Impressions: Castelian (NES)
December 10, 2009 by Tim · 2 Comments
Castelian originally caught my eye when I read about its Commodore 64 incarnation: Nebulus. Namely, it’s the interesting graphical effect it uses during almost all of the gameplay that drew me to it. The game is a puzzle platformer where you’re some strange pig/frog creature and you’re hopping around platforms on the outside of a series of cylindrical towers in an effort to tear them down. The effect used to display the rotation of the tower as you move around it is really convincing, and quite impressive for an 8-bit game.
I left it at that, though. I don’t own a C64, so I wasn’t going to make much of an effort to play it. But then I noticed this game called Castelian on the NES that looked really similar. As it turns out, it’s actually the same game, just under a different name. Why? I dunno. But I’ll take it. It was a pleasant surprise to see I could play Nebulus after all!
So now that I have it, how does it fare? Pretty well, so far. My first impression of the game was that it was pretty damn hard. I couldn’t even beat the first level. Your pig/frog is not very mobile, doesn’t jump very well, and there are lots of awkwardly placed ledges to fall down and enemies to run into. Then I remembered what Metroid and Metal Gear taught me: Be patient! It’s not about busting through the game on a single life, it’s about exploring and learning the best way through the level. Once I took that approach, I started to make some good progress.
So now I’m up to the fourth level (of eight) and the level design is really starting to come alive. Stage 3 had some clever tricks to it, and stage 4 is even more intricate. I’m really starting to like it, and I’m eager to see what’s in store for later levels.
I still suck at the bonus stages, though…
Alex Kidd: High Tech World (Sega Master System)
September 22, 2009 by Tim · Leave a Comment
Having been a Nintendo kid, I find the Alex Kidd series kind of strange. If I had to use one word to describe it, I think it would be “disjointed.” This probably stems from the fact that a couple of entires in the series are actually just rebranded versions of other games. (In fact, Sega’s other early franchise series, Wonder Boy, has a similar history.) The series kicked off in a not-so-disjointed fashion with a couple of standard platformers: Alex Kidd in Miracle World and Alex Kidd: The Lost Stars. But then it just turned kind of weird after that. There was an odd Japan-only BMX game, which I know almost nothing about, and then there were Alex Kidd: High Tech World and Alex Kidd in Shinobi World.
Alex Kidd: High Tech world is actually a rebranded version of a Japanese Master System game called “Anmitsu Hime: From Amakara Castle,” a game based off of some anime I’ve never heard of. Naturally, the US anime-audience being what it was in the 80s, that was not going to sell over here. So, Sega slapped their mascot onto the game and called it a day.
But, what is it, exactly? It’s actually a fairly interesting combination of adventure and platforming. But instead of being an adventure/platformer, it’s literally a set of alternating sections of gameplay. Sega also managed to throw a few tongue-in-cheek self-references into the mix, too. In fact, the basic premise is that you’ve just found out from your friend that there’s a new arcade in town and you really want to go play the new Sega arcade games. And you have to get there before 5:00, with the clock ticking the entire time.
A Boy and His Blob (NES)
September 14, 2009 by Tim · Leave a Comment
I like side-scrollers. I like adventure games. I like “obscure” games that show up on “hidden gems” lists. I like quirky games. So it all stands to reason that I would like A Boy and His Blob, right? Well, sure enough, I do. No stylistic twist to get your attention here, I just plain like it. It’s a good game. Flawed, but good.
I had never heard of A Boy and His Blob (or, even its full title, “David Crane’s A Boy and His Blob: Trouble on Blobolonia”) back in the day, let alone actually having played it. In fact, I was only clued into its existence sometime over the last couple of years. I noticed that as I read a few “hidden gems” and “overlooked games” lists around the web and various retro games forums, this one kept popping up. I knew it was an NES game, I knew it was an adventure game, and I knew you were a boy with blob that changed shapes when you fed it jellybeans (yes, jellybeans). Beyond that, I didn’t know much else.
So with a fresh mindset and little in the way of expectations, I dove into A Boy and His Blob. And then I got stuck. After about five minutes of playing the game. So I turned it off, and came back later. And I got stuck again. At the same spot. So I turned it off and came back later. But this time, I was determined to actually figure the damn game out. And this is when it all started to click and I “got” the game. I took notes on what all the different jellybeans did, I started making a map, and I remembered what Metroid taught me: never assume a dead-end is actually a dead-end.
Bonk’s Adventure (TurboGrafx-16)
June 12, 2007 by Tim · Leave a Comment
I find it interesting to think about the 16-bit era and look at how the success of each console’s mascot parallels the success of the hardware itself. Mario and Sonic were bitter rivals, but ultimately, I’d say Mario proved to be the stronger mascot. Likewise, the SNES and Genesis were bitter rivals, with the SNES winning out in the end.
And then there are Bonk and the TurboGrafx-16. Poor little Bonk. Poor little TurboGrafx-16. Though he’s appeared in many games on several different platforms, Bonk’s spiritual home is the TurboGrafx-16. Unfortunately, he just didn’t have the star power to carry the system. In the bitter playground wars of Mario vs. Sonic, Bonk was the oft-forgotten third player. And, likewise, the TurboGrafx-16 was largely overlooked.
Was it poor marketing by Hudson and NEC? Was Bonk just not an appealing enough character? Or were his games just not good enough? Poor marketing could be a solid argument, but I don’t think that tells the full story. And Bonk, with his big head and goofy smile, is certainly appealing enough to sell games, so that theory is out, too. That just leaves the games.
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