SNES #6: Breath of Fire

 

Developer: Capcom

Publisher: Squaresoft

Release Date: 8-10-94

I always loved this cover when I was a kid. I'm surprised I never played this until my late 30s

 The old adage about Breath of Fire is that it’s only famous because at the time it came out there weren’t very many RPGs to choose from. Most RPG fans in 1994 had already played the American released Final Fantasy, Dragon Warrior, and Phantasy Star games so Breath of Fire was automatically appealing. It’s a turn-based jrpg about dragons. How could it not be good? Well there are some caveats about this fondly remembered game that honestly do hurt its ranking. It actually is a case where the nostalgia hurts the experience. If I had lower expectations it might not have been so disappointing. I can see why some people are big fans though.

It looks fun, but it is a bit tedious

Some people just need a good story and pleasant visuals to consider a game a success. If that’s what you are looking for than Breath of Fire is probably for you. It has a very deep quest for its time. It has an oddly engaging cast of characters including a fishman and a moleman. It’s always fun when the characters aren’t all spikey haired teenagers. And of course it is a jrpg on Super Nintendo so it looks nice. The earth tones of the backgrounds contrast beautifully with the colorful sprites making for a look that has never went out of style. I know it’s not the first rpg to look like this, but it’s one of the ones to popularize it. It’s the perfect medium between the more muted Dragon Quest games and brightly saturated Final Fantasy games. So far it sounds like a home run. Sadly it falls apart in the actual gameplay.

See, muted backgrounds and colorful sprites

 

Breath of Fire has some of the dullest fighting I have ever experienced in a turn-based game. It’s the type of combat that gives turn-based games a bad name. Especially in the first half it is mind-numbingly boring. It’s just attacking with an occasional heal. There’s even an auto-battle option right from the start, so it becomes a push one button and check your phone kind of game. It takes a while before any of the characters even have spells to use, so you really have to trudge a while before things get interesting. Luckily there are more interesting techniques later on like a character fusion mechanic and the protagonist’s ability to transform into a dragon. However, these skills are well hidden. I am not sure if the original manual talks about any of them, but I wouldn’t have even known they existed without consulting a guide. What kind of game hides all of its best features?

 

It’s also one of those games that’s easy to get lost in, and I don’t mean that in immersive way. I mean that there isn’t enough in game information to know what your next move is. Getting lost in an RPG can be a good thing if done right, but in this game it just means more boring battles. It’s not one of those where going anywhere is going to lead you to something interesting. It does have secrets, but there’s still one main path to take. It’s just not as well-constructed as a Final Fantasy game. Just think of the map for Final Fantasy IV. It’s designed so well that you can always tell when you are going toward the story and when you are off the beaten path. Final Fantasy VI has something to find no matter where you go and is still excellent in construction even in the more intentionally confusing World of Ruin. In Breath of Fire the map just seems random by comparison. Most of the time when I was lost it was because I missed some random thing that was easy to walk right past.

The ol' HP restoring fountain

 

I suppose I shouldn’t say too many bad things about it though because I am looking at my list and am still going to put it in the green section. I guess I am just enough of a sucker for JRPGs to slightly recommend this one especially now that it is on Switch. Still it’s one of the worst good rpgs I have ever played. Since I like most of the RPGs on Super Nintendo it’s probably going to rank fairly low on the SNES curve. I wouldn’t quite call it a classic, but I will rank it at #31 right between Adventure and Ice Climber. Hey if you don’t like it than just let me know in the comments. Seriously, I’d love to get some comments.

 

SNES Quality Percentage: 4/6 or 66.66%

Nintendo DS #1: Sonic Rush Adventure

Developer: Sonic Team

Publisher: Sega

Release Date: 9-18-07

For a change Sonic battles a robot with a moustache instead of a guy with a moustache who makes robots

 There are few games that highlight the most fatal flaw in 21^st century Sonic games than Sonic Rush Adventure. In an age where games need to be long, Sonic games only work when they are short. The classic Genesis games were meant to be quick bursts, so the levels went racing by for one or two hours. This was alright in the 16-bit era where permadeath was the norm and games would have to be played many times before they were beaten. By the time the 21^st century rolled around permadeath was no longer acceptable in action games and Sonic suffered a major identity crisis that he never really recovered from. Sonic Rush Adventure might be a good game if it was only two hours long. It would also be hard to recommend for purchase. Unfortunately they didn’t think of a good way to extend the game and so its overall quality really suffers.

Joel and the Bots would say this game is a lot of fun...at first

 The levels themselves are set up like a classic sonic game and they are admittedly fun. They go by quickly and offer a decent level of challenge. The problem all boils down to execution. Each level gives you items, and Tails uses these items to build machines to progress through the game. So the only way to progress through the game is to play through the same levels over and over. Even a fun level gets old if played multiple times in a row. There is an overworld, but it’s mostly for show. There are a few NPCs to talk to, but they just give you quests, and these quests just give you more opportunities to play the same levels again. And there are a hundred of these quests. I couldn’t imagine feeling motivated enough to not only earn the highest rating on the levels but also complete all the side quests. I can’t think of a game I have ever played where I wanted to play side quests less. I just wanted to hurry up and get to the end. At least it had some fun bosses.

 

I did enjoy the water sections

I wish I had more to say about this one. It’s just one of those games where one element of it dominates the whole discussion. I just can’t get past the repeating levels. It’s the same problem I’ve had with almost every other modern Sonic game. They just don’t know how to expand the gameplay. Because of this I can’t rank this game very high. Remember Beethoven? I seem to be coming back to that game a lot these days. I am going to rank this one #51 right behind Beethoven. It’s better than Jeremy McGrath Supercross 2000 which suffers from the same problem except even worse. It’s a game I thought I would like and certainly did until I played it for a while. The fun levels keep it out of the red, but it’s still not a very fun experience. 

1.  Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

2. Super Mario Odyssey

3. The Legend of Zelda

4. Galaga

5. Donkey Kong

6. Super Mario Bros. 2

7. Exodus: Ultima III

8. Pac-Mania

9. Wrecking Crew

10. Super Pac-Man

11. Pac-Man

12. Viva Pinata

13. Dragon View

14. Excitebike

15. Drakkhen

16. Todd’s Adventures in Slime World

17. Arc the Lad

18. Clu Clu Land

19. Tails’ Adventures

20. Scrapyard Dog (Lynx)

21. Artifact Adventure Gaiden DX

22. Mickey’s Racing Adventure

23. Alex Kidd: The Lost Stars

24. Metro-Cross

25. After Burner

26. Double Dragon

27. Alex Kidd in Miracle World

28. Panic Restaurant

29. Felix the Cat

30. Adventure

31. Ice Climber

32. Gaplus

33. Dragon Spirit

34. Pinball (NES)

35. Ninja Golf

36. Splatterhouse 2

37. Fast Eddie

38. Super Soccer

39. Gopher

40. Dracula: Crazy Vampire

41. Walt Disney World Quest: Magical Racing Tour (GBC)

42. Entombed

43. Red Sea Crossing

44. Baraduke

45. Demon’s Crest

46. Brave Battle Saga

47. Evoland

48. Tennis

49. Renegade

50. Beethoven

51. Sonic Rush Adventure

52. Jeremy McGrath’s Supercross 2000

53. Hogan’s Alley

54. Gamma-Attack

55. The Legend of “Valkyrie”

56. Galaxian

57. Action Fighter

58. Dragon Crystal

59. Cosmic Commuter

60. Hot Pixel

61. PocketBike Racer

62. Wild Gunman

63. Defunct

64. Gyruss (2600)

65. Looney Tunes Racing

66. Squidlit

67. Gordo 106

68. Baseball

69. Space Jockey

70. Home Alone

71. Birthday Mania

72. Bad Street Brawler

73. Burly Men at Sea

74. Wayne’s World

75. WeakWood Throne

76. X-Men (HyperScan)

77. My Name is Mayo

78. Marvel Heroes

79. The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends

80. Ben 10

 

Nintendo 64 #1: Jeremy McGrath Supercross 2000

Developer: Acclaim

Publisher: Acclaim

Release Date: 2-28-2000

 (Even the washed out cover is boring)

I always like to start reviewing a new console with the most boring, nondescript game possible so I am going with Jeremy McGrath Supercross 2000. Honestly the ones I get to first are usually ones I bought recently and and am trying out, so this is a fairly new addition to my collection and one I am currently playing through when I can get away from the kids long enough to play N64. The Nintendo 64 was basically known for two things: Mario games and racing games. It feels like these two types make up half of the system’s 296 games. It’s not that many of course, but it really does have a high percentage of racing games. They come in all shapes and sizes too from great to decidedly un-great. Supercross 2000 isn’t a terrible game, but it sure is brainless and lacking suspense. If I manage to review all 296 I don’t think it’s going to rank all that high.

(The only time you'll see other racers)

 

The main problem is that it’s just too easy. One of the major draws of supercross is the environmental effect. The more the racers drive on the course the harder and more dangerous it gets. In Supercross 2000 nothing ever changes. The borders are invisible walls that reach up into infinity and keep you on course and while you can see dirt flying around the tracks never change. Lap five is just the same as lap one. Also, the realistic tracks get a little repetitive. As I said in the real world they would be exciting, but in video game form they could really use some variety. They look the same and have basically the same obstacles. A lap or two on any track in the game makes you an expert. It doesn’t help that the other racers finish in a different order every race. This makes it more realistic again, but it make some wide gaps between first place and all the others. I won a grand prix by 97 points. You should never be able to win a grand prix by 97 points. I could’ve finished in 100^th place in the last race and still won. That’s not good.

(I couldn't find any good N64 screenshots. Enjoy this slightly better looking one)

Luckily it plays well enough to keep it out of the red. It may be bland and predictable, but sometimes that’s just the type of game I’m looking for. The controls are fine. It’s very easy to play. It’s not a bad end of the day game when you just want to play something but don’t want to concentrate too hard. I am going to go ahead and beat this one, so it must not be too terrible. I just get sick of it after a few races. I know that’s not much of an endorsement, but for a boring twenty year old racing game that’s the best it’s going to get.

 

This one almost cracked the top 50, but sadly it’s just not as good as Beethoven. At least that game had some variety and more to look at than just dirt. I’d say 51 is a good showing for a game with so very much dirt in it. I have much more fun racing games to look forward to on N64, so I am glad I played one of the most boring ones first. It leaves me with plenty to look forward to.

Game Boy Color #3: Dracula: Crazy Vampire

 Developer: Planet Interactive Development

Publisher: DreamCatcher Interactive Inc.

Release Date: 2001

 

Here’s one for the dumb name file. It does star Dracula, and he is a vampire, but I would call him far from crazy. He looks a bit silly in cutscenes, but he is otherwise quite sensible and is trying the save the world. I guess Dracula: Sensible Hero doesn’t have the same ring to it, but I am the truthful sort so that’s what I would’ve called it. At first I thought it was part of a “crazy monster” series and was hoping for Crazy Wolfman and Crazy Frankenstein, but it’s just a one-off by a short lived developer who didn’t do anything notably positive. For a GBC action game, however, you could do a lot worse.

(Does he look crazy to you?)

Dracula: Crazy Vampire is typical of an action platform game in the wake of the 3D revolution. It’s a top-down adventure with large, open-ended levels. Typically Dracula has to find an item or lever to move from one section to another. This is a kid’s game so he doesn’t suck blood. Instead he drains essence from villains. This is good because to properly win the level he has to have more than half of his energy to get other vampires to join him. Also, being in the sun will drain Drac’s energy so you have to find shadows to hide in. This sounds annoying, but it was actually fun and made for a good level of challenge. It was fun plotting out the levels. The enemies don’t respawn which made the sun penalty a much needed challenge.

(It's gotta be good if it has a vampire fighting a skeleton)

 I am so spoiled by modern games that it’s a little hard for me to play older ones like this. The levels can be very long and confusing, and the only way to save is by getting a password between levels. I am so used to being able to stop playing a game at any moment and come right back to it later. As I said before, the levels themselves are fun, but I think it can still be considered a flaw that they take so long to finish. Any older handheld game could be dicey if they made you play for too long at once. You might be on your way to the store and only have a few minutes. Saves within the levels would’ve been much better, especially since some of them are split up into multiple parts. It’s not the biggest Game Boy offender, but it still bothered me a little.

This is an enjoyable little game however. It doesn’t particularly stand out, but it’s well made and fairly fun. Surprisingly I am ranking it into the green section just below Gopher. Usually when I find a forgotten handheld game it doesn’t end up being worth much, but this one’s worth a playthrough. Just don’t let the goofy title scare you away.

 

Game Boy Color Quality Percentage: 3/3 

NES #20: Super Mario Bros. 2

Developer: Nintendo

Publisher: Nintendo

Release Date: October 1988

You have to admit, this is some beautiful box art

 Ah Super Mario Bros. 2, the game that made my dad’s shoes explode. As the story goes he was fighting the second Mouser when he exclaimed “If I beat this boss my shoes will explode” or something to that effect. Sure enough that’s exactly what happened. The good old 80’s: when people used to buy shoes inflated like tires that were prone to blowouts and when people would readily accept sequels that played like complete inversions of the original game. Hey why not? Dig Dug 2 moved above ground and Super Pac-Man had Pac moving through tunnels within a maze. Inversions weren’t that uncommon at the time. Of course everyone now knows the true reason for this is because the actual Super Mario Bros. 2 was deemed too difficult for American audience so we actually got a re-skinned version of a game called Doki Doki Panic. It’s ironic because I think our SMB2 might actually be harder than the original SMB2. At the very least it doesn’t have unlimited continues and therefore is the last game in the main Mario series with permadeath. It’s strange to think of a Mario game that is actually difficult, but everything about this game defies expectations.

Can you see this without hearing the music?

 The first notable change from the previous title is the ability to choose characters before every level. Mario, Luigi, Princess, and Toad all have their strengths and weaknesses which will be useful in certain levels. Oddly though there aren’t any levels that specifically call for Mario. He’s decent at everything, but he doesn’t excel at any one skill. I think most people play as Luigi in most levels. This is a Mario game that can be played without using Mario. The first game was all about breaking blocks and collecting coins. In the second game you pull up vegetables and only collect coins to play a bonus slot machine game. The whole concept of collecting 100 coins is one that went obsolete generations ago, but they still keep it around. It’s only in this one odd game that coins are relegated to cameo status. Even the enemies from the first game are gone. There’s nothing familiar except the occasional koopa shell. Mario can’t even jump on enemies to defeat them. Nintendo changed very little to make this feel like a Mario game. They changed a few sprites but mostly kept it intact and unleashed it onto an unsuspecting American audience expecting more flagpoles and lava pits.

 But of course in 1988 everybody loved it. I was very little back then, but I don’t remember anyone complaining that it was different. That’s probably because it’s a great game in its own right. The original SMB came out in 1985, but it was probably a couple years later when most people played it. That means the gap between the first and second game was very short. It was stunning how much the graphics were improved between games. The world of Super Mario Bros. 2 is one of vibrant color and wonderful abstraction. Everything fits into place even if it doesn’t seem quite right. It’s a game that moves up and down as well as left and right. It has great environments that are much more interactive than in the previous games. Who doesn’t love getting to dig in the desert levels, or blow up walls to reveal secret areas, or riding on the water from the whales’ blowholes? The levels are bigger and more mysterious than the first game, and this time time around they are not restricted by time limits. You are somewhat free to wander around and try different techniques. I always loved being able to trap all the shy guys in the wrong path in the desert levels. That’s the kind of thing you couldn’t do in the first game, and it’s what really makes the second game stand out.

 

However the openness of the levels can also be a challenge. The game is wonderfully balanced through the first four worlds and then the difficulty ramps up too much. There’s a reason it took me until I was in college to beat this game. It gets really hard really fast, and that makes some of the charm melt away just a little. Mario games are typically more about having fun than being challenged. Of course I love a good challenge so I see it as only a minor flaw. Still, it’s going to take many tries going through the same levels over and over before it is completed, and this might turn some people off.

Even with its minor flaws it is going to be ranked very high. Every time I play this game I have fun, and the years haven’t dulled it much. Maybe it’s because I have such fond childhood memories of it, but it’s going right up to number six. It’s not quite as good as Donkey Kong, but I will give it the edge over the fun but harder to play Ultima: Exodus. I have now ranked twenty NES games so that’s a nice little milestone. I still have no idea what the overall quality is going to be like though. I am tempted to do all the fun classics first because I always want to play them again. The end of this blog might see one bad obscure game after another. Stick around to find out. It should be a wild ride.

 

NES Quality Percentage: 11/20 or 55%

1.  Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

2. Super Mario Odyssey

3. The Legend of Zelda

4. Galaga

5. Donkey Kong

6. Super Mario Bros. 2

7. Exodus: Ultima III

8. Pac-Mania

9. Wrecking Crew

10. Super Pac-Man

11. Pac-Man

12. Viva Pinata

13. Dragon View

14. Excitebike

15. Drakkhen

16. Todd’s Adventures in Slime World

17. Arc the Lad

18. Clu Clu Land

19. Tails’ Adventures

(images from mobygames.com)