Saturday, August 20, 2011

Glover (PSX) Review

1998, 1999 Interactive Studios/Hasbro Interactive/Atari

Reviewed: August 18th-20th, 2011
As a gamer, there will come a day when you experience certain video games unlike any other you've played since, and will leave you with a strange impact. Glover is one of them for me. I remember long ago when I first played it on one of my friends' PlayStation One console. I didn't play much of it, because it left me a bit confounded, but from the little experience I've had with it, it was quite unique. Never had I ever had an anthropomorphic glove as a controllable character in a video game before. Many years later, feeling that I needed to revisit this game and having a full experience with it, I decided to give it a shot back in September '10 for the PlayStation One. Before having ordered it on eBay, I looked up that there were two versions of this game released a year prior to the Sony one: one for the Nintendo 64 and the other for the PC. I haven't played those two versions, so I'm not going to compare. Having beaten it two times now, and having gotten further experience with it, I thought it was a whole lot better than when I first tried it when I was little. But is it a quality title? Let's find out.

Glover's tale begins long ago in a peaceful time and place. It was a nice day in the castle, like any other, but that would last only for a short a bit. That day, in the castle, a wizard tried to concoct a spell using potions in his cauldron while using his magical gloves. But something went wrong. The necromancer incidentally used the wrong potion, which caused an explosion that made his gloves fly off of him. One of them (Glover) landed safely outside the turret window, but sadly the other glove fell inside the cauldron. But that's not all: what happens next is that the wizard turns into petrified gold and falls down into a cave. But wait, there's more: no sooner than that does the seven turret crystals get dislodged off the castle. Those crystals are what is keeping the castle fully intact. Luckily one of them landed right outside the castle, but the remaining six disappear into other realms that neighbor it. If they're not recovered in time, there's going to be trouble. But wait, there's still more: what happened to the other glove after having fallen in the cauldron is that he's become a boxing glove, consumed by pure evil. So now it is up to Glover to save the castle, return his brother to normal, and ultimately reverse the petrification curse on the wizard. But it will not be an easy task, as there are obstacles to be overcome and enemies to be faced, all ending in a bout with the other glove. He will venture in the worlds of Atlantis, Carnival, Pirates, Prehistoric, Fear, and Space.

You control the sentient four-fingered glove named Glover, who uses his middle two fingers as legs and his outer fingers as arms. That's quite a concept. Controls for this game are decent. He can run around, make jumps, and if you time it right, double jumps. Glover's also got a few tricks up his sleeves. He's also got other skills, too, most of which have got to do with controlling the ball. Now what does that have to do with the turret crystal issue that was discussed earlier, you may ask? Well, seeing as he's a magical glove, he has the power to transform the turret crystal into one of the following: a rubbery bouncy ball, a large and robust bowling ball, and a small and metallic ball berrier. What's good about the different variations is that they can be used in certain situations which suits them best. The bouncy ball is the only one that floats on water, the bowling ball sinks and can be used to break stuff, and ball berriers can be used by magnets when it comes to getting certain cards out of reach. Beware, because you're not the only one who can morph the ball, as there are a few enemies out there that can change the ball's appearance as well. You'd best be absolutely careful if it gets transformed to its original form, as it's very fragile, and if it shatters, you have to start over from either the beginning of the level or the last checkpoint you shot your ball through. With the Triangle button you can choose which perspective shot you want; whether it be the distant (default) shot, the medium shot, or the zoomed-in shot. The right analog controls the game's camera angles, as long as you're in areas that allow you to. If you're farther away from the ball, you can always press the Circle button to literally make Glover point you in the right direction. I guess he's got a strong bond with the turret crystals. Anyway, Glover can traverse the levels alone (if you feel the need to), but in order to progress to the next level you have to reach the end with the ball. This game takes place in a hub world, and each world portal will lead you to a different level, especially the bonus level which is accessed after you defeat the world boss. Glover can make drop attack by getting into his fist position and fall down quickly to the ground, where the round vibration around him can be used as an advantage, too. In each world, including the hub world, there are a numerous amount of cards in the regular levels, and if you collect all the cards in a level you earn a life, and should you collect all the cards from all three regular levels, your health capacity will increase by one. You can raise Glover's health capacity to nine if you manage to collect all the cards in all the regular levels. After the third level of each world, you will face a boss who's been transformed by the evil glove who will try to impede your progress.

\The game's soundtrack is good. It's charming and it's got a nice, playful, and lighthearted quality to it. It's got several good songs, with a few songs in the mix that are rather weak, in my opinion. The hub world is nice to listen to with its calm, relaxing sound, and the Atlantis themes are very cool. The Pirates themes are fitting and swashbuckling. The Prehistoric themes are primordial, and the Space themes sound galaxial, which is really cool. I like the Fear themes, with its various sounds, ominous music, and clever composition. The various boss and bonus themes sound cool, and some of them are better than others. I don't really like the Carnival themes much, as I find them annoying due to their circus-y like sound. But, thankfully the good beats the bad as far as the music in this game goes. The sound effects, on the other hand, are sweet. I like the sound that comes from collecting cards, and I like how the melody escalates when you collect them in a row. The sound for when Glover's brother laughs maniacally when he's turned evil in the intro is very deep, and Glover's voice isn't bad, either. I like how whenever he transforms his ball, he'll say brief phrases like "Abra-cadabra", "Kazaam", and "Wabababo". He also says another phrase, but due to how he says it, I find it hard to catch what he says. I really love how he says "Whoopee!" during certain moments when you've collected all the cards in a level or when you've finished a level. After reaching the end with the ball, Glover makes a snap sound which I find very authentic. The splash sound for whenever you jump in and out of the water is pleasant to listen to, and the rest of the sound effects are cool, too. Well, most of them (I'll get to the bird character's sounds later).

Glover's visuals are okay, considering when it come out in the console's lifespan. Glover animates smoothly, although he doesn't look like he's swinging his left arm when he's running, which looks very odd to me. I like how he has ovals for eyes and how he has a mouth. His idle animations (whether or not he's near the ball) are fun to watch, and I like his pointing animation. The butterfly flying around in the hub world is nice to look at, too, and the enemies and bosses look good, albeit aged, too. I like various each of this game's worlds are in style and look: the temple-like structure of Atlantis is appealing; the dark, stormy nature of Fear is atmospheric; and the colors of Carnival are nice. Just reading these description might make you feel that the game is visually breathtaking; it's not. In fact, this game has visual details which make it appear like it came out way early in the console's lifespan; like, for example, if a round enemy approaches you, you'll notice that only the eyes and/or glasses change position, and not the actual body. There's also the case in certain areas where walls and/or objects cannot be seen until you approach a little closer. For reasons I can't explain, there are a few times when the action will be happening at a smooth rate, while certain other times it will flow slowly. The game also doesn't look as crisp like most PlayStation One titles are. Even the introductory and ending cutscenes, which are decently rendered in 3D FMVs (full-motion videos), have a certain detail which shows its age. But despite all that, the visuals aren't bad, and there are a few touches which are nice. Each time Glover takes damage, he will get a band-aid on him, and if a ball falls off an edge, it will reappear in Glover's hand with a band-aid on it. It's a cute touch. The water effects in the surface are also nice, but what's even cooler is how it is seen underwater. When you're underwater and the camera is completely submerged, the camera gradually tilts left and right and the colors change from oceanic blue to chartreuse and violet. That's a really unique underwater effect, if I ever saw one. So, overall, while it may not as visually stunning as earlier PlayStation titles such as Pandemonium!, Croc: Legend of the Gobbos, and Spyro the Dragon, it's a game that I think is okay to look at.

Don't let these screenshots fool you, this is not a mindnumbingly easy game. I repeat, this is not a mindnumbingly easy game. It's not a deviously difficult game, either, which is a good thing, but even so, the difficulty is one of its low points for me. Now, the first time around, I had to keep the Help (i.e. showing buttons and what functions they do in various situations) on because I needed to get adjusted to the controls. On my second playthrough, I got through the game with the Help option turned off; unfortunately, any time you start or load a game, the Help is automatically on there, which can be a bit distracting for me. At first the controls can be a tad confusing, but after awhile they will become easy to accustom to. The main goal of each level is to reach the end with the ball, and in some cases it's not a problem, but in most cases it's easier said than done. Each level has obstacles which will impede the ball from passing through until Glover finds a switch. White switches can be pushed by Glover after he does a fistdrop attack, and red and yellow bull's eye switches can be turned on by the ball (there's only one of these types of switches which you'll have to rush to the end before the door closes up). Not only is Glover's fistdrop used to stun and/or kill certain enemies, but it can also be used to destroy boxes and break through ice. Glover's slow by himself, but by rolling the ball he increases a bit of speed. Other things Glover could do with the ball is use it as a trampoline by fistdropping on it, bounce it like you're dribbling a basketball (by pressing X while hanging on to the ball), slap it towards enemies and stuff (by pressing the Square button), and throw the ball, too (by pressing the Circle button). While you choose to do either of the last two options, you can choose where to aim the ball while still holding the button. The L2 shoulder button cancels any of these actions. Throughout the areas there are lives scattered about, and once you collect them you cannot do so again in these areas. Any time you collect all the cards in a level, you earn a life, but it seems to me that it's very easy to gain a lot of lives in this game. Especially during certain moments where you gather up many cards in a row. While it's not exactly mandatory to gather every single card out there, it is something that will keep you busy. Some cards are in covert portions of the levels, so search thoroughly. If there's a wall that looks broken, break it open with the bowling ball. Some of the bosses took me a bit to beat the first time around, but the second time around the majority of them were a breeze. When you return to the hub world and your health is not full, you can always have it refilled by approaching the bird character on a swing, who I swear sounds like it's both flatulating and laying an egg at the same time when you touch it (I don't even want to know). The various bonus levels after you vanquish the world's boss are nice, and they're nice to play. Basically they require you to collect as many cards as you can and reach the end before time runs out. Glover's camera is okay, but there are moments when you're on a narrow path when the camera will be positioned above you and you cannot lower it until you're off the path. Few times the camera finds itself fixed at just the oddest of angles. Yeesh, Super Mario 64 had more stable camera control than this. In the levels are also certain potions which will help you on your quest, but only for a limited time. A couple of these that come to mind are the Hercules potion, which makes Glover big and strong, and there is even a Rotor Blades potion which allows Glover momentarily fly.

It's got its few issues; the visuals are hit and miss (which is odd considering it came out in the middle of the console's lifespan), camera controls are okay, and the difficulty's a little so-so. But, for all the low points it has, the good qualities more than make up for it. The controls, which take a bit to get used to, are quite interesting and solid, and the soundtrack is done quite well. I like the various worlds' structures, and I like how such a concept was executed in such a fascinating way. I like the many different things you could do with the turret crystal, and how you change its form to not only prevent it from shattering but to also use it in certain ways to meet certain conditions. Exploring the various worlds' levels are fun, and trying to get all the cards is also fun. If you've missed some cards the first time around, you could always choose to start the level all over again from the hub world and get another shot at obtaining them all. I like replay value like that. I do wish I knew what was up with that blue bird's awkward sound effects. I haven't played the original Nintendo 64 and PC versions, so I don't know if they've made any alterations here or not (well, besides the obvious - Glover's mouth). After I finished Glover the first time, I looked up that the game got mixed reactions from gamers and critics, and I also looked up that the PlayStation One version got a negative reception from many gamers. So you mean to tell me that I got introduced to Glover through the inferior version? Oh, that's reassuring! But I don't mind, as I'm not going to let that taint my opinion on the game (even though I admit it almost happened the moment I looked that up). It's not a great game, but it's close. I researched that this game was slated to have a sequel. There were no hints in the game that implied that, but there was an internet poster (which looks beautiful, by the way) that parodied the first Jaws' movie poster. However, the sequel never emerged, and Glover was reduced to being a lone title video game hero.


Poor Glover. It's okay, we still love you. If you're interested in playing Glover, give it a go. I can't guarantee whether you'll like it or not, but I will guarantee that you'll find it a very unique experience.


7.5/10

Friday, July 22, 2011

Kirby's Dream Land (GB) Review

1992 HAL Laboratory/Nintendo

Review: July 21st-22nd, 2011
I have a lot of favorite video game series, and the Kirby series of games is one of them. These games have fun and intuitive play control, plus their easy-going nature is one of those things that I find appealing from these games. But I'm getting ahead of myself; I remember long ago when I was little when I experienced my first Kirby game ever: Kirby's Dream Land 2. Looking back, I have to wonder why I only experienced the second main game back then and not the first game as well. Even back then I was aware of the first game's existence through an ad booklet. But regardless, I find it a good sequel and a great game. It wasn't until 2005 during Hurricane Rita that I would get a chance to play the first game at my mom's friend's house. I only played a bit of the first Kirby's Dream Land and from what I had played of it I thought it was decent, and nearly a year later I would purchase my own copy of the game at the now deceased GameCrazy (I still miss it). Still, Kirby's Dream Land is a little different than the rest of the games that eventually followed, and admittedly it's a bit unique.
Note: All these screenshots were taken with my video camera while playing Kirby's Dream Land on the Super Game Boy peripheral cartridge on the SNES console.

One late night, while all the inhabitants of Dream Land were asleep, a terrible crime was being committed. An evil, greedy king named Dedede and his soldiers stole all the food in Dream Land, and to make things worse, he's also pilfered the magic Twinkle Stars which help provide the food as well. If they're not recovered in time, the inhabitants will starve. That fiend! Who will be there to save the day? Why, none other than the titular puffball character Kirby, that's who. He offers to help and stop King Dedede at his residence Mt. Dedede. He will be traversing through the Green Greens, Castle Lololo, Float Islands, and the Bubbly Clouds. However, his adventure will not be without obstacles, enemies, and guardians who will attempt to stop Kirby by any means. It's a lighthearted adventure with equally lighthearted cute characters.


Kirby's Dream Land is a simple 2D platformer, and one with good play control. You take control of Kirby, a round puffball that has a few moves in his arsenal. Kirby can move, jump, duck, swim, and ride on Warp Stars. The thing I feel made this game unique back when it was released in its heyday was that Kirby had the ability to inhale enemies and stars, and you had the choice to either swallow them or exhale them. Kirby can also float in the sky, which is highly recommended when it comes to reaching high places (if you don't feel like jumping on platforms on the way up). This is the only game where Kirby cannot copy abilities, a feature which would later be added in Kirby's Adventure and a feature which would be implemented in later games, but there are a few items here you can use which compensate for this. They only pop up a few times: if you suck up a bomb and then spit it out, the bomb will begin exploding on anything it comes across; there's also a microphone item, and when Kirby starts using it the enemies' eardrums will begin to shatter; and there's also the famous hot curry, in which if you consume it you start breathing fireballs for a limited time (and the item would not be used again until Super Smash Bros. Brawl). A few times you'll also come across a leaf power up which grants you the ability to fire while floating without leaving your float form. What's pretty neat about Kirby's Dream Land is how easily absorbing the controls can be (no pun intended), and how fun it can be to control as Kirby. The jumping controls are even floaty, which is understandable for a game of this type. There are two healing items here which will come in handy should you find them: the bottle, which restores a couple of hit points, and the Maxim Tomato, which completely replenishes your health.

The soundtrack, considering the Game Boy's limited hardware capabilities, is really memorable and often catchy. Composed by Jun Ishikawa, who did the music for Arcana and the one who would compose the music for the majority of the games in the series as well, the music is some of the best I've heard from the Game Boy original. Some great tunes that come to mind are the Green Greens theme (Kirby's theme), the tropical Float Islands theme, and the always soft-sounding Bubbly Clouds theme. The normal boss theme is decent, but King Dedede's boss theme is absolutely fantastic. The ending theme is so excellently-composed, that it can be a real big reward to listen to after beating the game. What's cool is that many of these themes would be remixed in later games. Nice! The sound effects, themselves, are memorable, too. I like the sound Kirby makes when he tries to absorb something, and the sound for when Kirby rides the Warp Star. Another favorite sound effect of mine is the electric sound effect for when Waddle Doo uses a beam or when Kracko uses his swirling spark effect.

The visuals, though simple they may be, are very decent. Each area of Dream Land is good to look at and each area looks different. I like the foliage in Green Greens, the internal design of Castle Lololo is detailed, the Float Islands give off a tropical feel, and the Bubbly Clouds (my favorite area in the game) take place in the heavens, and when you see the stars at night it's quite a sight. The characters and enemies are also decently designed and animate well. Kirby's a cute character, and the enemies and bosses are no different. Whenever you eat a hot curry, Kirby will be flashing colors in and out. There are few moments when Kirby will swim, but he only uses his walking animation underwater (which I find a bit odd). Enemies such as the cyclopic beam-wielding Waddle Doo, the boomerang-tossing Sir Kibble, the spiky Gordo, and the Shotzo cannons made their debut here. The bosses are well-detailed; there's the famous Whispy Woods, the shooting blimp Kaboola, and a cloud with an eyeball that follows Kirby's movements called Kracko (my personal favorite boss here). There are even a couple of familiar faces from HAL's Lolo games, Lolo and Lala (named Lololo and Lalala here), who act as your antagonists. King Dedede is a menacing final boss here. I love its cute design and feel, plus its adorable quality is part of what makes the game charming and appealing.


The first Kirby's Dream Land's difficulty is quite easy. The areas aren't hard to peruse, and the enemies and bosses have easily recognizable patterns. But its easy-going nature is part of what makes it appealing and fun. I like navigating through the expositions in Dream Land, and I enjoy playing as Kirby a lot. Even if he didn't have his trademark ability absorbing prowess in his first game, Kirby sure is fun to play as. Part of what makes the game easy is Kirby's ability to float in the air as much as he wants, which admittedly I feel is a huge advantage. In order to defeat the bosses and mid-bosses, save for Kaboola, you have to swallow either an item or a star and then spit it out back at the boss. The final stage is a boss rehash, where you must battle the bosses you've fought once again, all leading up to the final showdown with the gluttonous king. Before fighting King Dedede, there are short paths which lead up to the bosses, and you must make contact with a certain character in order to get through the door. Another thing about this game is that it's very short. Kirby's Dream Land is a game that can easily be beaten in under half an hour, and the reason for that is because there are only five stages. The stages are split up into short portions, and usually you'd fight a mid-boss in the middle of the stage, and then you'll keep moving forward to meet the boss in the end of the stage. While the game has such short brevity, it does have an extra game mode that makes up for it should you beat the game the first time.

Overall, Kirby's first game is quite a blast to play, even if it didn't provide much in terms of length. It's a very easy title, but I don't mind that so much. The gameplay is solid and the atmosphere is great. I love Jun Ishikawa's music here, and it's a nice game to look at. The characters and enemies are as well-designed as they are adorable. The hot curry, microphone, and bomb items were cool to use because they each had a different impact on the enemies. The boss fights were easy, but they were fun. I like watching the intros before each stage commences, and I like how decently-designed the stages were. Yeah, the game was short, but as I mentioned before, there is a secondary quest which you can attempt after defeating King Dedede. However, you'll need the code it gives you in the end in order to access it (Up, A, and Select simulatenously). The second quest, called Extra Game, is the same as the first game except for one detail: it's more difficult. What also adds more excitement is that some enemies will be replaced by different and more potent ones. The bosses in this game mode are more challenging as they move fast and execute swift attacks. If you get hit by the second quest enemies, you take two hits, but if Gordo or spikes damage you, you'll lose three hit points, which is quite dangerous as Kirby only has a health capacity of six. The normal game is so easy, that I managed to beat it in one life several times; but the extra game will take a long time to master. This game is very fun, and it's become so legendary that it's been recreated in Kirby's Adventure and Kirby Super Star; the final world's penultimate stage in the former is a complete homage to Kirby's Dream Land (as evidenced by the black and white backgrounds), and the latter has one mini game called Spring Breeze which is a watered down version of the original. So basically this game was made three times; five if you count the remakes Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land and Kirby Super Star Ultra to the aforementioned titles. That's pretty sweet! Beating the game in Extra Mode will take a bit to accomplish, but it in the end it pays off. This is a solid platformer experience on the original Game Boy, and one I enjoy coming back to sometimes. If you're interested in how the very first game Kirby starred in was like, give it a try. It may be short and easy, but boy is it fun while it lasts!

7.0/10

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Equinox (SNES) Review

AKA Solstice II [JP]
1993 Software Creations/Sony Imagesoft
3/5/16 Update: Check out my updated thoughts on it here  =D
It seems to me that every now and then I learn about a game that I didn't know existed at the time until I looked it up (screenshots relating to certain sites being one way, or when certain titles pop up on certain websites), and once I looked it up I become interested in them. This game is one of them; I remember having learned about it years ago when I saw it on FlyingOmelette's (outdated) Top 100 Favorite Video Games list. When she started making the shrine for this game back in '08 (if I recall correctly), I started to become very interested in it. When I saw the gameplay footage of the first dungeon, man, was I impressed. It was at that moment that I wanted to try the game. Of course, it wouldn't be until the summer of '10 that I finally got a chance to experience this game. I read on the website that this game is the sequel to the NES game Solstice, which I've never played. My experience with this game has been a very good one, and a unique one among isometric titles.
Peace had prospered the land of Galadonia after Shadax defeated the evil sorcerer Melkior long ago. All was well, until he went to go train a student named Sonia one day; however, little did Shadax know that she would use her magic against him and imprison him. All the monsters were roaming around the land of Galadonia, no one was safe. There's only one savior who will prevent this madness, and that savior is Shadax's young son, Glendaal. Can he save his father from Sonia's Ice Palace on Death Island and rid the land of evil once for all? Play the game and find out. Glendaal will be traversing many areas of Galadonia, and on his way he shall eradicate the spirits of the evil guardians that haunt the land. But it won't be easy, because the dungeons are filled with many hazards and obstacles. The areas are all varied, and are very unique. The atmosphere is really great, and the dungeons are a sight to behold, but I'll get to them later. What I find very interesting is how an English-style wizard became the father of an Arabian Knights-style hero; even more interesting is that Glendaal looks like he has elf-like ears, considering that Shadax looks like a human wizard.
Equinox is an action/puzzler adventure game viewed from an isometric perspective. The goal of each dungeon is to defeat the guardians; however, you cannot face them head on. In order to summon the boss, you have to obtain all twelve tokens (blue rotund objects) in each dungeon and bring them to the boss room. Each dungeon will have you do a lot of exploration, with a lot of rooms that are ingeniously designed. Some doors will block your progress unless you find the key with the corresponding color. Crowding the dungeons are enemies like ghosts, knights, Tazmanian Devil-like spinning devils, and jumping blobs. Their characteristics are varied, color-wise (i.e. green is weak while white is strong), and sometimes they'll go slow and sometimes they might go fast. In each dungeon, you will acquire a new weapon and magic scroll should you find them. Each weapon you equip will be different and more powerful, and the amount you can shoot at a time really varies; what's cool is that with a couple of weapons you can shoot in front and behind you simultaneously. Once you find a magic scroll in a dungeon, you will be able to conjure up the spell by the press of a button. However, make sure you have enough magic points on your magic meter, so only use them when necessary. Examples of useful magic spells are the healing spell (used to heal yourself, little by little), the freeze spell (which stops enemies and/or gates which rise and fall from moving for several seconds), and the save spell (which lets you save anywhere, except during boss fights). Most of the spells you find are very useful; however, save for the healing spell, you cannot use magic during boss fights, meaning you'll have to deal in a lot of physical damage on them. In the overworld, you can encounter either a troll or a werebat; if you find a new weapon, go to the overworld and if you defeat the troll with that weapon, then your health capacity will increase by one. When you find a new magic scroll, your magic capacity will increase by one. However, when you defeat the dungeon boss, both your health and magic capacities will increase by one. When you defeat each of the first five bosses, you'll earn a string for your harp, and should you stand on the cross while playing all the strings of the harp, then you'll transport yourself to another part of the world. I haven't discussed how the controls are; they are quite responsive and pretty solid. Shooting and jumping are the main actions of the game, and you can even bend your jumps while you're in midair. What's cool is that you can also jump while you're in the overworld, only higher. Most of the dungeons have different entrance/exit areas, meaning in some cases you'll have to go back to the overworld and find another entrance/exit area. There are some areas in the dungeons where there are different-colored apples (to refill your health) and/or potions (to refill your magic); either of which can be obtained by either by getting on the platform, or by defeating a(n) (certain amount of) enemy/enemies. Platforms can be pushed, and there are moments where you'll have to jump from platform to platform (whether it be a stationary one or a moving one). Considering it's isometric, it can be quite challenging, but I'll get to that later. You can toggle between the weapons and magic spells by accessing the menu.
The soundtrack, composed by the legendary Follin Brothers (who also did the music for Plok and Spider-Man and the X-Men in Arcade's Revenge) is absolutely spectacular!!! Each time you enter a dungeon it starts off with a short melody, and after that it then segues to a long period of ambience. The introductory melodies are quite eerie and prepare you for what's to come; some that come to mind are the beautiful harp-stringed melody of Atlena, the awe inspiring wonder from the melody of Tori, and the dangerous-sounding tone of Afralona. The melodies, though short, are very nice to listen to, and each dungeon has their own varied sound. But what really steals the show is the ambience. After the melody's over, there will be moments when it can be quiet and moments when you hear background sound effects in the game. Some examples of ambience will be metal clanging, bubbles, water splashing, whooshing wind, waterdrops, and even snoring (yes, you read that right). All these sound effects add a lot of atmosphere, which can feel quite ominous at times, and it works so well in-game (not so much out of context). At times the background sounds will make feel like you're there. The title theme is absolutely fantastic for the ears, and the overworld theme is airy and fun to listen to. The battle and boss themes rock, and I like how they'll both speed up after a certain amount of time passes by. The regular sounds are nice, too; I like the sound of the weapon being shot, and I love the sound of the door rising up after it's been unlocked. Glendaal's footprint sounds are different depending on which dungeon you're in. My least favorite sound is the shriek from Glendaal whenever he dies, as it can be a bit irksome. Otherwise, I think this game is aurally great.
The game's visuals are incredibly magnificent. All the dungeons boost very vibrant colors and are very detailed, plus they all look like they were cel-drawn. Each of the eight dungeons have their own varied styles. A few examples of these dungeons are the underground cave of Tori, the Aztec-like area of Deeso, the underwater location of Atlena (represented by color-layering water effects), the overly vegetated and abandoned Quagmire, and the abundantly wintry Ice Palace. All the platforms and spikes look different in each dungeon, and at times the dungeons will have differently colored walls and floors. Glendaal animates very fluidly, and I like how his chartreuse hair flaps on his back whenever he walks. The enemies animate nicely, too, and I like how the stars appear whenever you hit them with your weapon. The bosses are huge and wonderfully-designed; it's fun to fight against guardlians like a gigantic skull, a living totem pole, a humongous crustacean, and a behemoth-sized dollop. The overworld creatures (the troll and werebat) are huge and detailed, too. Whenever you hit the guardian or the creature, an explosion effect appears while said creature flashes different colors for a few seconds. What's cool is that if you damage the guardians enough, they'll start changing their color to a reddish one, signifying that they're almost done for. The overworld is a different story: while not as detailed like when you're zoomed in inside the dungeon or when you're fighting the overworld creatures, it still looks very nice. Glendaal looks decent in the overworld, and I like his harp-playing animation (should you press the Y button at that time). What's pretty cool is that you can rotate the overworld via the L or R shoulder buttons, and when you see the objects and the map rotate simultaneously, it's pretty impressive, and it still blows my mind whenever it happens; for 1993, that's really impressive.
As I mentioned before, this game can be a bit difficult at times, and I'll get to why that is. The first challenge you'll face upon playing this game is getting accustomed to the walking controls, because you can only walk diagonally. This isn't like Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars or Sonic 3D Blast where you can walk in every angle you please, in Equinox you can only walk in four directions. There will be moments where you'll have to weave inbetween platforms and spikes. But, once you've got the walking controls down pat they'll become second nature for you; however, the game will still become challenging later on. The first three dungeons will have you accustomed to the controls, but after that the difficulty will augment itself once you reach the fourth dungeon, Atlena. In these dungeons, there are two main hazards: enemies and spikes. The most dangerous of the two being spikes, because there is a big amount of spikes in each dungeon. You'll be required to jump on moving platforms sometimes, and you'll have to be very careful about it due to one little detail: no shadows! The platforms don't have any shadows, which means that unless you touch them or land on them, you'll have a hard time discerning if it's above, below, or in front of you. Glendaal's shadow is a vital indicator that tells you if you're standing on the platform. The next dungeon is always longer than the last, and from the second dungeon onward there will be hidden doors (which can be found by "feeling through" certain rooms). There are some moments when you'll have to push platforms to reach certain places. The thing about this game is that once you get hit once, you lose a life; and if you lose a life in a room you'll have to start said room over again (say if you got a token or a key in a room and died before exiting, you'd have to get it all over again until you leave the room with it). Spikes are a big threat, so you'd do best to try to not touch them. I'm not trying to scare anyone, as this game is manageable; it's challenging, sure, but not impossible. It can also get exciting because there may be times during later dungeons when the platform you're standing on might move when you land on it, act as a conveyer belt, (dis)appear once you get on and off it, tumble down fast if you don't step on it lightly, and disintegrate itself the moment you step on it. While you may have an unlimited array of your weapons, your magic meter is not. You'll have to be conservative when it comes to using magic, otherwise you won't have any until you either get a potion in a room or obtain a potion from fighting a werebat in the overworld (how much magic it refills the meter depends on what color it is). Many bosses have a pattern, which can be hard unless you memorize it. Sorceress Sonia is a pretty hard final boss. This game is also very long, meaning you cannot beat it in one sitting. Any time you enter or exit an entrance/exit room, the game will save. Even after defeating a guardian, the game will be saved (and you can choose whether to keep progressing or take a break). However, later on you will acquire a magic scroll which will let you save in whichever room you please (except during fights), as long as you have some magic with you. It's a very important spell, and you must acquire it (as well as the other weapons and magic scrolls) before going to the penultimate dungeon because once you step in there you can't come back. I find the rooms very fun to explore, and I like the variety of each area as well as how ingeniously all the rooms have been designed. Here's a hint: if the last enemy you defeat drops an apple or a potion in the room, you can grab it so the enemies won't come back whenever you enter that room.
I find Equinox a very fun game. I like how challenging it is, and the variety of it all is awesome. The visuals are beautiful and the soundtrack is mesmerizing with all the ambience playing in the background. The controls are solid, and the puzzles are really cool. The plot is okay, but the atmosphere more than makes up for it. The boss fights are really fun to bout, too. This game often gets miscategorized as an RPG; it's really an adventure game with action and puzzle elements thrown in together. This game does have some lines of dialogue and words, but it only shows up in the second and third demos of the game, whenever you meet the spirit of a guardian, after you defeat a troll or a werebat, after vanquishing the guardian, and during the ending. What's very interesting is how, if you wait until the fourth demo in the title screen, the game actually advertises itself (it's true, it really talks about its features during this time). I cannot think of another game that ever did that before, but it's pretty unique. The font is well-done, and the overworld map is really impressive when you rotate it. The game is really great, but I can only recommend it to those who love challenge from a video game and those who like to persevere; this game might be frustrating for those who prefer to play easy titles. It's not impossible, but it is beatable if you stick with it 'til the end. The final boss is hard, but the ending is well-deserved. I haven't played its predecessor Solstice on the NES before, but I hope to try that game someday. But, for now, I'm glad I got to play Equinox. It's a really sweet experience, and it's grown to be my top favorite isometric-viewed title. I once experienced a weird glitch during my second playthrough while I was in the Ice Palce where Glendaal's head was misplaced from his body after having died a few times in a room by either the red or white blob, but not before seeing the room pause by itself as the room flipped; once I left the room, the glitch stopped (I wish I got screenshots of that). Weird glitches which only happen once aside (I just felt like sharing); this game has a real sense of adventure to it, and is very unique among the other isometric-viewed video game experiences I've had before.


Despite what it says, this game never got a follow-up. According to the Pickford Brothers' website, a sequel was planned to be made for the PlayStation (at least, the initial concept of it was) called Spyral Saga, but it was never finished.
9.0/10

Monday, January 3, 2011

An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (SNES) Review

1994 Hudson Soft

Ah, Fievel. Who could forget that heroic Jewish mouse and his great adventures? Not I, for I remember having watched his movies when I was little, and I liked them, too. To be honest, An American Tail: Fievel Goes West was the first movie that introduced me to the series of movies. At first I thought it was the original, but when I found out years later that there was a movie that preceded this one, I was surprised. Maybe not as well known as Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse, but I find Don Bluth's character a great mouse character as well. I remember watching the second movie a lot when I was little, and the last time I saw the movie was before I moved here to Texas. Several years later, when I found out that there was an actual video game adaptation based on this movie (on RVGFanatic's site, if I recall correctly), I was completely taken aback. I had no clue that a video game adaptation had existed of it when I was little; and having judged from his review, it sounded like a fun game. In April of 2010, I decided to order the SNES game, along with the manual and the box. I had a good time with it, but the fact that it was based on a movie that I used to watch over and over made me want to watch it again; I could remember a few scenes from it, but not all of it. On the 2nd of January, I had decided to watch the movie again on YouTube (I have the VHS tape, but I wanted to watch the movie in its original wide screen edition). The movie is just as fun to watch as I remember, and now that I have watched the movie, I am now ready to review this game.

In 1986, we were introduced to Fievel Mousekewitz and his family, who are all Jewish, who all fled from Russia and decided to move to America, "the land of opportunity", in the animated movie An American Tail. But during the migration, Fievel got lost from his family and tried to get back to them, but along the way he met up with Tiger (voiced by the late Dom DeLuise), a furry and loveable cat who does not eat mice, unlike the majority of the cats in the land. Once Fievel catches up with his family, but not before facing a few struggles, they all live happily ever after and start enjoying their new American life. Five years later, An American Tail: Fievel Goes West hit the theatres, and it follows the events of the last movie. Several years later, the Mousekewitz family is having a hard time living there as of late, due to lots of distractions and hardships, and is starting to wonder if moving to America was a good idea. After an attack from a squad of cats, the mice all escape to the sewers and meet up with a mysterious mouse promising the mice an easier lifestyle in a Western-like town called Green River, working with the cats to build it. Little do they know that the promoting mouse is actually a puppet controlled by smoothtalking leader of the cats, Cat R. Waul, who has an evil scheme in store for them. On the way to Green River, Fievel gets separated from his family once again, in the desert. Fievel manages to catch up with his family later on, and knows what Cat R. Waul's true intentions are. When he gets there, he meets Wylie Burp, an old sheriff dog (voiced by the late James Stewart, his final film performance) who Fievel idolizes as a Western hero. Will Fievel save all the mice from Cat R. Waul and his cronies, and will everyone enjoy their new life in the Wild West? Watch the movie and find out. It's really good, and I think you may like it if you haven't seen it. Rest in peace Dom DeLuise and James Stewart, for you both did such a great job in bringing so much personality to these characters.

So, how did Hudson Soft handle this game's plot and atmosphere in this game conversion? Atmospherically, they did a terrific job! All the areas have been lifted straight from the movie; the streets of New York, the sewers, the train, the desert, and Green River itself, and it is all represented so well. Plotwise, it's not quite as accurate. For one thing, there are size inconsistencies between Fievel and the cats; in the movie, there were ginormous compared to him, but in the game they are like twice or thrice his size. But, that was done because it was in video game format, so it's understandable. The bosses that he encounters (except Cat R. Waul) are ones that he tries to evade from in the movie. In the box art, Fievel is shown using a lasso, which he never once used in both the movie and the game. After each stage save for the last one, Fievel meets up with Wylie Burp (who appears out of nowhere) in what is a Grand Canyon-like setting, which makes absolutely no sense. But, hey, without slight inaccuracies to the original source material, we wouldn't really be having video game conversions of the movie they're based on, now would we? So I won't hold it against them... mostly.

Controls for this sidescrolling platformer are pretty basic and simple. Fievel can move around, duck, climb up and down the stairs, jump, and shoot with his pop gun. It's a game with fun controls. There are certain power-ups that allow you to shoot up to two or three corks at a time. Fievel takes up to three hits until he loses a life, but there are two different heart power-ups: the small one which restitutes the health by one, and a big heart which increases Fievel's health capacity by one (until you lose a life and/or move on to the next stage). Touching a star will render you invincible for a few seconds. Power-ups are always concealed inside blocks which can be shot at. There are even big boxes with Tiger's face that can be shot up to multiple times to reveal either a power-up or a life. Getting $100 (in coins) nets you a life, and it can be easy to gain a life in this method. There are enemies you can shoot at, either once or a few times to do them in. If you hold Up, then the screen will slowly scroll up to the top so you can see what's above you, same for when you hold Down, only below you. The shooting controls are simple, but the jumping controls are another story; not to say that it's impossible to jump from one location to the other, it's just that they could've been tweaked a bit. The stages each have up to two or three portions, and after that you face the boss. You can even do some swimming in the game, but it only happens in the sewers, and it mostly requires that you tap the jump button repeatedly. In the first stage, you can even shoot water to douse out burning platforms. Each portion of each stage has a timer, but it's always easy to outtime the timer, so you never have to worry about getting a "Time Up". In all these stages (in some portions), you can decide whether to take the high road or the low road, and it'll still take you to the end of the portion. Plus, it's quite fun, and you never have to worry about running out of ammunition. You only have three continues, though, and it has to be beaten in one sitting.

The movie's soundtrack was composed by well-known James Horner (The Land Before Time, We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story, Once Upon a Forest, The Pagemaster), and I think the music in that movie is quite good and reflects the various atmospheres so well. I wanted to find out if any of the songs in the game came from the movie, and I was very sad to find out that none were lifted from it at all. That's outrageous! Though that's just me, and I'm not gonna make a big deal out of it here. Hudson Soft may not have emulated Horner's music in video game format, but they did a good job in creating their own music. The title theme is absolutely spectacular, too bad that you're only allowed to listen to about forty seconds of it before it forcefully fades to the demo (if you want to listen to the full version, try YouTube). The rest of the game's music is fun to listen to as well; the streets have a happy-go-lucky jingly tune, and the desert theme feels completely Western and like you're in a heated place. The thing I find very cool is that a lot of the music is revolved around brass instruments; while maybe out of place sometimes, it is quite neat. The boss theme is appropriately intimidating, and the sewer theme is nice, too. When you pause, you may think that the music has stopped, but it actually still plays while "muted"; you'll understand if you try it while playing the game. The sound effects are very decent: Fievel makes a Sonic-like jumping sound, the splashing sound effects are interesting, and the screeching sound of the mine cart is appropriate. Any time Fievel takes a hit, he makes a cute high-pitched sound. The sound for when you defeat a boss sounds a bit explosive. I wish this game had a sound test, but overall I like the sound of this game (though I wish it had a sound test).

The visuals of this game are very nice to look at it. The colors are nice and there is a tiny bit of detail in certain places. Immediately in the first stage you'll be treated with mist effects, and in the desert stage there are sizzling effects all around, which is awesome. As I said before, all the areas have been directly lifted from the movie, and the way they were converted in video game format is quite great. The title appears in the game the same way it does in the movie, with that transition same effect. There are even a few moments when there is moving foreground, to give off some depth. Before each stage starts, there will be a Mode 7 effect zooming in, which is sweet. The characters and enemies, while not as smoothly animated like in the movie, animate real well. Enemies range from cat gangsters, dogfish, hawks, and more. The enemies are done away with in different effects. Some basically fade away, while the cats explode once you defeat them (not violently, of course). The bosses are huge and decently animated, and one of them even uses Mode 7. All the boss battles take place in dark or glowing areas.

How do I describe this game's difficulty? Well, the main goal of each portion of each stage is to head as far right until you reach the goal. Even if you take slightly alternate pathways, you'll still have to head to the right. This game is easy, really; not mindnumbingly easy, but easy enough to get through with just a few struggles. The enemies are easy to deal with, but they won't have a hard time attacking you either. Some enemies take one shot while others take more. The stages as a whole are mostly easy to navigate, and there are a few obstacles that will try to stop you. The bosses have a decent attack pattern, but are mostly easy to follow. If you lose a continue, then you have to start from the beginning of that portion of the stage where you lost your life at. The game has a decent bit of challenge in certain areas, and there's enough challenge to satisfy starting gamers. The game has to be beaten in one sitting, though it's not really that bad, as it can be beaten in about three-quarters of an hour or about an hour's time. There were no exclusive areas that were added just to lengthen the game, but I think it's a good thing, as the areas have a decent amount of length. It's a bit short, but luckily not that short of a game.

I had fun with An American Tail: Fievel Goes West on the SNES. Sure it's easy, but I didn't mind that so much as it's quite nice, and sometimes it can be a nice diversion in case I feel like taking a brake from challenging games. Control is solid good, but the jumping could've been worked on. The atmosphere has perfectly been brought over from the movie, and the visuals are nice and vibrant. The music used in the game was good, though to discover that none of the tracks were lifted from the movie made me a bit sad. I would've liked for there to have been more, but in the end I thought what was there was good. It's too bad that appearances from certain vital characters were largely scarce, especially Tiger; but, I'm cool with it. It's not perfect, but it's a good game in its own right. So why did this game fall under the radar many years ago? Well, there a few reasons: the first one (mine) being that I focused on buying Game Boy games whenever I went shopping at Toys'R Us or any other store when I was little, resulting in me missing out on a lot of SNES and Nintendo 64 games I had the chance to buy back then, but missed the opportunity; the second being that this game was created three years after the movie, and Fievel's popularity was starting to wane little by little; and finally, this game is incredibly obscure. Not many gamers own this SNES game, as far as I know, but for those that do they either like it or dislike it. I'm a bit worried that I might be the only NintendoLife user who owns this game (I hope I'm wrong). Interesting to note is that the movie got a spin-off animated series that took place after An American Tail: Fievel Goes West: Fievel's American Tails, which only lasted thirteen episodes, and the animated series is something I have little to no recollection of (and I was such a cartoon fanatic when I was little). There were even a couple of direct-to-home prequels that both took place after the first movie and before the second movie which I do not think are bad but I can see why some would think so: An American Tail: The Treasure of Manhattan Island (1998) and An American Tail: The Mystery of the Night Monster (1999). An American Tail: Fievel Goes West for the SNES is the one and only video game that ever starred Fievel, and it's quite decent. If you're interested in this game, then go ahead and give it a try, should you find a decently priced copy. I think you might like it. If you haven't seen the movie, I recommend you watch it.


7.5/10