 In my never-ending quest to find an NES action platformer that rates better than pretty good, I think I may have found it with G.I. Joe, a real American hero. I've looked at a lot of other titles lately that I'd consider to be second tier. No, they're not bad. A lot of them are, like I said, pretty good, but they're not must play by any means. G.I. Joe, however, is a game that should be considered among the likes of other action-oriented games like Contra and Ninja Gaiden, because it is definitely a step ahead of the other stuff I've looked at recently. G.I. Joe is just so much fun. There's seemingly an endless amount of stuff here. You have five playable characters, and yeah, I know Blizzard kinda sucks, but he still counts, with a sixth General Hawk that's unlocked when you reach the last stage. For the first mission, you have Duke as your captain, and you pick from two of the other four guys, and you play through three stages with this team. The second mission is Captain by Blizzard, the third mission is Snake Eyes in Charge, the fourth mission is led by Captain Gridiron, the fifth mission by Rock and Roll, and the sixth mission is led by General Hawk, who, uh, somehow got kidnapped during all this, but your rescue hymniny leads the charge against Cobra Commander. And like I said, you can pick whoever you want to fill out your three-man team, and what's really cool is that you can switch anytime you want during the gameplay, just like the first Ninja Turtles game. Each of the five characters have distinct abilities that lend themselves either well or poorly to each level, so you gotta pick the right two guys for each area. There's Snake Eyes, who's faster than everyone, and can jump higher, so he can reach areas that the other guys can't. There's Captain Gridiron, who's punch does the most damage for close-range fighting. Rock and Roll has the strongest projectile weapon, and yeah, you get the idea. The most balanced guy is Duke, and for starters, you'll likely be picking him pretty often. A really nice touch that puts this over the top is the pause screen, and all the stats here that help you make the right decision to pick a character. Each level has three stages, and they're structured in a very particular way. The first stage will be a typical side-scrolling run-and-gun style as you break into a Cobra base. The second stage has you planting bombs before a timer runs out, and in the third stage you head towards a boss battle. The overall gameplay here is just as you see it, 2D platforming with punching and projectile weapons that can be upgraded throughout each stage. G.I. Joe is the most fun I've had playing an NES game in a long time. It has everything, punching bad guys till they explode like in Shatterhand, weapons like in Contra, cutscenes with hilarious one-liners and super huge explosions, vehicles you can commandeer, the ability to switch between multiple playable characters at will, great music that's catchy and memorable, there's hidden areas and hidden items, even if they're kind of hidden in plain sight, but still, it's the thought that counts. I want to mention the dialogue especially is hilarious. I love this guy who's like, We'll kick your ass! And then you get to the next stage and he's like, Okay, those guys sucked, but these next guys, I love that kind of stuff. And of course it goes without saying that this game is even more fun if you grew up with G.I. Joe like I did. Not only are the multiple playable characters awesome, but you get to see Destro and Cobra Commander, and that's all you could ask for. There's a sequel, G.I. Joe The Atlantis Factor that came out a year later, but that game is structured differently and will get its own video someday. So yeah, while the gameplay may appear to be simple, G.I. Joe is such a blast to play. And with all the playable characters, there's a ton of replay value. This is a game that should be thought of in higher regard.