It’s time to start this mammoth project, and what place to start than, well, the beginning. The original pair 2004 “Bad Video Games” tapes that James made right after college became the origin of his most well known, and most profitable project, the Angry Video Game Nerd.
Right from the get go, James establishes what would be the core nature of the nerd – someone who obsesses over every little nuance of old video games: he has strong opinions about them, along with the strong language to back it up. By it’s very nature, and for the sake of comedy, it’s nit-picking, sometimes focusing on points that are just silly, spending way too much time on elements like the day to night transition, but this is what makes the video funny. You really have to think, there is a guy spending this much effort over criticizing a 20 (now 30) year old video game.
The game that started it all: Castlevania II – Simon’s Quest.
The video is all gameplay footage – this is before James had created the character of the Nerd, or more correctly, the character that would be the Nerd. In many ways these are his own opinions and an expression of how he felt as a kid playing this game – it’s as if the child playing Nintendo grew up, but never matured… or moved past the NES in gaming technology.
If you haven’t watched the episode in a while (or ever), check it out. It’s a good, super-classic video, not just for the nerd but in gaming on YouTube in general. Many people would copy the Nerd’s style, but none would ever be quite the same.
Valid complaints about a game, given in a somewhat absurd way. Gotta love it.
Final Rating: 3.0/5
The episode sets a standard for the series. It isn’t good, it isn’t bad, it’s perfectly average, as it should be.
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