will increasingly take on a more Western shape. You can see it here, with Super Sprint (developed by Tengen and based on an Atari game) and Defender of the Crown (developed by Australian studio Beam, based on a computer game by California-based Cinemaware, and never released in Japan). The console's personality in its early days more or less amounted to a curated redux of the Famicom, but here at the dawn of the 16-bit era it's pretty safe to say that the NES and Famicom were now entirely different creatures altogether. As for the games themselves, both suffered massive visual downgrades in the move from their original platforms to NES. Only one of them was still fun to play, though. Production notes: Video Works is funded via Patreon (http://www.patreon.com/gamespite) — support the show and get access to every episode up to two weeks in advance of its YouTube debut! Plus, exclusive podcasts, eBooks, and more! Why watch when you can read? Check out the massive hardcover print editions of NES Works, Super NES Works, and Virtual Boy works, available now at Limited Run Games (https://limitedrungames.com/collections/books)! SG-1000 Works: Segaiden Vol. I is available NOW, and Metroidvania: The First Decade and NES Works Gaiden are due in 2025. NES footage captured from Analogue Nt Mini. Video upscaled to 4K with RetroTink 4X and 720p with xRGB Mini Framemeister.