1. Chrono Trigger (SNES)
2. Gyromite (NES)Gyromite is one of those charming old "black label" NES games released at launch in North America. But a look at the Japanese release date reveals that this game initially dropped before
Super Mario Bros., and it plays exactly how you'd expect a pre-
SMB Nintendo game to play. Smooth platforming action, small stages (they seem to be about 2-3 screens), black background, addictive gameplay.
Here's the gist.
Gyromite stars a professor who must clear each stage of dynamite before a timer hits zero. Red and blue gates must be raised and lowered frequently to progress. The only enemies are "smicks" who are ostensibly threatening but usually seem to lumber around aimlessly. One hit from a smick equals one life lost. The professor is defenseless and can't jump, but he can bait smicks with radishes which placates them for a small window of time. With good timing, the poor smicks can also be crushed by gates (which can crush the professor as well!).
Gyromite offers an impressive number of stages - 40 total - so one playthrough should easily net more than an hour. On the surface the game appears to be rather well-designed and it perhaps could have been an NES classic, if not for one niggling idiosyncrasy. Yes, this is one (of the two) R.O.B. the Robot games.
Now, I've never used a R.O.B. and don't plan on buying one. But, from what I've gathered from video footage, playing
Gyromite with R.O.B. works something like this: you press the start button, communicating lights flash, and R.O.B. raises/lowers gates by way of "gyros" (these plastic disc things). It's a
slow process, which aids in explaining why the smicks trot around at a glacial pace and why the stage time limits are beyond generous.
So how does one play this sans R.O.B.? Well, the A and B buttons on controller two can also be used to raise and lower the gates. One still has to use the d-pad on controller one to move the professor, however, so two controllers are needed. I should mention here that this is a fantastic game to co-op with a young child: give 'em gate duty. And playing alone actually... isn't that that, surprisingly. Remember, the prof. can't jump so the bulk of the controller one action is regulated solely to the d-pad. I played with controller one in my left hand, thumb on the d-pad, while controller two rested next to me, my index and middle fingers on B and A. The only tricky moments occur when a radish needs to be picked up and moved, as this requires the B button on controller one.
And since the game is designed to be played with slow ass R.O.B. you're at a huge advantage when using two controllers instead. I found myself blazing through most stages unscathed. The game does get a bit tricky in the later half, as it's possible to talk a "wrong" path and get stuck. There's a suicide option (I think it was Start and Select pressed together?) for these very situations. That said, the difficulty peaks and flattens eventually. I don't think level 40 was any harder than level 25, for instance.
Gyromite is quite generous with continues too - they're unlimited.
Let's talk about "Mode B." I didn't even know this existed (most longplays ignore it, as did James Rolfe in his rather amusing R.O.B. review), and when I saw it listed in the main menu I figured it just represented a slight variation to the standard gameplay. Instead, it's a completely different set of 25 additional levels(!) and wholly new gameplay. These stages are meant to be played with R.O.B. exclusively. Or, in my case, controller two exclusively. Now the professor is a sleepwalker meandering through levels left to right. The only thing to do it raise/lower the gates in the correct fashion, so he doesn't end up falling into a smick pit. The professor's sleepwalking shuffle is
very slow here (again, that's probably to sync up with slow-as-shit R.O.B.) and the game's pretty easy should you choose to play in the "unauthorized" fashion. There is less room for error here this time, however, as the continue system has been scrapped.
Overall, I'm really surprised by how much fun I had here. Given it's unorthodox play method, I would hesitate to recommend buying a copy. That said, if you have a copy collecting dust because you lack a R.O.B. don't despair. Plug in two controllers and pop that bad boy in. It's quite a trip.