Total Recall (1990, NES) by Ocean

Current Any% Leaderboard (speedrun.com)

GAMES FROM THIS EPISODE OF AVGN:
–Total Recall (NES)
-Last Action Hero (NES)
-The Terminator (NES) (also featured in this episode, but not chosen)
-Terminator 2: Judgment Day (NES) (also featured in this episode, but not chosen)
-Conan (NES)
-Predator (NES)
-Commando (NES)

See you at the party, rack’em!  Total Recall is an NES game, developed and published by Ocean, from 1990.  You star as Quaid, played in-game by Arnold himself, as you navigate levels closely based on the iconic movie film flick.  It does a decent job in following the events of the film, and fans of the movie will enjoy this game… if they can stomach the brutal enemies, rough respawning spots, difficult gauntlets with no checkpoints, and difficult game (this game only has your one continue, so a game over is permanent).

The speedrun utilizes some fun tech here.  The biggest tech in the game is in the very first level; you must use the game’s lag as a tool to help you jump a gap you shouldn’t be able to.  Using the punch, you can spam the B button and extend the jump.  Unfortunately, this jump is HARD to get, and it makes this a reset-heavy speedrun.  Afterwards, there are tons of strats for bosses and obstacles throughout the run, but plays this relatively straight-up, making this a genuinely fun speedrun to tackle.

With average graphics, music you can barely stomach, and tons of eaten inputs built into meh controls, this is a tough game to stomach, but it honestly has a charm about it.  Most movie-based games on NES are trash; I wouldn’t call this trash at all.  Is it great?  No, not even close lol.  But it is fun, and allows for a good time making Arnold quotes and imagine Sharon Stone as your wife…. oh wait… what were we talking about again?