So who remembers the NES video game Time Lord?
If you do, boy do you know it’s hard …. (too damn hard one could say, right?) But in any case if you are not aware of this title it was created by the legendary video game developer Rare and released in 1990 for the Nintendo Entertainment System. You may know of Rare as they were the same company who would go on to make a little unknown first person shooter called GoldenEye for the Nintendo 64 (I think it sold a few units – I cannot be sure, wink wink, nudge nudge – ok everyone gets the joke!)
Anyways, Time Lord – Which of course is no secret the name was “borrowed” from the classic British SciFi show Doctor Who (The titular character is from a race called the “Time Lords” FYI) as the developer Rare is a British games developer. Go figure. But the game itself is actually good.
The game loads with one of the best video game intro screens complete with an awesome 8-bit audio track. Fair play is due. Once swiftly pressing the start button you are presented with a message stating you must capture 5 orbs in each time zone and eliminate “alien forms” from changing history. So the first level loads and it’s January 1st 2999. Let’s go kick some alien… erm… time travelling ass!
First level is a breeze. High kick some bad guys, collect a few orbs and off to level two. This is where things here get a little tricky, but manageable. You are brought to Castle Harman, 1250 AD and you fully realize Time Lord is in fact a good game. Great music, great gameplay, great visuals. But the more you progress the more you start to think this game ain’t easy!
Level 3. It is all level 3. You probably already seen the picture above that made you click into this post. But it is that bloody Mexican Gun Fighter! It is him that is the bane of this game. You are transported to Dead Man’s Gulch – Eastern USA 1860 AD. A fun level, but as soon as you get to the end boss level you are encounter with one of the hardest bosses of any NES game. You can shoot, you can dodge… this guy takes them all. I literally spent 5 minutes shooting him time and time and to do. The ironic thing about this game is that it was never as arcade release – which arcade games at the time were known for insane difficulty.