Angry Video Game Nerd Episode 16: Rocky – Episode Review

We finally come to the pivotal moment in AVGN history where the character James had come up with really became the “Angry Video Game Nerd” rather than “Angry Nintendo Nerd.” While the last episode was the first to use this name, this was the first episode where James reviewed something that wasn’t a Nintendo game or accessory.

In this case, we have Rocky on the Sega Master System,  the little known competitor to the Nintendo Entertainment System. The Sega Master System was technically superior to the NES in virtually every way, but thanks to the sheer dominance Nintendo had, the Master System (or SMS as it is known) simply couldn’t take over here in the States. It was much better received in Europe and Brazil, but that’s another story for another time…

Rocky on the Master System.

On to the episode, this one follows the now straightforward formula of really just playing the game and finding things to criticize – nothing here feels forced, and it all comes off as rather genuine, much like how James probably actually felt as he played the game for the first time – learning that you need to play through the practice stages certainly would frustrate anyone as it did the Nerd here, and of course having a manual that tells you what to do, but nothing actually behaving right in gameplay is quite an issue, to say the least.

The rants in this episode are pretty damned hilarious – it would seem James was in a good mood when he produced this episode, and it really adds to the quality. Gotta feel good to make a good product, right?

The Nerd? Playing a game on the Sega Master System? This is madness!

It’s worth noting the original version of this video showed James watching all 5 (at the time) Rocky movies in his house (at the same time no less, on different formats) in celebration of the then-new Rocky film being released. If the original is still on the ScrewAttack website, or elsewhere on YouTube, it’s worth checking out just to see the madness that is playing every film at the same time, as well as seeing what the original episode version was like.

Final Rating: 4.0/5

This is just an overall good episode. Solid comedy, spot on delivery (for early nerd episodes anyway) and a damn fine game choice – just hearing that SMS music playing makes me smile, as I love the particular style of music the Sega 8-bit systems produced. It’s a nice package, especially for anyone who has a general love of the Rocky films as well as gaming, and Sega… and angry video game reviewers…

Enjoy.