Launched in Europe in 1992, Noah’s Ark was one of many only a few religion-themed video games to formally hit the Nintendo Leisure System. Taking part in as Noah, you journey the world accumulating animals on your ark in locations like historical Rome, Egypt and China. It was a reasonably simple 8-bit platformer with one pretty essential (and annoying) twist: water routinely rises as you traverse the degrees, and the upper the water degree will get, the more durable the sport is.
It’s undoubtedly a relic of its time, with its robust Mega Man and Ghosts ‘n Goblins vibes. However when you reside in America you in all probability by no means performed it, due to Nintendo of America’s then ban on in-game spiritual references. Nintendo wasn’t fairly as restrictive in Europe although, and writer Konami had success getting the sport launched in that market with the ‘Unique Nintendo Seal of High quality’.
The excellent news is that when you’ve ever harboured a need to play Noah’s Ark, it’s on Steam proper now. It seems like a reasonably simple port with no bells and whistles: it vigilantly maintains its outdated 4:three side ratio, and there’s not a lot proof of every other enhancements or modifications, save the field artwork now adorning the perimeters of the 4:three gameplay window.
It’s in all probability not a complete lot of enjoyable, however it’s an fascinating time capsule, being one of many solely spiritual video games launched commercially for the NES. Nintendo of America’s insurance policies have been so restrictive that it inadvertently spawned an underground marketplace for unlicensed spiritual video games, most notably these developed by Knowledge Tree of Tremendous 3D Noah’s Ark fame. Coincidentally, the 2015 PC reissue of that sport is printed by Piko Interactive, the identical writer who brings us Noah’s Ark in 2021.
