My friend Tonya, lifelong duck aficionado, chose this for our little game club this month. Well, they picked the console game specifically but I duked and went for the handheld tie-in, and I don’t regret it.
I wanted more handheld Zero so here’s the equivalent to the Classic GB games. X had his own handheld spinoffs, with mainly reused content from the first three X games. There’s some oddities to the structure but they were adapted well to the lower-fidelity format.
So now I’ve played all the Lufia games. This one was very good, just tweaking the formula of the series while inhabiting the Game Boy Color very well. Let’s start with my understanding of the development of the game.
At one point there was a prequel to Lufia 2 being made for the GBC. There were also plans to produce a sequel called Ruins Chaser set several hundred years in the future, to be released on the PS1 (more here and here). After its publisher folded, Neverland had to scrap these plans and made an alternate sequel on the GBC, also scrapping the “younger Maxim” game to make way for this game. As it stands, this is the final game in the continuity and although it’s not a definitive conclusion (it ends much like Lufia 1), it’s satisfying. (EDIT: There’s no evidence the prequel would have been about Maxim, that was just speculation I read and accepted.)
The plot is pretty familiar: Sinistrals appear and each one harasses a particular continent in their own way (this aspect is done well in this game), a hero with red hair and a mysterious heroine with blue hair gather allies to combat the threat, there’s an airship, and a twist in the tail that is by now no surprise because it’s the same every time. (That doesn’t stop it being emotionally impactful, though.) There’s a total of 12 playable characters + 1 secret bonus dragon, so characterisation is perhaps spread more thinly, but each one is distinctive and likeable despite (or in some cases because of) the silly translation quirks.
Having so many characters is handled well for gameplay purposes; unlike something like a modern Final Fantasy or Chrono Cross with a plethora of characters but only a few slots, you go into battle with a grid of nine. The grid is important as each column gets one action per turn, but you select which character in the column takes that action depending on the circumstance. This allows for flexibility that is greatly appreciated. There’s also a sort of elemental stat in four colours that each character embodies, and they contribute that stat to others in their row or column. This informs stat bonuses and also what IP skills they can use. It all sounds complicated but you quickly get your head around it and it allows for deep customisation and ultimately a good RPG experience.
On the other hand, we have the dungeoneering which in this game is completely randomly generated. Gone are the puzzle dungeons of Lufia 2, but there’s still wandering monsters and interactions: cutting bushes with your sword, finding hidden treasure in walls, and a longe-range stunning attack to ambush enemies. It’s just that every floor of every location, while looking different, will end up playing the same. If you view it as less brain-intensive dungeon crawling the repetition can be almost relaxing, at the expense of challenge. It also means the end-game optional mega-dungeon, the Ancient Cave, is just the same as the usual game—but in this case, it’s even bigger and with better rewards.
So what we have is a colourful and deep 8-bit RPG with a wicked awesome chiptune soundtrack, a sometimes laughably poor localisation, repetitive dungeons, pleasingly economical use of a limited-pixel display, and a unique battle system. That’s Lufia 3, a gem on the GBC and in my opinion, worth your time. It takes time too, the random dungeons really pad out the experience, but as long as you can mentally switch gears for those sections there’s a lot to like. You can see another review and official art here, and here’s some alternate official art thanks to the ever-reliable Lufia superfan Sinrevi.
Just like Rayman 1 and 2, Tonic Trouble had a Game Boy Color version. Actually, this one came first and released around six months after the N64 version, whereas they came years after their progenitors. It was handled by a company called RFX Interactive and was in fact their first game. I was expecting a similar experience to said Rayman handheld titles, but it was not to be.
Tonic Trouble GBC runs on a completely different engine to those games. It has larger sprites, a wonkier camera and unlockable abilities (like its parent game). Of course, the GBC has even less buttons than the N64, so switching between the stick, blowpipe, magic wand/chameleon powder, and pogo stick requires opening and closing the Select menu which is clunky, especially in the final level since the blowpipe is required for combat but does not allow jumping. At least the pogo stick gets more use for traversal in this version. Ed also has a ledge grab ability—handy but not perfectly reliable—and can run by double-tapping the D-pad, which is not necessary but helps in backtracking for collectibles or switches.
The number of levels is cut back compared to the main game, and it ends up being very short in total. Each world has 3 smallish areas, which are often sort of free-roaming, with collectibles to find requiring platforming and combat both vertically and horizontally. It works pretty well, but enemy placement, large sprites, and spotty hit detection makes it very difficult at times—I made heavy use of savestates, naturally.
The large sprites allow for more detail and it looks pretty nice if a bit muddy at times, with lots of colour befitting its source material. The music is a tad more melodic but nothing special and still forgettable. An interesting point of comparison though in the conversion is the boss fights. Some are decent smaller renditions of setpieces from the main game, but others make use of enemies seen in cutscenes or artwork but not fought, such as the living capsicum or Grögh’s pharmacist. Good stuff!
Unfortunately the plot suffers on the GBC platform. Suzy is missing, Grögh has no presence apart from the final moments, the purpose of Doc’s collectibles is not even explained. At least Agent Xyz has gets an ugly full-frame portrait with advice and exposition. I suppose in those days the manual would be a crutch, but it hasn’t been scanned that I could find.
So it’s a reasonably competent little down-porting job, but probably surpassed by the Rayman GBC demakes that followed it. Fair enough, they were done by different companies. It was early days for Ubisoft’s handheld games. It is a little amateurish and small in scope, befitting a small company’s first game, but I can forgive dodgy execution because it was over quickly. Hm, is that really a good thing? Regardless, if nothing else getting to fight the Pharmacist justifies this game’s existence. Just expect frustration if you’re not allowing yourself an emulator’s conveniences.
EDIT: I forgot to mention a feature I couldn’t experience. Ubisoft’s GBC games often had a “Ubikey”; where by collecting a key in-game and then connecting to another Ubikey-enabled game via the GBC infrared port, you could unlock stuff—in this case, a bonus level. Since I don’t have access to the hardware, it’s a feature that’s lost to the ages… game preservation is a struggle sometimes.
Like the first game, Rayman 2 had its portable equivalent on the Game Boy Color. It’s a pretty good conversion, capturing the atmosphere of its counterpart well. I also feel that it improves on the foundation of the first GBC game, giving us an enjoyable product.
Firstly, it looks great. The pixelart is nice and while the cutscenes are very derpy the game itself uses colour well to make a gloomy atmosphere and the important bits like items stand out (for the most part; I missed a switch a couple of times). Switches are new and give the game a bit more depth than a straight obstacle course, but the level design is actually more straightforward and while it’s cleverly arranged it’s usually easy to tell what to do next, which is a good thing. The exception is the last few levels that turn into big mazes, but that’s fine as a break and final challenge.
The sound is… pretty much the same as the last GBC instalment, as that one’s soundtrack was based on Rayman 2 already. No complaints, but now that I’ve refamiliarised myself with the source the delightfully chippy tunes are even better (if a little repetitive). What’s not repetitive (segue eh?) is the levels and environments, which do a good job changing up the type of challenge and the look.
While the tone and environments are carried over well from the console game, sadly not everything made the 8-bit cut. A notable lack is the enemies, with only two actual Robo-Pirates appearing in the whole game. Two! One is a miniboss (as seen in the fourth screenshot), and the next is supposed to be Razorbeard I think, despite looking and acting identically to the earlier one. We have Zombie Chickens, spiders, crabs, and barrels, and apart from that a few returning Rayman 1 GBC enemies (red bats and the rare Antitoon), but I felt the primary threat of the game was not very present—the main representation of the pirates is a ton of flying bombs. No Jano either.
I think this game did a good job replicating Rayman 2 into a 2D sidescroller on the GBC. It’s also a fun game in itself, and I got to 100% (the reward is underwhelming), which wasn’t even too hard because of the linearity of the levels. I’d recommend it, it builds on Rayman 1 GBC and improves on it, in design and also the use of saves instead of passwords. According to the credits it was made by a different team, but using the same engine and some shared assets the result was better. Which goes to show the importance of design, or something.
Next up is Rayman M/Arena/Rush. That is, unless I can get Tonic Trouble working. It’s been a nightmare setting that up, you can’t buy it, and running a Windows emulator and finding the iso has been a pain. There’s the released game and also the beta “Special Edition”, not to mention the N64 version (unfortunately there’s no decent N64 emulator for Mac). At least I can play Tonic Trouble GBC without any issues. Well, see you soon, same Ray-time, same Ray-channel.
The Rayman handheld games are strange. Like the Donkey Kong Lands, they accompany and largely reuse bits of the console-based game that they mostly share names with, cutting them down to basics in the process. Like the Rockman World games, they also tend to mix in elements of other sequential games. Hopefully I can explain that a bit more clearly when I get to them.
For example, this game was released 5 years after the original Rayman and while rehashing its plot, takes a few small cues from Rayman 2 which by that time had been released. For cutscenes it uses his new, more attractive design, and the music is pleasing, chip-ified renditions of Rayman 2 tunes. Some of the worlds also seem to me to be inspired by R2 environments, although it’s largely based on R1’s archetypes.
In terms of cutting down, this handheld title strips out almost all of the supporting characters from R1’s cast, and cuts the Picture City and Candy Chateau locations, leaving mostly the less fanciful environments. It’s not just straight removals though, it also is streamlined with Rayman having more abilities from the get-go. That streamlining applies to level design too, with what I felt to be a much clearer sense of direction in the all-new levels, helped by the more zoomed-out view.
The difficulty seems to have been toned down too, much to my relief. Whether the physics are better or the level design is more fair, I just had a much better time getting through these levels, and even feeling good finding the occasional hidden cage (this time they’re not all necessary to fight the final boss, although getting them all does unlock some extra-hard bonus levels… I didn’t try for that). There’s also many more health pickups and mid-level checkpointing, and less reliance on punch powerups. Overall the balance and feel of the game is better than the stumble of the actual main game that this is based on, which results in simply more fun and less me getting mad at it.
I hope I’ve dispelled the notion that this is a mere port, a label that’s slapped all too readily on handheld games that share a name with a larger console release. In many ways it’s a superior game. Points against it are for cutting characters like the Magician and Betilla in favour of an expanded role to the Tings (yes, the main collectibles are the support character) and for extensive use of Comic Sans font. Despite this, a memorable penultimate level—a very challenging but fun platforming gauntlet while being followed exactly by Bad Rayman—and a good final boss left me with a very positive opinion of this one. The fact that I even made it that far to play those parts immediately places this above Rayman 1 in my stakes.
Unfortunately, since it does have a different soundtrack and cuts the more weird levels from Rayman 1, I can’t just tell you that this replaces it. But I certainly found it a more playable game. It even looks better, or at least I preferred the simple colours and cute sprites; the constraints of detail forced simpler and nicer designs, not to mention clearer level layouts. But it’s time to move on, and before we leave Rayman 1 land to start on 2 and its ilk, I think I will do an overview of the educational games, even if I don’t exactly play them. There’s so many after all! Au revoir.
I’ll keep this short. This is a great remake, but the game is fundamentally broken and unfun.
To elaborate, I was excited to get this game in the recent free promotion on 3DS, because I like free things. I was very appreciative of all its wacky features, like Game Boy Printer integration and the calendar, not to mention including (most of) the Lost Levels, the Boo race mode, the extra collectibles, the additional frames of animation, the added world map (even if it’s purely cosmetic). All good stuff, which makes it a great example of how to do a remake or rerelease right.
The two big drawbacks are using the same graphics, unlike the Mario Advance games and All-Stars, and the smaller screen size but same size sprites, which makes the whole thing much harder. Upcoming pits and enemies basically take you by surprise, putting the game at an even harder state than its wonky physics and slipshod controls already condemn it to. I don’t think SMB is a good game, because I grew up with World, not to mention Donkey Kong Country 2 and Yoshi’s Island.
But, I felt like I should play through it so as a Nintendo fan, I could say I did. Afterwards I also got the requisite point score to unlock the Lost Levels, through copious use of the VC restore point function, but I didn’t play that there because 1) It’s just annoyingly hard, and 2) It’s by far the inferior version, without even the NES version’s graphical update, still the smaller screen, and missing I think it’s 6 whole worlds?
Still, the fact that it’s there is cool, and it makes me long for more remakes of this type, with a ton of cool stuff added on. The Advance games are little better than the All-Stars versions or originals, and you still have the screen size tradeoff to contend with. There’s just a lot of character too in those menus, with Peach sitting around with her Toads and stuff happening, a fortune telling minigame with very limited purpose. It reminds me of the Game Boy Camera software with all its crazy little touches that tell you that they had fun making it. Anyway it’s a cool little oddity, but I’m glad I never have to play SMB again (unless I decide to give All-Stars a proper shot at some point).
This is a very interesting game, for several reasons. One, the cartridge contains two distinct versions of the game, depending on what system you’re playing on, the monochrome version and the full-color version, but the differences go deeper than simply the presence of colour. The minigames are different, level layouts and environment sprites also differ, item locations and progression is changed. However, contrary to expectations, the GBC version is not strictly better: certain aspects, such as animations, are better in the monochrome version. I also preferred the always-on UI, but it lacks 8-directional slingshot aiming.
I should explain. This is a kind of isometric platformer adventure, with Conker roaming Willow Woods and its surrounds, fighting various creatures and pushing boxes around in puzzles, finding his way through large mazelike environments in search of the birthday presents from his party, which was ruined by an evil member of the anthropomorphic acorn race that populates his home countryside. Got it? Good.
This is the other interesting aspect: this game is a time capsule, representing the original plans for the Conker franchise before it got darker and edgier in Bad Fur Day. As I’ve explained before, the N64 iteration was in development to properly introduce the squirrel from Diddy Kong Racing, but had many ideas pilfered by the Dream/Banjo team, at which point Chris Seavor reworked the game majorly to distinguish it. Pocket Tales was meant to be a handheld accompaniment to the console Twelve Tales, as was done with many franchises and still is. However, in this case the main event that PT was supporting didn’t eventuate. A very curious circumstance.
Beta footage and screenshots of Twelve Tales/Conker’s Quest/whatever show that it was to be very similar: acorn people, the shorter chipmunk version of Berri (who was a playable character), persistent slingshot. These elements now live on solely in this watered-down version of the Thing That Didn’t Happen. (Did it happen though? Are unreleased games canon? Sure, why not, except where they disagree with actual canon).
As it is, and I played through both versions simultaneously, we have a slightly clunky action adventure game. Progression is a bit confusing: you can always ask the Forest Guardian where to go but I often couldn’t find him because I got lost. And in the hub too! I was using Nintendo Power’s maps to help me out, though. You find presents for doing the odd task or just exploring. The environments are a little samey but memorising the layouts is essential to getting them all. Enemies are annoying, it’s often hard to defeat them. Some of them respawn but health pickups don’t, so unusually health management is a prospect that extends over the entire game in long form. In a way every single health acorn is like a Heart Container or somesuch. There’s no upgrades really except items for helping you reach new areas.
So combat was not the best, but I liked breaking the game up with little block-pushing puzzles. The minigames were also not great, although one mimics Rare’s earlier game Cobra Triangle, which is also replicated in DKC3 GBA, an interesting tidbit from their history. Bosses were pretty good, and Evil Acorn (yes that’s his name) was always stringing you on with taunts. There’s also the mysterious Honker the skunk, Conker’s nasty rival to contend with you at various points (mostly minigame-based).
Unfortunately there’s not a lot to distinguish this game, but it’s a bit memetic on DKVine because it’s so obscure. It’s pretty much irrelevant to Conker’s Bad Fur Day but interesting to compare with what could have been, and going from this to BFD all the more underscores its subversive tone. It is a bit of a pain to play though honestly, and just generally clunky and vague. The characters who distinguish themselves are cool but mostly they’re just acorns with not much going on. The level concepts are cool though, from a tropical island chain to a medieval castle.
The Game Boy format doesn’t really do the game justice, as a result of Rare’s typical tendency to try to outdo the limitations of the platform. Sometimes this results in fantastic games, while this one is let down by those limitations. Still, a Rare fan should at least give this a try, and heck I’ll say it, you have no right to fully enjoy Bad Fur Day if you haven’t experienced Conker’s humble origins. I can’t really point out one version as better than the other, so play around with both and pick your favourite (although I had a heck of a time emulating both separately… oops, I gave it away didn’t I?). Oh and there’s a character called the Forest Wong. How can you go wrong with the Wong?
After my huge work week, I finally have the energy to write a post. I actually finished this game late last week, and in the meantime some games I ordered arrived. New Deus Ex and Katamari for PS3, old Yoshi’s Island and Lego Star Wars Saga for DS. Explaining all these would take so long, but I was giddy with excitement for YIDS, and it turns out my sister in law really loves Katamari. I love sharing my games.
So onto the real issues with playing Shantae. I think the used game market is very sleazy, and the App Store has trained me to view the Virtual Console as a bit overpriced. I still use it though, except I have a big problem with the 3DS one in particular, for this reason: the games they sell are incomplete. Game Boy games were originally in B&W, yes, but hello Super Gameboy? My favourite emulator can reproduce the conditions of a SGB, so the handheld VC would be a hell of a lot more appealing if it did too, even if it was optional (if they’re somehow concerned about the purity of the experience or something). In the case of Shantae, it is not on the VC. Would I buy it if it was? Tricky question. You want to support small developers, but the best transformation would not be available, as you unlock it (and an enhanced palette) by playing the game on a GBA (or an emulator with a GBA simulation switch). Another example of incompleteness.
I did buy the sequel, though, which was why I wanted to play the original first. Incidentally, the developer’s blog pretty much says that the original is extremely hard to find (it is), so you should watch a Youtube Let’s Play before playing the new game. Of course, many people interpret this as implicit permission to emulate. The original did have a very small print run, and the sequel being digital is not limited in this way. I bought the iOS version, as the DSi version is not available in my region (grrrrrr), another problem with mainstream distribution channels.
Anyway, on to the game. I actually had to fiddlequite a bit with the emulator settings to make it look better. I should have done this several games ago, as it did look much better after I removed the simulated LCD motion blur and discrete pixels. Also, before starting I read the manual from the Internet, it was great. I miss the manuals of the old days.
Ok, so the game. Fun game. At first I had trouble distinguishing foreground and background, platforms you could jump on and walls. You get used to it, but it takes a while. Fighting can also be tricky, and you can lose health quickly if you’re not careful. I guess the items are supposed to help with that, but I didn’t use them much, I often don’t in games. Once you get the transformations, they are useful but also add more complexity to the movement system. The aforementioned Advance Tinkerbat transformation is so liberating, it has the basic powers of 3 other forms, and a decent attack. The combination of various factors results in some slightly awkward gameplay that I associate with certain games of this early generation.
It absolutely oozes charm, though. The game world is so well crafted, getting around is very natural. Some of the environment transitions are abrupt, but the areas are organic and the characters look great. Each small background NPC is different and interestingly designed, and their dialogue is at times funny and informative. I did use a walkthrough to find some of the hidden items, but much of the fun here is finding your own way around, figuring things out. It does take a while to get places though, even after you get the warp dances.
It’s a great little game, especially as a prelude to the new game (which I haven’t yet started). I just love delving into a series’ history if I’m going to get into a game. It helps if the history is short, too! Oh, one thing I forgot. Matt Bozon, the creator of Shantae, also made a Warioware DIY microgame that was featured in the famous creators download section. It was based on GBC Shantae. So yeah, that is also part of Shantae’s video game history (it had a unique background). The DSiWare version also has some small connectivity to WayForward’s other games on that service, but again most of them are not available in our little hole in the world.
All in all, it’s almost like a Metroidvania, but with less vertical movement I suppose. You do end up flying by the end. It’s a neat action platformer, and its obscurity despite its relative quality appeals to me. It’s also an important part of indie gaming history. I would recommend it for anyone looking to branch out into some third-party stuff, who isn’t afraid of a little piracy. Buy the iOS sequel if you do though, it’s only a couple of bucks.
Wife’s comment: “It’s good to see a woman in a starring role.” I agree. I even saw Shantae mentioned as a possible Smash contestant (near the bottom of the list) when people were thinking of female characters for the next installment. Strong female protagonists are so rare, and Shantae is a great example with an interesting personality and design, who experiences growth over the course of this game. Not only that, the antagonist and two of the major supporting characters are also very unique females. It’s another reason I wanted to play this game, and another reason I endorse it.
