Nanboku Shounen Papuwa-kun (1994)
by Enix
fan-translated by F.H. . (Download Patch)
A conversion of a rather weird anime (if the strange characters that turn up are any indication) into a platformer. The game is rather nice: good controls, very varied and good looking stages, even if each stage is far too short and the mechanics are typical platformer fare. The early bosses are easily defeated, the later ones are a bit harder. I’ve come as far as some giant octopus, which I think is the final boss, but I can’t say for sure, as I haven’t found a way to beat him (if anyone knows how to do that I would be thankful for any tip). It’s nothing outstanding, far too short and despite quite good looking too generic to leave a bigger impression, but it’s good to pass some time and have fun.
Castlevania: Dracula X (1995)
by Konami
The first time I played this was shortly after I’ve gotten through Super Castlevania IV. At that time I was relatively new to consoles and gaming in general and somehow got the idea this was a sequel to the fourth part. What a disappointment. The game lacked the sophistication, the variety, the pure gameplay of the former. Especially the simple whip movement was annoying, after having such absolute control of the whip in the fourth part. Really, I wondered what had happened, how could a game devolve from such heights, not knowing that this was just a port from another system and not a sequel. Yet, despite being an inferior port and also far from reaching the quality of other Castlevania games, I somehow have grown to like Castlevania: Dracula X. Has taken me some years, but eventually I did. Even in its dumbed down state, the core Castlevania gameplay is there and can be fun.
Rating: 3/5
Super Castlevania IV (1991)
by Konami
For some people the best Castlevania game is Symphony of the Night, which is indeed a masterpiece of gaming. But for me the first SNES-outing of the Castlevania-series is still the best one. This is partly because it’s one of the first games I played on my SNES ages ago (when the world was young, yadda, yadda,…) and which seriously impressed me. It’s not just an excellent Castlevania game, it’s one of the best platformers I’ve played. It’s rather big and long, yet each stage has it’s own theme and style, there’s no repetition or boring parts, making this one of the most varied Castlevania games. Your whip allows you to do more than just a simple strike in one direction, you can whip in eight directions, you can let the whip go limp and spin, using it as a shield. There are plenty of boss sprites and excellent sound. This one is really perfect, at least for me. Ah, the memories. And I still have fun replaying it from time to time.
Rating: 5/5
Barbie Seahorse Adventures (2007)
by imitation pickles . (Download)
playable on Ubuntu via Python: python run_game.py
Since my recent move to Ubunutu I’m searching for some good freeware games for that system, but so far my search wasn’t that successful. I knew that when it comes to commercial games Linux-systems aren’t exactly crawling with the good stuff, but I had hoped it might be different with freeware games. Sad to say that most of the stuff you’ll find are simple arcade clones. One - maybe the major - reason is that Linux-systems seem to miss good game creation tools like RPGMaker, GameMaker, AdventureGameStudio and all the others, that have created a wealth of freeware games on Win-systems. But enough about that, I wanted to talk about Barbie Seahorse Adventures, which is platformer game playable on Ubuntu using Python.
First the good stuff. I really loved the style and graphics, reminds me of some good platformers I played in the past on my old, battered SNES. The controls themselves are also well done, making it easy to move around with precision.
Now the bad stuff, which also reminds me of some platformers of my console days and these are not good memories. I absolutely hate the level design. Most of the time while playing I was trying to figure out whether I could go a certain direction safely or whether I would plunge to my doom. Games with such a level design need a certain Trial and Error method to advance: Can I go there? I can’t see whether that’s the right way. Lets jump. Oh noes, killed. Maybe that direction. Arghh. No, that wasn’t good too. Ahh, he wanted me to go that direction. Repeat ad nauseam. That’s not funny and not a good way to design levels. But yeah, the art is nice.
Rating: 2/5
Jelly Boy 2 (Unreleased)
by Game Freak
fan-translated by King Mike and Chris Clovell . (Download Patch)
This is the unpublished sequel to the SNES game Jerry Boy (and has nothing to do with the SNES platformer Jelly Boy from Ocean). Like the predecessor you play blob-like characters that can stick to walls and ceiling. Instead of playing just one character, you can free your friends, each with a distinguished skill. Jelly Boy 2 is a game that tops it’s predecessor in every aspect, the gameplay is even more smooth, the graphics look better and the level bosses are more innovative. Overall, great fun.
Final Boss: There is another, final boss that can be unlocked by finding the nine pieces of a mosaic.
- Lost World 4 (use Yolk)
- Star Park 5 (use Yolk)
- Ninja Western 4 (use Yolk) this is a bit harder to find, first you have to look for cracks in the wall to the right of a door, squeeze through them and move right until you find another door, through that one and you reach a level with waterfalls, the final door to the piece is in a waterfall, just swim up
- Crazy Ocean 3 (anyone)
- Wonder Space 4 (use Carm)
- Motor Maze 4 (use Ed) (found by Tulavu)
- Gimmick Wood 3 (use Yolk)
- Dark Palace 4 (use Yolk)
- Dark Palace 5 (beat the final boss)
Rating: 5/5
Jerry Boy (1991)
by Game Freak
fan-translated by Chris Clovell . (Download Patch)
Neat little SNES platformer that was published under the title Smart Ball in the US, but with most of the story cut out. The innovative thing about Jerry Boy is that your main hero has been transformed into a blob-like thing that can stick to any kind of wall and even the ceiling. You can also squeeze yourself through tiny tubes that are all over the place. While the rest of the game is rather standard fare, it’s well done and fun to play.
Rating: 4/5
Dragon Quest 2 (1987)
by Chunsoft
2nd Dragon Quest game / enhanced American NES release as Dragon Warrior 2
The grinding from the first part remains, but some details have been improved in comparison to the first part. Instead of just one hero you have a party (but you can’t customize them), the dungeons are much easier to traverse and you automatically use stairways. The story of DW2 is still simple, but since the game is much bigger than the first part, there’s much more to do.
The hero and the princess from the first part have colonized other continents and now the kingdoms of their descendants are threatened by one evil dude named Hargon. Why? It’s never said, probably just because he’s evil, doh. The gameplay is similar to the first one, but as I said, there’s more to do. First you have to find your companions, then you have to find some crests and other items to advance in the game. At one point in the game you get your hands on a ship, which makes the gameplay progression much less linear than in the first game.
Apart from the endless grind (fighting to collect exp and gold to get more levels and better equipment), the game is actually fun. In some ways it reminds me how harder those games in the past were, you have to note down every little piece of information, since the game doesn’t hold you by the hand and shows you what to do next. But the fighting really wears you down.
Rating: 3/5
Dragon Quest (1986)
by Chunsoft
1st Dragon Quest game / enhanced American NES release as Dragon Warrior
DW is an interesting experience if you want to see how the evolution of console RPGs started. One word to describe the game: grinding. The game features a very simple story (evil bad guy terrorizes land, you have to defeat him and free a princess along the way). The gameplay is also extremely simple. It mostly consists of leveling up, catching some hints in the cities you travel to, unearth some items and find your way to the lair of the Dragonlord.
But mostly it’s leveling up, fighting monsters endlessly to get more experience. Since every defeated monster gives you only a small amount of experience and money, this can become a very tedious and boring process. Other annoying things about the game: the menu driven interface is just a way to artificially expand the play time without adding more depth to the game, the lighting and the need to use torches in dungeons makes traversing them rather painfully and the random battle encounter rate (which is extremely high).
Overall, interesting as a historical artifact to see where console RPGing started, but as a game in its own right rather tedious without the benefit of an interesting story or other aspects that could have made it more fun to play.
Rating: 2/5
Alcahest (1993)
by Square
fan-translated by F.H. . (Download Patch)
Alcahest is a simple action game with some (very) rudimentary RPG elements (you gain levels and your life and magic points can rise throughout the game). You are the chosen one who is destined to destroy the evil Alcahest, but before you reach him you have to defeat a big cast of other bosses. Overall the story is very cliched, you even have to free a princess, but while it won’t win a price for originality it’s mostly well done and makes the transitions between levels more organically. Instead of just putting you in some levels with different landscapes there’s a logically progression of why you go here and there. The gameplay is simple, just reach the end of every level while killing legions of enemy sprites. Sometimes you have to solve some simple puzzles. The game feels at times a bit repetitive and especially the infinite respawning of simple enemies can be quite annoying. Fun for one time through, but that’s it.
Rating: 3/5
Frozen Depths (2005)
by Glowie . (Download)
playable on Ubuntu: ./fdepths
There was a time when I looked upon roguelikes with some sort of incomprehension. Why still creating games with ASCII-graphics, when you can use real graphics? What’s the appeal? And then some day it clicked. Playing roguelikes at times feels a bit like reading, a part of your mind is constantly layering simple symbols with more layers of sensation, pictures, smells, sounds. It’s like a skill, while a first-time-player of roguelikes and an advanced player may look upon the same thing, they actually don’t view it the same way. One of the them is simple seeing symbols and tries slowly to translate them into dungeon walls, monsters and everything else. The advanced player doesn’t need translating anymore, his mind providing everything to instantly create a fully grown world in his mind.
So far, I haven’t talked much about Frozen Depths, which is a very simple roguelike. Go down fifty levels to kill some evil, and then try to get the hell out of there (which is nearly impossible to do without cheating, the rising heat kills you too fast). The theme, as the title implies, is about a dungeon that gets colder with every level. The deeper you go, the more you have to pay attention to avoid freezing to death. The rest is standard fare, kill things, collect items, explore, go deeper. Every ten levels you have to face a boss demon. Overall, a nicely done game.
Rating: 4/5
