As the Angry Video Game Nerd was chilling and enjoying shitty games, he’s suddenly grabbed by the nuts and sucked into the tv. His arch-nemesis, Fred Fucks, captured our beloved reviewer and dropped him into a twisted world called Game Land. The nerd will need to survive hellish levels in order to return to his normal life.
Angry Video Game Nerd I & II Deluxe is a bundle of both Angry Video Game Nerd 8-bit platformer games which are remastered from their original PC release in 2013 and 2016 respectively. This bundle features an expanded experience as both games received the visual upgrade treatment along with the inclusion of a brand new exclusive chapter available only once both games have been cleared.
The first game is designed similarly to Mega Man games where you can choose to clear all 8 levels in the order that you want, and there are no mandatory requirements to clear specific levels. Once you’ve cleared all 8 levels, you’ll unlock a final level to clear; again akin to Mega Man games.
Each level peppered with enemies and things that want to kill you, so you need to be careful and quick on your feet. Fans of the AVGN videos will recognize a bevy of references used through the games. For example, the Nerd was very vocal about the Silver Surfer on NES, so one of the levels features a flying section where you’re on a silver surfboard shooting everything that moves and avoiding spikes and one-hit-kill blocks.
Each level will also feature hidden secrets encouraging players to replay each level. First off you can find and unlock 3 additional playable characters who can also find additional secrets when replaying previously cleared levels. For example, Mike, the Nerd’s right-hand man, uses a lightsaber à la Star Wars and that allows him to destroy specific areas to uncover hidden areas and unlocking one of the hidden characters. Each character plays differently and has their own unique skills.
Angry Video Game Nerd II: Assimilation is designed slightly differently. The overworld map is more akin to Super Mario Bros. 3 where each area has a few levels to clear and the final one being the area’s boss. Levels are a bit shorter and more varied as you’ll also find flying sequences and underwater levels. Unlike the first game, AVGN II features hidden upgrades akin to Mega Man X. While not necessary to finish the game, they will allow you to earn the game’s good ending and each upgrade grants the Nerd additional perks such as seeing hidden blocks or the ability to wall jump.
Both games feature solid gameplay and a bevy of replay value; completionists will have a field day finding everything. There’s also a handful of difficulty settings from Easy to Impossible, you can practice and work your way up. But don’t get me wrong, these games are hard and will require a few playthroughs to memorize everything; especially if you’re going for the Totally Perfect Nerd Achievement (Perfect on every stage).
Both games look great; I’ve always been a sucker for classic 8/16-bit visuals and all three nerd games (the main two games along with the new chapter) look great and colorful. No two levels are alike and they’re clearly inspired from what the nerd complains about in his videos; hell there’s even a Red/Black level, similar to what it looked like playing on a Virtual Boy. The game features a very diverse and addictive soundtrack; some tracks are better than others, but you’ll want to bang this one even when not playing.
Angry Video Game Nerd I & II Deluxe is definitely one of the best games to release on Xbox consoles this year. They’re both fun, addictive, albeit difficult games with enough replay value to keep you busy for quite some time. Both games, while similar, have enough differences to feel like two different games. Hidden characters, collectable letters, upgrades, Angry Video Game Nerd I & II Deluxe is the first perfect score from me this year. Don’t miss out.