Friday Night Rentals: Totally Rad

Totally awesome? Totally Tubular? No! It's Totally Rad! (Man) Are you craving a mad mix of platforming and 90's attitude with the wild and crazy colors of the late 80s? Well look no further than this 1991 release from Jaleco! Why did the box art have this bright color scheme? Why was there a purple-eyed punk rock alligator replete with pink mohawk crawling out of the cover? Who cares?! It was the time of Ninja Turtles, skateboards, and punk hair-dos. Why not have a game that actually embraced a phrase that would not only ensure it stuck out at the time, but would stick out over 25 years later? (Only this time as a sign of being a product of the time.) Cover art and radical title aside, was it worth it to have rented at the time? Would it be worth picking up now. Time to take a look at Totally Rad by Jaleco and see whether the game is a totally bodacious time warp or a totally bogus flop, man.

Gameplay:

In Totally Rad you play as Jake, gnarly apprentice to a creepy-faced magician known as Zeb. One day while training, Jake's bodacious girlfriend Allison is kidnapped by an evil king. Now Jake must set forth into a subterranean world in order to rescue his girl and defeat the evil king all while sporting surfer dude 'tude. Yep, it's a "rescue the princess" affair, only this time with a magical surfer dude with lots of 'tude. You have an array of spells immediately at your command ranging from health restoration to transformation of the main character into a weapon slinging creature.

You can get extra lives by defeating a certain number of enemies, however, for each extra life you earn, each subsequent life must be obtained by beating more enemies. Meaning you get your first life after getting 50 points, but the next one doesn't come until you reach over 100 and so on and so forth. While there are spots in the game where life-farming is possible, and there is no time limit, like most farming situations, it can get dull after a while. The action in the game is decently paced and enemy encounters and boss battles feel fair. If you lose a life or take a hit, it's your fault and you know it. While the mechanic of having access to a variety of weapons right off evokes a little bit of Mega Man, I was disappointed that despite the different things I could select from in the magic screen, I oddly felt as if there was a lack of variety and more just novelty to the spells that I was casting. Obviously health restoration was great to have on hand for boss battles, but aside from that I just was never over-wowed by the various powers. It felt great to wield cut blades and quick boomerangs, magically being able to flap wings was okay, but it was no saw blade.

Graphics and Style:

With cut scenes in the style of Ninja Gaiden and 90's 'tude banter abounding; Totally Rad firmly establishes itself as the best of the magician's apprentice surfer dude genre. Colors are bright but never garish, character sprites are well designed and well animated, and level designs are unique and mapped out fairly. (I hate it when games have what purposely feels like cheap deaths or trial-and-error map design simply out of laziness or attempts to extend gameplay.) Totally Rad was a later release in the Nintendo Entertainment System's life cycle, so by this time games had a more polished look to them and usually competent choices in design.

Music and Sound Design:

From the weapon charge to the enemy hits; the sound effects in the game are probably some of the best of the genre for the time. When you have a platformer like this which tries to mimic some of the better aspects of the Mega Man series, you want to feel a modicum of satisfaction when you fire your weapon, and Totally Rad delivers.

The music for Totally Rad stands up both on its own and the test of time. Too often with platformers for the NES you get an annoying song loop that either feels like it isn't trying or loops too soon. Take a listen to the beats from Act 1 Part 1:

Act 1 Part 1

It's high energy, has a decent bass line that keeps with the surfer/rocker tone of the game and conveys that sense of excitement you'd want from a platformer about a surfer dude with magical powers. Now take a listen to the music from Act 2:

Act 2

It's got a funky beat, uses the base line well, and goes at a pace that while not energetic, still has a higher quality to it. It's obvious that the composer put some real effort into making the tracks not merely functional, but in tone with the spirit of the game and a pleasure to listen to. Most of the tracks, if not all, are good enough to act as music you'd listen to separate from the Totally Rad itself.

Memories and New Thoughts:

So what kind of game was Totally Rad when I rented it back in the day? Was it everything that this ad promised it to be? Was it indeed a game that finally spoke my language, dude?

*Hat tip to www.gamesdatabase.org for this "Totally Rad"

throwback ad

Well, when I rented this game as a kid, I remember it as one of the harder, but satisfying games to play. I don't recall if I beat it at the time, but I do remember it had a certain, "Just one more level, then I'm quitting" appeal to it. Each level felt difficult at the time, and it felt like a real accomplishment when I did beat a level. Totally Rad gave me the same feeling that a Mega Man game or Ninja Gaiden game would when I finally beat a level. Coming back to it decades later, does it still have that appeal to me? Does it hold up after all this time?

Yes and no...and I'm not sure how much of that has to do with the way the game has aged in comparison to Ninja Gaiden and Mega Man. Whereas those games have had numerous entries into their franchise, Totally Rad never turned into a franchised game with multiple sequels. Though the adventures were gnarly and awesome at the time, the whole world that the game exists in doesn't so much feel dated as it does locked away in another reality. ...And yet I still really like this game.

Perhaps I'm a bit too wistful when I look back on Totally Rad. Egad! I just love this era of gaming, don't you? I mean really, how often do we get a game this off the wall in concept and storyline? A magical surfer fighting subterranean monsters is right up there with taking a super battle tank underground to rescue your pet frog. I do really miss the time and place the game comes from. A time when the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were popular and there was nothing better than skateboarding or surfing the afternoon away. A time when saying, "That's radical dude" or "That's totally rad, man" were perfect ways to say how excited your were and how awesome something truly was.

Friday Night Rentals: Bump N' Jump

Premise/Intro:

Can radical excitement be yours as you zoom along either crushing or pitying innocent drivers simply trying to get to work? Does the game have high speed chases as you rush to save your girlfriend you ask? Why yes it does and yes, it's time to bring the arcade excitement of Bump'n Jump to your home console, specifically, the NES.

When I rented this, I had no idea it was a port of an arcade game. As a kid, games like these were never re-rented, the purpose of renting was to beat a game so as to not feel like I had to buy. Or if I did buy it, that it had a high replay value.  Did it earn a place in my heart today and am I now glad to have it?

Gameplay and Control:

You race along, avoiding obstacles, collecting power-ups and smashing other vehicles off the road or hop-crushing them to death--and that's it.

Yes, you are racing to the end of the stage and yes, you eventually get an end to the game (of sorts), but really, most of these arcade to console ports never could match the excitement of a game made simply to pull more quarters from your wallet. A nice bonus of owning it at home means that you can play over and over again without the quarter-suck and get better at it. However, is it worth playing over and over to get better and better? I'll let you know at the end.

Graphics and Style:

Simple graphics, even for NES. However, they are bright and colorful. The cars, the grass, water, and bridges all zoom by at a decent speed so they don't need to really be defined that much, and they do have an 8-bit quality to them when they might have been able to get by with less resolution. Stylistically, this game feels like just another overhead racer with overtones of Spy Hunter. not that this is a bad thing, just that it doesn't really offer too much new in terms of setting itself apart from other, similar games aside from the jump mechanic.

Music and Sound:

It's cute really. Which when you look at it is really odd for a game where you are basically getting points for murder-smashing your way through those who get in the way of your quest save your one true love. The music is cheerful and well paced, and doesn't really get annoying which is great as you'll likely be revisiting the same levels over and over again.  The sound effects work okay, and I personally like that the music don't really get annoying. Here's a small sample of the music so you get an idea of the tracks:

Peppy, ain't it? Again, nothing too spectacular here, but for a game with repeat soundtracks, it's actually not too bad. Not saying I'll be copying it to my Ipod anytime soon though.

Memories and New Thoughts:

Did you ever rent a game twice thinking that perhaps the second time around it would click better for you? I know I did that with a number of games growing up, including Bump'n' Jump. I wanted to have missed something with this game. I wanted it to feel like it was more than just a novel variation on racing games where high score was the goal. However, it never really struck me as more than just an average game. I found out recently that this game was actually a port of an arcade game, and it feels like it. Not that all arcade ports are bad mind you. Donkey Kong remains one of my favorite arcade to NES ports to this day. However, I might have passed it by were it not for a friend finding it for me for cheap. As I played it again for this review, I was really reminded of Spy Hunter, but after a few minutes, I actually was starting to enjoy this more than Spy Hunter truth be told. I guess I find the way the difficulty ramps up each level more satisfying than the way it's done in Spy Hunter, although Hunter did have the better/more memorable music of the two. If you see it somewhere cheap I'd recommend picking it up.

Friday Night Rentals: Smartball

I was twelve when I got my Super Nintendo. I enjoyed many platformers on it, and there were just as many I did not enjoy. Then there were some that fall into that "I vaguely remember playing that as a kid" category. Well, Smartball by Sony falls right into that third area for me. As soon as I saw the package I remembered there was a ball of goo, and he was able stretch or something, and that was about it. I think I remembered playing the game. I might have beaten it too. Well, with such distinct and cherished memories as that, how could I pass up a complete copy for only $20? Was the Jackson I laid down worth the journey down memory-ish lane worth it?

Premise:

You are Jerry, a young prince who's brother was jealous of your relationship with a cute girl so he had a witch transform you into a gelatinous glob/jellybean. As Jerry the Jellybean you must roll along, stick to walls, and goo your way around the kingdom to do defeat the evil witch, break the curse and return to your former humanity.  Pretty simple right? What hidden hardships or secret gems does the game hold? Well...it doesn't really.

Gameplay and Control:

You roll along from one side of the screen to the exit on the other on the first stage, then the second stage you get a boss fight. It's simple, it's quick, and it's cute. The animations are smooth and simple. And there are no real challenges for an advanced gamer, but for kids some of the jumps and enemies could prove to be just the right level of challenge. For a Super Nintendo game the overall control feels solid and satisfying, even if it is a bit on the simple side. I didn't look at the instructions for the controls, but picked up on them within a few seconds. The system of collecting little red balls as weapons to lob at enemies and the sticking to walls felt easy enough to do, and there's a bit of tangible satisfaction to be had from making a hop and sticking to a ceiling or wall.

Graphics and Style:

Cute and cuddle is the name of the game here with fun little mice, grimacing little flames, and goofy little rocks with legs all done in bright colors. Even the boss character designs have soft, rounded edges and an overall pastel palette. Nothing really feels too 3D-ish in the game, and not much really pops here. In fact, with a slight graphics downgrade Smartball would probably play well on the NES with occasional slow-down. Aesthetically speaking, it makes me think of a kids anime, which works in its favor considering the target audience.

Music and Sound:

Not to much worth noting on either the sound design or the soundtrack for Smartball. Not that it was terrible or anything, just unmemorable. Everyone on the planet could probably identify the sound of Mario jumping or grabbing an invincibility star, but I can't recall the sound of Jerry the Jellybean hopping or lobbing the little red balls. Not that this is really a criticism mind you, just that I couldn't pick out the sounds of the game in a crowd if you pointed them out to me.  Same goes for the soundtrack. Color me unimpressed. It gets the job done, is cute, but ultimately forgettable. It could just be me though. Here's a link to the soundtrack in full, see what you think:

Memories, New Thoughts, and Overall Score:

Sometimes the nostalgia just isn't there enough for you to go back on your own. Sometimes you remember playing a game, vaguely liking it, and trying it again as an adult only to be let down. While I wasn't totally let down by Smartball, I was chagrined to discover there really wasn't a challenge there. In fact, given that I breezed through a chunk while reviewing, I think that the only challenge would be a speed run. However, the game is still worth owning for it's simple charms and I think when my kids get older, this would be a good starter game for them. As a kids' game, it has all the charms and color I would want, and yet it is free of the normal tropes that seem to plague kids game of annoying voices and "'rude-tude" characters. The controls work well, and in a time when games directed at kids seemed to have broken, or near unplayable controls, it was and still is a gem for that reason alone. I would have ranked this only as average, but the mere fact that it's a playable and still vaguely satisfying platformer puts it above many other games of this nature on the system.

Sound and Music: 7/10

Graphics and Design: 7/10

Control and Gameplay: 7/10

Friday Night Rentals: DinoCity

Oh no! Timmy and Jaimie have found themselves sucked into a giant TV screen after going into their dad's science lab and mucking about! Now they find themselves in an alternate universe full of anthropomorphic dinosaurs and gangs of cavemen and women! The only way back is to find a device stolen by the ubiquitous "Mr. Big," but They'll have help via Rex and Top. Two dinosaurs who've agreed to let the kids ride them like horses on their quest to return home. Is it goofy schlock or gamer goodness?  Well, here's my thoughts on DinoCity by Irem for this week's Friday Night Rentals:





Graphics and Style:

As you might expect from a game with walking, talking, teenager-sized dinosaurs, you're in for an array of bright colors and cute character design. The overall athstetics fit the game well while never getting too cutesy. Given this was from the early 90's, it would have been far too easy for the art team on this to mimic the infamous Barney the Dinosaur when it came to overall look. The graphics are clean, with nice rounded features on the characters, and you never quite get that almost cheap-looking vibe which could easily come from a game like this.  I think this helps the replay factor in that the character design doesn't feel bland. I found one of the traps/obstacles which alternated fire and ice to be particularly clever both in design, and in coloring.


Music and Sound Design:

I don't have too much to say on the whole from of the DinoCity sound design as the effects seem fairly stock. For a minute they reminded me of sounds from Data East's own dino and caveman themed game, Joe and Mac. I feel like they could have done more here, especially given the soundtrack.

Hiroshi Kimura did a fantastic job composing the music for Dino City. It has a cheerful, pleasant quality that makes it worth revisiting. With a mixture of congo drum-style synthesized drums and peppy beats, it never feels sappy or redundant like one might expect from a game featuring dinosaurs and kids running around trying to beat bad guys. I think reason it holds up as something I personally could listen to while not play the game, is that you don't get the feeling the developers cheapened out with a simple, repetitious track one might expect from a game which seems kid-friendly and kid geared. Both SNES and NES systems are littered with kids games whose soundtracks are cloyingly sweet. have a listen and see what you think, won't you? If after listening you think you might want a rip of it, there's a sound test option, which is pretty darned nice.

Complete DinoCity Soundtrack

Gameplay and Control:

For such a cutesy art style, game premise, and basic controls; the game can fool you into thinking it's a walk in the park. However, with tricky jumps, disappearing platforms that feel like something from Mega Man, and enemies that always seem to have your number--the game actually provides a bit of a challenge. Given you have a limited number of continues and only three hit points, it's tempting to simply goof around for a bit with the game and put it down after a few minutes. Yet the controls help draw you in. One thing that I didn't like in the day and don't like now is that you can't go back once you've scrolled forward. Even Super Mario Bros. had this issue solved on the NES eventually, why can't I go back in this game? I know there isn't much to see, but it would have helped with the jumps.

As I mentioned before, the controls are simple. You jump, you fire (or punch depending on what character you choose), and you can dismount the dino you ride in order to solve minor jumping puzzles. Through all this, the controls feel fair. Replaying it for the review, I never really found myself thinking that the movement was stiff, or an that ill-timed jumped was anything but my own fault. Was it aggravating to miss a ledge and not only not get to a bonus level, but die in the attempt? Sure thing it was! But after a few tries I managed to get the timing right. I think it stands to a game's credit when I feel like I was the one goofed up on something and not the developers.

Memories and New Thoughts:

Renting a game like this left me with an odd mix of frustration and interest. I wanted to keep playing so that I could beat the game because it seemed like it should have been something I could beat in a weekend. After all, the characters were cutesy dinosaurs with humans riding on them. Why couldn't I beat it? Why did we pick it up when the video store decided to sell it off to make room for other games? Why was I fooled into thinking I could beat it?

Did I mention the dinosaurs?

When I put this game in for the review, there were a number of things that I had forgotten, such as the inability of your character to go back, which I realized were part of it. That, and when you play it, the lack of continues and only three hit points piles on the difficulty. I did a bit of poking around and come to find that the game originally had a difficulty setting of Easy or Hard mode when it was developed in Japan. Well, I guess the easy setting didn't make it through customs because the default mode for us Americans was hard as nails.

Not that I'm bitter years later, just it leaves me wondering if we wouldn't have bought it if the game had continues as it is likely it would have been one of those games I could have beaten in a weekend. The funny thing is though, I recall renting other games that were as hard or harder over and over again until we did beat them. I don't remember the motivation for making this one an exception save maybe that it was yet another game that my mom and I enjoyed trading off taking turns on. Sometimes when it comes to gaming though, something like that is all it takes.

Friday Night Rentals: Samurai Shodown

So the main reason I wasn't into fighting games was because I was terrible at them. I thought it best to lead with that because the times I rented fighting games were few and far between. If I was only so-so at shoot'em ups, I was even worse at fighting games. Occasionally I'd plunk a quarter into an arcade cabinet thinking somehow I'd manage to mash the buttons in the right order so that I'd fire off a special move or beat back the computer opponent.

Usually I'd find myself defeated in short order and well with in a minute of having spent the quarter.  So why exactly would I go out of my way to have rented a game like this in the first place? I guess the eternal foolish hope that somehow by getting better at one fighting game I would instantly "figure out" other fighting games.

So how did I fair when I rented it, and how do things look to me now?

Graphics and Style:

I always thought the game bore a strong resemblance to the Street Fighter series, and that opinion hasn't really changed now that I own it years later. You have varied, animated backgrounds, a cast of eclectic and cartoonish characters, and each character has on screen "text taunt" you see when you lose. I suppose this was to make you feel a need to prove the computer wrong and pop in a another character. Well, without the cabinet around to make me think I was a mere quarter away from victory, I'm only a continue away, and somehow that makes me a little sad. But I'll explain that part later.


Music/Sound Design:

As far as sound goes it's filled with the typical grunts, "oofs" and yells. punch and kick effects which you would expect a game like this to have. The music does a great job setting the tone and atmosphere of the game. In particular, there's the character select theme.

"Character Select Theme"

Every time I hear the character select music it leaves me feeling like I should have a katana or something ready to pull out from a sheath on my back or by my side. Then again, as I'm not a samurai warrior and would likely get cut to ribbons by a true warrior, it's probably for the best that I don't have a katana nearby.


Gameplay and Control:

Do games like this really have a story? I mean, I get with Mortal Kombat you are fighting to keep a portal from opening or some-such thing, Here, it's more like your typical tournament fare.  You fight through the various opponents one by one until you defeat them all--or at least you probably do. Me? I lose after the first or second fight, unable to power through the opponents. I blame this entirely on my own lack of skill as the control for the characters feels responsive enough in its own right. Sometimes I admit though the control doesn't feel quite as tight as Capcom's Street Fighter series, but again, as I always have a bit of difficulty with fighting games this doesn't surprise me.


Memories and New Thoughts:

Why did this ever get rented back in the day? Or at least, why did I ever rent this back in the day? Maybe I thought since I wouldn't have to drop a roll of quarters I'd eventually get the hang of it and beat it like I had with other game rentals. Well, I guess when it came to fighting games at least, whether a ported home version or the in arcade version, I did nothing but lose rounds, and patience. I'm reasonably certain this was one of those games where I played it only a few times before just giving up on it entirely. What was I thinking renting a game like this again--let alone buying it later as an adult?  I played it again for this review, thinking maybe I was just a silly kid who couldn't get the hang of things--but no, I'm a silly adult as well, still unable to get the hang of things. It's a good game overall, and I like having added it to my collection...even if I don't ever get much past the character select screen.

Friday Night Rentals: F-Zero

Not every game that we consider an awesome classic was a winner for me back in the day.  Fresh from having thoroughly enjoyed Mario Kart. I decided I needed to give that sci-fi racing game I had seen at the store a try.  When I got home and found myself getting run off the "road" and into space or exploding on the track more often finishing the race--let alone placing--I had begun to wonder why I had bothered renting a racing game in the first place. Even one as cool looking as F-Zero.

Graphics and Style:

Mode 7 makes an appearance again here the same way it does in Super Mario Kart and still helps to give the game a nice sense of depth even to this day. Back when I was a kid the backgrounds to the game bored me to a bit and I thought as an adult it might have been because I was somehow more enthralled as a kid by the brighter colors offered by Super Mario. Well, as an adult I guess not much has changed because I still feel like there should be more going on.  There are some nice touches in F-Zero's background like futuristic cities and such, but that's about it. And, while I appreciate that underneath the tracks there's an ever-scrolling ground--this neat trick of the graphics just didn't ad much for me personally. Besides, with the fast pace of the game, who has time to look at that graphic when zooming along? In fact, why would I want to drop into the awaiting abyss just to see the pretty graphics? I see right through you F-Zero! As if the being run off the road wasn't bad enough.

Music and Sound:

Here's the obligatory shout out to the Mute City Theme:

"Mute City Theme"

Yeah, I can see why this theme gets remixed and updated over the years, even to this day it really helps get you in the mood to zoom along at break-neck speeds through narrow corridors. You need that feeling throughout a game like this and with tunes like the Mute City theme and Sand Ocean:

"Sand Ocean"

--you really get in the state of mind you need. I don't think many of the tunes would make my iPod, but there's enough 16-bit goodness there to get you pumped up.

Gameplay and Control:

You can select from knight, queen, or king leauges; and you have your pick of one of four vehicles to race with.  Every racer has their own unique advantages from strength to speed to acceleration and more. I think having only four racers was a mistake on Nintendo's part, but as this was one of the early games it might have just been due to lack of space on the cart, I'm not really sure. What it lacks in racers it more than makes up for in tracks.  Each track has a recharge station somewhere in it and your going to want to pit your ship as much as possible on the higher levels because destroying other racers is one of the core mechanics of the game.

You see, F-Zero isn't just about beating other racers to the finish, it's about survival. Make no mistake, most tracks, even the easier ones, will likely trash your car to point of it nearly exploding. If the dangers of the sharp turns and tricky jumps don't kill you, you can always count on one of the other racers to murder-ram you until you're nothing more than a smoking cinder.  Even the fairly tight and easy to use controls won't help you because your opponents can seem more bent on killing you than finishing the race. One thing I will say though for this is that it's kind of neat to see the number of racers allowed to continue decrease with each passing lap and knowing that you can up your chances of falling into that qualifying number if you simply bump off the other racers.

Memories and New Thoughts:

I have to admit that F-Zero is one my more recent pick ups, despite it having been one of those games I rented off and on as a kid. You'd think that meant I loved it, but in fact I just was so frustrated with that I kept trying to do better just to know that I could actually complete a league. Well, that never happened, and if my recent replaying of it is anything to go by, I probably never will. Oh, I'll grant that the music for some of the levels in F-Zero were among Nintendo's best. I'm pretty sure a huge chunk of my favorite tunes from video games come from the Super Nintendo selection regardless of how well I liked the game. However, aside from the mode 7 tricks with the "floor", I can't help but think how it just doesn't compare to all the variation in Super Mario Kart. (Which is probably why I bought that one and only rented F-Zero.) I'm glad to have the game in my collection, even if it does serve as a reminder of why I never really got into racing games.

Friday Night Rentals: Super Star Wars

A long, long Friday night ago....

What do you get when you combine an iconic franchise, a kid hoping to play as the hero of a galaxy far, far away; and murderously hard gameplay?  Super Star Wars for the Super Nintendo of course! A not too long time ago, in home far, far away (California to be exact) I rented the Super Star Wars game hoping for shot at Jedi glory. What I found was endlessly impossible mazes inside of sand crawlers, womp rats that could rip you to pieces, and a farm boy so hopelessly inept at handling a lightsaber it was a wonder he hadn't impaled himself on the thing yet.  The NES days were over at this point, but "Nintendo Hard" levels of difficulty were still very much alive.  So what was it like to play the game a long long time ago, and how was it today?

Graphics 

I was impressed back then. This wasn't some choppy nonsense and uncontrollable land-speeders on dull brown backgrounds, this was lightsabers, as bright and vibrant as you could want!  There were countless settings both from the movie and new ones invented just for the game. I never once felt like I was anywhere other than in the Star Wars universe.  In fact, playing this game years later, I still feel like I'm immersed in the Star Wars universe when I play it, more so than when I played a certain "Podracer" game.  It really holds up in terms of selling you the locations, the parallax scrolling ads depth that doesn't just feel gimmicky or slapped on. In light of the prequels, I guess at this point they cared about the quality of the game.

Music/Sound:

From digitized voices to the typical bass-y sounds of the SNES, it really felt like I was listening to the actual Star Wars music back when I was a kid. Now that I'm all grown up and more discerning it still really holds up! Okay, not so much....Yeah, compared to the full orchestras and CD quality tracks of the more recent Battlefront and Star Wars online, it may sound as if I'm embellishing a bit ...Maybe I am a little, but the soundtrack certainly takes me back to when I was a kid.  Listening now, it sounds sickly and as tinny as any SNES track, but at the time it was gold.

SNES Star Wars Main Theme

These days it sounds like a slightly out of tune kids instrument, like those recorders or xylophones we had.   The instrument is not horrible, and you know it's capable of producing music--it just does so off key.  If you had your choice between this and the real deal--and these days you do--you'll likely have the original soundtrack on your ipod, and so would I.  The music accomplishes what it needs to though, and through the tinny trumpets and overly bass-y drums, you get John Williams famous compositions on your SNES.

Where the audio really shines is in the sound design.  Lightsabers sound like lightsabers, the guns have the same quick "pew" sound they do in the movies, and Luke really screams like a pansy when something hurts him or he dies--It's just like in the movies!

Gameplay and Memories:

Remember earlier when I said the game was murderously hard? Well, you may think I was exaggerating, and you'd be wrong. In fact, I was probably selling it a bit short. The game automatically starts you at the medium or "Brave" setting, if you don't want to die within a few seconds, best set it to easy.  No wonder uncle Owen didn't want Luke to leave home! If the Tatooine of the movie was like in the game, Luke wouldn't have made it past the first moister collector, let alone to the Mos Eisley cantina. When I was a kid, this was one of those games that frustrated the utter daylights out of me! With hard platforming, insanely difficult villains that weren't even boss battles, and little help in the way of continues and health; it should have been one of those games that I played only on Friday, then ignored for the rest of the weekend while I played something else. But it was Star Wars!!! How could I possibly turn my back on what was once the greatest set of movies of all time. (Remember, this was pre-prequel days...) Funny how even now I feel like this holds true.

To be fair, it's not that Luke controls poorly, or at least not too poorly. It's pretty obvious though that wherever Luke goes, the sands of Tatooine are always with him as he slips off platforms or slides from narrow ledges leading either to endless backtracking, or certain doom. Back then I never noticed how some levels take on an almost Hanna Barbara cartoon type quality as you see the same background over and over. Guess I was too busy enjoying being Luke to notice how much it felt like covering the same territory. Also, why does everyone have to stop to shoot? Why can't I run while shooting? I know it's not a run and gun, but still, it feels weird to come to a complete halt to fire at everything from womp rats to stormtroopers. It's feels like I'm tempting fate holding still for a stormtrooper, despite their legendary inaccuracy. I can't help wondering even now if Luke's inability to hit as much as I'd like comes from me not doing well or if it's actually Luke's fault for not having better control of his Jedi powers. This game was only set in the first movie, so I'm pretty sure it's his non-Jedi-ish-ness that does it.


Final Thoughts

I gave this game chance after chance when I was a kid. To the point that it was one of those games that I actually went out and got for the SNES.  So here we are, years later and I still feel like I'm facing insurmountable odds, incredible difficulty, and the feeling that five continues just isn't nearly enough.  It may still have that old Star Wars feel, but I can see why look was tempted by the Dark Side. No where's my game genie?

Friday Night Rentals: Legendary Wings

I get the impression they were reeeeeeally trying to be Superman-ish...

I was never that good at the shoot'em up genre of games. While I love the likes of Gradius, Life Force, and others; I never quite got the hang of them or as into them as my friends. More often than not, when it came to Shoot'em Ups, I would rent them on a Friday and be feel like I was done with them that same night. Not because any good at them, but because I would reach a frustration point with the game so quickly that I'd wished I had rented Castlevania 2 again.  So, when I rented Capcom's Legendary Wings, was my experience the same as with other shooters?  Well, before I get too far down memory lane lets get something clear:

Shoot'em Up, got it? Not shmup!  

Good?

Excellent! Now that we've got that out of the way, let's talk some Legendary Wings.

Gameplay/Control

You fly around and blow up bad guys with weapons trying to defeat the evil boss of something or other in a noble quest too blah, blah, blah.  Okay, okay, so I'm not massively familiar with the supposed plot of the game other than you're some winged super-hero guy trying to beat the evil bosses at the end of various stages.  I don't think shoot'em ups are exactly known for having in depth plots and heavy characterization.  I will say though that the game still stands out to me this day as being on of the few times in a shoot'em up where you played as something other than a plane or ship of some kind.

Flying the pink-booted angel mutant is both easy and enjoyable with the tight controls and quick response to button pushes. Some shoot'em ups give you a hit box that seems to fill half the screen while the other half fills with bullets. Legendary Wings doesn't overload you with bullets, so maneuvering around the sky and around enemy fire doesn't get overwhelming.

Another feature I liked from the game when I was a kid, and like even now, was how the game offered a mix or shooter styles such a side-scrolling, overhead scrolling, and my personal favorite, slow-as-molasses scrolling. Yes, "Wings"  suffers from slow down from time to time, as do many such games on the NES. Even back then I had a sense that the NES was doing its best to make the game happen, but even so the flickering a slow-down could really hinder gameplay at times. If you're the type who can't get enough slow down try playing the awesome two player co-op version. That's right! Up to two people could love and enjoy the lovely, near bullet-hell, that was continually unfolding.


Music/Sound

As was the case with many games put out by the bigger companies of the time, Capcom tended to recycle many of their sound effects.  If you're like me, you'll probably get a kick out of hearing the same gun noises and hit effects as you would in almost any given Mega Man game no draw backs here.  I will say however that the music was a bit of a let down. I thought me not remembering the tunes in Legendary Wings was my own fault and something easily chalk-up-able to the fact I only rented the game once.  Whelp, I was wrong, it wasn't me this time, it was just Capcom putting out some truly spectacularly average music.  Here's the only track I ever got to hear as a kid, and it's apparently the only I'll get to hear as an adult too:

Not that it was a bad, atonal mess, just that it lacked the same punch of the Mega Man series. Do you think I'm asking a bit much by constantly referencing how well they did the music for Mega Man? Well, you're wrong. Clearly they had it in them to produce fantastic, original and memorable soundtracks. How many of us have heard jazzed up or full heavy metal versions of the Elec-Man stage or the intro to Mega Man 2?  C'mon Capcom! Surely you can hop in a nearby time travel machine and give us great set of tunes from Legendary Wings!  You even have a few touches in this first soundtrack that make it sound like the song wants to reach an epic conclusion but can never quite get there.

Graphics/Style
 Remember how a few sentences ago I mentioned the familiarity with the Mega Man sounds? Well, I thought I'd point out how many of the backgrounds and textures seem to be re-used Mega Man fare. Again, not that this constitutes a problem, just that companies like Capcom had no compunction about reusing assets on hand, and oh boy do they seem to be on hand. From rocky textures that seem like imports from Gutsman's stage to color choices seemingly influenced from other games; Capcom was smart to use things on hand and not shell out more moolah for development.


Remembering After the Rental

When I was a kid, I had no idea that this game was actually a port of an arcade original, so I guess in hindsight it's partially nice to know that some of the difficultly was due to it having lived as a quarter muncher in a previous life. But oh, how I wish I could drop in a couple of quarters to the NES port. The game should have been called "Legendary Difficulty" as you have no continues and the only way to get said continues was to hunt down certain hidden objects throughout the level. I never found the continues when I was a kid, and when I played the game for the blog, I didn't find them either. I guess if I wanted to make up for having wasted a rental back in the day, I should look and see if I can finally, finally find a way to continue the game and possibly see and hear stuff past level 2.  Or, I could try to speed run Contra again....

Friday Night Rentals: Bubsy is the Best!!!

Best Game of All time

Failed mascot?  More like FANTASTIC mascot!  Am I right? It's Friday night, you're looking to have some fun this weekend, so what better game to get than than good ol' Bubsy!  Yes, it's time to dive into the depths of one of the most beloved games of all time. What could possibly go wrong?

Gameplay

Remember, if you miss those narrow ledges and die, it's your fault and yours alone. Don't go blaming slippery controls or anything other than your inability to play well like a true retro gamer.  Oh, and don't go knocking the plotline of aliens stealing yarn balls as absurd! Clearly the developers at Accolade had contact with a higher intelligence and know what invaders from another planet are truly after.

Music and Sound:

Title Screen Music

What a happy, peppy time Bubsy offers, doesn't it? And it's made all the better by the upbeat, boppin music. I would gladly download any and all of the soundtrack to my ipod and share it every where I go. Truly, the composer was experiencing life on a higher plane than the rest of us.

And for sound design?  My goodness!  Who can imagine games before the digitization of "What can possibly go wrong?"  All other sound bytes before and since pale in comparison. I truly don't understand why the gaming industry hires voice actors any more when we've already reached peak perfection.

Thoughts when returning the rental:

I can't believe I don't have a mint CiB sealed copy on my shelf, I bet I'm the only collector who doesn't.  Oh well. I think if I did own a sealed copy though I'd bust it open and play it every chance I got just to see if I could actually beat the game.  Well, maybe not every waking moment, but....

Well, let me be honest and put the April-ness aside for a minute. I actually do like Bubsy, warts and all. Yes the controls are slippery and the digitized voices are annoying. Yes, Bubsy was full of cheap deaths and frustrating platforming--but I actually did rent the heck out of this game as a kid. It was one of those ones that my mom and I would take turns playing through and see how far we could get. Nope, we never got that far at all.  Did I know it was a piece of garbage game?  Did I know that it would be one of the most hated games out there thanks to its difficulty? Nope. And I didn't care, because I was having fun, and that was all that mattered in the end.

Isometric March Madness: R.C. (Rotten Cheater-computer) Pro-Am

Time to wrap up Isometric March Madness with one of the most memorable games on the NES, R.C. Pro-Am. The R.C. stands for "rotten cheater" and don't tell me that it stands for "remote control" because I remember the computer cars when I raced against them as the filthy cheaters they were. And when I played it again for this review...well, let's get down to reviewin', shall we?

Gameplay/Control

R.C. Pro-Am has a fantastic concept that just doesn't pan out as well any of us would like--or at least as well as I'd like. I love remote control cars, and as a kid the idea of playing as one sounded great! Especially since you got the opportunity to grab power ups and weapons to zip by or blow up other racers. Yes, it may predate the SNES franchise-spawning classic Mario Kart, but it just didn't have the chops to make the game reach its full potential. Not to say that it wasn't a ton of fun to play, just that the game has issues that stood out then and stand out all the more today.

First and foremost, and lastmost, and everything in-between-most; the A.I. gets ridiculously hard and cheaty after only a few races. Let me be clear here, I don't just mean Nintendo-Hard. I mean the computer racers clearly are dumping gallons of nitro into hidden compartments because if you progress far enough in the game they go from merely difficult competitors to inhuman monster machines which not even a direct missile can stop. Yes, they are computer controlled, but it feels like straight up demon possession going on. There were several times when I found myself suddenly "out" of the top 3, and needing to use one of the three continues. No problem, just hop back in the rack, use one of the missile power ups to take some lead cars and secure a spot, right? Wrong! I found myself out again as one computer racer took a slight edge ahead of me, and the one in first place rocketed ahead, in a place where there were no speed boosts and snatched a win. I have no idea what the team at Rare was thinking, but clearly they were thinking of punishing all who dared to even think they'd ever see all 32 levels.

Aside from the insanely over-powered computer oppenents the rest of the game isn't half bad, but it isn't that great either. The map on the bottom of the screen offers a chance for you to glance and see where upcoming turns are, however, you have no idea where hazards like pop-up walls, water spots, and oil slicks are.  You can grab missiles to shoot racers ahead of you, or bombs to drop on those behind you--if you manage to get ahead.  Powering up your car with various upgrades would be cool, but whatever power up you get, the computer instantly gets as well. Grabbing power ups can get especially annoying on higher levels as you bump a wall nabbing a power up, only to see a computer racer going zooming ahead of you like it just stole your speed boost. If you grab the letters scattered on the track, you upgrade your r.c. to a faster, more sporty model, but so does the computer, and trust me, they have way more experience controlling the car than you ever will.

As far as the controls go, they aren't too bad for what they are. In fact, I'd say that it ties Marble Madness in terms of well designed control.  If you have the track and various traps memorized, maneuvering around them isn't too much of a problem, too bad there are all those stupid computer racers around. While you can enjoy the racing well enough, if you're like me you'll be wishing there was a time trial mode or something so you could get a bit more familiar with the tracks on the higher levels. As it stands, it's just you and the cheating computer driving R.C.'s

Graphics/Style

The style is fairly simple and straightforward. It's you and three other one color racers blazing around a relatively small track littered with obstacles. The simple colors work okay I guess. I know there were hardware limitations, and getting the games frame rate (if that's the right term for it) to move as well as it does probably takes a lot.  However, I selfishly admit I wish that the colors on screen or the vehicle designs were just a little more beefed up than they were.  But for what they had to work with, Rare's take on isometric angles wasn't half bad.

Music/Sound

"Title Screen"

Shame that the music from the title screen is all you get really in terms of music.  Other than the title music and a nice, quick ditty before each race that gets you revved up and ready to play, there's no music to speak of.  It's too bad to because maybe a sweet soundtrack would have distracted from the fact that the computer was engaging in high-level cheaterness.

Sound design in the game never really impressed me as a kid, and as an adult I just find it annoying. Whatever satisfaction I get from launching a missile that temporarily stops one of the computer units

dead in its tracks quickly evaporates as I go squealing around a corner. I'll give this to R.C. Pro-Am though, that squealing tire sound is every bit as annoying as their real-world counter part.


Returning the Rental:

It's not hard to believe that this title was put out by Rare. The control was great, what little music there was matched the mood of the game alright, and for what the graphics were at time they weren't too bad. I played the game over and over and over again before doing this reflection. I kept say, "Just one more race and I'll get it." Some how I was able to fool myself into thinking that I'd get better and magically make it through all of the game.  I remember feeling like this back when I was a kid too. Thinking that winning the race was just around the corner, just one more try and I'd make it not only further than last time, but that I'd actually beat the game.  Well, despite getting it for Christmas as a kid, and trying and trying then and trying and trying as an adult, I never got as far as level 20.  But maybe, just maybe next time I will.

If it weren't for the cheaty computer.

Isometric March Madness: Solstice

Don't you just love the box art for Solstice? I mean, c'mon, this wizard looks like he has choices on how he's going to pound your sorry butt into into the ground. He's got a magic potion in one hand, a staff shooting lightening in the other, and the sheer power of his pec muscles causes his beard to fly back because it can't handle the awesomeness from his roided out chest! This guy looks more like some crazed viking warrior than a mage. I guess that's why he covered his entire body in a purple robe during gameplay. The developers at CSG Imagesoft Ince didn't think we were capable of handling the magnificence of his mighty pecs.  Too bad he couldn't use those muscles to help during the game, because even though I rented Solstice several times when I was a kid, I never managed to get anywhere. Just how frustrating was the game?  Well, it's Isometric March Madness time, and this game typifies the "madness" of isometric games to me.

Gameplay/Control

Typically when playing games about conquering evil wizards, you get muscled men who look like Fabio a la' Wizards and Warriors.  In Solstice, instead of the knight as hero, we get Shadax the Wizard who, according to the box art,  still has a spectacular body because that's how those medieval types roll, so to speak. Morbius the Malevolent has kidnapped the lovely Princess Eleanor and plans to do the ol' ritual sacrifice thing on the princess in order to become a "Baron of Darkness."  Well, he might just succeed because your quest to get a mystical staff to defeat Morbius means navigating through a peril filled fortress filled with monsters and deathtraps.

You'd think for a juiced up, muscle bound wizard nothing would be impossible. Well, sometimes it feels like it IS impossible because control of Shadax the Wizard always felt slippery to me and still does when I picked it up years later. Even though the control of the wizard is fairly straight forward, and using the various potions that freeze time or stun enemies is fairly intuitive; it constantly feels like the razor-thin margin of error allowed on death-defying jumps means you'll be plunging to your death more often than not. You can pick up continue tokens in the maze-like setting, and sometimes find potion refills. However, with how quickly you can die (and die you will) those extra lives and continues will likely disappear before you know it.

Graphics/Style

Now this game was the first game that came to my mind when I thought about doing an entire month devoted to isometric NES games. I am grateful that I remembered that there are other games out there with an isometric view, because the isometric views in Solstice are one part cool and well detailed, and 2 parts extreme frustration. There were so many times as a kid, and so many times now as an adult, where I would fall to my death on spikes, touch an enemy and instantly vaporize, or narrowly miss a complex sequence of jumps because the perspective and planes were wonky. Think that block you're about to jump on is directly in front of you? Nope! It's actually two feet to the left and you are now headed for a group of deadly spikes. I tell ya, this was some classic "Nintendo Hard," stuff going on.

Despite the difficulty, I always enjoyed renting the game because I found the isometric view both fun and different, and a bit exciting. It was almost like 3D!...almost.  The monsters were colorful and interesting while being appropriately creepy and evil looking, and the various rooms had neat little touches that made each one feel unique so I was never left wondering if I had already been in a particular room. This combination of monsters and varying rooms along with the map screen truly made it feel as if you were exploring the depths of a mysterious fortress.


Music/Sound

I can't say too much about sound design because if there's more to it than the hopping noise, cast potion sound, and those high-pitched death screams, I haven't heard it. And boy howdy have I heard that death scream over and over again:

"Item Grab/Death Jingle"

Ah yes.  Aside from those sound effects, the game doesn't have that much there, and frankly, it doesn't have that much when it comes to music either. Not that the intro music doesn't feel epic, it really does, but when it comes to the task of exploring the fortress of Kastlerock and solving its puzzles, the game has only one tune:

"Main BGM Theme"

Not too shabby for being the main song you hear. The low bass and plodding tune are catchy and help pass the time (and frustration). The fact that it goes from the simple beats and builds up to include flute-like sounds and tamborine-ish jingles while keeping the low beats actually is pretty impressive for the Nintendo's sound capability. The composer managed to make the music sound like it was something from a renaissance fair. Even though you pretty much only hear this tune, it's fairly good for what it has to do. I'd gladly put it on loop while working a project or doing a task that required concentration.

Reflection after the rental:

I finally picked this game up about a year ago. I thought maybe time and experience had built within me the patience necessary to deal with the slippery controls and figure out the various puzzles. Heck, with the internet I could cheat like crazy if I wanted and watch a walk-through to help me solve the many puzzles. Well, I wanted to come at this isometric game from the same perspective as I did when I was a kid. No instruction manual (the rental store usually didn't have them) and almost no clue as to how to control the wizard and solve puzzles. Well, even though I figured out the controls, it seems clear to me now that the vile being Morbius will likely sacrifice the young maiden and gain unbelievable power long before the Wizard Shadax finds his way through the mysterious fortress. I like puzzle games, and I like that it requires a bit of figuring out in order to advance in the game.  However, even with the passing of time, I still have a hard time figuring out where on the isometric play field and given objects are.

Despite  the frustration though, I still like the game and am glad I finally have it in my collection. Without the pressure of the impending weekend's end coming, I know that if I don't beat the game by the time Sunday evening rolls around, it's okay. I own Solstice now and have all the time I need to either fall into a set of spikes for the hundredth time...or actually make it over them for once.

Isometric March Madness (Friday Night Rentals): Snake Rattle N' Roll

Snakes, why did it have to be snakes...

You've heard of March Madness? Well, how about some Isometric March Madness?  That's right, for the month of march the spotlight goes to those games with a unique "perspective" on things. Let's get geared up for this month of isometric inspired games with an old favorite of mine; Snake, Rattle N Roll.  I had a blast with this game back in the day. I remember trying out the two player mode with my mom and enjoying a bit of competition as well as we tried to snag the pellets--sorry--Nibbley Pibbleys, and raced to the goal. So how does this shifted view retro games stand up today? Well, snakes don't have legs so it can't stand up today any more than it could yesterday, but still--listen, let's just get to the review and remembrances, k'?

Control/Gameplay

The basic gameplay feels like an update of the classic "snake" game you can find embedded in your old graphing calculator.  You're a technicolor snake with a mission to munch pellets. For each pellet you eat, you get a new body segment. Your main objective is to gain enough body segments to ring a bell which opens up a door leading to the next level.  For an isometric game, the controls are fairly straightforward--no pun intended. You can jump, and your snake's tongue doubles as pellet muncher and attack weapon. There are no bosses in the game, but it has plenty of obstacles, traps, and goofy enemies to make your race to grab pellets an interesting one. One complaint I had from back in the day that still holds true now is the razor-thin margin of error allowed for platform jumps over certain-death abysses. Like all isometric games, it's easy to misjudge a jump multiple times, and then run out of lives and continues without ever knowing whether you were even close to nailing the jump. 

Music/Sound

Too bad your little guy doesn't have any legs to bop along to the music because the melodies in Snake Rattle N Roll really capture the 50's diner, bleating jukebox  peppiness you would come to expect from a game that has a rendition of the famous "Shake, Rattle, and Roll" tune:

"Shake, Rattle, and Roll"

The in-game music captures the spirit of the title track in way that's really surprising and really pleasing. Not only does it really get you swinging along, but it helps keep the action of collecting pellets--sorry Nibbly pibblys--fun and exciting. As I mentioned earlier, isometric games on the NES sometimes got on my nerves because I'd more often than not misstep, mis-jump, or just plain miss the mark when trying to get somewhere. Something about the inherent happiness of classic 50's tune can't help but make me smile--even as my snake plummets to his doom for the ump-teenth time.

Graphics/Style

Let's face it, you don't need Indiana Jones around to make you wonder why it had to be snakes. Personally, I liked the goofy set up back then. Colorful characters, zany enemies, and a point challenge with no enemies. I even liked the competitive aspect of the game. I also enjoyed that there were no boss battles in the game. Not to say that I don't like boss battles, just I don't think it would have fit with the tone of the game. 

Reflection on the Rental

I remember experiences I had with other isometric games (which I'll talk about later this month) and was worried about how much I would enjoy the game.  And to my surprise, it was actually pretty easy to figure out the jumping and chomping mechanics of the game back in the day and there's still some visceral enjoyment I get out of gobbling the pellets which I liken to gobbling dots in Pac-Man. When I was a kid I enjoyed having games I could play with my parents as well as my older brother. Oh sure, doing a fighting game like River City Ransom was fun, but my folks weren't in to that kind of game. Here though with Snake, Rattle N Roll was a game that I could get my mom or dad interested in playing, and even have a bit of fun being competitive. It was well worth picking up as not only did evoke memories of that time when I wanted to play a video game with my folks, but it also was great seeing if I had learned how to get past certain levels that frustrated me as a child and I would ask my parents to do. Unfortunately, I still get stuck.

I wonder if my folks would mind coming over to my house for a bit to help with something?

A Quest Not Beaten: Legend of Zelda Memories.

The Legend of Zelda turned 30 this past Sunday, and perhaps you don't need another article to tell you how awesome of game Zelda is, do you?  Because if you don't already know that it's one of the best game series on the planet, then please go and read one of the dozens of articles--actually, I take that back.  Just go and play the freaking game!  Then you'll know for yourself why this game still remains one of the most incredible franchises of all time. When it appeared on the scene 30 years ago, it was unlike anything out there--at least, anything that I had ever played.  I almost did a "Friday Night Rentals" article about the original Legend of Zelda as it was one of those games that I rented back in the day. However, I actually got this game as a kid and even if I were to write about it, so much has already been said I wouldn't know where to begin. (Not that one more article would never appear, just not something I want to write about at this time).  Instead, I wanted to talk a bit about my experience beating the original game for the first time and that fabled second quest. 

Anywho, before we talk about some good ol' fashioned Legend of Zelda goodness for a bit, lets cue the intro music:

Ah, what better way to begin an epic quest than a bit of spirited music? Now, from the title of this article you might think I was implying that I never beat the game. Let me be honest about that....

Of course I beat the game! Geez!  It was too fantastic to put down, too rad not to play all the way through! My dad even sat down and played the game a bit such was his level of impressed-ness.  Now, it took a while to beat this game as a kid--heck, I'm no speed runner--it still takes a bit of work. What a fantastic, and new concept. An open world, full of danger and excitement. This was a Hyrule unlike the iterations we've come to know. There are no side towns, no castle settings or separate lands. Just you and a wilderness full of monsters. Yeah, there's the occasional shop keeper trying to sell potions and make a quick buck. Heck, you might stumble upon a bearded hermit wanting to give you a sword thanks to how dangerous it is to go alone out there.

So when I defeated Ganon, assembled the Triforce and rescued Zelda, it was pretty clear that was it. The game was beaten.

But no!  There was a second quest! Why? Did Zelda plan on resurrecting Ganon and letting him kidnap her again? Did the Ocarina of Time blast you into another dimension where you were back to the swordless, three-hearted whimp you were at the beginning?  I guess so, because you can start the game shortly after beating it and try The Legend of Zelda's infamous second quest.  Here, all but the first dungeon and sword-giving hermit had moved. Nothing was as it used to be...well, except for the whole "collect-the-Triforce-pieces-and-save-Zelda" thing. So how did I react to this?

At first, I was really into the whole idea of playing through the game a second time. I had a ton of fun doing it the first time around, why not do it a second time that was a bit more challenging? Sure, it was a bit harder, and navigating the first letter-shaped dungeon resulted in numerous deaths and do-overs; yet I was still having fun. Just as suddenly though, my excitement waned.  

"Why was I playing the same game again?" I would think to myself. Hadn't I saved Hyrule already? What was the point of beating it again? Was the ending likely to change? And so, I ended up talking myself out of it.  What was the point of playing a harder version of an already beaten game? I was just a kid then, and for whatever reason, I convinced myself tht finishing off the second quest was a waste of time. 

Dumb, I know, but...yeah, as a kid I just had sooooo much time devoted to the other, "more important" things (like skateboarding and watching cartoons, I guess) that I just didn't have time for another round of The Legend of Zelda. I guess now, you might call it a "gamer regret."

Oh sure, I still have the Nintendo and my original copy of Zelda, I even downloaded it on to my WiiU via the eShop so I could pop it on through the merest push of a button. Even with that going for me, I still haven't beaten the second quest in Legend of Zelda. I've gotten a fair ways in it, to be sure. For a while I incorrectly thought I remembered actually beating the second quest until I realized there were some dungeons so well hidden that I had no clue, no memory of having found them before.Then it all came flooding back.  Years later though, the truth is, I don't know if I'll ever get through that second quest. Blasphemy for a Zelda fan. Even as I type it I have a hard time believing it.

Yes, I know there are walk-thrus and hints so readily available that it's ridiculous. None of us had the kind of gaming advice back then that you do now. It was you and an issue of Nintendo Power you hoped had the hint you needed. If not, better luck next month.  So maybe I've run out of excuses. 

Maybe, rather than sharing gratuitous (and awesome) montage shots to Legend of Zelda through the years, a better tribute would be to finally buckle down and beat that second quest.  Maybe, just maybe the hour to rescue princess Zelda for a second time has finally arrived!

(Cue gratuitous box art montage)

One of the best soundtracks ever.

An epic Epic of epic epicness...

And of course this little gem that I ....

...Wait. An HD remaster of Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess comes out soon?  Guess I'll be too busy to finish that second quest after all....maybe.

Friday Night Rentals: Super Contra

Hey there kids! Do you need a game with that Contra feel, but extra punishing and so difficult you'll have broken your controller before you realize what you've done?

Yeah!

Well, no need to look any further, because we've taken your regular Contra game and made it about a million times better!  In fact it's down right super!

Hooray!

That's right, it's time to talk Super C for the NES. And boy howdy, I can remember getting so angry at this game back when I was a kid. Why did I get so angry? Well, for starters I got almost nowhere in the game thanks to the fact my beloved Konami code wasn't working. Not that I needed it all the time for the original Contra, but a security blanket was a nice thing to have every now and then. Only would get a few stages in, lose all my continues and lives, and then that was it. It was time to start all over again.  I seem to recall actively trying to enjoy this game back in the day. Guess I was a little spoiled with the old school Konami code, and not knowing this actually did have an extra life code, I tried to beat this game legitimately like the chump I was.  Well, thanks to the power of the internet I found out that I was mistaken all these years and there actually WAS an extra life code!  But as I wanted to see how things went this time around playing (and now finally owning the game), I thought I play again to see if I fared any better and enjoyed the game a second time around.  So how was it to relive the game?


So, those pesky aliens are back, trying to conquer the world, and for whatever reason they have managed to recruit some humans to help them. Thankfully you've got a slew of weapons to send your treacherous fellow humans to well-deserved graves. Oh, and unleash hell on the aliens as well.  All your favorite weapons are back from spread gun to machine gun. Of course, the utterly useless laser gun has come back as well, proving once again that clearly your enemies will fool you into thinking the laser is awesome--when of course this isn't true. In fact, I almost see it as dangerous as walking around without a gun. In fact, it might be more dangerous to use the laser than to just trying to run and avoid enemy fire as you will be tempted to use the laser and die as a result.

Gameplay pretty much feels like the original Contra, which means you're in for some run-and-gun awesomeness. I wasn't kidding earlier when I said that the game can get punishing at times.  The first stage, while easy-ish, still seems to have a steep learning curve and it won't be long before you're expect to dodge weapons fire from all directions. It's especially frustrating when trying to run along along and dodge some cover-based bomb chucker--only to have some jerk bum-rush you from behind.

It's still fun though. I mean what boy back then didn't want to sit down and play as a machine-gun toting, muscled up beef-cake? In the 80's and early 90's you had guys like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sly Stallone plowing through bad guys like a fat guy with a bag of Doritos. It was an all guts, no glory type of gameplay that took no prisoners and surrender wasn't an option. It was like that with the original Contra and that action had returned full force.

The always tight control of Contra is still there in Super C, and that's both good and bad because as difficult as the game gets, you know that you were responsible for running your character into a bomb blast or bullet. No ridiculously bad hit boxes here. If you weren't tough enough to dodge a bullet, you probably didn't deserve to beat the game.


Oh, and the musical goodness from the original Contra? Don't worry, it's still here!

Gad, I miss old school Konami. Doesn't that sound track just ooze action? The beats, the tempo, the digitized drum beats. If it weren't for the fact I'm writing this little memory I'd probably pop the game in again just so I could have my guy running along and blowing away baddies to this music. 

Final Thoughts:

Confession time: when I rented this game as a kid, I only really gave it a try on the first night. Oh, I tried late into the night for sure (well, at least I tried as late as my parents allowed me to stay up). But when Saturday morning came, I tried only one or two more times. I think when Sunday rolled around I was well ready to return the game. What a pain! I was used to conquering games in a weekend, or at least left feeling like given a few more minutes I could beat it. But no, I gave up. Why? Because the game felt impossible!  When you rent a game as a kid you want to beat that game, show it who's boss--just like Arnie would!  Clearly the game was too hard and the programmers has screwed up, making an game that was impossible to beat.

Naturally, I love this game now. I mean...you get to blow up bad guys and aliens, how cool is that? Yeah, my perspective has changed. I no longer see it as just too hard or as a possibly "broken" game. It was beatable then, and it's certainly beatable now. I'm truly glad in how I've grown as a gamer....

But not nearly as glad as I am that I finally figured out that extra life code.

Friday Night Rentals: Iron Tank

Kinda funny that a number of games on the NES involved WWII. Whether it was Capcom's 1942 or 1943 or SNK's Iron Tank, there was something both compelling and fun about playing as a WWII vet. Maybe it was because of how clear the line was between good and evil. Fascism vs. Freedom, Allies vs. the Axis Powers. Good controls vs. confusing ones....Well, enough digression into history--let's play a video game!

I was a kid and as such I understood the basic fun of the game back then and still do today: Battling foes in a tank seems like a fun time, especially when you can plow over enemies foolish enough to run at you without benefit of a tank, their uniform their only means of cover. C'mon guys! In a battle between a 20-ton iron death machine and wool, who did you think would win? Especially since I get power ups for running over you. I mean seriously, this only works for me.  Kidding aside, rolling along and rolling over enemy soldiers never grows old in the game, and it kinda makes it a shame when enemy tanks show up and put the kibosh on your whole, "Plow'em into the ground" strategy.  You can shoot a machine gun and have a variety of tank-shell power ups to use when fighting baddies, but really, did I mention the running over Nazi's thing?

In case you hadn't guesses, you're playing an overhead tank shooter game where you, and you alone are storming Normandy. Yup, the rest of the army just couldn't be bothered to show up in this version of D Day. So it's all up to you to take the beach, wipe out the Nazis, and save the world.

Anywho, although you can fire on bad guys and the power ups are interesting, I never really got used to the way you operate the tank. Pressing the "A" button shoots the machine gun, pressing "B" launches a missile, but ALSO controls what direction your turret faces. Now, this really has some advantages when you've got a slew of enemies attacking up front and want to have a bit of a rearguard. However, I felt like I constantly had to remind myself how to control the turret so it wouldn't fire uselessly into the bushes or keeping firing at an already dead enemy. Not that it's terrible or can't be learned, just the curve feels a bit steep. I guess as a kid, renting this game felt like a steep curve then and it does now as I STILL don't have a copy of the instructions in front of me. I mean, goofing around with it a bit helps you learn well enough, but sometimes trying to get to know the control scheme of a NES game while Nazi's are shooting at you feels like a bit much.

Let me take a second to point to something that I really do like about the game right off the bat, and that's the music from the game:

"Iron Tank Soundtrack"

I don't know about you, but music like this sure puts me in the mood to fight Nazi's and kick all sorts of butt in WWII.  You just gotta love the pattering snare drum beat that always seems to appear in games like this. Not only does it make the game have an underlining military feel, but accompanied by the various synthesizer crescendos, the whole thing feels like parade drill, on overdrive, in the 80's.  More specifically, an action adventure version of how WWII would have played out. I love bombastic soundtracks like this because not only do get you in the mood for the game, but they make you feel like you're playing a console version of an 80's action flick.  Tell me you can't imagine your character as some brawny muscle man with a thick accent and the capability of wielding a machine gun the size of a redwood.

Final Thoughts

I wanted to like this game a bit more when I popped it in for review, and honestly I had such a migraine this past Friday (part of the reason the review is up later) I thought it was effecting my enjoyment of playing Iron Tank. Sadly, even crushing Nazi's under tank tread can grow old. After dying over and over and over again, I found myself not so much thrown into the action as I was just trying to learn enemy patterns so that I could progress a bit further. At first I thought the game was Nintendo hard because of this. In fact, I don't remember if I made it that far playing it as a kid seeing as I likely mistook the game as one of those infamously hard games. Nope, it's just pattern recognition. Playing, dying, and repeating until you eventually reach the end.

Of course, I still found it a bit fun to play, and not just because the music was awesome (and still is).  Rather, it's because this time, as an adult, I had learned to patiently plug along. Not that I didn't memorize patterns back in the day, just that sometimes beating a game like this took greater degrees of patience then my nine year old self was willing to put up with. It almost makes me wish that as a kid I wouldn't have gotten frustrated with it so quickly.

Almost.

Friday Night Rentals: Rygar, Man of the Deadly Super Yo-Yo

Perhaps it was my mom's love of Red Sonja that led her to play Tecmo's Rygar with me back in the day. Normally when I picked something up from the video store with the intent of playing with my mom it was a head-to-head puzzle game like Yoshi's Cookie or Dr. Mario.  Maybe my mom could just see how excited I was to try it out, and since my mom loves her kids and loves playing video games; she was up for an action game and the notion of trading off between stages and Game Overs.

So Rygar it was on Friday night; a game that seemed to boast a Conan the Barbarian buff-guy meat-head ala' Arnie Schwarzenegger on a quest to defeat an evil, world-endangering beast and some  and his foul hench-beasts.  That was then, this is now. So how does it stack up under slightly less rose colored glasses?


Despite the action-packed game art; most of the animation seems a little stiff when you play, with Rygar making large lunges as he runs and some of the critters look like they're running at you on tippy-toe or only need a single wing flap to sustain flight. I think I laugh almost every time when Rygar dies because he immediately pancakes on the ground as if gravity itself finally decided he's had enough of Rygar and his big, dumb yo-yo hurling butt.

You'll wander into rooms where gigantic gods offer useless "hints" or lame advice, guess they figure Rygar's such a hopeless meat head  they need to spell out basic directions for him. Occasionally these mega-gods actually give you useful tools to complete the games such as a pulley for zip lines (Which work both ways!) and a grappling hook.

A slightly open world concept makes Rygar both fun and frustrating. Just like when I rented the game as a kid; no manual came with the game when I bought it, so it took me a fair amount of time (meaning a number of deaths and an hour of aimless wandering) for me to figure out that I had to go to certain areas before others in order to advance in the game. I thought Metroid was the only game to have this kind of game play, and to think of something else employing a "go here then waaaaaaaaaaaaay over there to get farther in the game" concept of exploration was a new idea to me. Not that I dislike it, just that it was weird to see it in somewhere that didn't involve giant leeches from outer space.


When it comes to the music, forget the fact that one of the soundtracks sounds like a verbatim rip of a tune from Karnov; I swear the stage two theme  sounds like "Go to sleep, go to sleep" or some-such-lullaby.  Aside from that the music has a decent blend of action-feeling tunes and energetically paced rhythms.  The track for stage one has pleasant digital keyboard undertone and what I imagine would have been trumpets had the NES held the capability of supporting such sounds:

In general, it helps set the tone well and keep the action on screen fun while not overwhelming you eardrums.


Upon further reflection...

Man, I have no idea how we beat this back in the day, but I clearly remember my mom and I beat it over the course of a weekend. In fact, I'm guessing that's the reason we never ended up buying it. The norm was to beat a game if possible and then you didn't have to pay for it full retail. I remember the ending of the game, the animation--what there was of it--was okay, but other than a couple minor animations, there was just an on screen text scroll. I'm not sure what I was expecting though. Maybe I was spoiled in my game endings.

By the time I got around to renting this, there were other games that had so much more to offer in terms of game endings. By this point, I'd beaten the first two Mega Mans, Ninja Gaiden, Super Mario 2...and a slew of others. I know the system had limitations, but many of the games I'd beaten previously had great endings full of what I thought was top-notch game animation. Not that I'm bitter about it to this day. It's just...after having played it all those games with movie-like ends, a basic text scroll would have been a let down....would have been.

But it wasn't. I had a great time playing back and forth with my mom, it was kinda cool to have beaten the game together, and the epic end music more than made up for any text scroll:

"End Theme"

It was a great game then and remains so today. I know whenever I pop it in, I'll remember it as the first "co-op" gaming experience I had.