Three Famicom games I want to like, but can't

I'm sure this will sound a tad fanboy-ish, but it can't be helped (since, for me, it's the truth): I've rarely encountered a Nintendo-developed game that I didn't end up liking after spending some quality time with it.

Interestingly, most of the ones that haven't clicked with me were released during the Famicom's--or the Nintendo Entertainment System's, if that's how you roll--first year or two on the market.

Case in point: The three Nintendo-made carts below, each of which I've tried my darndest to enjoy but in the end just couldn't bring myself to do so.

1. Clu Clu Land (1984)

Why I want to like it: It's colorful. It's cute. Its box art is appealing. Uh, isn't that enough?

Why I can't: For some strange reason, Clu Clu Land's controls don't agree with me at all. I feel like I'm drunk whenever I play it--or that I've lost all sense of coordination, at the very least. Maybe my brain just isn't wired in a way that allows me to enjoy this superficially appealing game?

2. Tennis (1984)

Why I want to like it: I'm a huge fan of the sport. As such, a tennis game really has to suck for me to not like it.

Why I can't: Although I wouldn't say this is the worst tennis game ever made, it's pretty close to earning that title thanks to its slippery and severely limited controls. (Also, defeating computer-controlled opponents often is hair-pullingly difficult.)

3. Urban Champion (1984)

Why I want to like it: It's one of the earliest one-on-one fighting games to hit the home market. Also, it features some fairly unique and even innovative controls for an 8-bit brawler. Finally, I find the Japanese version's box art completely charming.

Why I can't: Despite all of the above, and despite how much I desperately want to enjoy it, Urban Champion has always bored me to tears--when it isn't making me want to chuck my controller through the TV screen.

See also: 'Three PC Engine games I want to like, but can't' and 'Three more PC Engine games that I want to like, but can't'

Proof that Nintendo's Urban Champion has at least one redeeming quality

Serious question: Does anyone actually like Nintendo's early Famicom/ NES brawler, Urban Champion?

Now, before all of you Urban Champion junkies (yes, all three of you) jump on me, you should know that back in the day I was slightly enamored with the game. Specifically, I was enamored with the colorful packaging that it came in, which called to me in a way that most of Nintendo's Black Box titles didn't.

Then I played it. Ugh.

As I'm sure anyone who has played the game can imagine, that lone experience I had with Urban Champion (I rented it from the local grocery store) led me to believe, quite firmly, that the game lacked even a single redeeming quality.

Then I saw the piece of pixelated art to the right, titled "Flowers."

Clearly, artist Ashley Anderson has a different sort of relationship with Urban Champion than I do, as he says of his latest game-inspired illustration, which was created for an auction to benefit the Hambidge Center for Creative Arts & Sciences: "I've been wanting to do some kind of treatment of these flowers for a while.

"This is the second color image I've worked on since I went to NYC for the first time a few weeks ago," he adds. "I looked at art for hours everyday for a solid week. I think hanging out at the Met looking at all those Georgia O'Keefe paintings rubbed off on this one, I'm glad to say."

To see more of Anderson's creations, check out his Flickr photostream as well as his etsy and zazzle shops.