Retro Roulette #91: Knight Rider (NES, 1989)
You might believe that shovelware based on licensed properties is a relatively new phenomenon. Of course, if youâve read this blog before, youâd know that you would be wrong.
Knight Rider was first released in Japan in 1989. A lot of times that means itâs some original Japanese concept with a US property tagged on, but that doesnât appear to be the case here - as far as I can tell, it was always just Knight Rider. It also has this cover art, in which David Hasselhoff is nowhere to be found:
I sure am pumped by the captivating tagline âYou Drive the Car From the Hit TV Series.â In truth, driving that car about all the TV show and the game have in common - the TV show Knight Rider was very largely non-violent, where as this...
They kinda got the car right, at least. Much more akin to, say, RoadBlasters, Knight Rider is pretty much your standard late-80s "drive and shootâ fare. As you progress from city to city, youâll be able to power up your car with more weapons and other power-ups.
Iâll admit that while it fails as a Knight Rider adaptation, this isnât entirely awful as a racing game - itâs well-paced and looks decent. However, like a lot of games of this type, it is sadistically hard. You arenât given a reasonable amount of any of the things you need to keep playing, including shields, gas, and available time, both of which deplete surprisingly rapidly. There are yellow cars that you can shoot to replenish these, but there arenât a lot of them, and thereâs a lot to avoid while trying to get to them.
Ugh. A lot of these old games were designed to just suck up quarters, which is understandable, but translating that concept to a home console just feels mean (Iâll also note that this was never an arcade game, despite really feeling like one). The game does mercifully have a password system, as well as a âDriveâ mode where there arenât enemies to deal with and itâs more of a time trial sort of thing. Of course, then you donât get to talk to Devon...
If you can put up with the difficulty, Knight Rider is a decent amount of fun and certainly not the worst racing game on the NES. A loose copy will run you less than $10. If you do check it out, I recommend doing so while listening to the song âMichael (Jump In)â by No More Kings, easily the best song I know about Knight Rider.
Next weekâs game is a 16-bit classic, and one that also has a well-deserved reputation for being brutally difficult. I have fond memories of being awed by (and hating) this one as a child. Iâll see you then!