Player 1 Start

Retro-Review: Space Quest I: Roger Wilco in The Sarien Encounter [PC]

Developer: Sierra On-Line
Publisher: Sierra On-Line
Released: 1991
Completed: March 29, 2020

Despite my well documented love for Sierra On-Line, I have actually never played much of Space Quest.  The most exposure I had to it was when my childhood best friend bought a copy of Space Quest IV and I watched him play for a bit.  I had always wanted to get into them.  I remember drooling over the big red box for the VGA remake, amazed by the incredible pixel art of the mantis-like spaceship on the back, but I just never got around to buying it in my youth.

Being a big fan of Sierra's other VGA remakes, Police Quest I and Quest for Glory I (the first computer game I ever bought), I knew Space Quest VGA would be good.  I'd always heard the series was very comical, poking fun at popular science fiction and the tropes of the genre.  The artwork, as was always the case with Sierra, was top notch, and upon booting you were treated to a pretty epic score - especially if you had a Roland MT-32.

All the praise I'd heard about its humor was true.  Space Quest is a funny game.  Some of the references may be outdated or lost on younger audiences today, but its chief strength is the irreverent sense of humor.  That's really saying something, considering how attractive the game looks and sounds.

The problem is it's also about an hour long, if that.  There are several Let's Plays on YouTube that clock in around 40 minutes.  In fairness, those are either veteran players who know every puzzle solution or are using a walkthrough.  However, even during my first blind playthrough, I completed the game in under two hours.  There's just not much of it, which is a real shame because what's here is so solid.

If you've played any point and click adventure game, you pretty much know what to expect here.  Walk around, examine things, take items to solve a puzzle, and die in hilarious ways.  Ironically, most of Space Quest's puzzles don't rely on the moon logic Sierra was infamous for.  I don't believe it's possible to become mired in an unwinnable situation either, or at least it's extremely hard to accomplish given that I was able to complete it with no issues apart from the anticipated, and sometimes intentional, deaths.

Yes, there were times where I'd follow the age old advice of "save early, save often" and would intentionally do something I knew would cause poor Roger Wilco, the space-faring janitor that is our hero, to die in some comically gruesome manner.  Seeing all the clever ways your character could die was always part of the fun of Sierra games to me.  I know a large number of vintage PC gamers preferred LucasArts' more forgiving approach, but Sierra's deaths were usually so well-written you'd find yourself laughing, then upon restoring your last save, you knew what not to do. 

In the pantheon of Sierra's beloved series, Space Quest fits somewhere in the middle for me.  This being the only game in the series I've played at any length, it's hard to properly judge, but the subject matter is definitely more appealing to me than Leisure Suit Larry or even King's Quest was.  That's right, I said it!  I'm not a huge King's Quest fan.  If I'm going to play a fantasy-themed adventure, I'll play Quest for Glory, thank you very much!  But I digress.  There's not much else to say about Space Quest.  It looks and sounds terrific, it's funny, and it's very short.  If you're into sci-fi and silliness, it'll be right up your alley.

Space Quest I VGA was completed via DOSbox.

Retro-Review: X-Men: Reign of Apocalypse [GBA]

Developer: Digital Eclipse
Publisher: Activision
Released: September 26, 2001
Completed: March 28, 2020
Rated: E for Everyone

Remember Konami's awesome X-Men arcade game, the beat 'em up that allowed up to six players at once to team up with huge, colorful sprites, smooth animation, and some of the most famously bad voice acting ever?  At a glance, you might assume X-Men: Reign of Apocalypse to be a spiritual successor to that all-time classic.  It is also a beat 'em up with some pretty decent animation, and lots of recognizable characters from the storied comic book franchise.  That is, unfortunately, where the similarities end.

Reign of Apocalypse is dull, dull, dull.  What stings even worse is that it's such a missed opportunity.  There are only four playable characters - Wolverine, Storm, Cyclops, and Rogue - and no unlockables despite numerous X-Men showing up as bosses.  I don't remember the story reason for it because the story is forgettable tripe, but Gambit, Nightcrawler, Cable, and Phoenix all make appearances, among others.  Not that additional characters would save the game from being a bore that can be beaten in under and hour, utilizing only the basic moves.

You could pretty much sleepwalk through this game.  Between the braindead enemies and the generous health refills, it's harder to die than to beat the whole thing in one sitting.  There are 12 stages total, but none of them are particularly lengthy.  You start off in the X-Mansion, and you'll visit the Canadian wilderness, fight on top of the Blackbird, infiltrate a sentinel base, stop over in the Savage Land as well as the mutant slave island Genosha, and even sightsee at landmarks like the Statue of Liberty and the Golden Gate Bridge.  Thing is, none of these locations are that impressive.  Between the short length of the levels, the grainy backgrounds, and the uninspired combat, it doesn't really matter where you're mashing the attack button.  To its credit, the sprite animation is pretty fluid and characters are instantly recognizable.

Between stages you can assign points to improve your character's attributes.  There's no distinct difference.  It feels like something that was shoehorned in, but is strictly cosmetic and doesn't actually do anything.  I suppose it may give you more health, but who needs it in a game this easy?

The audio doesn't fare much better than the graphics or gameplay.  There is one music track that plays through the entire game.  One.  It's a short loop, so you will get sick of it before the end of the first stage only to realize with increasing annoyance that it accompanies every stage.  There is also one generic voice sample that I can recall.  I wouldn't expect anything on the level of the X-Men arcade game, but why even bother with the one grunt at all at that point? 

At least it controls well enough, not that you'll need anything other than the attack button.  Each character has a mutant power and a meter to govern its usage, but there's really no reason to use it.  I am not exaggerating when I say the entire game can be beaten with the basic attack string.  I could forgive the grainy backgrounds or the single music track if the gameplay was fun.  At best, it works, but it is not entertaining.  You can play it, but why would you want to - let alone replay it with a different character?

It may be unfair to compare a Game Boy Advance game to an arcade game on much more powerful hardware, but gameplay is not dependent on hardware.  Of course the arcade game is going to look and sound better, but there's no reason this game should be this unfulfilling.  Digital Eclipse had a perfect blueprint to use, a great license, and completely squandered it with one of the most bland beat 'em ups I've ever played.  It's functional, but the first three letters of the word are as close to fun as it gets. 

X-Men: Reign of Apocalypse was played via the Game Boy Player on GameCube with no cheats.

Review: DOOM Eternal [Xbox One]

Developer: id Software
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Released: March 20, 2020
Completed: March 26, 2020
Rated: M for Mature

I suppose if there's one good thing about living through a pandemic it's that I can play more video games.  March 2020 is a pretty big month, containing two of this year's most-anticipated games which couldn't be further apart in content: Ori and the Will of the Wisps and DOOM Eternal.

I salivated over every piece of video footage, every screenshot, and every morsel of info I could get for DOOM Eternal.  Classic enemies like the arachnotron, zombie soldiers, and the (goddamn) archviles returning?  Oh hell yes!  The new grappling hook looked awesome.  Even many of the returning enemies were redesigned, bringing them closer to the designs found in the original DOOM games of the 90s.  After the unexpected awesomeness of DOOM 2016, I was sure Eternal was going to blow it away with these new inclusions and upgrades.  It had Game of the Year written all over it.

Settle in, kids, this may get bumpy.

DOOM Eternal is a maddening series of contradictions.  The combat has never been more visceral, frenetic, or fun.  Switching weapons while dodging incoming projectiles, prioritizing threats, constantly moving, and using everything at your disposal to keep your health and armor up amidst the chaos is pure adrenaline-pumping insanity, and I love it.  It feels like classic DOOM, notably DOOM II where the enemy counts were bumped way up. 

What does not feel like DOOM is the platforming.  Dashing in mid-air and swinging off ledges in first person is not fun.  It's difficult to gauge your position, resulting in unfortunate and avoidable deaths if someone at id hadn't thought, hey, you know what people love?   First person jumping puzzles!

There is so much platforming and I hated every second of it.  It drags the entire game down.  Every time an FPS incorporates platforming, it is invariably the worst part of the game, yet still developers insist on including it.  A little jump here or there, perhaps to find a secret area, is one thing but it shouldn't be one of the core mechanics of the game where you cannot progress until you dodge a fire wheel straight out of Super Mario Bros. in mid-air to land on a platform that will begin descending immediately, forcing you to dash-jump to a ledge and click a thumbstick to grab the handhold before you fall to your death and have to do it all over again.  And if you think that's an annoyingly long run-on sentence, congratulations, that's what it's like to play DOOM Eternal's goddamn platforming segments.

Eternal also switches things up by introducing a hub between missions.  Here, the Doomslayer can unlock additional power-ups, suits, or collectibles such as vintage Bobby Prince music tracks from the old games.  It's OK, but like the platforming, I felt it slowed the game's pacing unnecessarily.  You can go back and replay levels from here to find things you may have missed or complete optional objectives, which I appreciate, but the moments spent wandering around, listening to lengthy dialogue clips is the antithesis of DOOM 2016's awesome opening minutes.  Nobody plays DOOM for the story.  We just want to shoot some demons.  That's the story.  There are demons, now go kill them.  We don't need to be told demons are bad.  We get it.  Shut up and let me blow their faces off with my super shotgun.

As with any sequel, there are the requisite new weapons and enemies.  Early on, you'll obtain a shoulder-mounted flamethrower that causes enemies to drop armor shards.  Your standard issue pistol is replaced by a combat shotgun as the default weapon, a change I'm both for and against.  On the one hand, most people didn't use the pistol much anyway unless there was no other option, but on the other it's one less tool at your disposal.  I suppose it incentivizes the use of the chainsaw, which causes enemies to drop copious amounts of brightly colored ammo, so ultimately it plays into the strategy of combat. 

Yes, the combat is strategic.  I'm not talking about hiding behind cover or squad tactics.  DOOM Eternal is about constant movement.  The moment you stop, you're dead.  It requires quick-thinking and perception, taking note of the most dangerous enemies and their locations, and careful but hyperactive strategizing to whittle enemy mobs down to a more manageable size.  The new meat hook grapple attached to the super shotgun is key to moving around the battlefield quickly, preventing you from becoming an easy target while also allowing you to get up close and personal for a devastating double-barreled blast on yours.

On the flip side, the new marauder enemy can suck everything that can conceivably be sucked.  They're just a chore to fight, especially if you're dealing with more than one at a time, because they're invulnerable to attacks outside of a brief window when their eyes glow.  So again, you're left waiting for the opening, which seems completely at odds with the SHOOT, SHOOT, SHOOT, MOVE, MOVE, MOVE nature of the rest of the game's combat.  Even though I hate them with every fiber of my being, it is nice to see the iconic archvile return, annoying and deadly as ever.  Some enemies even have weak points, such as the arachnotron's turret, which again adds a little additional depth to the already excellent combat.

A word of warning: DOOM Eternal can be brutal, even on the standard difficulty.  The same difficulty setting from DOOM 2016 may suddenly feel exponentially harder.  It's no wonder, given all the extra enemies on screen, but those looking for a challenge will definitely find it here.  Expert and god-tier players can crank the difficulty up even higher, but for casual players it might be a good idea to take it down a notch unless you want to see your death animations frequently. 

The tech that drives the game is impressive.  There's so much going on during any given combat scenario, yet the engine never stutters or drops frames.  id was always known for pushing hardware limits with amazing tech, and even with all the original founders long gone, it's great to see it's still part of their culture.  Environments are impressively massive, chock full of extraordinary levels of detail with gorgeous lighting to boot.  It all runs at a screaming 60 frames per second that, once again, never seems to waver - at least on the Xbox One X. 

Mick Gordon also returns to deliver another heavy metal soundtrack designed to enhance the carnage.  Again, he smartly incorporates motifs from Bobby Prince's original scores but does something totally new with them, rather than just remaking them metal-style.  Unfortunately, it seems he and id had a falling out, so don't expect him to return again.

Even with such frantic gameplay, DOOM Eternal plays well with a standard controller.  I can't speak to how it compares to a mouse and keyboard, having never played it that way, but it's pretty intuitively laid out.  On consoles, Eternal utilizes a weapon wheel that slows down the action briefly while you make your selection, but you can also hot swap between the last two you've used with a tap of a button.  Other buttons allow quick access to the flame belch, chainsaw, and of course the dreaded jump button.  The controls don't factor into the difficulty of the platforming for the most part.  There are times when you'd swear the Doomslayer should have grabbed that ledge, but that's more because the platforming is just garbage.

I have a love/hate relationship with DOOM Eternal.  I absolutely love the combat, but I hate the platforming.  The pacing is all over the place, and the whole game doesn't feel as cohesive as the 2016 reboot did.  The increased difficulty could lead to frustration for some, although veteran DOOM players will probably be less bothered by it.  I did also want to mention that the final boss is one of the coolest final bosses I've ever fought, but whoever designed the marauder can burn in hell along with whoever decided to double down on the jumping puzzles.  When it's all said and done, I definitely like more of DOOM Eternal than I hate.  Perhaps it's the surprise of the reboot being so unexpectedly awesome, or I'm a victim of my own hype, but I just didn't enjoy it as much as the last game in the series.

DOOM Eternal was completed on an Xbox One X with no cheats.

Retro-Review: Castlevania: Rondo of Blood [PC Engine]

Developer: Konami
Publisher: Konami
Released: October 29, 1993
Completed: March 15, 2020

There are those who will tell you that Castlevania: Rondo of Blood (aka Akumajou Dracula X: Chi no Rondo) is the best Castlevania game.  Those people are wrong.  It's a fantastic entry in the long-running series, and arguably the best of the more traditional games (though I would argue Super Castlevania IV is better as well), but Symphony of the Night is, was, and always will be the greatest Castlevania game.

I think some of the affection for Rondo stems from the fact that it was locked away as a Japanese exclusive for so many years.  Gamers who were savvy enough to use emulators have had access to a fully translated version for a while now, but the first official translation and Western release wouldn't occur until 2007 when it was remade as part of the Dracula X Chronicles on the Sony PSP.  I have no doubt people legitimately love the game - it's awesome - but I think there's also a small touch of wanting that hipster gaming cred for loving a title a lot of western gamers didn't even know about when it released. 

I don't want to demean Rondo of Blood though.  Contemporary magazines lamented, rightfully so, that it was stuck in Japan and all we got in the US was the heavily modified and quite inferior Dracula X on the Super Nintendo.  There's no denying Rondo of Blood set the stage for the masterpiece that would follow, incorporating branching paths, swappable secondary items, unlockable playable characters, and introducing many of the sprites that would be reused in Symphony.  With the added storage of CD-ROM, fans got to hear Castlevania's iconic tunes in ways they had never heard before, along with new material that was just as good.  The traditional walk right and whip gameplay was refined to near perfection - only outclassed by Super Castlevania IV - offering just the right amount of difficulty for veterans and newcomers alike.

Yes, Castlevania: Rondo of Blood is a phenomenal game.  It's a perfect middle ground between the flawed Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, a game that in hindsight seemed too ambitious for the hardware it was on, and the more open, non-linear structure the series would head into.  The fact is fans can argue for all eternity about which of the 16-bit entries is the best traditional 'Vania, and there's really no wrong answer because they're all great in their own way, and they all offered something unique.

The Dracula X Chronicles offered both a full 2.5D remake and, for the first time, a full official translation of the PC Engine CD-ROM version as an unlockable.  The original 16-bit CD-ROM version also saw release on the Wii Virtual Console (untranslated), and re-release again in the Castlevania Requiem Collection for PS4, which is how I played it.  Incidentally, the latter also includes the retranslated version of Symphony of the Night that was also on the Dracula X Chronicles, so you're essentially getting two of the greatest games in one of the greatest franchises for a song.

Graphically, Rondo of Blood features sharp, crisp sprites, superb animation, and a fantastic use of color throughout.  Backgrounds look terrific, varying between the expected castles, graveyards, a spooky pirate ship, and more.  With so many branching paths, you'll want to play the game several times just to see them all.  The addition of Maria Renard as an unlockable player character enhances the replayability even further.  She's easier to use for newbies, and plays quite differently from Richter Belmont, the de facto protagonist, making it worth replaying even the same stages over with her.

As mentioned previously, the music is a huge highlight as well.  Castlevania has always had the best music, and the arrangements found here rank among my favorites in the series.  I adore the soundtrack so much, I even bought it on vinyl (along with Symphony of the Night's, courtesy of Mondo).  It's not quite fully orchestrated, still relying on MIDI instruments, but it's absolutely wonderful and surprisingly upbeat to coincide with the game's action.  The whole thing is sort of like Castlevania club tracks.  Brilliant stuff.

Richter controls exactly as any veteran of the franchise would expect.  There's a heft and weight to him, requiring precise and deliberate jumps lest you be knocked backwards by an enemy into a pit.  As is standard for most Castlevanias, you cannot change direction mid-jump.  New to this game is the ability to swap sub-weapons.  Accidentally picked up a dagger?  No problem.  Your prior weapon drops to the ground for a few seconds, allowing you to reclaim it.  Rondo also introduces the item crash - a devastating clear-screen attack that costs way more hearts, but can kill most regular enemies and wound bosses.  Gone, however, is the ability to brandish your whip or use it to swing across gaps, as introduced in Super Castlevania IV. 

The series trademark difficulty is more manageable in this installment, but it will likely still frustrate those unfamiliar with earlier games.  It's not a walk in the park by any means, but it's not on the level of, say, Castlevania III on the NES - or even the absurd difficulty of the SNES pseudo-port.  Another welcome addition is the ability to save your game, replacing the unwieldy icon-based passwords of previous entries, so you can take a break and cool down if the frustration sets in.

It's true, I don't love Rondo of Blood as much as some people do, but that doesn't mean I don't love it.  Most, if not all, of the game's issues with difficulty were old hat by this time, giving vampire killing veterans a bit of an edge.  Whether you play it on the PSP, PS4, TurboGrafx Mini (where it is still in its original untranslated form), or if you're lucky enough to own a PC Engine and an original disc, play this one anyway you can. 

Castlevania: Rondo of Blood was completed on a PS4 Pro as part of the Castlevania Requiem Collection with no cheats.

 

Review: Ori and the Will of the Wisps [Xbox One]

Developer: Moon Studios
Publisher: Microsoft
Released: March 11, 2020
Completed: March 14,2020
Rated: E for Everyone

I try my best not to hand out fives too frequently.  One of my biggest pet peeves with gaming journalism is how many sites gives perfect scores to undeserving games.  I understand that it's all subjective and a reviewer's bias will factor into the number, but you can pick just about any 75% on MetaCritic game and find at least one outlet who gave it a perfect score, and that seems excessively generous.  There's nothing wrong with admitting a game you love has flaws. 

It may come across as hypocritical, then, that I am awarding Ori and the Will of the Wisps, the long-awaited follow-up to Moon Studios' sublime Ori and the Blind Forest, a perfect score.  In my defense, I legitimately can't think of anything to complain about.  Also, this is my blog and I don't have to explain myself to you, so there!

My love for Ori's first outing is well known to anyone who will listen.  It's one of my favorite games of the entire generation, so the sequel had some big shoes to fill.  I was confident it would be an incredible sequel, but I never expected it to surpass the original game.  After a five year wait, Moon Studios delivered a perfect follow-up filled with all the elements that made the first game so memorable, and even squeezed in some improvements.

First off, there's Ku, the little playable owl with an injured wing.  Owls have prominent roles in the Ori series, and with good reason - they are awesome.  In my living room I have no less than seven decorations featuring them.  To say I think Ku is adorable is an understatement.  Unable to fly due to her injury, her friends make her an attachment that will allow her to soar the skies.  This being a video game, naturally something goes wrong and disaster strikes poor Ku and Ori, leaving them separated, and thus, Ori begins his quest to find his friend.

What follows is some of the greatest Metroidvania gameplay you could ask for through breathtaking locales, both vivid and dark.  Ori's world is all hand-made, allegedly with no reused assets, and it shows in every carefully placed detail.  Areas all have a distinct look, some filled with foreboding and others so bright you may find yourself squinting. 

Like the original, Will of the Wisps is non-linear to a point.  Ori can explore most areas, but certain parts will only be accessible after acquiring special skills and abilities.  There's tons of hidden nooks, crannies, and grottoes which hold valuable life and spirit (the game's version of magic) meter upgrades.  There's even a small town that acts as a hub with optional quests you can undertake. 

The meat of the gameplay is the running, jumping, climbing, and dodging, of course.  Traversal is fluid and immensely satisfying.  Wisps is not an easy game, but you never feel as though you're completely stuck.  With a little perseverance and practice, you'll find yourself stringing moves together during the game's thrilling scripted escape sequences.  You get better just through playing the game naturally, and you always feel like you have complete control.  If you fall into a pit, it's your fault, which lessens the sting of death and encourages you to try again.

Like the best Metroidvanias, progression in Ori is often tied to traversal puzzles.  This is a game that will test your lateral thinking skills along with your gaming reflexes.  Figuring out how to get from point A to points B, C, and beyond is part of the fun.  It's a game where I would encourage you not to use a walkthrough and deprive yourself the satisfaction of those moments where the solution clicks. 

The boss battles are worthy of praise as well.  Each boss is a puzzle unto itself, relying on pattern recognition and careful timing instead of brute force combat.  They're the culmination of the skills you've been accumulating up to that point in the game, testing your wits and reflexes and they're rewarding as hell.

The stellar gameplay is all presented with some of the most awe-inspiring visuals imaginable.  Ori's world is equally lush and vibrant, densely dark, dangerous, and surprisingly immersive for a 2.5D platformer.  Scouring every corner never felt like a chore because the world is so captivating I wanted to see every inch of it. 

Complimenting the incredible visuals is another remarkable soundtrack, courtesy of returning composer Gareth Coker.  There's more than an hour of music, much of it as unique as the areas themselves.  Truthfully, Coker's music is so intrinsically linked to these games, I can't imagine how I'd feel if another composer stepped in in the future.

Perhaps Ori's greatest strength is the pure, raw emotion of its storytelling.  Despite the characters being fictional creatures, speaking a fictional language in what little dialogue there is, their expressive animations coupled with the musical score tugs at your heartstrings better than just about any other game I can think of.  Seeing Ku injured filled me with sadness and fear, and most shockingly, there's a late-game flashback involving the primary antagonist - a desiccated owl named Shriek - that is positively heartbreaking.  After hours of fearing the sight and sound of the beast, you suddenly feel pangs of sympathy upon realizing the poor creature was denied one of the most basic needs of any living thing - love.  It's a testament to the creators that they're able to stir up such powerful emotions for the game's villain.

Honestly and truly, Ori and the Will of the Wisps is nothing short of a masterpiece.  An emotional and fun mix of platforming, puzzles, and combat within an unforgettable world brought to life through its amazing visuals and audio, it absolutely surpassed my highest expectations. 

Ori and the Will of the Wisps was completed on an Xbox One X with no cheats.

Review: The First Tree [PlayStation 4]

Developer: David Wehle
Publisher: David Wehle/Limited Run Games
Released: November 30, 2018
Completed: March 8, 2020

Ahh, grief, my old friend and enemy.  It's like a warm blanket made out of the itchiest material - comforting and uncomfortable all at once.  It's familiar to anyone who has ever lost someone they cared deeply about, and yet completely alien because every instance is completely different.  Two people can lose the same person, and have two separate feelings about it based on the relationship they had with the deceased. 

The First Tree was created by David Wehle to deal with the grief of losing his father.  It's a pain I know all too well, having lost mine in 2009.  I've often found there's a strange sense of community with grieving persons.  I've never met David, never spoken to him, but so much of this game spoke to me and my own experience.  There's something morbidly comforting in knowing that other people have experienced loss and terrible sadness - these shared humanizing traits.  You wouldn't wish it on anyone, but at the same time you're kind of glad someone else understands to some degree.

The First Tree is told as a retelling of a dream between a man and his wife.  In the dream, a fox desperately searches for her children across beautiful, stylish landscapes as the storyteller reminisces about his father and his own life.  There are some truly heartwrenching moments in both the story, and the accompanying dream, but it's a journey well worth taking to the uplifting finale.

As a game, I guess you could classify The First Tree as a 3D platformer, albeit a sort of Lite version.  There are some minor puzzles and optional collectibles, but the narrative drives the experience.  You could just as easily call it a Walking Simulator Plus.  The gameplay is serviceable but not taxing, apart from the occasional wonky jumping segment.

It's really all about the story, and it's a pretty powerful one at that.  A tad melodramatic perhaps, but I appreciate that it's hard to tell a story about death and grief without a little melodrama.  I never found it poorly done or overly schmaltzy, but your mileage may vary. 

What most people can agree upon is that the game looks and sounds great.  The aesthetic is sort of cartoonish, but not quite cel shaded, with gorgeous environments.  There are some nitpicks, such as the way the fox sort of skates along the ground and clips through objects at times, but for a game made by essentially one person some of that is to be expected.  It has a somewhat intentionally low detail look, yet still looks awe-inspiring at times.

The soundtrack deserves special note.  Equal parts relaxing, reflective, and melancholic, the score was so moving in conjunction with the visuals and the story, I immediately found the composer Josh Kramer's bandcamp page and purchased a copy.  It's exquisitely, achingly, sometimes hauntingly beautiful.

How much you enjoy The First Tree will ultimately boil down to how much the story impacts you.  I'm not suggesting that people who haven't experienced loss won't get it or anything.  Every story hits everyone a different way, and in a narrative driven game that's going to be the major factor.  Some people may find it depressing, others uplifting.  It's a very short game, which I think works for the tale it's telling, but the gameplay is not the focus.  As I said, it's serviceable but not great or particularly engaging except as a vehicle for more story beats.

For me, the simplicity of the game worked.  The narrative pulled me through and made me want to find the collectibles just to hear more recollections from the storyteller.  The game ends with a chance to leave a message for other players, which as I understand it are then curated to make sure they're appropriate, and the one I received felt like it was written specifically for me.  It was a touching, poignant moment that will stick with me - so much so that I keep a screenshot of it on my phone as a reminder: "Love comes from the people around you and you have to love the moments with them."

The First Tree was completed on a PS4 Pro with no cheats (I doubt there even are cheats, but I still have to say it).

Retro-Review: World of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck [Genesis]

Developer: SEGA Enterprises
Publisher: SEGA of America
Released: 1992
Completed: March 8, 2020

The original Castle of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse was one of the standout titles from the early Genesis library.  It was an early showcase for what the Genesis was capable of with stellar presentation and tight gameplay.  Two years later, SEGA tried to catch lightning in a bottle once again with the much-anticipated sequel, World of Illusion.  This time, Donald Duck was along for the ride and the game featured two-player cooperative play, as well as branching paths depending on who you picked in single player! 

It's a mostly successful endeavor.  World of Illusion fails to capture the magic of Castle, despite magic being a prevalent theme ironically, but it's still a solid and beautiful platform adventure that's perfect for family gaming.

In fact, if you're looking to get your children into gaming, this is a perfect jumping off point.  Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck are still beloved by children (and adults) the world over, and the two-player option means you and your child can work together to solve the game's traversal puzzles.

World of Illusion is significantly easier than Castle was, owing perhaps to the attempt to cater towards young and old alike.  Playing as either Mickey or Donald is relatively the same, though there are some exclusive stages to each which greatly enhances replayability.  Playing cooperatively yields even more variances in the path you'll take, but none of them will test your reflexes too harshly. 

On the whole, the game plays a little slower as well, but there are lots of neat mechanics such as climbing along a spider's web, swimming in a bubble in the rare underwater level that doesn't totally suck, and using Alice in Wonderland's card guards as platforms.

Like its predecessor, it's also an absolutely gorgeous game.  Stunning backgrounds are complimented by outstanding animation.  It's vibrant, colorful, and filled with detail.  Every level is a treat to behold, marred only by some unfortunate and unexpected slowdown. 

A cheeful, bouncy soundtrack accompanies you on your journey through five levels.  Again, it's at least on par with Castle of Illusion's score and has that vintage Disney feel.  The voices have that trademark Genesis scratchiness to them, but like the slowdown this is only a minor complaint in an otherwise flawless presentation.

Heck, even the box art is phenomenal!  I miss the days when video games had such eye-catching artwork!

If it's all so great, then why only a 3.5/5?  Well, it's simply that it's not as good as Castle of Illusion.  Make no mistake: this is a fine game, and absolutely one you should play.  It's just lacking that small intangible thing that Castle had, whatever it may be, that made it so special.  Maybe it's just that the Genesis had been around longer by the time World of Illusion was released and it was harder to be impressed in my cynical teenage years, but I'm a cynical old adult now and playing this game in 2020 still put a huge smile on my face.  It's one of the best looking games on the Genesis, and I'd argue of the entire 16-bit generation.  I appreciate all the added replayability as well, but the slower pace and shorter adventure keep it just shy of true greatness.

World of Illusion was completed on a real Genesis with no cheats.

 

Retro-Review: Batman: The Video Game [Genesis]

Developer: Sunsoft
Publisher: Sunsoft
Released: 1990-91
Completed: March 7 ,2020

Batman may be the only superhero with the distinction of having two great video games based on a single movie.  Arriving at least a year after Tim Burton's mega-smash adaptation, Sunsoft's Batman for the SEGA Genesis is a very different game than the much-loved NES title, but it's very good in its own way.

The Genesis game adheres closer to the film, with stages that are based on locales from the movie in the same general order they appear in.  Bosses include notable villains such as, uh... martial arts guy?  And Bob!  You remember Bob, the Joker's right-hand man!  Naturally, the final showdown is with the Joker himself, and thankfully he does not have the power to call down lightning upon you like he did in the NES game. 

At its core, Batman on the Genesis - or BatGen, as nobody but me calls it - is a fairly standard side-scrolling action game.  You walk from left to right, or sometimes right to left, beat up thugs, face a boss - you know the drill.  There's nothing here you haven't seen or done before, but it's fun and that's what matters.

To break the monotony of thug-bashing, there are also a couple of vehicle stages where you take control of the Batmobile and the Batwing.  These play like you'd expect a horizontal shoot 'em up to.  They're a nice change of pace, and very enjoyable in their own right.  I only wish there were more of it.

Batman is a short game.  With only six levels, you can beat it under an hour with ease on your first try.  Its biggest failing is that it's so short and easy, almost as though Sunsoft responded to criticism of the NES game's extreme difficulty by making the Genesis game a cakewalk.  It doesn't detract from the fun of playing it, but once you're done, there's little to keep you coming back.  The same could be said of countless games from the 8 and 16-bit days, but if you rentedthis game back in the day, odds were you'd finish it well before it was time to return it to the video store.

The real highlight of the game is the audio/visual presentation.  In many ways, the game resembles a souped up version of the NES title.  The backgrounds look great, and capture Gotham's gritty, dreary, Gothic aesthetic.  Sprites are large and well animated as well.  The whole thing looks and feels very polished, but the music... Oh man, the music!

We may never know what sort of Faustian deal Sunsoft made to fill their games with such memorable music, but I refuse to believe that kind of talent comes naturally.  It may not be Prince's soundtrack to the film, but the soundtrack to the game is arguably even better than the NES version.  At worst, it's a close race between which is the greatest and the slightly-less-great. That said, I would still rather have had a YM2612 version of "Batdance". 

Unfortunately for collectors, BatGen is considerably more expensive these days than its NES cousin.  I still maintain the NES game is better overall, but this is such a different experience it's definitely worth playing to see which one you prefer.  Even if neither of them have "Batdance". 

Batman: The Video Game was completed on a real Genesis with no cheats.

Retro-Review: Double Dragon [SEGA Master System]

Developer: Technos Japan
Publisher: SEGA of America
Released: 1988
Completed: March 4, 2020

The good: Double Dragon on the SEGA Master System is more faithful to the arcade, and features two player cooperative play!

The bad: Just about everything else.

OK, so maybe that's a bit of an overstatement.  On paper, Double Dragon for SEGA's 8-bit machine sounds like a dream come true for fans of the coin-op.  Two player simultaneous play!  Stages and enemies mirror the original much closer than the NES version.  There is no poorly conceived level-up system that locks moves behind experience points in a martial arts beat 'em up.  There can even be more than two enemies on screen at once and, gasp, they can be different enemies!  It all sounds wonderful until you start playing.

That's when you'll see some of the worst sprite flicker you'll ever see, especially in two player mode where sprites all but disappear entirely, or spend more time fighting the sluggish controls while your character's stubby little arms flail harmlessly at enemies mere inches away.  You know that warning in game manuals about how some people are at risk of epileptic seizures while playing video games?  Double Dragon on SMS is the posterchild for that warning because of the flicker.

Though it was also programmed by Technos, it's obvious not much effort went into this port, and it's a damn shame.  It could have been so good with just a little more polish.  All the elements were there, but the programmers just lacked the skill, the desire, or both to bring it all together into a coherent package. 

The most critical thing to nail in any beat 'em up is the controls.  It may have predated much more advanced games like Final Fight, but Double Dragon actually has a more complex move set.  It translated well to the NES, in spite of having one less button and having to unlock the moves, but on the Master System it's like trying to control the game with a fat baby.  No matter how hard you push, it just doesn't do what you want half the time.  I never could get certain moves like the unstoppable elbow smash to work at all, though they're allegedly all programmed into the game.

Matters are not helped at all by the atrocious reach of Billy and Jimmy Lee in this version.  Enemies have to practically share the same space as you to be susceptible to punches and kicks, and you'll likely take just as much damage while you trade hits.  This means the game devolves into non-stop jump kicks.  Just four levels of jump kicking everything because your basic attacks are useless, and half of the special attacks are impossible to pull off.

The graphics aren't particularly pleasing.  Like the NES version, this uses a more anime-influenced look with odd color choices (Jimmy's blue hair).  In many ways, I feel they're inferior to the NES game.  Take the game's opening stage - on the NES you see a nice backdrop of the city between the buildings.  There's chain link fences and barrels for decoration, and a good sense of depth.  On the Master System there's a large brick wall, followed by a large brick building (which, to be fair, was in the arcade version), followed by a mostly empty alley will oil drums and it all looks very flat.

About the only good thing I can say for SMS Double Dragon is the FM music is decent, if you have a way to access it.  If all you have is an unmodified US Master System, prepare yourself for some pretty mediocre PSG renditions of the classic tunes. 

What a bitter disappointment.  So much potential, squandered by inept programming.  I love Double Dragon.  I'll never forget the first time I saw the coin-on, hearing the crisp sounds of the punches and kicks, and the digitized voice samples.  As letdown as I was with the NES version's differences, I'm thankful I didn't have a Master System in my youth because if this was what I had been stuck with, I would have been beside myself.  The scary thing is this isn't even the worst port of Double Dragon, but for the hardware it was on, it should have been much better.

Double Dragon was completed on the Analogue Mega SG with no cheats.

Retro-Review: SpellCaster [SEGA Master System]

Developer: SEGA Enterprises
Publisher: SEGA of America
Released: 1989
Completed: March 3, 2020

I have this weird quirk when it comes to playing games in a series.  Regardless of how much or how little subsequent entries may tie into previous ones, I feel I must play them in chronological order.  Such was the case with SpellCaster, which is apparently the first game in a duology with Mystic Defender on the Genesis. 

Now I like Mystic Defender a lot.  It's tough, and I've never beaten it (yet), but I enjoy it quite a bit.  For a fairly early Genesis game, it's lots of fun.  I expected SpellCaster to be essentially an 8-bit version of the side-scrolling action game - not as pretty to look at or listen to, but a solid title.  The box itself touts itself as "adventure role-playing," and I like both of those things.

Now that I've played it, I can confidently say SpellCaster is a game that exists and you can play it.  If you want to.  Or don't.  It is the most six-out-of-ten game ever.  It's so average and forgettable in nearly every regard, I could barely remember it even 24 hours later, much less a full year (yes, I am writing this in March 2021 and backdating the entry; sue me). 

SpellCaster mixes adventure game elements similar to those of LucasArts' games with a series of verbs such as look, talk, move, etc.  These sequences take place on static images and black backgrounds where you advance the game's story.  The rest of the game is made up of short side-scrolling action levels.  The combination itself isn't a bad idea.  The execution is just so bland it's like the gaming equivalent of eating a sponge.  And not a used sponge either.  That might have some food crumbs or been used to wipe up something flavorful.  No, this is more like a fresh out of the package sponge.

SpellCaster doesn't do anything particularly poorly, but it doesn't do anything particularly well either.  Everything is competent, no more, no less.  There's one level towards the end - the obligatory instant death lava level - that can be maddening, and if you're not familiar with adventure games, some of it may seem inscrutable to you.  Anyone who grew up with Sierra or LucasArts adventures on PC will know to use every verb on every item in every scene until you get a result (or just use a walkthrough and save yourself a headache).  Mercifully, there is a password system so you don't have to play this all in one sitting.  I'm not sure if anyone can handle that level of unexcitement all at once.

Despite the Master System being slightly more powerful than the NES, I never found a lot of its games that attractive.  Often they'd have garish colors, or looked washed out by comparison, and sprite flicker was just as problematic as it was on Nintendo's gray box.  SpellCaster doesn't change my opinion one way or another.  It's fine.  The cinematic adventure portions are fairly nicely detailed, and the action stages are serviceable, but neither is going to knock your socks off.  Even less impressive is the PSG music which, like the game itself, exists but is of no real consequence.

One of the most common problems with any Master System game is the controls.  Thanks to SEGA's idiotic decision to make the d-pad on the SMS controller a giant, mushy square, you'll find yourself pressing down hard in the direction you want to move during the action scenes.  Some Master System games can be played with a Genesis controller, though I didn't attempt it with this one to see if it worked or not.  If it does, that's definitely a better option because the OEM d-pad is not good for anything.

Yep, SpellCaster is a game, alright.  That's what it is.  A purely average, utterly forgettable game.  If white bread were a game, it would be called SpellCaster.  There's nothing really wrong with it, but it's not the type of thing anyone ever says, "I could sure go for some of that right now!" 

SpellCaster was completed on a real SEGA Master System with no cheats.