Where it All Began: Kirby's Dream Land Review

Just a short time ago I revisited one of my childhood favorite games, Kirby's Dream Land. At a glance you may think that this game is geared towards a younger audience and it is, but at the same time it laid the foundation for a series of games that has come out for over 20 years now. The first thing I'd like to point out about this game has to do with the box art. Notice something different about Kirby, he's white. Well Kirby's Dream Land was actually the first of the Kirby series and since the game designers weren't sure what color he'd be, they just left him white cause well... There was no color on the Game Boy anyway so who really cared? It wasn't until Kirby's Adventure on the NES that he would get his pink color. Anyway...

So as I mentioned, Kirby's Dream Land really laid the foundation for the rest of the series. Kirby's abilities in his premier game were limited to simply flying and well eating and spitting enemies out. He had no copy abilities at all. In an effort to reclaim all of the food stolen by King Dedede, Kirby sets out with the goal to feed all of Dream Land. Achieving this goal is by no means difficult. The boss battles are all relatively easy once you figure out the attack patterns of each of them. Even Dedede himself is pretty easy compared to a lot of bosses of the time. 

The gameplay itself is very basic as it was for most Game Boy games, but unlike many other series, this simple gameplay would find it's way even in the Wii games of Kirby Epic Yarn and Kirby Return to Dreamland. The music is very, very bouncy. Even the boss battle music is kinda bouncy in a way. Not at all intimidating, which again for a game that's being aimed at a younger audience isn't bad. There are also a few familiar faces from other games that made their way into Kirby's debut. Most noteworthy of these is Lolo from The Adventures of Lolo. Another noteworthy character is the creepy face masks from Super Mario Bros 2 on the NES. The awesome thing about both of these enemies being in the game is that they simply fit so well.  So what's the verdict on this game for me?

Well realistically there isn't all that much to it. Despite that though it is quite a charming game that is simply a lot of fun to play if you are looking for a game to breeze through and kill a little bit of time. Personally I can beat the game in roughly 15-20 minutes. Not long at all. Following the main game there is an extra mode where you play through the game with half the life you had the first time. That certainly cranks up the difficulty a bit, but not to an extreme point where the game really becomes a challenge. I tend to feel like this game, with now over 20 years of nostalgia attached to it is a solid 7.5 out of 10. It certainly lacks a lot which was very quickly made up for in the next few Kirby games, but at the same time it introduced the groundwork for what has become one of Nintendo's iconic series. With that being said. If you are into emulating games (if you have the original cartridge of course) then this may be one to download and just play through a couple times for fun. I can't honestly say though that this game is a must have unless you, like me, seek to own the entire Kirby series. Either way this is a game I recommend trying if you are into old school, laid back, and fun kind of games!

Now Streaming on Twitch!

Hey everyone. Just a real quick blog tonight. I started up my own Twitch channel and will be streaming some older games. I've never done any kind of streaming before so I'm trying to work out the kinks and what not so my "test" game if you want to call it that is Donkey Kong Country. Here's a short list of the stuff I hope to stream in the near future. Following each game I hope to do a review on it. Donkey Kong Country (SNES) (Not counting today's testing) Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (SNES) Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble (SNES 100% Playthrough) Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (SNES) Super Metroid (SNES) Mega Man X (SNES) Claymates (SNES) No review since I already did one for this game. Super Mario World (SNES) Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (SNES) Jaws (NES) The Legend of Zelda (NES) Kirby's Adventure (NES 100% Playthrough) The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (N64) Starfox 64 (N64) Kirby and the Crystal Shards (N64) Ecco the Dolphin (Genesis) Ecco the Dolphin: Tides of Time (Genesis) Super Mario Land 2: Six Gold Coins (Game Boy) No review since I already did one for this game Pokemon Red/Blue (Game Boy) So that's just some of the stuff I want to start out with. I may or may not get to them all, but that's kind of what I have in mind right now. Hopefully some of these games will be new to some of you while others will bring you back a few years. I'll also probably throw in some arcade games here and there that found their way into my collection of cartridges such as Paperboy, Rampage, Bubble Bobble, Millipede, etc. It should be a good time. Once I get a more consistent schedule in my life (hopefully within the next few weeks) I'll be able to give you guys an exact schedule of when I'll be streaming. Quite frankly, I have more cartridges than I know what to do with for these systems so I have a lot to share with you guys. For now though, head on over to http://www.twitch.tv/hydraminion and follow me!

Forgotten Gem: Claymates

Hey everyone. Today I'll be looking at a Super Nintendo game that frustrated me beyond reason when I was younger, Claymates.

 

Now I probably know what you are thinking. With a box art like that just what kind of a game am I talking about? Well believe it or not you are looking at the box of a game that I consider to be a forgotten gem. I diamond in the rough as it were. This game, while looking like a simple kiddie game on the outside is quite a different story once you begin playing. So let's take a closer look at Claymates.

Claymates was released in 1993, shortly after the release of another claymation game by Interplay known as Clay Fighter. Unlike Clay Fighter, Claymates is a charming platformer that really stunned me after recently playing through it. Anyway... The main character of the game is a boy named Clayton (Clay... You see where this is going). Clayton's father managed to discover a formula to manipulate clay into animals! As fate would have it, a witch doctor demanded that Clayton's father hand over the formula. When his father refused, he was kidnapped by the doctor and Clayton was turned into a ball of clay. So Clayton sets off on a world tour that includes Japan, Africa, and eventually space to find his father and get retribution on the crazy witch doctor who turned him into clay.

The gameplay is pretty simple. In the overworld you go around as a ball of clay solving puzzles to reach the next level. The overworld itself isn't really much to behold. Honestly when I recently played the game again I remembered the overworld being much, well better looking... So from there you enter a level and the game really begins and gets very, very fun.

At the start of a level you will be playing as the ball of clay that is Clayton. Clayton can jump and punch as a ball of clay, but not much else. As a ball, if Clayton is hit, he dies.

 The witch doctor though must have been spilling some of that formula as he fled from Clayton because as you progress through the levels you will come across different blobs of clay. These blobs of clay will give you life and transform you into an animal! For example, running into a grey ball of clay will turn you into this little guy. 

 

Each animal (cat, rat, fish, bird, gopher) all have their own individual abilities to handle different situations. For example, the rat can run at incredible speeds and jump for long distances while the cat can climb trees that the rat cant. Otherwise the gameplay is pretty straight forward. It's a platformer so be prepared to do a lot of jumping and running. Also, be prepared for boss battles against stuff like this...

Graphically, I'll say, this game is flawless. That takes a lot coming from someone who really could care less what a game looks like. Also. Notice the game is in..... 3-D. Not a big deal now by any means, but for the SNES and Interplay, it was a pretty big deal. I was and still am incredibly impressed by the graphics that this game has to offer. The sound effects are all spot on as to where they need to be. The soundtrack is full of bouncy songs that go right along with the colorful nature of the game. The controls are simple, very effective, and really outside of losing control of a high speed rat, very smooth. So where is the downside to this game you ask. 

Well here it is. Claymates is a pretty long game that has no save feature at all. No password system, no game files, nothing. Every time you play it you will be starting from the beginning. If you decide to embark on the mission to save Clayton's father you better have some free time (unless you emulate and save state of course). The difficulty of the game is kind of all over the place. Some of the puzzles are maddening, others are a cake walk. The levels themselves aren't too difficult, but as you may expect, the difficulty increases as the game goes on. When you finish the game, you, much like I, will probably be wanting more. After beating the game there is nothing. No hidden goodies, no secret levels or story lines. Nothing. Just back to the title screen to go through the game again. There isn't even an enhanced difficulty mode. There is nothing. So even though we win we lose in expecting more. 

In closing... Claymates is a very, very good game that I would rate as a solid 9 out of 10. The only real drawback I could find in this game is the no save feature, which is somewhat fixed if an emulator is used. I was hoping for more afterwords, but not finding anything certainly didn't hamper my enjoyment of the game. The incredible colors, sounds, and gameplay that makes up Claymates certainly outweighed the lack of a save feature. If you have never tried this game I strongly recommend picking it up or at the very least emulate it (if you own the cartridge of course...........). You may find yourself just as surprised as I was when I popped this game into my SNES for the first time.

FIRST REVIEW! Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins

So my first review is actually going to come from the original Game Boy. Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins is a game that I personally feel is often times forgotten about when talking about the many great Super Mario games. So let's get to it.

The whole plot of the game revolves around collecting 6 golden coins. Why you ask. Well for the first time, Wario has taken over the castle in which Mario lives while he was out on some adventure. Interestingly enough Wario would go on to spawn several of his own games, but that's a story for another time. Here in his debut though, Wario has control of the castle and in order to unlock the castle door Mario must locate 6 golden coins

If you haven't guessed already, these coins are collected by defeating various bosses in yup, 6 different worlds. The first really nice thing that I found about this game was the immediate freedom to choose where and when I want to go. So if I want to go to the Pumpkin Zone I go to the Pumpkin Zone. If I get bored of it half way through I go to the Space Zone. If I want to torture myself with 6 straight boss battles I can set it up that way. For an old school game like this, I thought it was a real nice touch.

The zones themselves (Space, Pumpkin, Tree, Turtle, Mario, Macro) all offer their own unique challenges. or example, the Space Zone is virtually zero gravity, the Turtle Zone has a lot of swimming, and in the Macro Zone you play as a mini version of our hero. Several of the zones also have secret levels (another awesome touch that would be seen in later Mario games as well) that actually alter the way the zone looks.

                             

How to get to these secret levels are a secret so I'll keep my mouth shut on that. Again though for a game on Game Boy, I was and still am impressed by the amount of detail in each zone. So in short, the worlds (zones) are awesome. The only downside to them is that the difficulty level is really not all that high compared to most Mario games of the time. 

The music of the game is pretty decent overall as far as I'm concerned. As you probably guessed, the zones have different music as do the levels. A few of the songs get a little irritating after you hear them a few times, but otherwise the music and sound effects I cannot really complain about at all. Overall though for a game on the original Game Boy, the diversity of music is still pretty good when you look at it compared to the previous Super Mario Land game that had oh I don't know... Perhaps 3 or 4 songs.

As with the first Super Mario Land, I felt that the game was and is just a little short. The game is longer than the first, but the levels seem simpler and more straight forward. I never really came to a point where I was thinking that was a lucky jump or how the heck am I supposed to make that. It does make sense however that Mario's Castle would be in my opinion one of the hardest castles in any Mario game. I guess it really doesn't make sense. The final battle itself after all of Mario's hard work seems also to be a bit underwhelming as you face off against Wario in three different phases. None of which are overly difficult to deal with. If you are looking for a Mario game to kill time and not deal with anything overly difficult, yet still be able to have an enjoyable gaming experience than I highly recommend this game. I have been playing it since 1992 and it remains one of my all time favorite Game Boy games. 

If I were to rate it on a scale of 1 to 10 I'd give it a solid 8.5 or 9. The only real drawback that I can find in this game is again is it's difficulty level. Otherwise, the introduction of Wario, freedom to choose which levels to play, amazing graphics for the Game Boy, hidden goodies, and overall enjoyable experience heavily outweighs the bad. Recently this game has been re-released on the Nintendo 3DS's Virtual System. If you've never gotten a chance to play this gem I strongly encourage you to give it a try and kick this guy off of Mario's apparent throne (seriously who knew Mario had a castle).

Till next time! Happy gaming!

Welcome to the Lair

Greetings fellow gamer people and welcome to the Lair. This blog is going to be about not newer video games, but older ones. I'll be doing reviews and sharing experiences of some popular and not so popular games from the following systems.


Nintendo Entertainment System


Super Nintendo Entertainment System


Nintendo 64


Sega Genesis


 Sega Saturn


 Sega Dreamcast


 Sony Playstation One (and only one for now)


Game Boy


Gameboy Color

and possibly some older PC and arcade games as well. So if you are looking for game reviews for the PS 3/4, Xbox 360/One, DS/3DS/2DS/whatever DS, Wii/Wii U reviews. Sorry there will be none. Well I hope you guys enjoy them. I'll be getting started soon. This is not my primary blog however so I'll only be posting here when I have time. Even though retro gaming is a huge hobby of mine, ocean wildlife conservation is on the forefront for me so my main blog on that has to come first. So anyway. Enjoy and hopefully you'll find some of this stuff useful.