A new edition of Retro Corner Reviews is up, and we check out what is considered a one off series called StarTropics for the NES. Summer has started as some will prepare for the beaches and pools while others look forward to their BBQs outdoors. We start the Summer off with StarTropics, one of Nintendo’s lesser known games—You can also add that to the list containing EarthBound, F-Zero, Mach Rider and Balloon Fight. It was released under the radar in December 1990 due to the combination of Super Mario Bros 3 and other bigger titles. There are many reasons this game never took off since once 1990 was over people were hyped for the Super NES. Of course by that point most rented the game but it is possible they had a “meh” attitude after their experience. It wasn’t Mario, Zelda or any other big release on the NES so in their minds why would anyone care when most were saving for the Super NES. The gamers I’m talking about are casuals and not us dedicated crowd who would at least rent this at Blockbuster for a weekend. It’s funny how Nintendo continued to support the NES alongside the Super NES. Then again, it’s a good thing they did because plenty of gems came out between 1991 through 1994.
StarTropics falls under the action/adventure or dungeon romper (to those who play Zelda Classic) based on the game’s mechanics. Today most don’t appreciate clones like they used to, and it should come off as a form of flattery then an insult. However, ST isn’t the usual adventure game as its level design is structured differently from Zelda—Sometimes a studio needs to do things different from the usual. Take Mario and Donkey Kong and even though they are from the same genre however, these series do not play the exact way. The theme is about an American teenager named Mike Jones who visits his uncle Dr. Steven Jones at his lab on C-Island within the South Seas. However, when he arrives at the island’s local village where his uncle’s lab is stationed, he finds him missing. It turns out aliens led by Zoda have kidnapped his uncle and now Mike has to brave the challenges of the South Seas to save him. Does StarTropics hold up after more than three decades especially against Nintendo’s elite series? StarTropics (NES) Review
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A new edition of Horror Gaming is up, and we tackle an Earthbound CP called Crypt of the Ancients. The series is the textbook definition of a niche series at its core as till this day not many people know this exists. Each game follows a different story set in certain eras where a group of young heroes face an alien overlord named Giygas. However, the third game takes place in a completely different era of Earth where human civilization was reduced. I might understand why some love the series, but it is another Dragon Quest with pop culture references. Most of this niche fandom will get annoyed by that take but it is obvious why this is a niche series. The thing is EarthBound is often hindered by dated mechanics that don’t evolve the gameplay enough. Even Lufia II changed up several things from the original that actually made this a unique sequel. While the first two entries stayed true to the Old Guard’s format of Ultima and Dungeons & Dragons from the mid-80s.
The CP itself was the first time I listen to a horror theme EarthBound tale as this was years after the Giygas Theory was known. Now, Crypt of the Ancients is a tale about a guy named Nick who borrows a copy of EarthBound after enjoying what he saw. However, after the game was accidentally broken and he rushes to the local game store to get it fixed, the guy discovers once getting it back the RPG plays vastly different. That is when Nick learns of the Crypt that is mentioned often through his second play through. You are wondering how anyone can turn this into horror despite the backstory already being morbid. That is what makes this a little interesting at face value since this Crypt is another Lost Level CP. So how different and strange will Nick’s playthrough become? EarthBound: Crypt of the Ancients Creepypasta Review A new edition of Retro Corner Reviews is up, and we take a look at the Original Earthbound game on NES. After nearly two years Nintendo finally brought the Earthbound series to the NSO. Originally, both games were released on WiiU in 2015 after being absent for years on the Virtual Console. While the second title got a US release in 1995, the first one however was in a weird situation. It turns out the first game was already translated and ready to hit store shelves in 1991. Unfortunately, Earthbound NES — its original title before being renamed Beginnings as a subtitle — was never giving a reason as to why this was canceled. We can only assume Nintendo was worried about low sales considering RPGs weren’t as popular as they were in the later generations. I mean, it is the only conclusion that makes sense when the series is one of the company’s niche games.
For the game itself, like most RPGs from the 8-bit era, never age well compared to those on the 16-bit and 32-bit systems. Beginnings falls under this as time has not been nice to it with outdated mechanics. Now, that also could’ve been the reason for Nintendo to not release Beginnings when they thought it was probably too hard for American gamers. I mean, Nintendo did the same thing to the Famicom Super Mario Bros 2 only to replace this with an easier non-Mario title. Of course, EEB also had controversial visuals for the time as they removed some features and dialogue. An example being gore and cigarette smoking was present in the Japanese version from the enemies. Yet, the US port has removed these features altogether due to censorship laws. Sometimes censorship is used to remove things that shouldn’t be in a kid’s game as this was used properly here. Then there’s censoring games like Doom despite the M rating to appease angry pearl clutchers in the 90s. Earthbound: Beginnings (NES) Review A new edition of Retro Corner Reviews is up, and we take a look at Doom II for the PC. At this point who hasn’t played the classic games from the 90s. That is how much influence the series has had on gaming and the FPS genre. Not only did Doom spawn a sequel but many developers wanted to emulate its success. Before Duke, Quake and Golden Eye were released many tried to make clones of Doom. The series Blake Stone springs to mind and even though it used the Wolfenstein Engine, you can tell where the inspiration came from. Fortunately, many developers didn’t resort to emulating Id as most 90s FPSs had their own weapons and themes. A clear difference between Duke, Quake, Turok and Golden Eye is what made them unique.
As for the second game, most will agree the sequel felt more like an expansion off the first entry. Nothing was vastly improved upon as only tweaks is what Id did instead of building on the Engine. Its obvious Id was coasting on their success from the previous hit games of Wolfenstein and Doom. They would continue this until the Quake Engine was created in 1995 when something fresh needed to come out. It’s a shame the developers waited until the development of Doom 64 for them to finally build on the software tools. By then these software tools were already obsolete when a superior Quake Engine was being used. I can never understand why they didn’t simply utilize Quake’s own to develop Doom 64. Even modders have used the Quake Engine to recreate the first game in actual fifth gen 3D visuals and gameplay. Doom 64 is still a classic, but Id should’ve used Quake’s 3D assets to produce the series fourth entry. Doom II: Hell of Earth (PC) Review There is another older review to show this time and it was when I went over the second Metroid on the Game Boy in 2016. Ever since the remake of the second game was remade on the 3DS, the series has regained what made it successful. No doubt Other M might have soured people even though those resentments are misguided. People can blame Samus’ portrayal all they want but that isn’t the reason the story was bad when it was simply poor writing in general. Even if they made Samus into a stoic statue who acted like a badass wouldn’t have saved the plot of Other M. Today, the series is moving in a nice progressive direction thanks to Dread and Prime 4. Even Dread has done some decent sales numbers in most places like never before so the fandom can celebrate that. The only thing missing from the latest 2D installment is Mercury Steam adding a randomize mode so here’s hoping they do that as the next free update.
As for the original Game Boy release of Metroid II, similar to its predecessor, time hasn’t been kind here either. The sequel shares outdated mechanics as the Original’s own such as the level design being developed after mazes. It also doesn’t help that the game is in a monochrome palette thus making this truly hard to enjoy. Unless you had Nintendo Power who gave an intensive guild with maps, any player would have been stuck on it for years. Fortunately, Nintendo released the Super Game Boy for the Super NES a couple of years later. Despite the game not being an SGB cart, this adapter made it playable for us without using the green monochrome color. You can even change four different shades of color to deviate from the default non-SGB games as soon as it boots up. Metroid II: Return of Samus (Game Boy) Review I have another old edition of Retro Corner Reviews to show and it was when I went over the first Streets of Rage. The original SOR on the Genesis/Mega Drive was something I never played until years later. My first experience was when SOR came to the Wii’s Virtual Console in 2007. It wasn’t the fact the game couldn’t be found but rather just didn’t have the time to buy the first one. I even discovered a cartridge of it in 2004 at a GameStop—when shopping there was once great—while looking for Lufia on Super NES. I am aware there were a couple of completions that had SOR1 on them like the Genesis Collection on PS2. However, the emulation wasn’t good based on these third party studios not scaling the original game right. Another example comes from the defunct Atomic Planet’s Mega Man Anniversary Collection with terrible scaling. While the Wii’s Virtual Console emulation wasn’t any better but the convenience of downloading them was there.
The original SOR has aged better compared to other brawlers from the 8-bit generation. It was due to having modern mechanics from the 16-bit era is why today’s gamers won’t have much of a problem. Most would never go back to the original Double Dragon Trilogy whether it was on the NES or the Arcade versions. The reason SOR1 doesn’t have these issues is because the level design wasn’t trying too many things. Double Dragon tried being a brawler and an action platformer at the same time—It created some of the most difficult level design that tested a player’s patience rather than their skill. While those in the 16-bit generation didn’t have to deal with that as even B titles like Night Slashers had this better. The theme is about a corporate overlord of the city has taking over the metropolitan area and the local government. Now, a group of ex cops named Adam, Axel and Blaze are tasked with cleaning the city of crime and to take down Mr. X. Streets of Rage (Sega Genesis) Review There is an old edition of Retro Corner Reviews for me to show and it was the time I reviewed the Super NES port of Final Fight. Capcom was often the leader of the Arcade market way before their Street Fighter II years. They were known for releasing classics like Ghouls N Ghosts and Bionic Commando during the 80s. Now, the best one to come out that decade was a brawler called Final Fight. Similar to Double Dragon, you take on the role of martial artists who have to save a friend’s girlfriend from a crime lord. Today there isn’t anything original about the theme and will come off archaic. The reason this is a dated concept is due to the role female characters take now that many like Samus paved the way for. Even if this was a male character needing rescuing as seen by Bad Dudes would still be a dated concept.
The original Final Fight in terms of gameplay has aged decently due to modern mechanics. Despite the dated theme about rescuing the Mayor’s daughter, you can easily jump in and plow through enemies. The was usually the thing about the 16-bit era as these pixel based games had a strong lasting value. There was something special about 16-bit and even 32-bit pixel based brawlers that keeps me coming back. While those in 3D didn’t fair so well when Die Hard is your only good game to champion. Despite Final Fight as a series being a nice leg up to Streets of Rage, it never reached the quality Sega’s famous beat’ em up is known for. Capcom simply couldn’t get the concept to the same standards even though they passed Double Dragon. Will the Super NES port reach the same quality of an Arcade to console game? Final Fight (Super NES) Review I have another old edition of Retro Corner Reviews to show and it’s from the time I went over Zelda: A link to the Past for the Super NES. Even though Nintendo has been rather quiet on doing Zelda 35th Anniversary, that still didn’t stop us fans from doing it for them. Its rather ridiculous they decide to do one for Mario but don’t show the same enthusiasm for a series second to the Plumber in terms of legacy. That makes me wonder if Pokemon will get the same silent treatment for a celebration considering Zelda didn’t get the justice it deserved. Even then, they still have no plans to port the 3DS remakes of Ocarina of time or Majora’s Mask to the Switch. I guess we are just going have to settle with the original games coming to the N64 Nintendo Switch Online for now. It’s obvious Nintendo will port the 3DS N64 Zelda remakes eventually but that won’t happen until the 3DS is absolutely retired. Of course, this will happen after Breath of the Wild 2’s release and probably on the next Nintendo console.
Now, Zelda: A Link to the Past needs no explanation as to why it was the gold standard for adventure games. The reason for this is simple and it refined the experience the Original couldn’t do. The NES Zelda titles are the definition of outdated as nothing holds up whether it’s the visuals or the gameplay. While the 16-bit sequel—including Link’s Awakening on Game Boy—surprisingly holds up really well by today’s standards. That is why refining a previous experience with the right hardware and controls can take the series to the next level. Is there to say that ALTTP is showing age? Yes, no doubt ALTTP has aged considerably for the last three decades, but it’s a retro title even modern gamers could enjoy. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (Super NES) Review There is an old edition of Retro Corner Reviews to show again, and it is when I reviewed the first Metroid in 2016. After many years of waiting for a new Metroid game Nintendo finally announced one at this year’s E3. The game is called Metroid: Dread and it's releasing in October 2021 which is what I call perfect timing. From what we saw, Dread is taking gameplay elements from Fusion but implementing them even further. There are even rumors that Nintendo might reveal a Game Boy family lineup service through their Switch Online soon. People are basing this fact on a Tweet by them which highlights Metroid II and Fusion in the report. It is hard to tell if this is the case, but the company also revealed the NES and Super NES online service every year around September. I can’t think of a better way to get people hyped for Dread than to put the Game Boy family library up featuring past Metroid games.
Now, the Original Metroid much like the NES library hasn’t aged that well. The 8-bit console always had this limited stigma about them as no matter what developers did almost none stood the test of time. I am not just talking visuals but also in the level design and gameplay department. It’s obvious the limited tech of the NES hindered the vision the developers had for achieving what Super Metroid did. However, the series much like Mario, Zelda and Kid Icarus has a legacy to it that shouldn’t be denied. For once Nintendo is giving the lone bounty hunter much needed attention after all these years. I guess Prime 4 and Dread is a good start but at the same time they shouldn’t forget what brought the series to the dance. Metroid (NES) Review I have an old edition of Retro Corner Reviews to show, and we take another look at my Zelda II review from 2016. Now onto other things, much like the first game the sequel didn't go into any backstory of the world and the Triforce again. Nintendo would explain several historical events of Hyrule and why the Triforce's power is sought by many after Zelda II. There wasn't any backstory or history on Hyrule and the holy relic until ALTTP on Super NES. This game would go over everything that wasn't explained in the first two entries and went further into the lore. Another thing about Zelda II that is interesting is how a true sequel was never made from the second game. Even till this day no Zelda III was ever developed or considered by Miyamoto. I doubt it has anything to do with Zelda II's gameplay structure or features. If that was the case, many of its features would’ve never been used in future installments.
Now, Zelda II has for years been the black sheep of the series due to its infamous difficulty. Other than Twilight Princess—the Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion of the series—Zelda II often takes the most criticism. It’s no doubt the game has aged terribly since the late 80s as most 8-bit titles never hold up. There have only been a handful across both the NES and Master System to age well between visuals and gameplay. The thing that made the second title interesting is the backstory elements which were rather dark for an NES game. As mentioned, Valiant Comic took the ideas from the sequel and used it to tell the comic series’ plot. In fact, they did an amazing job using pre-A Link to the Past lore to tell a darker version compared to Nintendo’s lighthearted vision. The Legend of Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (NES) Review |
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