Presented by: Fastbilly1, Marurun, & Racketboy
New To Together Retro? Check out the introduction to the club

Welcome to the second entry in the Together Retro Game Club. For our first entry we featured the arcade hit Defender, one of the most challenging arcade titles around. We know we hit hard but we’re not quite ready to grant mercy just yet. This time around we’re offering up a much-neglected, oft-overlooked Nintendo classic, Kid Icarus.

History

Kid Icarus is the paternal twin of Metroid. Built on the same engine and released the same year on FDS floppy it was overtaken by Metroid in popularity and now, many years later, you can see what that popularity bought. Metroid has numerous sequels and updates while poor Kid Icarus has only a Gameboy follow-up and Game Boy Advance and Virtual Console rereleases.
Like Metroid, Kid Icarus allowed 3 saved games and used the extra FDS FM synth sound functions. When it was brought to the US it was switched to a password system and the music and sound effects were altered to fit the standard capabilities of the US NES. Unchanged is the challenge level. Harder than Metroid but easier than Defender, Kid Icarus is like many games of the early NES generation in that it is tough as nails.

Kid Icarus has some great atmosphere and an interesting theme inter-twined with elements of mythology. In Japan the game is called Hikari Shinwa: Parutena no Kagami, or in English, Legend of Light: The Mirror of Palutena, but the English name is almost more mood appropriate given the periodic Greek myth references. You, Pit the angel, set out to defeat Medusa to save the goddess Palutena.
Depending on the level the play area may scroll up (but never down, so don’t drop off the bottom of the screen and die), sideways, or room to room. As you extend your life, gain new equipment, and buy items you become better able to conquer what the game throws at you. And it’ll take practice and memorization just to make it past the first couple levels. But oh is victory sweet. There are multiple endings to boot, but we’ll leave that for you to figure out.

Recommended Ports

Now, Kid Icarus is actually pretty easy to get your hands on if you have a Game Boy Advance or a Wii, and it’s not exactly rare on the NES. This is a game worth owning and the price is pretty reasonable no matter what your path. As far as I know, the GBA version was only released in Japan, but GBA games are region-free and of course, you can emulate it. For those of you who have a Wii, Kid Icarus is also available as an inexpensive download on the Virtual Console service.

NES	GBA	Wii VC

Emulation for Kid Icarus

If you don’t have an NES, emulation is are very viable option. NES emulators are a dime a dozen and available for just about any platform. Most emulators will also let you use “save states” that will allow you to save your spot in the game instead of depending on the password system built into the game.

Another bonus for emulator users is that if you use the right emulator you can play the original Japanese Famicom Disk System version for the extra FM syth sounds. In addition to your normal Windows/Mac/Linux emulators, below are some NES emulation options. If you need assistance setting up any emulator, please post your question in the Emulation section of the forum

• Play NES Games on the Dreamcast with NesterDC
• Play NES Games on the Nintendo DS with nesDS
• Play Kid Icarus Emulated Online

How To Play / Controls

The controls in Kid Icarus are pretty straightforward, but Pit’s jumping can take a little getting used to. You press A to jump and B to shoot arrows. You hold up to aim up or climb ladders. As expected, the directional buttons move Pit around the stages. (Check out full Kid Icarus Manual)

• Left/Right: Run left/right
• Up: Climb up, aim weapon up
• Down: Duck, Climb down
• A Button: Jump
• B Button: Use weapon
• Start Button: Switch to sub-screen
• Select Button: Select items from sub-screen

Together Retro Goals & Discussion

Instead of posting in the comments section of the blog, we will be using the forum for all of our discussion in order to keep things more organized. So play Kid Icarus and talk to us about your thoughts and play experiences in the forums. We want to know your tactics, your strategies, your successes and your failures. We want to know how you feel about being squawked at by the grim reaper while his little mini-mes try to take you out, how you showed Mr. Reaper who’s boss. Heck, if you want you can even rant about how much cooler the Eggplant Wizard is in the game than in the old Captain N cartoon.

• Kid Icarus General Discussion
• Post Your Kid Icarus High Scores / Progress
• Does Kid Icarus Deserve A Sequel? Why?

Additional Resources

• Wikipedia’s Kid Icarus Entry
• Gamespy’s Review of Kid Icarus
• Flying Omelette’s Kid Icarus Shrine

Since you probably never thought you would see me bother to review a Spyro game, let me cut to the point — Legend of Spyro: Eternal Night on the Gameboy Advance ROCKS.  I can honestly say that this game can easily be put in the same league as Metroid Fusion, Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, and Astro Boy: Omega Factor as the best action games on the Gameboy Advance and put up a phenomenal fight. 

The fact is, the GBA version of Legend of Spyro: Eternal Night takes many of the best elements from all three of these games and effectively combines them into a late GBA release that will knock your socks off.  (Keep in mind that the GBA version is nothing like the DS or console versions)

Hopefully at this point, you won’t disregard this review just because this is another installment in the Spyro the Dragon series, a franchise that is typically reserved for simple platformers geared towards the younger crowd.  It’s a good thing that you’re still here because this portable Spyro installment is definitely made for old-school gamers.

Gameplay: 9.5

The Legend of Spyro: Eternal Night doesn’t do anything particularly innovative with the gameplay, but instead borrows many concepts from other successful games.   Personally, I see nothing wrong with that, as long as the incorporated concepts work well together.  In fact, I have quite a soft spot for what I refer to as “hybrid” games.

 The Legend of Spyro: Eternal Night is definitely not one of those platformers that just take a bop on the head to kill off an enemy.   Eternal Night borrows the idea of having a large number of attack types despite having a limited number of buttons on the GBA.  Without getting into the specific moves, your standard melee move and jump are the standard face buttons and your triggers are used to switch between and use your different elemental attacks that you accumulate through the game (like fire, earth, and others).  Other attacks are learned throughout the game and executed with different combinations of the face buttons and directional pad.  Learning them one at a time throughout the game prevents you from being overwhelmed with the options and lets you get accustomed to your newest move before learning another.

 Like Devil May Cry, you will be using a lot of combo attacks and be juggling the enemies in the air to achieve some of the most effective combos.  Overall, the combo system is both easy to pick up and quite flexible. The casual player can easily perform initially-impressive combos, but they can slowly get a better feel for the system as they progress and master the different attack types to pull off some killer multi-hit attacks.

Some measures were taken to ensure you don’t get too carried away with the combos.  Supposedly, you can’t do infinite combos, and so far I can only get a 6-hit combo.  However, supposedly, the more attacks you learn and the better you get to know how the attacks work, you get higher combos.  (The demo video shows off a 50-hit combo)

Of course, because of the combo-based beatemup style of the game, many comparisons could be made to Treasure’s Astro Boy: Omega Factor.  While the games do have some things in common, I think Eternal Night is still worth owning if you have played and enjoyed Omega Factor, and vice versa.  They each have their strengths and complement each other nicely in the GBA library.    Both have a varied amount of attacks and a lot style, but Eternal Night doesn’t have a single special attack to bail you out like Omega Factor does with the Machine Gun. 

The way you navigate and interact with the enemies is very reminiscent of both Castlevania and Metroid.  You can wander around the levels freely, but the levels aren’t quite as expansive to the point of needing a map to find your way around.  (This can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on what you look for in a game)   

Much like Metroid Fusion, you will spend a good part of the game finding artifacts throughout the game that will give you new attacks, build up your health meter capacity, and other power-ups.  In addition, there are different colored jewels that you can collect to increase your capabilities.  (Red restores health, Green increases your elemental power, and blue are redeemable for upgrading your characteristics)  These add a bit of an RPG feel and depth to the game.

Another similarity with the Metroidvania concept is that you don’t necessarily have to defeat every enemy to progress.  If you want, you can try to evade them and keep chugging along.  However, unlike most other games, even the simplest enemies manage to track you down in order to continue the fight.  

At one point, I was finding myself low on energy, so I was trying to run off and find some place to restore my health, but unfortunately the enemies I was dodging were staying on my tail and working with the other enemies down the road to team up on me and finish me off. 

With Eternal Night, you can no longer run off to another room to reach safety.  Even if you climb up some stairs or down some ledges, your enemies will find a way to get to you if it is physically possible for their character type.  Every enemy actually seems like it has some decent AI built in to make your battles interesting. 

Later on, you will encounter some more skilled opponents that use projectiles, teleport, dodge, counter-attack, or perform combos of their own.  It is almost as if there is a full fighting game engine built into this humble Spyro game.

Even though many of them were recycled throughout the game, there were actually quite a few different types of enemies ranging from very small critters to menacing rock-men to large crab-like creatures.  Each of them not only had unique ways of attacking, but they also had their own way of moving around the levels and reacting to your attacks.

One of the most impressive things about Eternal Night’s gameplay mechanics is what actually seems to be a basic physics engine.  Of course, it pales to what you would find in a modern 3D game, but for a Gameboy Advance game, you can’t help but be taken back by how realistically enemies take hits, fall down stairs, or lunge at you.  I’m sure it’s all pre-rendered animations, much like Vectorman on the Genesis, but it is executed so well, you can’t help but be amazed. 

Graphics/Presentation: 9

Since this is a late release from the talented crew over at Amaze Entertainment, it should come as no surprise that Legend of Spyro: Eternal Night makes good use of the GBA’s 2D capabilities.  While it isn’t as much of an effects showboat as a Treasure game like Gunstar Super Heroes, it still is an impressive game for the all-but-dead Gameboy Advance hardware.

All the character sprites are large, detailed, and smoothly animated.  There are many different enemy designs and there can be a large number of these enemies flying around on the screen at once.  I was amazed how well the GBA handled the stress of all the sprite work.

The backgrounds range from bright and vivid to dark and haunting when they need to be.  The scenery, in some places, is very detailed and makes excellent use of parallax scrolling and color-cycling to give the backgrounds a much more dynamic and realistic look.   While not every level will take your breath away, there are a handful of levels that are possibly the best backgrounds that GBA has ever displayed.

The art style is also to be commended as some of the levels remind me of a lower-resolution version of something you would see in Astal or Princess Crown on the Saturn.  (There are some of the underground areas that also remind me a bit of the caves in Aladdin on the Genesis.)

The presentation and the cutscenes are fairly nice, but nothing to get worked up about.  From an overall visual standpoint, I was quite impressed and thought it was just under the very best graphical work I’ve seen on the GBA (Gunstar Super Heroes, Metroid Fusion, and some animations in Golden Sun)

Sound/Music: 8.5

The music in Eternal Night didn’t really stick with me too much, but it was far better than most GBA games.  It had a bit of a Castlevania vibe to it, but the soundtrack didn’t have much of its own personality, which kept it from being especially remarkable.  Overall, I did think the musical score did complement the action well and set the mood for cutscenes and such.  Sound effects throughout the main game were standard platformer fare, with some deep thuds and crashes of battle being the highlights.

Story: 7 (?)

I’m under the impression that Legend of Spyro: Eternal Night has an above average story for an action platformer.  The only problem for me is that this game is actually the second in the new Legend of Spyro trilogy.  

There are a number of small cutscenes that seem to piece together an interesting story, but considering I don’t know the characters and don’t know any of the back-story, I’m not completely sure what is going on.  However, if you a younger than me and grew up with the Spyro series, I would venture to say that you will enjoy Eternal Night’s narrative.

However, Metroid Fusion was actually my first Metroid experience (other than picking up the original a couple times) and that story drew me in even though I did not have any previous experience.  I felt that Eternal Night could have catered just a little but more to new players in this regard.  (Luckly, I’m not playing this for the story).

Extras: 9

Considering how compelling and polished the attack system is in Eternal Night, I was very glad to see a couple extra features in the game.  First of all, there is a practice room that will you beat the crap of some dummy enemies so you can experiment with your attacks and see how to piece together the most effective combos.  It also helps you keep track of what your top hit count is.

 There is also another boss attack room where you can take another stab at taking down bosses that you have unlocked.   This is another great opportunity to practice, relive your favorite battles, or show off the game to a friend.

Overall: 9

The only thing that is keeping me from giving it a higher score than a 9 is that the story story and overall polish didn’t draw me in nearly as well as Metroid Fusion (or other Metroid titles) did.   While I don’t like action games that are dependant on puzzles, it would have been nice to have some elements that worked your brain a bit more, again, similar to Metroid. 

However, The Legend of Spyro: Eternal Night has the most compressive and accessible combat engine I have ever seen in a portable title (including dedicated fighting games) and it’s a shame it couldn’t be expanded to its full potential in a 2D console version.

In addition, the game as a whole does an excellent job making the most of the GBA’s 2D capabilities and working well with the handheld’s limited control options.

The bottom line is that if you enjoy Astro Boy: Omega Factor, any of the Metroid or Castlevania game, or are interested in a 2D Devil May Cry-styled game, you need to check this game out.  Even if you have moved onto the DS, Eternal Night is worth the investment.

When I originally wrote my Sonic the Hedgehog opinion pieces (How Sega All But Ruined Sonic the Hedgehog & How Sega Can Bring Sonic the Hedgehog Back To Glory), one of my main hopes would be that it would spark some conversation. Sure, part of my hoped somebody at Sega would read it and that my thoughts might actually make a difference, but I mainly looked forward to hearing other people’s responses.

Even though I wrote the articles over nine months ago, I still get a number of comments left on the posts. Since many of my readers check the articles out via their RSS readers and don’t look at the comments, you I would assume most of you dont’ go back to old posts just to read the comments, I thought I would feature some of the more interesting insights for other Sonic fans and their reaction to my opinions…

Many comments were quite constructive

The Kraken said…
“It’s clear, that Sega has simply lost their minds. I think the main reason why they have fallen off the console business was them trying to support a number of consoles at once. It’s a company run by idiots, and always has been. I mean who would try to support six different consoles/add-ons at once (Sega Genesis, Sega Nomad, Sega 32X, Sega Game Gear, Sega CD, Sega Saturn)? They tried to push ahead of their competitors (Nintendo and Sony) by releasing 32-bit systems that were better off scrapped. Their focus on hardware more than their games is one reason why Sonic X-treme was never released. Thus we never got a true Sonic game for the Sega Saturn. When the Dreamcast was released it seemed like a breath of fresh air, with Sonic Adventure pulling in many gamers. But once Playstation 2 entered the scene, the system failed to provide satisfaction with gamers, until Sega eventually got out of the console market in late 2001. It’s never been the same since.

It’s sad too, that I have grown up to see one of my fondest childhood memories being brought down by bad decisions and much criticism. Sonic used to have lots of potential. The games were great, his tv shows were cool, the comics were fun to read, people loved him, and most importantly, it didn’t matter what you liked about the blue blur. People accepted what you did like and agreed with it. Back then he was better overall. But ever since the release of Sonic Adventure (1999-present), the franchise has gone downhill in a never ending spiral. Sonic Team can’t make a 3-D Sonic game without a few critics stating that the game is rife with errors. I think in this current generation of platformers, Sega has been pushing the limit to make awe inspiring graphics while dumbing down the gameplay. Sonic Next-Gen was so disappointing that I began to wonder if Sega knew how to even make a game in 3-D. The loading times were long and it seemed that you couldn’t control Sonic and pals without falling off a cliff. It’s an example for showing that Sega rushes their titles into stores only to find that their fans aren’t happy with the concept. One reason why Nintendo has always been successful is they actually take the time to make their games. Even though some of their release titles were slow to make it to the market, they were critically-acclaimed by fans across the globe.

To add insult to injury, Sega had their chances to improve and learn from their own mistakes. But they have blown them, and it’s only a matter of time before their monitor reveals “Strike 3.” I truly think that Sonic’s glory days are long gone, being stuck in 2-D. The portable titles are one factor keeping this franchise alive, but it won’t go on forever. Sega must concentrate on a Sonic game that will satisfy the majority of fans (including older ones), or risk the chance of giving their franchise to a different company.”

Kraken also added,
“Sonic is not the same character I grew up with. The Genesis titles were something special, because they were able to offer BREAK NECKING SPEED and other mechanics that other platformers failed to provide. Now I compare then to now, the difference is huge and vast. It seems that Sega cares nothing but to make a quick buck off of young gamers that don’t know any better, hence Sonic Next-Gen and Sonic Riders. The 3-D Sonic is slow, and the mechanicals needed for a 3-D game are lacking. Why Sega can’t make a camera work right I don’t know.

I use to love Sonic, including the TV shows, comics, merchanise, and other sorts of media that he was in. It’s really depressing how far the franchise has fallen, when it was once on the road to success, once Nintendo’s biggest threat. Shadow the Hedgehog is still one of Sega’s worst creations, because it lacks everything that made the Sonic franchise special. I actually had hopes for Sonic and the Secret Rings, but it turned out to be a disappointment once I found it was on-rails and I couldn’t go where I wanted to. Clearly the only good thing going are the portable titles. Sonic Rush was a pleasent surprise, maybe if Sega fit that formula into their 3-D games it may actually work. Then again who knows.”

An Anonymous Reader wrote…

“The same fate befell Metroid, the king of side-action scrollers: it got turned into (yet another stupid) first-person shooter… While I liked Metroid Prime, it WASN’T classic Metroid. Comparing the two is like comparing Super Mario Brothers to Mario RPG. Same universe, different game. The same goes for a great many of the 2D heroes of the 8-bit and 16-bit eras. It seems the only series that successfully jumped the dimensional barrier were Zelda and MarioMario was based on mid-air maneuvering and power-ups. Now it’s based on gimmicks. Mario 64 and Sunshine Mario may be fun, but neither follows the SMB/SMB3/SMW series that everyone cried out for. What once was a race to the finish (or walk, but always point a to point b) is now exploration and random mini-games. You don’t plow through enemies like you used to, you don’t toss fireballs (which small as they are could be maddening in 3-D) and don’t even get “Super” anymore.

Zelda is less changed, keeping the crucial elements, exploring / re-exploring with the latest new item / figuring out the latest boss’es clever weak spot
and The new Zeldas are also good enough games on their own merits that if they weren’t named Zelda, people would still buy them. (Well, maybe not Wind Waker, too much sailing, not enough playing)

Sonic, like Mega Man thrived on the theory, games don’t need to be movies with each radically changing from the last. Find what works and give people more of it. There’s nothing wrong with episode style games. Sega and Capcom did more than release new levels every few years. They released these new levels (and occasional gameplay upgrades) to eager buyers, happy to snap up a known brand of play they already know they like.

If McDonalds randomly fiddled with the recipe every time you went, it wouldn’t be so popular.”

Mr Horsefly said…
“I agree with you on a lot of points in this article, but it troubles me how little credit you give Sonic’s 3D games. It’s going a little far to say that everything after Sonic CD should be scrapped. There are parts in each game that work extremely well.

For example: the mechanics for the spin dash in Sonic Adventure 1 were easily the best of the series. The slow acceleration of Sonic’s normal run gave you precise control when you needed it; and with a single button press you could spin dash to near-max speed, drop into a ball for downhill areas, pop out of the ball for extra traction in uphill areas, and even cut your jumps short to reduce air time for speed runs.

Sonic Adventure 2 effed that up majorly by mapping the new ground roll attacks to the same button as the spin dash, which basically made it either impossible or too risky (since accidentally going into a roll attack would bring you to a screeching halt) to attempt the maneuvers I listed above. But it did Sonic right in areas where SA1 just didn’t cut it. In short, SA2 made Sonic edgy again. No retarded cats, no sadsville Asimov robot arcs, and no pink hedgehogs with plastic hammers. The mood the game set in most of the speed levels was near-perfect in my opinion. The San Fran hill level where you snowboarded down the street, the jungle stage that didn’t let up, and the freaking space levels? And the music? Genius, that game oozed style.

Sonic Heroes took a step back in mechanics and edge, but it did offer much more in the department of level and enemy design; as well as the genesis of what I believe could be the ultimate game of co-op sonic (but that’s an article all it’s own ). I mean, come on, it let you take Knuckles back onto the tracks again! This was a thinking man’s sonic game if ever there was one. The dynamic of how each character worked to complement the other’s weaknesses and the way they designed the enemies and obstacles around that were great.

The Sonic series doesn’t need to be taken back ten years to be saved. Sega just needs to put a good team and budget together and devote some serious R&D time into refining the design with all the elements that worked in their previous games. If they could just start using more than two buttons for character moves, re-harness Sonic’s “edge”, and put some work into revamping the mechanics for Knuckles and Tails so that they’re closer to Sonic’s (but still unique), then they could kick Mario’s ass all over again.”
Rhamos said…
“I couldn’t agree more, Racketboy. I grew up with Sonic. I remember being a little kid, and asking Santa for a SNES and then getting a Genesis and Sonic 2 for Christmas. I was dissapointed at first, but that all went away after being completely immersed into the world and it’s incredible speed. I beat the game within a few months, and the game made my mom quit playing games altogether (She just couldn’t get passed Oil Ocean Zone. hehe).

I think though, that the major problem here is that the Sonic games aren’t FOR us anymore. Us being the people who grew up with the original Sonic. The entire franchise is geared toward the modern retarded youth who watch the modern retarded Sonic animes and whatnot. It’s aimed at an entirely new generation who’ve been (in my opinion) raised with low standards when it comes to video games. I mean, for the most part, the next gen consoles are a freakin’ joke! Sure, they’re insanely more powerful, but they’re insanely less imaginative, original and all-round enjoyable. Don’t get me wrong, there ARE good games for these newer consoles, I just prefer the retro games.
But anyway, yes. I feel that these days Sonic is geared to a completely new generation who really probably don’t even know that Sonic existed before their time and how much better he used to be. And for the record, I think that Dr. Eggman is THE single most, uninspired, unoriginal, pointless, unimaginative, and just plain unecessary character in video gaming history. Even more so than Shadow or or the other hedgehogs. Rest in peace, Sonic. Your glory days are gone. *sniff*”

Yet Another Anonymous Reader wrote…

“Personally I loved Sonic Adventure. As much as people gripe about playing as other characters, or the “horrible” adventure parts of the game, it wasn’t that bad. Sure Knuckles plays nothing like Sonic. Don’t like it? Don’t play as him. You started the game as Sonic and didn’t need to play as anyone else to play level after level with Sonic. You DID have to play as everyone else to unlock Super Sonic, but that was optional. Sonic Adventure 2, in forcing you to swap up gamestyles constantly was a pain in the butt.

As for the adventure mode, you weren’t timed, nothing was hard to find, it was pretty much just there to add a little depth. Consider the menu in Mega Man. SA1 let you return to any stage you liked as much as you wanted, but without being so flat and dull. The only “challenge” was not running off a cliff.

Style: Sega wants Sonic to go from a happy world where no one dies, filled with cheerful music to gritty, cities destroyed (AS1), unsure if you’re the good guy or bad guy (Shadow). “Attitude” has gone from a smirk (and possible unsaid snide remark) to trying to ape current pop culture. No we don’t want to look at a bunch of bird skate punks. The series is trying to grow up, but comes across like a young child trying to act older than they are. Start of SA1, before anything happens, Sonic hops from building to building then says “Now THIS is happening!” Random drop-ins of seemingly “cool” phrases out-of place doesn’t work.

Interacting with humans? What’s Robotnik? How did he come to live in Mobius? Perhaps Sonic’s still in Mobius now, but moved to the big city from out in the country.

Physics, less scaffolding / dead stops please. If you’re steering drunkenly, you should bounce drunkenly off the walls. Non-stop chances to fall to your death that take several times of trial and error to figure out how many enemies you can spin dash to land on the next platform without over / undershooting is frustrating, not fun. In 2-D Sonics you died, but took in the whole scene as you did. With the new movie style environments, trying to run across an environment that’s falling INTO place you don’t know if you overshot, undershot, had your timing off or missed sideways. Now you can go too fast, and will die if you do. (Demo level of the 360 Sonic) Using the homing attack on too many enemies can also make you miss your platform, as well as using it freely on the boxes sitting on tiny floating platforms. (Also 360 demo) Sonic’s world’s seem far less solid than they used to be.

Griping aside, the best “attitude” I’ve seen from Sonic lately was also in the 360 demo. Tearing apart a dozen robots at once, lightly tapping the last remaining, struggling to balance itself robot off the edge and bending over to watch it with a grin that just screams “hit me!”

Speech is hard to get right, but Sega could do better. Bowser has forever lost all credibility. Robotnik is still cool, Tails comes across well for what he’s supposed to be. Unfortunately when you have people trying to write for an age and culture they aren’t, what do you expect? want to groan? Pop in the 3DO Mario game or a CD-I Zelda game. The opening scenes will make you cry. “I’m so hungry I could eat an Octarok!”

Eventually, in spamming out games trying everything possible, they’ll get it right. Hopefully they’ll do so while there’s still people left who are willing to buy the games.”

Of course, I got some people that obviously don’t agree with me…

Jack said…
“That article is lame. It is trying to manipulate you guys into hating Sonic. I should know. I’m a TRUE Sonic fan. I love the Sonic 3D games and its graphics and all. Plus, there’s absolutley nothing wrong with giant hedgehogs interacting with humans. Sonic’s glory days are NOT over. OPEN YOUR EYES!!!! CAN”T YOU ACCEPT SONIC 3D GAMES!!?? ARE YOU GUYS EVEN SONIC FANS!!!???”

later on, Jack said…
“ARE YOU ALL BLIND!!!??? SEGA NEVER RUINED SONIC!! I AM TRULY ASHAMED AT THAT ARTICLE FOR INSULTING SONIC 3D GAMES!! EVERYTHING THAT ARTICLE SAID WAS JUST PLAIN WRONG!!! AS A TRUE SONIC FAN, I COMPLETELY DISAGREE WITH IT!!! I LOVE SONIC 3D GAMES!!!!”

Daeris said…
“I disagree with this article. I love the ability to play as characters other than sonic. I admit the game speed went down a bit but at least this way the younger generation can play the game a bit easier. And if i ever hear someone say Shadow The Hedgehog was a botched up game again, i will personally chase them down with my samurai sword. You think i’m kiddin? Try it!”

Introduction
The Mega Man games are the finest examples of action platforming on the NES, and are definitely some of the top titles on the system. Capcom is also well-known for a number of polished but challenging platformers based on Disney licenses such as Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers and Duck Tales.

Although Mega Man 2 and 3 are considered the height of Capcom’s action-platforming endeavor, most people are likely unaware of a third, and just as excellent game, which Capcom created during that very same period. Little Nemo: The Dream Master is one of the best games on the NES, and possibly the console’s greatest sleeper (no pun)

Story: 8
Most NES games aren’t exactly well-known for their in-depth storylines, but Little Nemo has one of the more interesting ones for a platformer. On a quiet night in England, a blimp lowers itself to the window of a boy named Nemo. Nemo is awakened and learns that the Princess of Slumberland has requested to meet him. He later learns that the King of this land has been kidnapped by the Prince of Nightmares, and it’s up to him to save said king.

The game is thought to be based on an animated film with the same name and characters (which I own but have never watched), however I’ve heard that the characters and story were created in the 30’s, in which way I’m not certain (I’d guess a comic strip). I also hear that the movie is a lot different, so the game is probably based on the original work.

Presentation: 9
Impressive, fun, charming and clever. Most admirable are the level themes, which are unafraid to try things rarely seen or seldom successful on the NES. I won’t spoil any of that. The simple cinema sequences are very softly done, and just as charming as everything else. The whole game just has a great uplifting mood to it, and really makes you feel like you’re a part of something personal.

Graphics: 9
Little Nemo oozes classic NES charm. It’s sprites all seem to be carefully crafted and everything is full of vibrant color. The characters are well designed, the often black sky is very atmospheric (it definitely drops you into its world), and the other enemies and bosses are equally as well crafted.

Apart from the later first-party Nintendo masterpieces like Super Mario Bros. 3 and Kirby’s Dreamland, I think that you will find Little Nemo to be one of the best-looking platformers on the NES.

Sound & Music: 8
The sound effects and music are excellent as well. You -may- not remember the tunes as you would those in Mega Man, but they are of just the right character for the game. Nothing to be disappointed with by a long shot, and it’s certainly in the upper levels of the NES’s audio history.

Gameplay: 8
It’s a Capcom game, made during the time as Mega Man 2 and 3, and presumably using the same engine (best described as “time-to-change-your-pants” awesome).

The game is an action platformer that has Nemo jumping about a number of well designed and very diverse levels. Candy is your primary weapon, as you toss it around to stun enemies, but later you’re given a wand which will destroy your foes altogether, in a more Mega Man-style fashion. The goal of each level is to scour about for the keys that open the door to the next, creating a quite adventurous dynamic as you’re able to move in either direction, and well beyond what you’ll initially see.

Best of all, is that the candy is also used to appease the more friendly animals, whom you can then use as a ride throughout the game. Each of these animals have distinct abilties like digging, climbing, super-jumping and flying, and each are used to expand the size of the levels and to acquire all of the well-placed keys. It works out much like the suits do in Super Mario Bros. 3, except a lot less linear as it’s all integral to the adventure.

Control: 9
In classic Capcom fashion, Little Nemo plays extremely well, especially considering how much diversity is at work here. Nemo moves about much like Mega Man does, and all of the animals have quite distinct controls, some reminiscent of other Capcom classics. The candy is tossed at an arch, which may throw some players off initially, but it quickly becomes apparent that it’s the fighting method best suited between riding an animal and using the wand. Nothing but glory. Sweet, sweet, forgotten glory.

Affordability: 8
Like most NES cartridges, Little Nemo: The Dream Master isn’t terribly hard to find on eBay. While it isn’t the cheapest game around, you can probably find a cartridge-only copy for about $5-7

Overall: 9
Little Nemo is one of the best and most unsuspecting games on the NES. It doesn’t truly falter in any respect, and contains as much personality as you’ll ever find in any game. Nemo has all of the reasons why you would still today look for great NES games that you haven’t yet played.

Some have also said that the Genesis classic, Kid Chameleon, felt a bit like a spiritual successor to Little Nemo (even though KC wasn’t developed by Capcom). So if you enjoyed that game, take a look at little Nemo.

As I was setting up emulation support on my Windows Media Center PC in the living room, I thought of a good challenge to give my wife while giving her a solid 2D Mario fix. I knew of the story behind Super Mario Bros. 2 and how we got a Mario-ized version of Doki-Doki Panic because the Japanese version of Super Mario Bros. 2 was too challenging. Of course, the game was eventually released in the US as part of the Super Mario All-Stars compilation on the SNES.

I mentioned this background information to my wife and she was more than interested in giving it a try. Once she was barely into the first level, we knew the higher difficulty level that the game touted was not an exaggeration.

Note: Just as a fair warning, if you want to go into the game not knowing what to expect, you may want to skip reading this. I won’t go into too much detail since I don’t want to spoil the game for you, but I will touch on some aspects that make the game especially challenging.

Level Design Optimized For Difficulty

On the surface The Lost Levels looks very much like the original Super Mario Bros. It includes very similar level designs, enemies, and powerups, but everything is arranged in such a way to drive you insane with frustration.

On almost every inch of every level it as if the level designers tried to think of every single way to make getting through past a screen as difficult as possible.

It isn’t enough to just have long jumps where you have to land on a single block or having multiple enemies flying at you from all directions. Instead you have all of these challenges and more taunting you at at the same time.

In comparison, to the original Super Mario Bros. The Lost Levels, also included number of more complex elements that didn’t make their make American debut until Super Mario Bros 3, such as more advanced moving platforms and more detailed levels.

All The Enemies You Hate, Made Even Worse

As if the level layouts weren’t enough to pull your hair out over, Nintendo also gave the enemies a bit more bite.

• Standard enemies such as Goombas and Koopa Troopas come in larger groups
• Red Piranha Plants come out of their pipes even if the player is standing next to them.
• There are also upside-down Piranha Plants that can be quite annoying.
• There are Piranha plants that now come out of pipes that are flush with the ground, making it easier to overlook.
• Blooper Fish float through the air very quickly and in large quantities.
• And finally, multiple enemies groups seem to team up on you all at once: picture dodging attacks from Hammer Bros. while having Beetles raining down from the sky and Bullet Bills are shooting at you.

Power-Ups Come At A Premium

Gone are the days of finding a convenient block to give you a boost every now and then. Instead, your Mushrooms and Fire Flowers are guarded in tight spaces by the most obnoxious enemies or placed right by a pit so that the mushroom quickly falls into lava immediately after you hit its block.

If you do happen to find a convenient question-mark block that isn’t a coin, it usually contains a Poison Mushroom. These evil-looking mushrooms have the same effect as being touched by an enemy and are usually released in tight areas where you are surrounded by flying enemies and unable to escape quickly. How convenient.

Practice Your Jumping Skills

Large pits are plentiful in The Lost Levels and will give your jumping skills quite a workout. In fact, precision jumping is probably the most important skill needed to successfully play The Lost Levels. I was surprised to see that there are almost no jumps in the game that can be pulled off without a running start. Not only are some jumps very long, but many times you must also land on a very narrow spot, an area filled with enemies, a moving platform, or even a rapid succession of long jumps that you can’t take a stop between. At times you will also find that you need to time your jump just right so you can use a flying enemy as a stepping stone to your destination.

It is also worth mentioning that there are a number of places where you will experience some strong gusts of wind which blow intermittently. These winds can both be a help and an hindrance to Mario. They often must be used in order to make long jumps, but they also make controlling movement and staying on platforms more difficult.

Keep Looking For Hidden Blocks

I realize it is rather hard to “look” for hidden blocks, but many times throughout the game you will come to an area that seems even more impossible to cross than usual. In these cases, you probably need to hunt around for a hidden block. Once you’ve uncovered one, you can use them as a an intermediate jumping point before the main platform. This tactic is found in other Mario games, but the level designers exploited it much more in Lost Levels.

Sometimes, You Just Can’t Be Super

There are few spots, primarily in Koopa’s castles, that you will have to shrink yourself by being hit by an enemy in order to squeeze through an area. Of course, after this, you are especially vulnerable to later attacks and another mushroom isn’t usually available afterwards.

The Castles Are Repeat-ariffic!

One of the most annoying tricks in Mario games, in my opinion, is when the level starts looping until you go through the level a very specific way. The Lost Levels decides to make every other of Bowser’s castles play like this. Of course, the path you need to take to progress successfully is the most challenging.

Deceitful Warp Zones

In several different levels, Mario Brothers 2 doesn’t play fair. In the original Super Mario Brothers, finding a warp or a hidden secret was good. Yet leaping over the flagpole in Mario 2 might as easily warp you backwards to earlier levels instead of farther along to more advanced ones.

Bowsers Are Surprisingly Easy

I’ve never found most of the early Mario bosses to be very difficult, but I was expecting more from The Lost Levels. The first few iterations of Bowser are very straightforward if you a familiar with how to beat him in the original Mario Bros. Later levels have him flooding the screen with Hammer Bros-style projectiles, but with a little patience, they aren’t too much of an issue either. Getting to Bowser is much harder than actually defeating him.

A Frustratingly Fun Adventure

Sure Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels is downright difficult, but it’s also a load of fun if you have enough determination. Truth be told, my wife and I played all the way through it for the first time by using numerous emulator save states (just so we could see what it was like), but we hope to play though it again soon without cheating.

Unless you are Super Mario Bros. genius, you will die many, many times your first try, but if you play through it enough, you actually start to get a feel for it and pull off some amazing stunts.

Once you are seasoned in the game, you will master any 2D Mario game Nintendo throws at you. Think of it as Super Mario Boot Camp.

For those of you not familiar with the title, it is regarded not only as the best Castlevania game ever, but also the best 2D games for the Sony Playstation. (Read this review for more info) It’s gameplay was very deep and the beautiful 2D graphics pushed the Playstation to its limit.

This XBLA version is a very good port of the Playstation version with very similar controls and slightly smoothed-out graphics. Unfortunately, to meet the size restrictions of the XBLA at the time of devleopment, some of the sound and such were downsampled. However, as a whole, SOTN received high praise from the critics…

“The import into HD sadly hasn’t seen each sprite redrawn – instead the kind of waxing effect recognizable to those used to playing with emulators is (optionally) employed to smooth over the graphics. The screen defaults to a 4:3 aspect ratio with big artwork borders but, mercifully, the dimensions can be comfortably stretched to fit a widescreen TV and, once done, the game looks pretty enough.

Simmering the game down to sub-100MB has been tough and people who probably need to get more sunlight will notice slight downgrades such as dropped sound effects and clipping on the voice acting from the nuclear-powered compression the game’s clearly been subjected to. On the whole, the changes are near imperceptible and do nothing to lessen the experience.”
EuroGamer

“In the graphics department, Symphony got very little treatment. We obviously weren’t expecting a full HD conversion for the game, but the included “enhanced” mode is a decent little bump that could be made without totally ripping apart decade-old assets. Some basic pixel-blending, shading, and contrast was added, giving the game a slightly more well-rounded and warm look, but that’s about it. Most players wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between the two, but hardcore gamers and longtime Symphony fans will be happy to get an enhanced – albeit slight – visual presentation. The only way to rock the 16:9 display, however, is to stretch the game in the settings menu; one area where the future PSP release of the game will be far superior, as the development team is actually diving back into the code of the game.”
IGN