Aighina no Yogen: From the Legend of Balubalouk by Vic Tokai released on the Famicom on November 21. This is an ugly, no fun platformer.

Dead Zone came out on FDS on November 20. Developed by Sunsoft, it's a fun little adventure game where you wake up in a room with a broken robot and you gotta find your way out. Normally, this would be unplayable in the US, but there are fan translations available.

Gall Force: Eternal Story was a FDS exclusive that was an adaptation of an anime of the same name. It looks good, but ultimately it is a generic top-down shooter.

I don't generally like Ikari Warriors-style top-down run and guns, but Rambo: First Blood Part II for the SEGA Master System is something I would have enjoyed as a kid.

The Famicom get's it's official Othello port on November 13. It's fine. It's Othello.

November 13 saw the release of Milon's Secret Castle by Hudson Soft on the Famicom. It is a bad platformer that somehow ended up in the United States as well.

The next day, Bandai released a Power Pad compatible game, Athletic World. There are no good Power Pad games.

Before Tecmo was making a memorable football game for the Famicom, it was making Super Star Force, a generic shooter. This one came out on November 11.

The notoriously difficult Ninja released on SEGA Master System on November 8. I literally can't get past the first couple of screens in this game.

On November 6, Imagineer released Ginga Denshō: Galaxy Odyssey on the FDS. This is a weird hybrid space shooter and top-down run and gun. You fly around collecting oxygen from enemies and then land and try to get through the dungeon before you run out of air and die.

The other November Atari 2600 release is Solaris, a decent space shooter that shares a name with a great 70s Soviet sci-fi film. The two have nothing in common but the name.

There were two Atari 2600 games released in November. The first is Midnight Magic, a surprisingly solid pinball game. It isn't great, but for the Atari it does a really good job of emulating the pinball experience.

Sega is trying to come up with a mascot at this point that can compete with Mario and they're hoping it is Alex Kidd. In November, they released Alex Kidd in Miracle World on the Master System. It cannot compete. SEGA hasn't figured out what made Mario work.

The only holiday season release for the Atari 7800 was Xevious in November. As is often the case with 7800 titles, the Famicom port that is already out is better looking and better playing.

Mississippi Satsujin Jiken is another Jaleco game for the Famicom, this time coming out on Halloween. Think Knives Out's Benoit Blanc with a Watson-style sidekick solving a murder mystery on a river boat.

Sansū 4-nen: Keisan Game and Sansū 5-6-nen: Keisan Game both came out October 30 on the Famicom. They're both educational games by Tokyo Shoseki.

Jaleco has probably never made a good game, and Urusei Yatsura: Lum no Wedding Bell is no exception. The only thing notable about this one is that you get a up skirt view whenever your protagonist jumps.

The Pro Wrestling game where you could be The Creature from the Black Lagoon first came out on FDS on October 21. The notable thing about this game is each wrestler has unique movies.

Every console needs an Othello game. FDS got its own on October 13.

Bump 'N' Jump by Data East was released on the Famicom on October 8. It's a fun, but ultimately forgettable, racing game where you are trying to land on and crash the other cars you're racing, while avoiding crashing yourself.

Let's move on to the fourth quarter, and holiday season of 1986, starting with the October release of Jr. Pac-Man for the Atari 2600. This is arguably one of the hardest games on the system, because you can't see the entire map at once.

The final game of September is Terra Cresta for the Famicom by Nihon Bussan. This is a Xevious clone that improves upon the formula in every way. It jettisons the bomb/gun dichotomy and replaces it with an exceptional power up system that balances hit box increases with power increases.

Commando by Capcom released for the Famicom on September 27 and is the game the Ikari Warriors port should have been.

The last FDS title for September was I am a Teacher: Teami no Kiso. Another knitting tutorial game, this one is not Mario themed like Super Mario No Sweater. Instead, it focuses on teaching the fundamentals of knitting.

The game that would come to be known in the West as Castlevania by Konami released in Japan as Akumaja Dracula on September 26. This isn't the best Castlevania game. It isn't even the best on this console, but it set the template. Such a groundbreaking title. Nothing had ever looked like this before

Space Hunter by Kemco is a Japan-exclusive Famicom game that came out on September 25. The premise is that you're a space hunter, whatever that means, exploring planets and killing enemies. You have a limited life bar and limited fuel. Game is fun and fast-paced.

I know there are people who remember Ghostbusters for the Famicom fondly, but those people are seeing it through nostalgia goggles. The game is bad.

The last SEGA Master System game of the third quarter of 1986 was World Grand Prix on September 21. It's a solid arcade port if you like exploding whenever your touch another car.

Spy vs. Spy never needed another video game, but don't tell the folks over at SEGA. On September 20, they released their version. It is a Spy vs. Spy game. They're all mediocre to bad.

Super Xevious: GAMP no Nazo for the Famicom is just more Xevious by Namco. Who could complain about that? Well, I could. It's more Xevious, but harder. Xevious is hard enough.