Video Game Review #298: Snatcher

Snatcher

Sega CD

Nostalgia Factor:

Snatcher is one of those games that I have always known about, but never had much interest in playing. It was for the Sega CD, a console I didn’t have. It was a text based adventure, a genre I didn’t have any interest in. As the years passed, the game started to slip out of my memory to the point where I began to forget it even existed. I was randomly reminded of Snatcher’s presence in a Facebook group about retro games. The OP ranted and raved about Snatcher, saying how it was such an amazing game and how it had completely changed his mind on story-based adventures. He even went on to say that Snatcher had become his favorite game OF ALL TIME – a pretty bold claim that is not one to be taken lightly.

Since I’m emulating now and have access to the Sega CD library, I figured this would be a good time to check out Snatcher and see if it was any good myself. Read on for my full thoughts.

 

 

Story:

Seeing as how this game is almost 100% story-based, this is probably going to be the longest segment of my review. I don’t want to spoil too much, however, as one of the joys in playing Snatcher is making discoveries and uncovering the truth yourself. But hey I can still give you a quick rundown of the game’s premise.

It’s the 2040s and the world has become the cyberpunk fantasy we’ve seen in things like Blade Runner and Shadowrun. Prior to the events of this game, a lethal bioweapon had wiped out a significant chunk of the Earth’s population. In present times, strange Terminator-like machines known as Snatchers have started appearing, killing affluent people and replacing them with near-perfect replicas. It seems as if there is some connection between these two events, but no one can figure it out.

That’s where you come in. You control an investigator known as Gillian Seed, who arrives in the Japanese city of Neo Kobe. Gillian is hired as a Junker, someone in charge of hunting down and destroying Snatchers. Gillian is paired with a robotic assistant that goes by the name of Metal Gear. If you think this name is a coincidence, think again. References are made later on in the game that your little helper was named after destructive weapons that nearly tore the world apart during constant wars years and years ago. Is it possible that Snatcher is actually a futuristic sequel to the Metal Gear Solid series? I like to think so.

Gillian is an amnesiac. Both he and his wife have no memories of their life before Junker training. Hmmm… that’s pretty suspect, don’t you think? Of course this will come into play later, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.

Things start out fast for Gillian, as one of his fellow Junkers (Jean) is killed during an investigation. It becomes clear that Jean was on the verge of a major breakthrough regarding the Snatchers, so it becomes your job to search through his office, investigate his findings, and retrace his footsteps through Neo Kobe. This comprises the bulk of your adventure. If you ever wondered what it would be like to be a private investigator in a dystopian cyberpunk future, then boy do I have the game for you.

This is where we wander into spoiler territory. Without giving too much away, you eventually uncover one of Jean’s most significant findings regarding Snatchers and possible “tells” that give away their identities. Investigating even further, you uncover an underground hospital where Snatchers are serviced and created. Before long, things get really crazy as Gillian’s past is revealed, the secret of the Snatchers is uncovered, and several bombshells (figuratively and literally) are dropped on the characters.

You know a lot of the crazy twists and turns that take place during the Metal Gear Solid games? Some of the same kind of stuff happens here. I really, REALLY wish I could dive more into the intricacies of this story with you, but like I said the discoveries you make in this game are just so so satisfying when you uncover them for yourself. I wouldn’t want to deprive you of that.

Gameplay:

If you come into this game looking to find intricate and detailed gameplay, you are going to walk away disappointed. Most of this game’s action takes place from a text menu. Here’s an example. You arrive at the Junker Headquarters. One of the characters starts giving you a tour of the facility. From the menu, you get to pick which room you’d like to check out next. When you arrive in the room, you’re given the option to either Look, Investigate, Talk, or use something in your inventory. Generally when you arrive in a new area you’re going to want to exhaust all of your options. Look at everything, investigate everything, explore all conversation paths, and show the items in your inventory to everyone you encounter. When you are done, you move on to the next area.

While this is fine and dandy to begin with, it does become a chore after a while. There were several points where I got completely stuck because there was ONE thing I didn’t look at, or ONE conversation branch I missed. Missing these things is easy to do, because often when you are checking things out, new options appear in a menu you’ve already looked through. So let’s say I’ve investigated everything in the room. I talk to the person in the room and explore all conversation branches. One of the conversation choices opens up an option of something new for me to investigate – but because I’ve already investigated everything I don’t think to go back into my “Investigate” option menu and look for new entries. I think I’ve explored everything in the room, so I leave, and I proceed to get stuck for 20 minutes looking for where the hell I am supposed to go next. It’s a pain in the ass.

Oftentimes you even have to explore all of your options multiple times before you are allowed to advance in the game. I remember one specific area where I looked/investigated/checked out everything in the room like 8 times before a new option opened up – the one I needed to advance the storyline and move on to the next part of the game. I don't know what triggered that option to appear or what I did differently to make it happen, but it was something. This became especially obnoxious about halfway through the game, when I had to investigate two locations with possible Snatcher activity. No one was home at either location, despite me having gone through EVERY possible look/investigate/talk/show item in the game. I was beginning to think my copy of the game was busted. I must have wasted at least an hour looking around for something I’d missed. I come back to the suspected Snatcher apartment and bam he’s there. I have no idea what I did to trigger his arrival, or why he wasn’t there to begin with. But again – it was something. I think. And it wasn’t just something simple like I needed to leave and come back. I had already done that multiple times without triggering his arrival.

You play as an investigator, so you’ll find yourself doing investigator things like checking out crime scenes, making phone calls, creating suspect photos based on their physical descriptions, questioning people, meeting up with illicit “contacts”, searching for things on a computer, and getting into the occasional fire fight. While most of these things are handled from a menu, like always, combat is a little different. The screen is split into different sectors and you use the keypad to move your cursor around from sector to sector, firing at the enemies that pop out at you. It’s almost like a light gun gallery ala Virtua Cop, but much, much simpler. If you have played the bonus stages of the SNES version of Sunset Riders, it is like that.

Graphics:

I think this game looks freaking fantastic. The art style in Snatcher is so distinct. They really did a great job creating the living, breathing cyberpunk world of Neo Kobe. The characters look great, the settings are magnificent. Everywhere you look this game just exudes charm. My favorite area of the game has always been the Computer Room in Junker HQ. I can’t even really explain why, but this room is just so cool to me with its colors and displays and blinking lights. Reminds me a bit of the bridge of the Ebon Hawk, if you’re familiar with the KoToR games.

I imagine some debbie downers out there will say that this game looks outdated or that it could do with a complete overhaul, but I disagree. I think it is absolutely perfect as it is. It has this comic book/anime feel to it that I just love.

Sound:

Snatcher has some truly terrific music too. It really helps add to the sometimes haunting/sometimes humorous atmosphere of the game. Wherever you go, the music is going to fit whatever’s happening onscreen perfectly. Okay, maybe sometimes the music is a bit too overly dramatic, but I’m willing to forgive it because even at its most dramatic, the music is still catchy as hell.

The voice acting is a little spotty. Sometimes it is perfect and other times it makes you scratch your head a bit. I think some of this can be blamed on the writing. While I didn’t have any problems with it, the game’s characters do make some outdated sexist/chauvinistic remarks from time to time. There were a few occasions where I was like “did he really just say that?”

Overall, though – the game sounds good. I hate to come back to Metal Gear Solid again, but remember the Codec conversations from these games? Oftentimes in Snatcher conversations play out in nearly the exact same manner onscreen. Another reason to think of this game as a distant sequel to Metal Gear, or at least heavily inspired by that series. But wait, this game came out long before Metal Gear Solid. Is it the other way around? Was that game inspired by Snatcher?

Snatcherception, yo.

Overall:

Despite the limitations I experienced with Snatcher’s gameplay, I really liked this title. I would recommend this game to anyone, with one caveat: you have to know what to expect coming in. This is a heavily story based game. 99 percent of the time you spend playing is going to be spent going through text menus. Don’t expect Heavy Rain. Don’t even expect something from Telltales. Snatcher is much more text and menu intensive than any of these games.

While the gameplay may be a bit weak, everything else makes up for it. The graphics, the music, the story, the incredible atmosphere. I could not put Snatcher down. This is one of those games that sticks with you. I found myself thinking of it quite often, even when I wasn’t playing the game. It has that kind of hold on you. And when I was done with the game, I actually began to miss it. No, this isn’t a flawless game by any stretch of the imagination. It certainly has its limitations, but I find that the pros most definitely outweigh these cons.

If you’re a retro game fan and you’re interested in checking out something classic and unique, you definitely need to check out Snatcher. It’s a Sega CD game, so I know that not a lot of people got to experience it. That needs to change!

Final Score:

A-

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Video Game Review #297: Thunder Force II

Thunder Force II

Sega Genesis

Nostalgia Factor:

When I was a kid, Thunder Force II just kind of magically showed up in my Sega Genesis collection. It was never a game I knew about. Didn’t ask for it for Christmas. Didn’t want it for my birthday. Didn’t rent it. Didn’t buy it with my own money. It just kind of… showed up one day. I’m guessing it was given to me as a gift from a well-meaning family member. It was probably plucked out of a bargain bin and they thought the box looked cool, so they got it for me.

And hey, I’m thankful to them for that. Despite this genre of game being not my cup of team, I had a good time with Thunder Force II and it became the one and only shoot ‘em up in my Genesis library. I have some fun memories of playing this game with my stepbrother Kyle and easting Boston Baked Beans as we played. I generally don’t like and don’t eat Boston Baked Beans, so whenever I do give them a try they always make me think back to this game.

Anyway, I ended up trading in or giving away my entire Genesis collection when I moved onto the 32/64 bit era of consoles, and Thunder Force II was one of those casualties. I haven’t given this game much thought in the 20 plus years since then. Well, except for when I eat Boston Baked Beans of course.

That changed a few weeks ago when I saw a post about it on Facebook. Immediately memories of this game came crashing back to me, and I knew I had to come back to it and review it for this blog. Would it be as good as my memory said it was? Well, not really. But read on for the full details.

 

Story:

This game has a story? All I remember from this game as a kid is flying around and shooting stuff, and that’s even with the game’s instruction manual in my possession. Well, I don’t have the manual as an adult and nothing is really explained through in-game story sequences, so I have nothing to report back to you. And you know what? It doesn’t matter. You don’t need a story for a game like this.

I suppose I could go on to this game’s wiki page and supply you with that info, but my philosophy has always been “if it ain’t explained in the game itself, I’m not explaining it here.” This game is a prime example of that philosophy.

Gameplay:

Thunder Force II is an interesting mix of top-down shooter stages and side-scrolling shooter stages. The majority of the game seems to take place from the top-down perspective, so we’ll talk about that first. You can move your ship in every direction. Controls tend to be crisp and responsive but if I do have one complaint it is that you move too fast and things often appear suddenly on the edge of the screen and kill you before you have a chance to react or defend yourself. This becomes painfully apparent on the underground stage where you have to go through tight rock tunnels, but you can’t see more than half a screen length in front of you. You go whipping through these tunnels WAY too fast, and if you even so much as scrape against the rock you die. This is a very frustrating stage. The final stage is also a major pain in the ass for a very similar reason.

Anywho, now that I am done complaining I’ll explain how these top-down stages work. You have a standard “shoot straight forward” attack that you use to shoot flying foes that are coming after you, but you’ll notice that you also have a line of shots that hit the ground in front of you as well. Scattered throughout these top-down levels are a predetermined number of bases you need to destroy. You need to hit these bases with your ground attack to destroy them. This often requires precision aiming and perfect timing. Destroy the bases, you complete the level and move on to the next stage.

This isn’t as easy as it sounds, though, as flying enemies are constantly swarming you and trying to take you down. As if that wasn’t enough, there are enemies on the ground as well that fire barrages of bullets at you as fly by. You are under CONSTANT assault in this game, from every direction. This is a one-hit death game too so be prepared to die quite often. The good news is that these enemies drop power-ups aplenty. These power-ups mainly include weapon upgrades but there are also other things you can pick up like extra lives and temporary invisibility shields. As you collect these weapon upgrades you can switch back and forth between them – but be forewarned, if you die you lose them all and go back to your default pea shooter weapon until you find another upgrade. Which, given the rate at which enemies drop them in this game, won’t be long.

Before we move on to the side-scrolling stages, I have to point out that these top-down levels are often set up in a maze-like fashion. Barricades, energy shields, rock formations, and the like are always getting in your way and making you explore alternative routes in order to seek out the bases you need to destroy.

The side-scrolling levels are pretty straightforward. If you’ve played literally any other shooter in the genre, you’ll know how these work. The stages auto scroll. You’re on the left side of the screen. Enemies pop up on the right. You’ve got flying enemies, crawling enemies, wall mounted turrets, barricades, all kinds of things constantly coming your way. These stages typically end with a boss battle. Beat the boss, beat the stage.

One hit will still kill you in the side-scrolling stages so again be prepared to die a lot. One stage in particular moves really fast and throws a ton of obstacles at you with not a lot of time for you to react. I hate that stage. Overall, however, I find these stages to be a bit more fun than their overhead counterparts.

Graphics:

You have to realize that this game came out in 1989, when the NES was still in its prime. I’m sure that Thunder Force II looked absolutely amazing by the standards of that era. By today’s standards it obviously isn’t much to look at. One thing I’ll say is that even though this game shows its age, it doesn’t look bad. Games that are 32 years old could easily look ugly or just flat out terrible by today’s standards. While Thunder Force II might look very basic and primitive, it is definitely not ugly by any stretch of the imagination.

Sound:

This is one of those rare games where I like the sound effects more than the music. The music is fine. I couldn’t care less about it. Generic, standard early Genesis stuff. Whatever. It's not terrible but it is not fantastic either. But the sound effects! The second I started playing this game, the sound effects hit me right in the nostalgic feelings. They’re so distinct and so instantly identifiable with this game, it’s great. I wish I could find a way to better explain this to you but it is hard to put into words.

Overall:

I’m a little conflicted here because while I liked this game a lot as a kid, I’m having a hard time overlooking its flaws as an adult. The number one flaw being that the game is unfairly frustrating at times. I like a good challenge but I also like a fair challenge. There were so many times in this game I was killed very cheaply, without being given an opportunity to react or defend myself. This happened all game long. I was getting SO irritated by it after a while. Back in the day I would just play this game so many times I’d have everything memorized, but as an adult I simply don’t have the time for that anymore.

The top-down stages are an excersize in patience. Between the cheap deaths and the wonky maze-like level structure (where I was constantly getting lost) it’s a surprise this game was able to grab me as much as it did when I was a kid. I can easily see myself being like “yeah no” when I first played this game, and putting it back on the shelf, never playing it again. But that’s just how things were back then. I didn’t have an unlimited selection of video games at my fingertips. I had like fifteen Genesis cartridges. I had to play what I had, or not play anything at all!

Which leads me to my conundrum. I thought this game was okay playing it again as an adult. Like I said, shoot ‘em ups are not my thing. Still, I had a decent time with it. But would I have had that same decent time if I didn’t have nostalgic memories of this game, if I was playing it just now in the year 2021 for the first time? I don’t think so. I think I’d probably have thrown my hands up and said “this game is not fun.”

Sigh.

So you can see my dilemma. I think a C- is a bit too low, if only for nostalgia's sake. C would be average, and this game leans either slightly above or slightly below average in my books depending on my mood. But the D range is definitely too low. This game isn’t THAT bad. So C it is, I guess.

Will I ever come back and play Thunder Force II again? Would I recommend it to anyone else?

The answer to both of those questions is no, and I think that tells you all you really need to know. This game has nostalgia to thank for this fairly generous grade I'm about to give it.

 

Final Score:

C

Some other earlier Sega Genesis games you might enjoy:

Golden Axe

Greendog: The Beached Surfer Dude!

Ren & Stimpy: Stimpy's Invention

Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi

Michael Jackson's Moonwalker

Video Game Review #296: TMNT: Turtles in Time

TMNT: Turtles in Time

Arcade

Nostalgia Factor:

When I was a kid I was obsessed with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon and all the various video games based on the series. I played the crap out of the original arcade game, and of course I owned the side-scrolling title for the NES, the arcade NES port, and the lesser played Manhattan Project that came out close to the end of the NES’s lifespan. I never had much of a chance to play Turtles in Time, however, as I did not have a Super Nintendo and none of the bowling alleys or arcades that I frequently visited had this game. I remember playing it one time in the back room of a restaurant called Organ Piper, but after that one visit our family didn’t come back to that restaurant until several years later – at which point they had completely removed the video game arcade.

Over time I’ve read many articles and online reviews that have praised Turtles in Time, calling it the best Turtle game and one of the best beat ‘em ups ever created. It made me want to play this game SO BAD, but I didn’t have the means to do so. Well, if you are a loyal follower of this blog you’ll know I’ve recently discovered video game emulation. Over the past few months I have played through a handful of other “must play” classics that I missed growing up, but soon enough the time came I decided I needed to check out this game. Would it live up to all the hype? Let’s find out!

Story:

Beat ‘em ups never have very involved stories, but Turtles in Time at least makes an attempt to keep things interesting. They could have just been lazy and made the game a simple “save April from Shredder” type thing, but they didn’t. Instead, Turtles in Time focuses on Krang and Shredder as they steal the Statue of Liberty and bring it back to their lair. Things start out simple enough with you fighting through waves of Foot Soldiers in an attempt to stop them, but they quickly go south when Shredder sends the Turtles back in time through a time warp. The rest of the game consists of the Turtles fighting  through several time periods as they make their way back to the present day. Upon arriving back home, the Turtles defeat Shredder and save the day once again.

Gameplay:

If you’ve played the previous TMNT arcade game, you’ll know how this works. The mechanics are pretty much the same. You walk forward and you fight different-colored Foot Soldiers, each with their own unique abilities. You jump, you attack with your main weapon. I’m not exactly sure how they are triggered, but there are some special moves that are exclusive to this game, like the ability to throw your enemies at the camera or pound them into the ground back and forth like Hulk smashing Loki around in the first Avengers movie. Super cool stuff.

At the end of each stage you fight a boss. No Rocksteady and Bebop this time around, as this game has you squaring off with their live-action movie counterparts Tokka and Rahzar at the end of one of the levels. There are other lesser-known bosses unique to the cartoon that make appearances as well, like Cement Man and Leatherhead. There are some repeats, but I like how the bosses aren’t just all recycled from the first game. There’s a couple of surfboarding levels this time around too, one of them in the sewer and the other using hoverboards in the future.

I feel as if I don’t have much to say about this title’s gameplay. You walk forward and you fight things. This game doesn’t add much that wasn’t already seen in the first TMNT game. That’s not a bad thing though, as that game was a ton of fun, and this one is a blast as well. In fact, I’d say that technically this is probably the better of the two games.

I played on an emulator so I churned my way through this game pretty quickly. It’s amazing how easy this game is with an unlimited supply of virtual quarters. What was tough in the arcade is easy now. I’d say I beat this game in about 30 minutes, if that. The good news about this version of the game is that it is capable of four-player co-op. If you’ve got the friends and you’ve got a way to make this happen, I’d suggest going for it. This game is so much more fun when you’re playing it with someone else.

 

Graphics:

Man, I just love how this game looks. It is so true and authentic to the cartoon. I remember my eyes lighting up the first time I played this as a kid, and I have to say that the same thing probably happened this time around. It’s so bright and colorful. The characters look fantastic. The stages look fantastic. As I played this I was transported directly into the world of the cartoon, like it was the 1980s all over again.

Before I move on, kudos to the Wild West stage for giving me major Sunset Riders flashbacks, from the graphics to the music as well. Was that intentional on Konami’s part? I’d like to think so.

Sound:

Even better than the graphics may be this game’s music. As soon as this game started up, I was completely shocked and impressed that they used the “Pizza Power” song from the TMNT traveling rock tour as this game’s intro music.

SO.FREAKING.COOL.

I had  that cassette tape as a kid, and I listened to the songs on it over and over again. I had no idea that music from that cassette tape had made its way into a video game. No idea. Hearing that song was an absolute blast from the past.

The game’s stage music is fantastic as well, as are the sound effects and the occasional bit of voice acting. When it comes to production values, this may be the closest any TMNT game has come to recreating (or even surpassing) the magic of the cartoon series.

Overall:

I was impressed by my time with this game. It is an improvement over the original TMNT arcade game, no doubt. Everything about that game was taken and improved upon, from the music to the graphics the bosses and the stage design. As far as gameplay goes, there is not much new to see here and that ultimately is my main knock on the game. It attempts to make a few changes here and there with the extra moves you pull off, but really this game feels like more of the same. That’s not really a bad thing, as the first game was freaking awesome too. But a little part of me just wanted a little bit more from this game.

I’m torn on what final score I am going to assign this game. I gave the original TMNT an A-, and I said that this game was an improvement over that one, so you’d think it should get a higher score. But I don’t know. I can’t say with certainty that this is an A or A+ title, improvements or not. Yes, this game does a lot better than its predecessor, but at its core it delivers virtually the same experience. So I feel I have to give it the same score. Bam, problem solved.

Side note before I wrap up this review – I have heard that the SNES version of this game is even better than the arcade version, so I plan to visit it soon. Keep your eyes open for that review!

 

Final Score:

A-

If you liked this review, check out some of my other game reviews:

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Double Dragon

Final Fight

Streets of Rage

X-Men

Video Game Review #295: DuckTales

DuckTales

Nintendo Entertainment System

Nostalgia Factor:

When I wrote my review for DuckTales Remastered about two and a half years (and 134 reviews) ago I remember being under the impression that I had played the original NES game in the past. I was wrong.

I came to the realization pretty quickly after starting this game that I had definitely never played it before. I guess it’s an easy mistake to make, considering the plethora of cartoon-based games that came out in the late 80s/early 90s like Chip ‘n Dale’s Rescue Rangers and Darkwing Duck. Still though, I find it kind of funny that I’d played the next-generation remaster of the game before playing the original 8-bit version. I am old - it almost always happens the other way around! 

Regardless, as soon as I started playing this game I realized it was something I was going to absolutely love, and lo and behold I was correct. Despite being made with technology that has been outdated for decades now, it completely blows the remastered version out of the water. Read on for my full review!

Story:

The game’s story is pretty thin. You play as Scrooge McDuck and it is your goal to collect five treasures from around the world in order to cement your status as the richest duck in the world. As you play you’ll battle through several of the cartoon’s famous villains as they attempt to stop you and steal the treasure for themselves. These villains include Flintheart Glomgold, Magica DeSpell, and the Beagle Boys.

Gameplay:

Right off the bat, DuckTales showcases its willingness to do something different by offering you a stage select screen. That’s right, you can play the levels in this game in any order you want (with a few stipulations). It is your goal in each stage to make it to the end of the level, fight a boss, and collect that stage’s treasure. Once you’ve collected that treasure, you go back to the stage select screen and make your next selection. The game doesn’t end once you complete all five stages – instead some of the villains team up in a desperate attempt to steal what is yours and you must fight them and defeat them to beat the game. All in all this is a pretty quick and easy game. Don’t expect to spend more than two hours on it your first time through it. I played through DuckTales twice before writing this review, and on my second playthrough I was able to cut my time playing the game completely in half. So it is definitely not a lengthy game.

I don’t want you to think it’s too easy though. I’m a grizzled 8-bit veteran who grew up playing stuff like this so I was able to pick this up and succeed at it pretty quickly. If you are not used to this type of game you might struggle with it for a while. I’d say the challenge level is just about right for the type of game this is.

Another thing that makes DuckTales different is in its level structure. For example in the first selectable stage, the Amazon, you’re cruising along thinking you are going to beat the stage when BAM you hit a “toll way” where you have to pay $30,000 to advance. If you don’t have the money you need to make it through, you have to turn around and start looking for more. This game is filled with stuff like that. Transylvania has magic mirrors that transport you around the stage, giving you multiple paths to take and adding a maze-like feel to the level. On the moon you have to collect keys and search the starship before you can summon Gizmo Duck to come help you. You need a key to even get into the African Mines stage, which you can find on a hidden pathway in Transylvania. So there’s all kinds of little touches when it comes to the stage design that make the game worth playing through and exploring as thoroughly as you possibly can.

Gameplay consists of your simple, side-scrolling affair. Controlling Scrooge McDuck, you jump, whack with your cane, and bounce your way through the game’s stages. Enemies hurt you if you touch them. You cannot jump on them or hit them directly with your cane or you will take damage. You have to either whack blocks at them with your cane or use your cane to bounce on their heads. Utilizing the cane bounce move is essential to mastering this game. To activate it, you jump and hit down and the action button at the same time. Hold the action button to continue bouncing. The second you let it go, however, you drop to your feet on the ground – so be very careful. You’ll use your bounce move to fight enemies, bounce across spikes, jump long spaces between platforms, and reach high places. You can control the height of your bounces by strategically letting go of the action button and deactivating and activating the bounce move in mid-air.

Collecting money in this game is a little different. Instead of breaking blocks or having shiny collectibles sitting out in the open, the gems you collect are completely invisible to you. By walking or jumping through their predetermined locations, you “activate” them and make them visible, where they fall to the ground waiting for you to collect them. It’s an interesting mechanic, but one you’ll get used to quite quickly.

Graphics:

I think this game looks really good. Of course it isn’t as vibrant and colorful as the remastered version, which looks like a cartoon brought to life, but it still looks pretty darn good. It has that classic NES charm to its visuals that is hard to deny. The stages are fun and well-designed. The characters look great. I got major Mega Man vibes from this game’s visuals as I was playing it – which I guess shouldn’t be too surprising seeing as how this game had a ton of people who worked on Mega Man on its creation team.

DuckTales for the NES pays a wonderful homage to the show, giving you occasional cameos from people like Launchpad McQuack, Webby, and Huey, Dewey, and Louie.

Sound:

This game sounds absolutely sensational as well. As if the 8-bit digitized version of the iconic DuckTales theme wasn’t enough, each stage has its own unique musical track and ALL of them are absolutely top-notch. My personal favorite is the music from the moon stage. It’s so freaking good! Again – major Mega Man vibes.

Overall:

 

I had SUCH a good time with this game, and I was not expecting it at all. Like I said before, I had already played the remastered version on the PS3 and while I liked  that game, it wasn’t anything I was too overly excited about. I ended up giving it a final score of a B. This game, however, is so much better. And it is so much better because it is so much simpler. No dialogue scenes that drag on for unnecessarily long amounts of time. No irrelevant back story to each stage. No “missions” or fetch quests to partake in. You just explore the level, find your way to the end of the stage, fight a boss, collect a treasure, and move on to the next level. Simple as that.

The game is flat out fun. A great control scheme, well-designed stages, great music and graphics, an intuitive “bounce on your cane” gameplay system, fantastic bosses. I could not put this game down. Usually I just play through a game one time before I review it, but I had such a great time with DuckTales I absolutely HAD to play through it twice. And I had just as much fun on my second playthough (if not more) than I did on my first. This is a game that gets better each time you play it.

Would I recommend DuckTales to anyone who hasn’t played it before? Absolutely! I always thought I’d already played the best games the NES had to offer, but with my recent playthroughs of games like Castlevania III, Kid Dracula, and now DuckTales I am realizing that even though I’ve played and reviewed 26 NES games now, I’ve likely barely scratched the surface of all the great games on the system.

Play this game. Play DuckTales. You are doing yourself a disservice if you don’t!

Final Score:

A

If you liked this review, check out some of my other game reviews:

Mega Man

Mega Man 2

Super Mario Bros. 3

Alex Kidd in Miracle World

DuckTales: Remastered

Video Game Review #294: Shining Force CD

Shining Force CD

Sega CD

Nostalgia Factor:

I’ve always loved Shining Force for the Sega Genesis, but for some reason or another I’ve never gotten around to playing any of its sequels. People always say Shining Force II is the best in the series, but I hear very few people ever talk about Shining Force CD. Is it because a lot of people didn’t have Sega CDs growing up? Maybe.

Now that I am emulating, I figured it would be a good time to check out Shining Force CD for myself. I came into the game knowing almost nothing about it. Was it a sequel to the original Shining Force? A remake? Something new altogether? Turns out it is actually a remaster of the two Game Gear Shining Force titles (which I didn’t even know existed) along with some extra content thrown in at the end.

How would it compare to the original Shining Force? Let’s find out.

Story:

Now let me be honest with you and tell you that I didn't remember ANYTHING about the story of the original Shining Force game coming into this. Can you blame me? I haven't played it in nearly seven years. Forgive me if I get some of these plot points wrong. What I can tell you is that Shining Force CD is broken up into four “books”, each one with its own different story.

Book one takes place 20 some years after the original Shining Force. Guardiana, home of the original game’s luxurious band of heroes, seems to be at odds with the nearby country of Cypress. Cypress representatives show up at the Guardiana castle, where Queen Anri is poisoned and drops into a deep sleep. Guardiana launches an offensive into Cypress territory, but after a month has passed they have not heard any word back from their troops. A new Shining Force is assembled and is sent into Cypress in order to find out what is going on with the troops and hopefully find a cure for Queen Anri.

A lot happens, but long story short – the new leader of the Shining Force (you can pick his name. I called him Dan. We’ll just refer to him as Dan from now on to make things less complicated) is the son of the former King of Cypress, who has been murdered by the evil Woldol – who has placed a puppet king onto the throne that he can easily control. Kind of like a Wormtongue/Theoden type situation, if you’re into The Lord of the Rings. Dan is able to use the Sword of Hajya, a super powerful sword that can only be wielded by Cypress royalty, to defeat Woldol and retake the kingdom. At the end of Book 1, Dan is preparing to take his seat upon the throne, Queen Anri is cured, and Cypress and Guardiana become allies once again. Yay!

Book two details Cypress and Guardiana’s battle with Iom, a nation of cult followers who worship the evil god Iom and want to bring him back to life. Taking control of a new Shining Force, you must infiltrate Iom, rescue Dan – who has been tabbed for human sacrifice to bring the evil god back – and squash the cult (and Iom himself) once and for all.

In Book three you take control of Dan again as he undergoes a series of trials to determine whether he is ready or not for his coronation as King of Cypress.

Book four is a one-battle chapter where Dan and company battle through a museum full of boss characters. At the end you find out it is only a dream brought on by Dan’s fear of the coronation ceremony.

The end.

I skipped over a lot of key details but hopefully you get the drift. Overall, I’d say the story of this game is… fine. It’s not terrible. They do put some thought into it. I like the overall direction they took with the story but at the same time I found myself not really caring about any of the characters. There are some fun moments, but if you are expecting something as deep as a Final Fantasy or Chrono game, you need to lower those expectations. If you come into this game with the expectation that it will have a fun storyline with somewhat uninspiring characters, you should be fine.

Gameplay:

Playing this game definitely brought me back to why I loved Shining Force 1 so much. On the surface, not much seems to have changed. The graphics, music, and overall presentation of the game are very similar to that first title. Same can be said for the battle system and the level progression and all that fun stuff. Where Shining Force CD differs is that this game is all about the battles. Literally. It’s ALL about the battles. There’s no world map. You don’t get to walk around and talk to people. No villages, no NPCs. No exploration whatsoever. You watch some dialogue scenes, you jump into a battle, you watch some more dialogue scenes, you jump into a battle, so on and so forth. This is as linear a game as you can possibly get.

In between battles, you are occasionally given the option to visit your camp. Again, everything here is handled from a menu. Don’t expect to walk around your camp checking things out. Aside from when you are in battle, there is no walking in Shining Force CD! Equipping your characters, managing your items, raising your dead party members, buying and selling items – this is all handled through the game’s menu screens. This was a little off-putting to me at first but I got used to it as I played. Most people play Shining Force for the battles anyway, so I can understand why they'd cut out all the extraneous crap in between them.

Battle takes place using the familiar grid based system from the first game. You take turns with the computer moving your forces on the grid. Your goal is to wipe out the enemy forces while keeping your team leader alive. The key to victory in this game is positioning your characters to pick off the fringe enemies one at a time. You never want to just go rushing head first into battle. That’s a horrible strategy and will wind up with your party getting decimated more often than not. If your party leader dies, you lose – no matter how many of your other party members are still alive. Luckily, when you lose it doesn’t mean game over. You are transported back to your camp, where all the items and EXP you earned in battle are kept by your players. Take this time to heal, promote your characters, manage your inventory, and save your game. When you’re ready, leave the camp and head back into battle. Using the knowledge you gained from your last attempt, coupled with the experience levels you probably gained as well, you should be able to win the second time around. There are some tough battles in this game, though, so don’t be surprised if it takes you multiple attempts to beat some of them.

This is a long game, much longer than I ever could have expected. Granted, I wasn’t able to really dive into this game for hours at a time due to having a one-year-old, but it still took me surprisingly long to finish this. A few weeks at least. I do feel as if this game started to overstay its welcome after a while, but I’ll save that for my overall comments.

What didn’t I like about this game? This may seem like a silly complaint given that I didn’t have the same issue with the original Shining Force, but the pace. The pace is a giant problem for me. Some of these battles are really huge. When it is the enemy’s turn to move, it seems to take forever. You have to sit there and watch, twiddling your thumbs while they move their troops into position. When you do engage in combat with the enemy, the little cutscenes that ensue seem to take forever as well. There were times it felt like 90% of this game was me sitting there watching the screen, waiting for me to finally be able to do something. I say this is funny because this game’s battle system works literally the EXACT same way as it did in the original Shining Force. Why didn’t I complain then? Must be some kind of weird video game generational thing. Everything is fast fast fast, go go go these days. Whereas even just as little as seven years ago this wasn’t an issue.

Needless to say, I was using the speed up button on my keyboard quite often as I played this. So often, in fact, that it made my game crash quite regularly. D’oh! I learned to save my progress a LOT as I played through this game.

Graphics:

This game looks just like the original Shining Force. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. This game has some bright colors, some fun environments, and some cutesy little character animations. The battle sequences and special effects can be impressive from time to time. My main gripe is that given the advance in technology, something put out for the Sega CD should look better than something for the Sega Genesis. It doesn’t.

Sound:

This may be controversial, since I know a lot of people love this game’s soundtrack, but I wasn’t too impressed by it. The battle music when you attack an enemy isn’t as memorable as it was in the first Shining Force. This game does have some good musical tracks, sure, but expect to hear them repeated over and over and over again. Seriously, are there more than four or five songs in this game? I was getting SO sick of them by the time I completed this game. I wasn’t too huge a fan of this game to begin with, but the mundanity of the soundtrack was really starting to get to me after a while.

Overall:

Considering how much I loved the original Shining Force, this game was a bit of a letdown. I like to see sequels build or expand upon their predecessors, and this game just didn’t do it for me. In fact, by taking away the ability to walk around on foot and explore villages I think this game took a major step back. All you’re doing is jumping from one battle to another, with the occasional story segment thrown in for good measure.

It’s all just very “eh” to me. I like the battle system, so I won’t complain too much. I’ll admit they can be a lot of fun. But god damn if they aren’t repetitive. And slow too. Hallelujah for the emulator speed up button. If I had been playing this on the Sega CD I might have died of old age before ever making it through this game. This game is really long too, and this only puts emphasis on how repetitive it is. I feel as if it definitely overstayed its welcome.

I know I’m being super harsh on this game. I did like it overall. I won’t say it sucks, or that this is a below average title. Shining Force CD does have a lot of redeeming qualities, particularly the story. I haven’t even mentioned my thoughts on Book four – the museum chapter of the game. This is a ridiculously hard battle, one that took me a bare minimum of 25 to 30 attempts to complete. It’s so freaking hard. But in a way, this was the most memorable part of the whole game for me. It really makes you think and strategize. Winning that battle after all those attempts felt like a massive accomplishment – not like a lot of the other battles where you can basically steamroll your way through them. It’s like the Dark Souls of Shining Force battles. I wish there had been more moments like this as I played!

Despite Shining Force CD's redeeming qualities, there is a lot that drags this game down. I don’t know. I don’t think I can give this anything more than the average score of a C. An average score for an average game. Fitting.

Final Score:

C

If you liked this review, check out some of my other game reviews:

Shining Force

Vandal Hearts

Chrono Trigger

Final Fantasy VII

Final Fantasy VIII

Video Game Review #293: Sunset Riders

Sunset Riders

Super Nintendo

Nostalgia Factor:

I always knew that Sunset Riders existed when I was a kid, but for whatever reason I never got around to playing it. To be honest with you, I didn’t even give the game so much as a second thought. I was not a big fan of Westerns so I am sure that was the main reason right there. It just didn’t interest me.

Recently, nearly 30 years after Sunset Riders’ 16-bit debut, I suddenly started hearing a lot about this game. First it was just chatter on a retro gaming Facebook group. Then I watched the snesdrunk YouTube video. Then I listened to an episode of Worth it or Worthless about this game. All three of these sources gave the game positive reviews, raving about how great it is.

I decided enough was enough and I needed to check out Sunset Riders. Holy cow! I didn’t know what I was missing when I was a kid. This game exceeded every expectation I had for it. Keep reading for my full breakdown.

 

Story:

This game doesn’t have much, if any, substance to its story. You play as one of four different bounty hunters. The first few stages begin by showing you a wanted poster. You have to fight through these stages, killing every enemy in sight and defeating your bounty (the boss character) at the end of the level.

When you get to the halfway point of the game, you save some dancers from a saloon that’s being shot up by a bunch of bandits. As a reward, these ladies dance for you and give you a wanted poster for Richard Rose, the deadliest outlaw in the area. The rest of the game has you tracking and hunting down Mr. Rose, fighting his deadly henchman along the way. Beat Richard, you beat the game.

 

 

Gameplay:

This is probably a poor comparison, but if I had to compare Sunset Riders to anything I’ve played in the past I’d probably say Contra. You pick your character, each one holding a different weapon. Two of the characters carry pistols that fire in a straight line and the other two carry shotguns or rifles that fire in a “spread” attack. Why on earth you wouldn’t pick the characters with the default spread attack, I have no idea. But I digress.

Controlling your characters, you move from the left side of the screen to the right. Enemies are constantly popping out and shooting at you as you go. They come from behind windows, inside doors, behind obstacles, around corners, everywhere. Your best bet is to constantly fire ahead of you and take it slow. I may be mistaken but I don’t believe enemies respawn in this game, so if you slowly and methodically make your way through each stage you should be able to minimize the amount of hits you take. And you definitely want to do that, because one hit will kill you.

At the end of each stage you face a boss. Unlike the regular enemies you face throughout each stage, these bosses are bullet sponges that take multiple hits to kill. The good thing in this game is that enemy bullets move across the screen at a snail’s pace, which makes them fairly easy to dodge. Defeat the boss and you move on to the next stage.

You’ll collect some power-ups along the way - items that give you points, extra lives, rapid fire ability for your weapons, and the ability to carry two guns at once. These weapon power-ups definitely make the game a lot easier, but be warned that if you get hit and die you lose all the upgrades you’ve collect to that point.

Sunset Riders is a very challenging game. It’s not anything that can’t be mastered through repetition or pattern memorization, so don’t come into this worrying that it might be too hard for you. The game is tough, sure, but it is so fun that you don’t even notice how often you’re dying or having to restart each level over again. Sunset Riders definitely has that “it” factor, whatever “it” may be. It’s just so incredibly fun. You’ll be laughing, hooting, and hollering your way through this game, especially if you’re playing two player co-op with a friend.

It’s SO entertaining.

Graphics:

Despite this game’s age it looks phenomenal. The bright colors, the love given to the characters and the scenery. Most Western-based games are gritty and seen through a lens of dirt and sand. Not Sunset Riders. This game looks like it stepped right out of a 90s cartoon about the Wild West. 

The animation is great. You have some funny interactions with the boss characters. And I can’t stress enough how “alive” this game feels, how everything just pops off the screen. Super, super cool looking game.

 

Sound:

The game sounds phenomenal too. Right off the bat you’re going to notice this game’s music, and not in a bad way either. It’s so fun and energetic, and it really gets you in the mood for mowing down waves of bad guys at a time. It may not fit the Wild West theme of the game very well but it is still some really great music.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the ever popular boss character voice clips you’ll hear as you play this game. These little audio clips are so cheesy and silly, but add so much to the game at the same time.

“Bury me with my money!”

“You in heap big trouble!”

“Me in heap big trouble.”

Classic. 

 

Overall: 

In case you can’t tell by what I’ve already written about this game, I really loved it. Sunset Riders is a short game, but the difficulty level and the fact that you have to restart stages when you run out of lives or restart the game if you run out of continues makes it seem longer than it is. If you played this game without dying at all you’d probably be done with it in 20 to 25 minutes. If you are starting from scratch and are really dedicated to mastering this game, you will be playing it for hours on end.

Regardless of the game’s length, there is just so much to love about it. The setting, the colors, the graphics, the different playable characters, the different weapon styles, the co-op, the bosses, the dialogue, the fun challenge of the game. It just all adds up to a near perfect video game playing experience. I’m super disappointed in myself as a kid for not checking this out, as this would have made an awesome addition to my game library growing up. That said, I had a Sega Genesis and I hear that the Genesis version of the game isn’t very good – so maybe it’s actually a positive thing I never got it! One of these days I’ll have to review that version of the game to see what the negative fuss is about.

But hey this review is about the Super Nintendo version of the game. And as I said, this game is a blast. I could drop what I’m doing and play Sunset Riders right now and have a great time with it. This statement would hold true tomorrow, a week from now, a month from now, a year from now, and beyond. Sunset Riders has a timeless appeal that I don’t think will ever get old. I can just see myself sitting bored around the house with nothing to do. Oh hey, let’s put on Sunset Riders! It doesn’t matter how many times you beat this game, it is fun each and every time. 

And co-op? I haven’t played the co-op yet but I can just imagine it’s even more fun than single player. I can NOT WAIT until my son Channing is old enough to play this with me. We are going to have an absolute riot with Sunset Riders. He’s one now. Just, uhhhh, a couple more years to go?

 

Final Score:

A

 

If you liked this review, check out some of my other game reviews:

Contra

Contra: Hard Corps

Super C

Kid Dracula

Super Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

Video Game Review #292: Kid Dracula

Kid Dracula

Nintendo Entertainment System

Nostalgia Factor:

I continue to make my way through the Castlevania Anniversary Collection. I just finished Super Castlevania IV not too long ago, so next up…. Kid Dracula.

Wait, what? Kid Dracula? What the heck is this game? I had never heard of it before.

Well, turns out Kid Dracula was released for the NES in Japan back in 1990. For whatever reason, the title was never brought over to the states. Well, that’s not entirely true. There was a Game Boy version of the game, but apparently it was extremely rare and not a lot of people had the chance to play it. In fact, it is one of the rarest and most expensive Game Boy games to date.

Not that I care about that. I’m here to play the NES version of the game, finally ported over to the U.S. 20 something years after its initial release. Despite my initially low expectations, I ended up having a really good time with this game. Read on for the full details!

 

Story:

This game’s story is not too horribly interesting. Kid Dracula wakes up after a long sleep to discover that his authority has been challenged by Galamoth, a super intense dinosaur-monster thing. Kid Dracula sets off on a journey to defeat Galamoth so he can prove his dominance and retain his throne. Unfortunately, he has forgotten most of his magical spells while he was asleep. As you play through this game’s levels, you slowly recover your lost abilities. By the time you get to Galamoth, you are fully powered up and ready to kick some major ass.

 

Gameplay:

On the surface this looks like a cutesy kids game, but it is actually surprisingly challenging and fun. The controls are simple. Kid Dracula can move left to right. He jumps. His main form of attack is your generic thrown projectile attack. Hold down the attack button and your projectile charges up. Release the button and you hit your enemy with an extra special attack. As the game progresses, you slowly learn new abilities. Most of these abilities affect your main attack, but not all of them. They all are activated in the same way, however, by holding down the button until your attack charges up and then letting go of the button. The non-attack related spells either flip gravity so you are walking around on the ceiling for a few seconds, or turn your into a bat so you can fly for a little while. You will need to utilize both of these at multiple points in the game if you want to make it through these levels.

But like I said most of these spells affect your attack in some way. A couple examples include the homing attack and the bomb attack that delivers an extra powerful blast to your opponents. Deciding what weapon to use and when is a key strategy to doing well in this game.

While I am not certain if this is actually considered a canon Castlevania game, at the very least it is certainly inspired by it. The first level of the game gives off major NES Castlevania vibes. After the first level, though, the game begins to forge its own identity. Best I can compare it to is a Mega Man title. While this is a challenging game, it is nowhere near as difficult as either a Mega Man or Castlevania game. In fact, I beat this game in a couple of one-hour playing sessions while barely having to start over at all.

That’s not to say you won’t have a tough time with this game. It can get pretty difficult! It never quite reaches that “brutal” threshold, however, and for that I am grateful. Kid Dracula finds the perfect balance of not too difficult and not too easy.

Graphics:

There’s nothing too amazing that stands out about this game’s graphics. It looks like an NES game – and there is nothing wrong with that. I think this game looks charming. It has well-designed characters and bosses as well as some unique level layouts.

I do have to give a shout out to some of the story sequences in this game, particularly the opening. The special effects are really nice, particularly for an NES game. It sets the tone perfectly for this game.

 

Sound:

As I played Kid Dracula I was grooving along to the game’s music. It matches the graphical style and the gameplay of this title flawlessly. The same can be said for the sound effects.

If I had to offer one gripe, it is that I just beat this game a few days ago (I even beat it twice) – and I already can’t remember the music. I remember the music being good and I remember liking it, but that’s about it.

 

Overall:

Kid Dracula was such a pleasant surprise. I had a really fun time playing this game.

I’ve already outlined what I like about the game. What does it do wrong? The answer is: not much.

Your character moves a bit slowly. This can be a pain if you die and have to restart an area, or if you fall and have to make your way back through a level again. He’s also quite big and takes up a lot of room on the screen, which can make it harder to avoid damage. I was playing on the Castlevania Anniversary Collection, so I was able to utilize save states so I could drop out and stop playing and pick up where I left off whenever I wanted to. Obviously the original game doesn’t give you that option. In fact, I am not even sure if this game has a save or continue option. You might have to start this from the beginning each time you play it, which is a major pain in the butt. Let’s be real, however. If you’re playing this game you likely have the Castlevania Anniversary Collection. You’ll be taking advantage of those save states just like I did!

There’s really not much else I can say bad about this game. I enjoyed myself from the second I picked it up to the second I put it down. Whether or not this counts as an actual Castlevania game doesn’t matter much in my mind. It is just as fun and just as worthy as any of those games. In fact, I’d put this above Simon’s Quest and Super Castlevania IV any day of the week.

I can’t recommend this game enough to people who haven’t played it yet, and I am sure there are a lot of you out there. It’s SO FREAKING GOOD! Get off your tush and play it now. I’m so happy I discovered this and didn’t just skip over it, dismissing it as some dumb kids game. Kid Dracula is anything but dumb. If I had grown up with this game and developed nostalgic memories of it, it could have very well earned an A+ score. Instead, it will have to “settle” for a step below perfection.

 

Final Score:

A

If you liked this review, check out some of my other game reviews:

Castlevania

Castlevania II: Simon's Quest

Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse

Mega Man

Mega Man 2

Video Game Review #291: Hyper Light Drifter

Hyper Light Drifter

PlayStation 4

Nostalgia Factor:

I’ve wanted to play this game since the moment I first laid eyes on it. It was the Studio Ghibli-like graphical style that did it for me. It just looked so cool! Previews described its gameplay as similar to The Legend of Zelda. That’s all I needed to hear. I was in.

Unfortunately I am one of those people that refuses to buy new games until they go down in price. So I waited, and waited, and waited… until the game wasn’t new anymore. Five years after its initial release date, Hyper Light Drifter finally went on sale on the PlayStation Network. I bought it, so now I am playing it. Would it be worth the long wait?

 

Story:

Oh boy. I don’t even know where to begin with this game’s story. There’s no spoken or written text to be found in this game, so nothing is ever really explained. There are a lot of dreamlike sequences involving horrific Titan-like characters inhabiting a ruined world. We’ve got our oddly clad protagonist. Something seems to be wrong with him. I don’t know.

And I don’t think it is really important. You’d think in a game like this its story would matter, but no. Hyper Light Drifter is all about atmosphere and trippy visuals over a solidly fleshed out storyline. I never really knew what was happening, but the game is just so freaking cool that I didn’t mind this fact.

Usually I hate David Lynch style “it’s up to your interpretation” type vague storytelling, but in this game it works.

 

Gameplay:

I was a little worried based on the game’s cryptic storyline that I wouldn’t be able to figure out what to do, but that turned out to not be the case. You start out in a central hub. In each direction (east, west, north, and south) there are destinations that you need to check out. You need to battle to these marked destinations, where at each one you collect a bunch of shit and fight a boss. You get a weapon upgrade, experience some weird visions, and find yourself back in the game’s central hub. On to the next marker, you go!

After you complete all four of these “missions” a new path opens up to the final stage of the game. Finish this stage and the game ends. Fairly simple, right? I’m sure I’m leaving some stuff out, like the pieces you need to collect to unlock doors – and all the hidden items there are to find. I almost don’t want to talk about them because discovering these things and finding out how they function are part of the fun of tackling this game.

Let’s talk about how the game handles. Your main weapon is your sword, which you use to slash at enemies. You have a dash move that allows you to zip in and out of battle strategically. You use this move to traverse obstacles on the game map as well, like getting across pits or gaps that are too wide to traverse normally. You also have a gun, which you upgrade as you play. Firing this gun drains a meter on the screen, and the only way to recharge that meter is by destroying things with your melee attack. There are various ways to collect currency, and you use this currency at shops in the game’s hub area to upgrade your equipment.

One thing I need to make clear is that this game is HARD. I didn’t think it was too bad at first, until I entered a room full of bad guys with a nearly depleted health meter. I got killed immediately after entering this room. Luckily in this game checkpoints are plentiful and you have an infinite amount of lives. The game put me back outside of the room I died in. I entered the room and immediately got killed again. When I respawned, I noticed that my health didn’t fill up when I came back. I entered the room and died again. Respawned. Came back with only one hit left on my health meter. I tried backtracking but I couldn’t find any health items, as I’d already collected them on my way into the dungeon. I entered the room and got my ass handed to me yet again.

I must have died at least 30 times trying to make it through this room. There are enemies everywhere. Some are shooting at you, some are coming in for melee attacks. Floor pieces fall when you walk over them. Walls with enemies behind them go up and down. It’s nuts. Eventually I was able to fight my way through this room, and I moved on to the next room. I promptly died, and the game sent me back two rooms with one hit left on my health bar. I entered the room of horror for the 31st time and found that I had to defeat those enemies and do it all over again.

Facepalm.

You’re going to die in this game, and you’re going to die a LOT. The sooner you accept this fact, the better. What I liked about this game though is that the challenge never seems like a chore. Even though I died over 30 times in this one room, I was still having fun. It was a challenge, yeah, but an exciting challenge. When I compare this to a game like Celeste where you also die left and right, the difference couldn’t be more clear. THAT game is a chore. This game is not.

In fact, this game is so fun I beat the whole thing in one day. That’s almost unheard of for me these days, considering this game is about 7 or 8 hours long and I have a 1-year-old baby. Well, luckily the in-laws had the baby this day and my wife was feeling sick, so I had the TV all to myself. I remember the good ole days a year and a half ago where every day I had the TV to myself and could do whatever I wanted for hours on end. I miss those days.

Anyway, we were talking about this game….

Graphics:

The graphics are the star of this game and the reason why I became interested in this title to begin with. I don’t even know if these screenshots do this game justice. It’s almost something you have to play or see in action yourself. Go to YouTube, watch some clips of this game, and tell me it doesn’t look super freaking cool.

The art style is amazing. I love the pixels. I love the trippy colors and animations. The cutscenes are weird but cool. The whole atmosphere and setting of this game draws you in from the very beginning.

All this being said, my wife walked in when I was playing this game and said that it looked "ugly." So maybe it's not for everyone.

 

Sound:

The music and sound effects are really great too. They work amazingly hand-in-hand with the game’s graphics and atmosphere. The perfect marriage of sight and sound! Oh god, that’s corny. But it is true. Play this in a dark room with headphones on. I haven’t gotten this lost in the magical world of a video game since, I don’t know – Journey.

Overall:

This is a really good game. I expected it to be good just from the things I’d read about it, but there is really no preparing yourself for this game. It is so unique and so wonderful at the same time. The only thing that could have made it better is if it had a touching, heartfelt storyline that really made you invested in the character and his journey. Instead, I simply had no idea what the hell was happening half the time as I played. I’m sure if I looked it up there is probably some deep meaning or some kind of complex symbology behind what is happening here, but I really don’t care enough to bother.

Another knock is that the game is too short. I beat the whole thing in one day. Yeah I know I didn’t collect everything and I am sure I missed a lot as I played, but still. I wanted more of this game and I was kind of sad it was over so quickly.

Would I recommend this game to anyone interested? Yes, easily. I know this isn’t a popular opinion, but I liked it more than other similar titles like A Link to the Past and Golden Axe Warrior. There’s a lot of depth to the game’s combat. The music and the graphics are beautiful. There’s so much to see, collect, and do. This isn’t a perfect title by any stretch of the imagination, but it is super creative and fun. Definitely one of the more unique titles I’ve played in the last few years.

 

Final Score:

B+

If you liked this review, check out some of my other game reviews:

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

Flower

Journey

Golden Axe Warrior

Grandia