Star Fox 64, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Dragon’s Curse

The game: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Its cost: 600 points

Well, here it is. Say hello to the first licensed title to appear on the Virtual Console. Third party games have been appearing left and right every week, but all of those games are wholly owned by their respective third parties. This is the first game re-released to be developed by a third party that is based off a licensed property. It is fitting that the release should be TMNT, seeing as this was one of the post popular licensed titles of the 8-bit era. Too bad it is also one of the hardest games ever made. Many people have fond memories of it, and others associate the game with hatred and frustration. It’s actually pretty sad because TMNT has all the makings of a good ole’ fashioned 8-bit classic. The control is good, the soundtrack is bouncy and will stick in your head for weeks, and the graphics are well detailed (for 8-bit). The game even originated a few catchphrases. The problem lies with the game’s layout. The game is ridiculously difficult to the point of disgust thanks mostly in part to the poor level design and enemy placement. There are some areas which are almost inaccessible without taking damage in the process. Enemies re-spawn the moment you scroll past a location on screen. This isn’t Mega Man level of difficulty where you simply have to memorize the location of the next cheap trap. This is something beyond that. Some power-ups are placed in inaccessible locations, and some jumps are just poorly laid out.

You get no spare lives; just the four turtles. Each has a power meter and can only take so many hits before crawling into their shell and disappearing. At that point, you’ll hear the dreaded message, “*insert turtle here* got caught” from Splinter. You then have to select another turtle and hope you don’t loose Donatello. Donatello is highly overpowered and extremely useful for boss fights, but if you loose him, you’re pretty much dead in the water. Speaking of water, the second world is a water stage which lives in infamy. Only those with the highest level of concentration will ever see anything beyond that stage thanks to a difficulty level few games ever even attempt to reach. Though completely unfair in many ways, TMNT has many redeeming features, even if its difficulty level is something out of a nightmare. The game’s overworld is also interactive and fun to navigate, though one hit from a steamroller will kill your turtle. Graphics are good for their age, and as stated, the music is catchy as ever.

If you are a TMNT fan, you can find a lot to enjoy here, even in just the first world. If you are trying to prove your claim to beating one of the hardest games ever, then go right ahead. Otherwise, save yourself the frustration. TMNT is a game that fails thanks to its design, even with the mechanics and presentation are top notch. It’s also overpriced.

Nintendo 64

The game: Star Fox 64
Its cost: 1000 points

What we have here is one of the greatest shooters ever made, period. The original Star Fox took the traditional shooter design, and brought the camera behind the ship to take gamers into the 3D world of flight in a way they had never imagined. Star Fox 64 simply took that concept and re-imagined it with a grace and fluidity that the series hasn’t yet matched. This was the last Star Fox title to be produced by Nintendo’s EAD team directed by Shigeru Miyamoto to date, and so far, it hasn’t been equaled. Released in 1997, it broke first week sales records and sold millions.

Star Fox 64 is sort of a retelling of the storytelling of the original SNES classic, but goes into more detail on the past of Fox McCloud’s father and explorers more detailed relationships between the main characters throughout the Lylat system. This is pretty exceptional considering the game’s story is told almost entirely through the use of communication boxes at the bottom of the screen. Voice acting ranges from high quality to totally cheesy, and the game is responsible for the birth of countless internet catch phrases (“Do a barrel roll!”). If they get on your nerves you can turn on the classic “jabber voices” from the original game (think Banjo Kazooie), but you would loose a lot of the immersion in the process.

The gameplay is primarily that of a rail shooter with several “all-range” free roaming sections for certain stages and boss fights, though the majority of the action is tightly designed rail shooter flight action. Control is absolutely prefect. If you have the option, you may want to use the GameCube controller instead of the classic controller for this one, because the button layout is friendlier to the Nintendo 64’s original layout. There are 15 total stages (worlds), and you are allowed to choose the linear route you take through the solar system by completing or failing certain objectives as you meet them. That kicks the replay value up. Two stages put you in control of the Land Master tank in traditional rail shooter fashion, except you take the action from the ground with different limitations/attributes to mix the action up a bit. There is one stage featuring an underwater submersible called the Blue Marine. You only use it in that one stage, which is a shame because the stage is cleverly laid out and original. The music from Koji Kondo and Hajime Wakai is excellent, though doesn’t exactly convey the feeling of an intergalactic war as well as the original Star Fox. Though simplistic by modern standards, the multiplayer is still worth a quick kick around.

Force feedback is not supported on the Virtual Console, which is a rather significant loss for this game historically. This was the first Nintendo title to include “Rumble Pak” support. The device that plugged into the N64 controller to provide force feedback was even included with the game. Anyone will tell you that force feedback adds to the experience, though the game design doesn’t suffer from the lack of it. Still, it is odd that the feature isn’t supported seeing as wired GameCube controllers have built in rumble motors.

Rumble support or not, this one is a no-brainer. Do yourself a favor and “barrel roll” right over to the Virtual Console and download this baby without hesitation.

TurboGrafx-16

The game: Dragon’s Curse
Its cost: 600 points

This game has a fun story behind it. This is actually a game developed by Sega and Westone in 1989 for arcades. But wait, this is a TurboGrafx-16 review, right? Dragon’s Curse is actually the North American conversion of the game Wonder Boy III: The Dragon’s Trap. This version of the game has been stripped of all references to the Wonder Boy franchise to stand on its own since none of the other titles in the franchise were released on the TurboGrafx. The adventure begins, placing you in a castle, fully powered up and nearly invincible to enemies. Once you face the Mecha dragon, you are transformed into a lizard man, and are cursed for the remainder of the game. You must find the Salamander Cross to restrore your form. You won’t stay cursed as simply as a lizard though. As you defeat the game’s various bosses, you will gain the ability to transform into a mouse, lion, piranha, and hawk. Each form grants you specific abilities, and you have to use them all to progress through the adventure. The TurboGrafx may have been an 8-bit machine that pretended to be a 16-bit console with its great graphics chip, but the machine pulled off some games that looked better than a lot of high-end 16-bit titles. On that scale, Dragon’s Curse looks like crap. It looks like a really nice NES game. The soundtrack is actually surprisingly fresh and imaginative with bouncy tunes you’ll find yourself humming after an hour or so of playtime. Wonder Boy III/Dragon’s Curse is a great platformer. It may look bland on the surface, but under the rough exterior is a great game. It’s definitely worth a look.