Retro Game Friday: Donkey Kong Land

This week for Retro Game Friday I’m back with a game that was one of the first I ever played. It’s Donkey Kong Land!

Plot: The plot is more comedic than most and very much breaks the fourth wall, but that’s pretty much par for the course with the Donkey Kong series.

Gameplay: The gameplay was okay, although there were limitations, like the levels only being named in the manual, due to the hardware of the Gameboy. However it played a lot like the Country counterparts for the SNES.

Art: The art is okay, but old.  However ironically enough, and I didn’t know this until I was looking up the Wikipedia page for the developer and publisher info, the game is one of the few that the Super Game Boy pack for the Super Nintendo actually improved the game’s graphics.

Music: Being a handheld I didn’t get to listen to the music more than a couple of times, although I remember it being very much Donkey Kong music.

Overall: A solid game, but it was hampered by the original hardware in some places.

For those who like: Platformers, Donkey Kong, Handheld Games.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.

 

Retro Game Friday: Gex

This week for Retro Game Friday I’m back with the first in a series that most people have forgotten. It’s Gex!

Plot Synopsis: Gex, a young gecko, was born to a family of geckos on the Hawaiian island of Maui as the oldest of 3-and-a-half other siblings. His father, who worked as a researcher at NASA, is killed in a rocket ship explosion during a zero-gravity mission. In the wake of this tragedy, Gex turns to the comfort of watching television in order to provide an outlet for his grief, eventually becoming addicted. After several fruitless attempts to get Gex to leave his TV set (including moving the family away from Hawaii to Encino, California), Gex’s mom eventually gives the TV away to a band of gypsies in order to get him to live his life. Gex, frustrated with his mother, runs away and vows to never return to her house again, living in a friend’s garage and making petty money by doing errands for other people.

One day, when Gex is riding his skateboard through the streets of California, he happens upon his mother, driving a black limousine, who informs him that his great uncle Charlie, a rich entrepreneur and the creator of a famous T-shirt brand logo, had died three days after Gex’s departure, leaving them with over $20 billion. The entire family goes on a massive spending spree, whilst Gex takes a small sum of the inherited money and opts to leave the family and retreat back to Hawaii in order to pursue his lifelong dream; using his riches, he buys a giant house in Maui and fills it with a massive television set, vowing to spend the remainder of his life secluded from the rest of the world only watching TV.

After a few days, Gex has fully achieved his desire, sitting solitary in the confines of his mansion and watching TV and eating snacks. One day, while looking for a good show to watch, he consumes a passing house fly. This insect turns out to be a small drone, being controlled by Rez, the overlord of the Media Dimension. Rez uses the small droid to “bug” Gex, and pulls him into the Media Dimension, intending to use him as the network’s new mascot character. In order to escape, Gex needs to traverse the Media Dimension and find remote controls which he could use to destroy the TV sets…

Plot: Don’t remember most of that plot? Me neither, as it was included in the game manual rather than the game itself like so many other games did back in the day. It’s a fairly ridiculous story, but considering that it’s a game meant for kids, that’s not too surprising.

Gameplay: The game was pretty tough, although I found out why when I was looking up the Wikipedia of the game. Only the 3DO version of the game included the ability to save, the other versions requiring the use of passwords to start up again. If you lost all your lives you had to restart the game, and if you didn’t have a pen and paper handy to record the passwords you’d be screwed if you died.

Art: The art is okay, but has aged a bit poorly. It’s not too bad though as it’s mostly 2D and that stuff ages pretty well.

Music: Don’t remember a whit, sorry.

Overall: A tough game for those not playing on the 3DO.

For those who like: Platforming, Action, Adventure.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.

Retro Game Friday: Wario Land

Hey all I’m back with a Mario Spinoff that’s grown rather obscure in the past decade and a half. It’s Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3!

Plot Synopsis: After being ejected from Mario’s castle in the previous game, Wario resolves to get his own castle, one even bigger and more impressive than Mario’s. To fund this extravagant dream, he travels to Kitchen Island, where the Brown Sugar Pirates have hidden many treasures and coins, including a golden statue of Princess Toadstool, stolen from the Mushroom Kingdom. Wario intends to retrieve this statue and sell it back to Mario for the price of a castle.

Plot: The plot is rather ridiculous, but that’s where the next part comes in.

Gameplay:  Wario Land was fun to play and is one of the few Game Boy games I can remember having multiple endings based on player actions. In addition it’s a markedly different type of game from previous Mario games. Coins weren’t used to get additional lives, but to improve your final ending. It was also fairly tough to play from what I remember, although admittedly I was quite young at the time.

Art: The art has aged really well, but that’s to be expected of pixel art.

Music: I don’t remember it because I probably never listened to it due to it being a portable and me using my GameBoy pretty much only on plane flights when I was younger.

Overall: A fun game, and while not a must play, it’s not far from being one.

For those who like: Platformers, Portable Games, Mario Games, Hard Gameplay.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.

Retro Game Friday: Indiana Jones The Infernal Machine

This week for Retro Game Friday I’m covering a game that I can barely remember playing. It’s Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine!

Plot Synopsis: The story of the game is set in 1947 and depicts archaeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones returning to his digging career after his involvement in World War II. Sophia Hapgood, an old friend of Indiana and now a member of the Central Intelligence Agency, visits him at his dig site in the Canyonlands, and informs him that the Russians are excavating the ruins of Babylon.

Plot: I’ll be frank I don’t remember much of this game. I remember having fun, but that’s about it.

Gameplay: I played the 2D version of this that was made for the GameBoy Color, so despite it being a port it was actually the full game. It was however really frustrating to die and have to restart a level, and I’ll be honest puzzle clues were pretty non-existent. These are pretty much the only things I remember, probably because I got so annoyed at the game.

Art: It was purely 2D so it’s aged alright, but it’s also not that amazing.

Music: I don’t remember it at all, sorry.

Overall: Probably worth skipping playing, but if you want the story you can probably watch a Let’s Play on YouTube or something.

For those who like: Puzzles, Frustration, Indiana Jones.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.

Retro Game Friday: Klanoa

This week for Retro Game Friday I’m back with a classic game that is often not remembered. It’s Klanoa: Door to Phantomile!

Plot Synopsis:

The story begins with the legend of the land of Phantomile, a mysterious place that is fueled by the very dreams people have at night. As a result, no one can clearly remember the dreams they have had, even if they occurred recently. However, a young cat-like boy named Klonoa who lives in the town of Breezegale with his grandfather has been having dreams about a mysterious dark airship crashing into a nearby mountain, and can recall every detail of it. One day, a mysterious ship does indeed crash into the mountain, and Klonoa and his friend, a “ring spirit” named Huepow, decide to investigate. After fighting several small, round creatures called Moos, they reach the top of the mountain, only to find two mysterious creatures…

Plot: This doesn’t have a gripping plot, full of intrigue and action. Nope it’s more of a game for younger kids. I won’t say it’s got a terrible story, but it’s definitely not the strongest plot ever.

Gameplay: The gameplay is mostly 2D Platforming. I say mostly because you could interact with your environment which was in 3D. They termed it 2.5D at the time, and I suppose that term works now. Klanoa’s main form of attack is his Wind Bullet ability which lets him toss enemies around or use them to toss himself around. It’s all based off concepts tied to the wind, which was to me at the time pretty interesting. Frankly I’m kind of itching to see if I can find a ROM of it, but I doubt I have the time to indulge in that wish.

Characters: The characters are okay, and while not very deep they aren’t super flat like any character from a Twilight novel.

Art: The art has aged poorly due to the use of 3D. If they had kept it purely 2D it probably would’ve aged much better.

Music: I don’t remember any of it, sorry.

Overall: Give this a spin if you get the chance, it’s pretty good.

For those who like: Platformers, Interesting Gameplay Mechanics, A Main Character That isn’t a Plumber.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.