Emulator Hour: 3D Classics: Kirby's Adventure (NES/3DS)

I have a confession to make.

With the exception of playing the the first couple of levels in Stage 1 of Kirby's Dream Land and the demo for Kirby's Epic Yarn back at PAX2010, I have never played through any of the games in the Kirby franchise.  Until recently that is, which is why today I am bringing to you:

Kirby's Adventure was first released on the Nintendo Entertainment System back in 1993, near the end of the NES' life, which was two years into the SNES' release into North America.  All of that backstory aside, Kirby's Adventure is a lot of fun!

Now that I think about it, I cannot remember m/any of my friends either playing any of the Kirby games or recommending Kirby.  Actually, that is not entirely true and I did play, as previously mentioned, Kirby's Dream Land on the Gameboy that belonged to my cousin, probably back in 1993/94.  I have known about Kirby, but just never got around to playing any of the games in the series.  I probably just convinced myself that I was too old for that kind of a game.

I know that a lot of you already know this and that I am just late to the proverbial party, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoy playing the game.  It is a very simple platformer when you want to run and other times you can intake a body-full of air and simply fly around.  You can swallow almost every enemy and about half of those you can gain a special ability (spit fire, shoot lasers, emit sparks, wield a Donkey-Kong-esque hammer, et cetera).  Even when falling, Kirby takes a diving pose whereby he causes damage to enemies in his way.  However, the game is not a pushover as I do die on occasion and there have been a couple of bosses that have given me a run for my um, something-or-other. There is challenge to this game, but it is a fun and entertaining challenge.  Maybe if there was not a save feature then this game would fall from what it is to the difficulty level of games such as Super Mario Bros. 3.

My biggest critique about the game is that the color palette seems to be muted when compared to other platformers like Super Mario Bros. 3 and Mega Man 4, which is probably why at first I thought I was playing a Super Game Boy version of Kirby's Dream Land and not the NES release, which Dr. Potts kindly pointed out.  This is not true though for all levels/stages, but it was the "first impression" that I got when first playing.  Maybe if the fire that Kirby spat was red or if the ice he emitted had been blue instead of the yellow/orange tint that all of his abilities seem to have I would "feel better"?  And yes, I realize that I am making requests of an NES game that can now legally drink alcohol.

One of my favorite aspects of the game is that there does not seem to be one power that overpowers all the others.  Sure one power might be better than another in a specific situation, but I have yet to come across an ability, even one absorbed from a boss that singularly outweighs any other ability.  Sure, the laser is a fast long range attack, but it does not seem to do as much damage as other attacks, especially against those pesky bosses.  That is one of the best things about Kirby's  Adventure is figuring out what power would work best against a certain enemy or boss or how a given power is beneficial in a particular circumstance.

The 3D effect is pretty subtle as it pulls the background back in a single layer keeping Kirby, the platforms and enemies in the foreground.  I have noticed that most of the time I have the 3D effect either turned down low or off completely, but that is simply me wanting to conserve battery life.  The effects are nothing to write home to dear old Ma about, but considering that it is a 3D port of an NES game, I feel like whomever did the conversion did a good job without sacrificing gameplay or the now often mentioned "frame rate"; as in there is no lag between 2D and 3D modes.

After having played the game for just over three hours, I am 53% of the way through, which is nice to know that there is still plenty of game for me to come back to when I need a break from Donkey Kong Country Returns and all the annoyances that come with dying 38+ times in a single level.  I think that is one of the things that remains endearing (but not disarming) about Kirby's Adventure, is that I can pick up a 21 year old platformer and have a lot of fun.  I would not be surprised if I decide to go back through levels just to see what it is like with a different array of weapons choices or without powers at all.  

Big thank you to HAL Laboratory for their fun creation.

~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian

A World Full of Secrets and Magic

Emulator Hour ~ First Impressions: Castlevania: The Adventure

I first apologize for the overuse of colons in the title.  Well, there're only two, but even that seems like a lot for a single title.  Maybe not.  Now on with the show:

Until I started writing this article, I've apparently been saying the name of this game incorrectly.  I've always called it "The Castlevania Adventure" instead of it's official title, Castlevania: The Adventure.  This game came out in 1989, the same year of Gameboy's release and only four months after it's August release in North America.  Some of the games shortcomings could be attributed to the fact that companies were still figuring out both the software and what could be accomplished with the hardware.  I'm just speculating of course.  I can't say what Konami's limitations were with the 256/512 KB cartridge.  Just think on that for a second though.  An entire game contained in 256 - 512 KB of information.

All of that aside, the game plays very much like the original 1987 Casltevania on the NES.  You control a character, this time Christopher Belmont (Simon Belmont's ancestor) delves into Dracula's "gloomy castle on the outskirts of Transylvania."  The controls though, are a bit sluggish.  By "sluggish," I mean that it feels like Christopher is moving through mud, even if he isn't.  The enemies though (especially those fucking bats) have the agility of drunk five year old (the five year old is the neighbors dog, so it's probably legal).  

Like most Castlevania games, your main character starts out with a simple whip which can be upgraded with items (magically appearing from whipped candles) and turned into a ball and chain whip.  Unlike most Castlevania games though, the whip can be upgraded again and shoot fireballs.  I believe this is to make up for the fact that there are no sub-weapons (knife, axe, boomerang) as found in the previous two installments.

The game is made up of four stages, although I've yet to make it through the second stage.  I've been playing for only 41 minutes and there's one jump in the beginning of Stage 2 that is constantly screwing me over.  Which jump you ask? This one I reply:

Gameplay from jrdu44 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Gympf3pQ5Q)

Now that at first glance doesn't look too hard, but like a lot of platformers, platforms like that usually mean that they'll fall once you step on them, which these ones do very well.  To note, that first candle produces a whip power up, but the power up will pass through the steps and unless the jump-whip-land on platform-jump are timed perfectly, you will fall and die.  To date (and as of 15 minutes ago), I cannot make the second jump off the platform onto the ledge leading to the rope.  I don't know how many times I've tried, but it's been a lot of failed attempts.  A very nice thing with this game is that while you start out with 3 lives, you do have infinite continues although the continue starts you back at the beginning of the stage.

No, I don't suck at video games, this game is just incredibly difficult.  And no, I don't base that off of this one (pain in the ass) jump.  The game is difficult, mostly because of the sludgey controls and the awkwardness of jumping.  Like a lot of early Nintendo games, this one is designed to be difficult, otherwise you could beat the whole game in a single 30 minute sitting.

I should also point out the music, which falls under the category of awesome Castlevania music.  The music was composed/programmed by Shigeru Fukutake, Norio Hanzawa and Hidehiro Funauchi.  The soundtrack is only made up of four songs, one for each stage; a track for when you fight a boss and two tracks for Dracula.  Presently, I've only heard two of the tracks in game, but having a "version" of the soundtrack on my computer, I've heard all the tracks quite a few times and they're all standard fare for a Castlevania game.

So my final recommendation for Castlevania: The Adventure, is that if you are a fan of the Castlevania series, you enjoy challenge and don't mind monochrome graphics and often times sludgey controls, shelling out $4.99 isn't a bad way to go.  Now if Konami and Nintendo would just release the rest of the Castlevania back catalogue, I'll be very happy to give them my money.

~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian

I'll Never Lie To You, And That's The Truth

Perusing The Electronic Gaming Store

Before I started today, I was a little stuck as to what to talk about.  Then I went to the bathroom and it came to me.  I really want to play Castlevania II: Simon's Quest.  I can't say why this thought popped in my head while I was standing above the toilet, but it did and that got me thinking.  Not only thinking about the Castlevania franchise, but about Nintendo's eShop on the 3DS and all the games that I would like to see in the shop that just aren't there.

My most recent eShop purchase was The Castlevania Adventure and I'll be doing a First Impression with it soon.  Those born after 1989 may not remember this Gameboy release, but when I saw it crop up in the eShop, I got really excited and purchased it.  I never played it in its original Gameboy release and this gave me the opportunity to put it with all the other Castlevania games that I have and can't beat; although that list isn't very long.  Right now I'm hoping that Nintendo and Konami will release the rest of the the Gameboy Castlevania's, of which there are a total of three: The Castlevania Adventure, Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge and Castlevania Legends.  The point is, Nintendo and Konami really should consider releasing not only these three Gameboy games, but also the three NES Castlevania games as well. I was really excited back in 2004 when the first game was released on Gameboy Advance and sad when they didn't continue to release the other two.  I am aware that all the NES Castlevanias were released via Wii's Virtual Console, but I don't have a Wii.  And besides, these games are perfectly suited for a 3DS eShop release.  Especially with Castlevania: Lord of Shadows: Mirror of Fate being released on the 3DS in early March.

Castlevania aside, there're a couple other games that are available via the eShop, one of them being Night Sky, which is somewhat of a simplistic puzzle game visually akin to LIMBO, but with a different color palette.  I've played Night Sky on my PC with keyboard controls but playing on the 3DS with a touch screen would be perfect.  In the game you're moving an orb through a level fraught with. . . well, pits.  It's a game that I'd really like to play on the 3DS, but since I'm cheap, I'm not ready to spend the $9.99 for a game that I already own on another platform.

On the other side of the price spectrum, is a game I just saw called Gunman Clive which is priced at a paltry $1.99.  Now, you could just look at the pictures from the game and be "meh'd," or you can watch the video and be "awe'd" and greatly amused:

What immediatly comes to my mind, is Elevator Action and Contra, and those two games together, sound like they'd be awesome.

~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian
Starring Clive Owen

But First, Introductions

My first thought was to jump right into games.  Specifically video games.

But first, introductions.

My name's Jack, JWfW, JDub or Jaconian.  All depending where I am on the internet.

I've been playing video games since the ripe young age of I don't remember when.  My first memory of playing video games of any kind was either on Dr. Potts' Atari 2600 or on the Intellivision down in Lake Arrowhead at a house my grandparent's rented for the first half of my life.  The first time I played on a Nintendo Entertainment System was probably sometime around 1986 or 1987 at a neighbors house up the street.  The following Christmas, my sisters and I received the "deluxe" packaging NES that came with the Power Pad (because when my Mom sent my Dad out to buy it, he naturally bought the biggest available version; a bit ironic since my Dad doesn't play video games on any level).

So my childhood and teenage years was during the height of the Console Wars of which I was on the side of Nintendo.  NES, SNES, Gameboy (original and Play It Loud series), Gameboy Advance, N64, Gamecube, DS lite.  All Nintendo.  I did buy a PS2 from Dr. Potts after he won it in one of those Coke bottle cap contests and I did buy a PSP from my friend Chreekat (since we're using aliases here) before he moved out to go adventuring.  These I bought so I could play Final Fantasy XII and Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions, on their respective systems.  I have played some PC games, but until recently as 2003, I never owned what one might call a "gaming computer," and even then, the computer I had still wasn't very powerful (80 gig hard drive, Pentium III processor, 256 Mb or RAM).

I tend to play mostly role-playing games although I do also love and play other types as well.  The one big exception is rhythm and music games.  Sure I've played Guitar Hero and Rock Band and I've even gotten on a DDR pad a couple of times, but they're just not my pint of beer.  There's a wall that I definitely hit right after the "Easy" stage that I can't get past without hours of practicing, which doesn't happen since I don't own any of the games.  Figures.

Now to close with a short story.  In elementary school, our school decided to have a dance.  It was the first dance the school had ever had (that's what we were told, maybe they lied) and it was going to be on Valentines Day.  A lot of kids went either because they wanted to go to a dance before going to Jr. High, or because of the novelty of our school having a dance.  I on the other had was very not enthused about the prospect of a dance.  Plus I had recently rented Captain Skyhawk for the NES and was most likely trying to get passed the second stage.  A number of my friends had asked if I was going to go and felt bad/guilty that I didn't want to go because I'd rather sit at home and play a video game.  Whatever, I'm all the better because of it.  And I never beat the game either.

~Jack/JWfW/JDub/Jaconian

Copying People More Famous Than I.