If you can find it, give this action game a shot. You won't be disappointed.
The game starts off with a briefing from General Hawk. He tells you about an upcoming mission to the Amazon where you'll be tasked with the destruction of a Cobra Base. Longtime fan favorite Duke is put in charge of the mission and told to select two more Joes. You're able to choose from Snake Eyes, Blizzard, Rock and Roll, and Captain Grid-Iron. While a greater variety would have been appreciated, and including Captain Grid-Iron while omitting legendary Joes such as Scarlet and Flint seems questionable, your tastes may vary.
For the most part, the characters all control the same. There is an attack button, a jump button, and pressing Select switches between your character's fists and gun. The Joes have different strengths and weaknesses, such as Snake Eyes' superior jumping ability and Rock and Roll's excellent weapon, but any combination is acceptable.
The missions are all divided into three timed sub-missions, each with its own boss character. The first sub-mission is an assault on the Cobra base, while the second involves planting bombs around the base. The third sub-mission task you with plowing through waves of various enemies and defeating the boss who has been taunting you between the levels.
While that may sound repetitious, the minor Cobra thugs you'll encounter come in a great variety and increasing difficulty. The boss characters also show great diversity in their attack patterns and level of difficulty. To spice things up, some levels contain vehicles that have their own strengths, attacks, and abilities. You're also able to level up your gun and life bar via power ups dropped by enemies and scattered around the levels.
Graphically, G.I. Joe is a good looking game. The characters animate well, and each Joe and Cobra member is recognizable to fans of the cartoons and action figures. Characters will occasionally flicker when there's a lot going on, but a few well-placed bullets usually clear that up in short order. The levels are colorful and feel very different from one another.
The game sounds about as good as you would expect. The level music is largely forgettable and inoffensive. The boss music is intense, sinister, and sets the stage for an epic showdown between you and Cobra. The game's sound effects are serviceable and enhance the game.
Overall, G.I. Joe is one of the few NES games that still hold up as fun, exciting, and playable. If you can find it, the more than fifteen missions in G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero will entertain fans and non-fans alike.