If you grew up during the heyday of the NES, you probably saw The Wizard, and in that you saw a sequence showing off the super rad-to-the-max Power Glove

So, of course you wanted one. You might have even wanted some of the games that were made specifically for it, like Super Glove Ball.

Trouble is, though, that the Power Glove didn't really work very well for much of anything. Trying to grab the ball on the screen and throw it around was a neat idea and everything, but it just didn't work. I had better luck using an actual controller.

And so will you.

In the first Castlevania game, there are secret treasures all over the place, some collectible, and some not. Most of them require you to duck in a specific place to make them appear, but there are a few that are a little more finicky.

For instance, in Area 2 (technically called 'Stage 5') you come across this innocent looking ledge.

Most people that I see play this game jump up on it and continue on. But if you don't want to be like most people, you could just stand on the blocks for a few seconds. Which will reveal...

A secret treasure chest (worth 2000 points)!

There are a few more which require standing still to make appear, but we'll talk about them another day.

If you've played much pinball, you're familiar with the concept of TILT. If by some chance you don't know what that is, it's bump and shake the pinball machine too much and the playfield goes dead, costing you your ball.

But Pinball Quest seems to have forgotten to add this little mechanic.

You can use the Right arrow and the B button to shake the machine all you want, and the game won't care in the slightest.

Which is kind of tough to show in picture form, but trust me. I couldn't get any of the tables to tilt. So go nuts.

In the NES Teenaga Mutant Ninja Turtles game, you occasionally come across some sub-weapons. Most of them aren't really that useful, except for the Boomerang. The Boomerang is useful because if you manage to catch them after they're thrown, then you can use them again.

You can also use this property to your advantage.

First, have a Turtle with Boomerangs throw a few.

Then, before they come back, switch Turtles and have someone else catch them.

You could even transfer all of them to another Turtle with this method if you wanted to.

Pretty early in A Boy And His Blob you come across a couple of screens where Death in the form of these brown things rain down from the top of the screen. Most guides will tell you to use the Vanilla jellybean and use the Umbrella to protect yourself. But the Boy slips and slides around so much when you let off the cross-pad that I usually end up getting hit anyway.

So what I like to do is to use the Cola Jellybean instead to turn the Blob into a bubble.

That way it's impossible for me to get hit, since I'm protected on all sides.

And, yeah, you move a little slower, but I'd say that's a fair trade.

In Mega Man 2 when you select your favorite Robot Master, they stand in the middle of the screen and do an Action Pose(tm) in the middle of a field of stars.

But!

If you hold down A + B + Select, then hold Start, you get a surprise

The stars have been replaced by the little bird-things that plague you throughout a couple of the stages.

What's the point?

Nothing, as far as I can tell.

The Willow RPG for NES is pretty tough, and if you're like me at all, you'll give up on it pretty fast. But what if you want to see some more places that the game has to offer?

Well, you're in luck, kinda.

You could start by putting in this password:

Which has fairly normal-looking results.

You're toward the end of the game, loaded up with weapons, armor, and magic, but you're only on Level 3.

But if you hit Select

These coordinates appear in the middle of the screen. If you hold the A button and press Up and Down you can change the right one, and if you hold the B button and press Up and Down you can change the left one.

After you find some coordinates you're happy with, hit Select again to be transported there.

It'll take some trial and error to make sure that you don't end up inside a wall or in a screen full of glitches, so you might want to take notes.

Spy vs Spy is kind of an underrated game (if you're playing against another person, that is). You have to take your spy of choice around a building, setting booby traps and searching around to find some spy-related stuff, put the stuff in a briefcase, and then hightail it out of the building.

One of the items you collect is a briefcase to stash your stuff in.

But it has an interesting secondary property. When you pick up the case, you get your health restored. So, after you've been in a fight with the other Spy, you can take the case and hide it inside something

And then get it back out for a quick health refill

Just be careful that you don't stick it behind something that's been booby trapped.

A couple of times in Nightshade you encounter these mummies

Which are fairly annoying since they have zero health. Why is that annoying? Mostly because you can punch and kick the things all day long and you can't get rid of 'em.

So what do you do?

Well, it turns out that there are two ways to deal with them.

1. You could use the Staff of Ra to fire a fireball at it. But you won't get that until late in the game. Or

2. You can jump behind it and get really close, then punch it three times to do the ol' uppercut. Turns out that the mummies are weak to an uppercut to the back of the head

In fact, it just takes one.

In several of the castles in Zelda II, you run across these things that look like skulls in bubbles, which are called, shockingly, Bubbles.

They're particularly nasty because they bounce around all over the place, and when they hit you they drain your life and your magic. You can hit them, and they stop moving long enough for you to run past.

But what happens if you keep on hitting them. A lot? A whole lot?

They're defeated for 50 experience points! Which at the beginning of the game is a whole lot.

But when your attack is at level one, it takes lots of hits to kill the things. I stopped counting at 200 swings. So you'll have to determine whether the tradeoff is worth it to you.