California Games (NES) Review

Written: May 18th-19th, 2013

Year: 1987, 1988 | Developed by: Epyx and Rare | Published by: Milton Bradley

Half Pipe

Sports are a pretty big deal in many parts of the world, regardless of shape and form, so it's no surprise that they're the subject of many video games for decades.  In the mid-80's a certain video game company called Epyx (you know, the Impossible Mission guys) crafted many sports-themed titles that would earn a cult following since their inception, such as Summer Games, Summer Games II, Winter Sports, and World Sports.  One of their very best known out of the line-up is California Games, which focused on events that were considered to be popular in the U.S. state of California.  When it was released for the Apple II computer it became so popular and successful that it spawned numerous ports and adaptations, especially the 8-bit Nintendo version which was done by household Donkey Kong Country and Banjo-Kazooie developers Rare and released by one of Hasbro's subsidiaries Milton Bradley.

Footbag

I first played this game several years ago after having bought it from the late Game Crazy retro store, and the NES version was my introduction to this collection of events.  California Games is consisted of six games: they are Half Pipe, Footbag, Surfing, Skating, BMX, and Flying Disc.  Each of them play differently and require the simple usage of the Control Pad and the A button.  There are a few game modes here: you have the choice to compete in all the events, compete in some of the events, and (this is highly recommended if you're playing it for the first time) practice the events so you'll get a proper feel for them once you take on the real thing.  You can decide to either play by yourself or with other people (it supports up to six players), and when it comes to the competitions you're given the option to choose one of nine sponsors (i.e. Casio, Ocean Pacific, Milton Bradley).  But it all begs the question: has it aged well?

Surfing

The Half Pipe event involves you riding a skateboard back and forth in a half pipe as you do various skate tricks in the allotted time.  If you fumble a few times or if time runs out it's all over.  By holding up you can increase your speed and momentum, allowing you to do hang tricks; it's also possible to do tricks in the air and spin to the opposite direction as you ride.  If you let you go early or hold the button too long for certain tricks you'll be crashing down.  The second event, Footbag, will have your character play with a Hacky Sack (or footbag for some) and perform enough tricks as time runs down; the more tricks you pull off the higher you will score.  Depending on which direction you face (you could turn around whenever you wish) a certain trick will be performed.  Some tricks can be done several times in a row, and it is possible to hit the seagull that comes from time to time with the footbag if you launch it high enough.  These tricks can be experimented, so there'll be some trial and error.

Skating

Once that's over you move on to the Surfing event, where the participant from the Half Pipe event rides on a surfboard as you ride down the waves in the open blue sea.  Here you can pull off some neat surfboarding stunts, or you can keep riding on the water and bounce from the tip from time to time (depending on the angle you shoot for, make sure you land on the wave in the mirrored direction or you'll fall off your board).  The wave will keep following you all throughout, so it's best to steer clear from it if you can.  A good way of maintaining speed is by alternating angles while on the water; the more you do the higher the judges' average score will be.  Then you'll be partaking in the Skating event as you ride down the sidewalk near the beach on your roller skates as you avoid any incoming obstacles.  If you fall down three times the event will automatically be over.  Some obstacles might require that you jump over them and some might be dodged by careful maneuvering.

BMX

The next event is BMX riding, as you ride a mountain bike down on a dirt course as you make sure to avert obstacles, carefully move your contestant, and be able to perform some tricks while in mid-air.  Like in Skating you can adjust your position on the playing field, however this time around you'll be climbing up and descending curves and there are obstacles that must be avoided or you'll fall off.  Fall off three times and it's done in a flash.  Depending on which direction you press while in mid-air as you simultaneously push the A button you'll perform a different trick.  The sixth and final game is Flying Disc where the goal is to throw a frisbee disc as far as you can and then ensuring that the partner catches it once it flies her way.  The first thing you do is determine what your speed and angle are; once you press the button button at the start a pointer will swiftly be moving to the left, and once you've pressed a direction it will shift over to the right.  The key is to land both pointers on the green bar, that will ensure  that you'll throw it at a greater distance.  After that the disc will be flying the distance and be ready for the partner to catch.  The partner can move to make sure that she catches it, and if you time it right you can catch it as you jump.

Flying Disc

So how does California Games fare after all these years?  To be honest, it's pretty good, and I really like it.  I don't think it's groundbreaking, but it's certainly fun to play every once in awhile.  The events are well-chosen, and the soundtrack is quite decent in short bursts (I especially like that title rendition of "Louie Louie").  Like a lot of NES games it's very colorful with some charm in the mix; most events even have line and parallax scrolling, which gives it a sense of depth.  The animations are good, and the events are good fun in their own right (the Half Pipe event would eventually be recycled in the Game Boy Color version of Tony Hawk's Pro Skateboarding).  What's pretty nice is how certain events have easter eggs in them, which are fairly entertaining, I have to admit.  California Games is good, though it would've been nice to have diverse difficulty settings and variations to add more replay value, but as it stands it's not the case here.  Overall, it's still a pretty solid game that's nice to play every once in awhile, and while it's not perfect by a long shot, it's still a noteworthy classic.  Much better than Track & Field II on the NES, that's for sure (but that's my opinion on the subject).  Having played it, it's easy why it's gotten as popular as it has and why it's gotten a lot of console adaptations throughout the years, including the MegaDrive/Genesis console.

In the end, it's a very good standalone ga--  *abruptly turns to the side*  Wait, there's a sequel?  (=|  And it's available on the SNES??  <=O  *turns to the audience*  I've got to check this out!  *walks ahead*

7.0/10

P.S.: While we're on the subject of Hasbro, I'm so glad they introduced us to the world of Transformers and My Little Pony: Magic is Friendship.  =)  ...  The fourth generation animated show of the latter is the only one worth watching as far as I'm concerned; the first three we're better off without.  =|
P.S. 2: On a totally irrelevant note: does anyone remember a time when Chuck E. Cheese wasn't CG animated?  =(  Those were the days!
P.S. 3: By the way, I really love that Jaws cameo in the Surfing event for when you fall off certain times!  =)  Right down to the infamous tune!

P.S. 4: In the Skating event you may notice these on the sidewalk from time to time:

Now in real life there are various reasons for names and initials to be placed anywhere, but I doubt that you'd put these in video games unless you were referencing certain people or were doing so for easter egg purposes.  I'm not quite certain who these initials and names are alluding to, however, but I sense they must be significant somehow.
P.S. 5: It's almost summer!  YAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!  =D

Thank you for reading this review, please leave a comment and I hope you have a great day!  Take care!  =)

Kirby's Dream Land 3 (SNES) Review

Written: May 11th-12th, 2013

Year: 1997 | Developed by: HAL Laboratory | Published by: Nintendo

Disclaimer: Spoilers

1997; it was a rather ... interestingly memorable year, if you ask me.  That year we were given some really good movies,

...and some not so good movies.  =|

Among others.  1997 was also a big year for video games where there were great games (Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back), underrated games (Chameleon Twist, Croc: Legend of the Gobbos), overrated games (in my opinion it's Mischief Makers), bad games, the like (all opinion-based).  Clearly a lopsided time period, but fortunately we were given more good than we were given bad, and no truer is that said than with HAL Laboratory's big sidescrolling platformer Kirby's Dream Land 3.

What a serene-looking night setting

Hard to believe that Kirby's been around for more than twenty years since his debut on the Game Boy Kirby's Dream Land back in 1992.  Kirby, in my opinion, is one of the greatest video characters of all time, and one of my personal favorites.  =)  The Game Boy classic was such a hit that it garnered various follow-ups--canon (Kirby's Dream Land 2 for the Game Boy) and spiritual (Kirby's Adventure on the NES, Kirby Super Star on the SNES)--as well as fun spin-offs such as Kirby's Dream Course for the SNES and the two for the Game Boy Kirby's Pinball Land and Kirby's Block Ball.  The first title was even remade several times, albeit as shorter versions of it, which is pretty cool.  =)  After Kirby's Dream Land 2 did really well HAL Laboratory decided to craft another entry in the Dream Land moniker, only this one came out for the SNES... in 1997.  <=|  A little late to the party, aren't you guys?

June 25th, 1999 [ O ]

Such beautiful foliage all around

Okay, not that late, but seriously though!  By the time Kirby's Dream Land 3 was released in America, unless you were still into the SNES, more people were buying games for Nintendo's first true 3D console the Nintendo 64 than they were SNES titles at the time.  To be honest, I'm surprised they didn't make it for the Nintendo 64 instead, since chances are if that happened then the game would've done better sales-wise.  Since more people were getting into the Nintendo 64 at the time, not many got to experience this game during its heyday, sadly.  =(  But for those that did, its reception was heavily polarized by critics and fans alike for various reasons, therefore becoming one of the first divisive entries in the overall Kirby franchise.  And actually that's still the case today.

"Which spiked ball would you like?"

I was introduced to the Kirby games with Kirby's Dream Land 2 for the Game Boy during one of my visits with some of my cousins back when I was very little.  I thought it was a very charming and enjoyable game with great play control, and I became a big fan of the series after having played the Game Boy Advance remake of Kirby's Adventure, Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land back in late 2002.  Good times! =)  I eventually caught up with the first Kirby's Dream Land in 2005 after having escaped from Hurricane Katrina over at one of our family members' friend's house, and since then I thought it was good.  I remember having first looked up this game several years ago online (I can't remember which website it was), and I was surprised since before that I didn't realize there was a Kirby's Dream Land 3, but there is!  Shortly before the year 2009 came one of my cousins loaned me his SNES console as well as some of his games, and I was grateful for that.  In January 5th, 2009 Kirby's Dream Land 3 was re-released for the Nintendo Wii Virtual Console, and I was so excited since I was going to get a chance to experience this game that I've been curious about for some time (this was four months before I started my adventures on eBay).  That day I downloaded it, and the moment I played it I was incredibly spellbound.  I did not regret it since.  =)

All's been well in Pop Star since it's been saved by the clutches of Dark Matter in Kirby's Dream Land 2, and since his demise it's been very peaceful and quiet.  Kirby and his friends are having a pleasant and relaxing day, with nothing to make things worse.

Little do they suspect that: things will be getting worse!  The planet Pop Star is threatened once again by Dark Matter, who has somehow revived himself.  But that's not all: the planet's rings shatter and the Heart-Stars are scattered throughout the star-shaped planet!  Dark Matter plans to plunge Pop Star into total darkness once more, threatening to end all happy life as we all know it.

But not if our heroes have anything to say about it!  Our ever-hungry hero Kirby will stop Dark Matter once more and put an end to his plans, but he won't be going alone.  Joining him from the second Dream Land are Rick the Hamster, Coo the Owl, Kine the Sunfish, and Gooey the blue Blob (who can be summoned when you press the A button and/or can be controlled by the second player if you don't wish for him to be CPU-controlled); and aiding the pink puffball for the first (and last) time are Nago the Cat, Pitch the Bird, and Chu-Chu the Octopus.  Will Dream Land be salvaged from darkness, and will our brave heroes emerge triumphant??

Rick: (But... but I thought I was your friend!)  ='(

The gameplay is very good, and Kirby controls rather well.  His special ability is to inhale enemies and copy their abilities (should they even have any abilities to begin with).  Once the enemy is in Kirby's mouth you have the option to swallow it (down) or you can spit it out.  If you don't wish to keep the ability you can always discard it with the Select button.  All the abilities from the second game are present (i.e. Boomerang, Fire, Ice, Spike), and there is one additional power-up you never thought you'd see in a Kirby game: the Broom power-up.  How interesting!  Among those actions Kirby can also float in the air, exhale puffs when he decides to stop floating, walk, climb down ultra-thin platforms (down + B), jump, and duck.  The great thing here is that you can now slide on the ground and run fast, something you couldn't do in the previous two Dream Land games.  A lot of the time you'll be finding yourself running (which is something I recommend you do) since Kirby walks at a veeeeery slow pace.

"Let me light up your day!"

Kirby can also join any one of the six animal helpers by pressing the X button while standing near one, and you can press it again to get off.  Each animal helper has their own characteristics, strengths, and weakness, and depending on which one you take it may help you overcome certain obstacles.  Some helpers' weaknesses are compensated by the strong points; to exemplify, Nago can jump up to three times, Coo is a good flier, Rick can wall-kick jump, Kine is an excellent swimmer, Pitch is quick on his feet and is a decent flier, and Chu-Chu can glue her tentacles to the ceiling which allows her to move forward without falling (there's a verb that's suited to that, I know it, but it escapes me).  Depending on which animal helper you choose to ride on and which ability you have, the variety of combinations will be very interesting.  Experiment to your heart's desire!  =)  The game is comprised of six levels, the first five being divided into seven portions, with a boss fight serving as the last one.  In the other six stage portions you'll be given the opportunity to gather Heart-Stars should you do a certain task, but more on that later.

Planting and watering tulips

Kirby's Dream Land 3's soundtrack was composed by Jun Ishikawa, who also did great music for Hyper Zone, Arcana, Alcahest, and the majority of the Kirby games.  After being absent for the second game, he decided to make a big soundtrack with rather different instrumentation.  Whether you find the soundtrack good or bad all depends on your personal taste in video game music; personally I find the soundtrack enjoyable and a big improvement over Kirby's Dream Land 2's background music as far as I'm concerned, which I didn't find all that memorable (in and out of comparison). The introductory music is soft and dreamlike, a few of the Ripple Field themes are really catchy, the various map themes are good, and some of the Grass Land themes are lighthearted fun.  A few of the remixes are pretty sweet, like the Gourmet Race theme from Kirby Super Star and the infamous King Dedede theme.  I'll admit there a few songs that I'm not too fond of, like the Level 5-6 theme and the regular boss theme, but the ultimate boss themes is better.  There are two different endings, with the real ending having the more rewarding and wonderful music.  =)  The sound effects are all right, like the water dripping effect and the inhaling sound effect.

Rick has got great climbing prowess

One word that everyone will agree on regarding this iteration's visuals, whether you like it or not, is "unique".  The visuals boast a look that was rarely seen in a Kirby game before, which makes it stand out.  The areas look pastel-toned and have each got their own distinctive detail, many of them even look like they were hand-drawn.  A lot of the Grass Land areas are filled with foliage, Ripple Field looks tropical and beach-like at times, and Sand Canyon has got some good backdrops (like those Stonehenge-like pillars in the distance).  Pop Star looks good in the universe, and I like the little bit of Mode 7 that it uses when it rotates and scales in.  The different map rooms look good, and the cutscenes that play before you start each level are fun to look at.  One of the reasons Kirby's Dream Land 3 has garnered mixed reactions from gamers and critics and drove some away from it is due to the visuals.  And all I've got to say to that is:

"Into my mouth!!"

On one hand, I do understand why some might feel this way; but on the other hand, are you serious?!  For the first time in the series there is actual environmental depth in a Kirby game!  Depth!!!  =D  The first time I played this game I couldn't believe my eyes!  Throughout the areas there are instances of parallax scrolling, moving foregrounds that sometimes animate, color-layering effects (okay, it's more dithering than anything else, but it works because it blends everything well; on my TV it looks better than in the screenshots I've gotten), various weather effects (rain, snow), careful attention to detail, flame particles filling the air in hot places, some rooms that glow, and tiny critters that are rather harmless (and are not actual enemies) and can be crushed (optional).  Kirby Super Star looked great, don't get me wrong, but let's be honest: it was more line scrolling and not much color-layering effects all-around; it's got nothing on this game's visuals in terms of everything I just mentioned.  It is just wonderful to look at!!  I mean how can anyone not like th--  ohhh, right, the visual style.  =/  Your mileage may vary.

Good illustration of the areas you're about to
enter

The character and enemy designs look significantly different, too, and honestly I don't mind that.  Okay, so Kirby's more white than he is pink this time around, but there is proper shading and lighting that I could forgive it.  He animates very fluidly, and so do the animal helpers with their variations in abilities and movement.  The enemies look good and charming as always, plus there are some new enemies that are introduced for the first time.  The bosses are more detailed, and a few of them are well-known familiars, like Whispy Woods.  At the end of each area you'll meet with certain characters who'll either thank you for doing a task for them or be sad that you didn't.  They look and animate well, and some of them are very recognizable cameos.  =)

Hey, it's R.O.B.!!!  =D  And Professor Hector!

One of the reasons it's gotten so polarized is due to it not being very challenging.  Geez, you'd think that after several years of playing Kirby games that they would've gotten used to that by now!  =|  Actually it's not so much that it's easy so much as how easy it is.  There's a high abundance of power-ups scattered around, ranging from stars (collect thirty to earn a life), bottles (restores 2 HP), Maxim tomatoes (replenishes all health), and the candy which renders you invincible for a short period of time.  And Kirby has a high advantage and can float in the air close to indefinitely if you didn't wish to go on foot; the abilities also help make things a little easier.

"Here, let me clean you up!"

But that's should you decide to beat the game head on.  It becomes challenging when you attempt to collect all the Heart-Stars and eventually 100% the game.  There are two conditional endings in-game: the good ending will be seen once all the Heart-Stars have been gathered and the sixth level has been accessed, if you haven't done so you'll be given the bad ending instead.  Obtaining every Heart-Star won't be easy, but it is possible with a little perseverance.  Each level's area has one Heart-Star each, and they can be earned in any number of ways.  Among some of these challenges are freeing the frozen flowers by melting the ice, matching the formations of the blocks to end-of-area character's shape, helping a character out, taking an animal helper to their mate in one go, saving a character and have them rejoin an end-of-area character waiting for them, gathering items for a character in need, et al.  In the third area of each level there are guessing challenges which you must get right three times otherwise you have to start over (at first it will start off slow until it gradually becomes faster); one of them, the one with Chef Kawasaki, requires good hearing as he'll have you pick which Gordo made the lowest, the highest, or in-between sound.  Some of the tasks are easy to accomplish whilst others will require a lot of hard work to earn, and if you don't manage to attain a Heart-Star the first time around that's all right, you'll always have a chance to try again next time.

Whoa, Waddle Dee is a genie!

The boss fights are good and they can be managed so long as you follow their pattern, especially Dark Matter who's got three forms that you have to beat.  One thing to note is while in most areas you can pause (and decide to return to the hub regardless of whether you've beaten it or not) that's not the case with the boss fights.  You won't be able to pause until you've defeated the boss.  If you've gotten everything up to Dark Matter's demise you'll get a 97%, with the other 3% being difficult to accomplish but it's not impossible if you stick with it long enough.  In the menu you can access the game and the options, and in the options you'll eventually unlock some big-time challenges: one of them is the jumping challenge where you must land on a star enough times without landing on the spikes, otherwise you'll have to start over (that's 1%); the next challenge will have you go through the five guessing games consecutively, and if you're able to get all three right five times you'll get another 1%; and the last one is a real doozy.

It is basically a boss gauntlet where you must successfully beat every single boss back-to-back all in one life; to make things really challenging, there are no health power-ups at all to help prolong your survival, so you must do your absolute best to be careful.  If you do manage to complete the game 100%, which is easier said than done, you'll unlock another option where you get to see all the cutscenes in the game whenever you wish, including all three endings (the third playing after emerging triumphant in the boss gauntlet).  I managed to pull it off once, and I got very lucky.  I wish you all the luck in the world if you decide to 100% Kirby's Dream Land 3.

Run away!!!

But just because this game is easy does it make it a bad thing?  I don't think it does, personally.  So long as the game is fun and engaging it doesn't really matter what the difficulty is like, and fortunately Kirby's Dream Land 3 to me is an enjoyable and charming iteration.  It's not perfect, and I don't mind admitting that it's got its flaws; such as Kirby walking slow and the fact that at times the scrolling can get weird and awkward at times.  I mean, what is this, Donkey Kong Country?  But if you can look past these blemishes Kirby's last platformer on the SNES is a very good game.  It display some of the most undeniably unique visuals found on the system, lots of visual depth, and musically it's not so bad.  The gameplay is good, the amount of charm is abundant, and the various ways to get Heart-Stars is quite interesting.  That and the fact that there are three different endings and the challenge from completing the game gives it a lot of replay value.

Pop Star looks pretty from the galaxy view

Kirby's Dream Land 3 is a title I find very underrated for a lot of reasons.  After Kirby Super Star was released it set the standard for great Kirby games for a lot of gamers.  That impact may have been taken a lot to heart for many when this game came out, and because of that a lot of people were disappointed in this one; since they expected it to have as much quality aspects as the previous title.  To be fair, Kirby Super Star is a fun game, and one of the very reasons it's fun is due to its many mini-games, events, and versatile play control; but Kirby's Dream Land 3 doesn't strive to be like Kirby Super Star, and not every game has to be like said aforementioned title.  This game just does what it does best: being itself and a worthy chapter in the Kirby franchise.  Plus, it's chock-full of surprises, secrets, cameo appearances, peculiarities, and weirdness all about.  =)

Kirby piggyback-riding on Pitch as he runs.  I won't lie, that's very interesting.  It's a good thing they're roughly the same size, otherwise Pitch would be struggling to carry Kirby on his back.

Come to think of it, Pitch is pretty strong as he lifts Kirby in the air as he flies while his talons are held onto.  That, or Kirby must be very light, or Pitch would've had a hard time lifting him.

Fascinatingly, upon closer inspection, Kirby's puffs have faces on them.

Uhhhhhm, I have absolutely no idea.  0_O

I don't know about you, but I think Kirby may be enjoying Chu-Chu being on his head a little too much.  Maybe it's just me, but to me there is just something disturbing about that; it evokes a negative message if you ask me.  {=|

Great crossover!  I'd say that this alone is worth the price of admission.  =)

Just for fun

Boy, I didn't realize Tamagon was still pissed off about his game never reaching American shores.  =(

Okay, so it's not Tamagon, but he does resemble him somewhat.  Among some of the interesting details, surprises, and cameos, there are times when the game really gets dark all of a sudden.  So Kirby just finished off Dark Matter's second form and it's time for the third and final form to emerge and...

holy crap, blood in a Kirby game???  <=O

Dude, things just got real intense all of a sudden!  =O  But then, isn't that how all the true final bosses in HAL's games are?  I've got to hand it to this game: it's not afraid to take risks.

(I hope sweeping floors is worth the minimum wage)

All in all, Kirby's Dream Land 3 is not a flawless game by any means, but while it lasts it's a very enjoyable platformer in my book.  Could it have benefited with faster walking speed and less awkward scrolling?  Sure.  But at the end of the day, there is more good here than there is bad, and I can forgive its faults easily because of that.  It's no Kirby Super Star but it doesn't try to be, and that's one of the things that makes it good.  It sounds, looks, and plays good, and it's a charming game.  One thing I didn't mention was that there are cases of "friend envy", where you pick an animal helper at the risk of upsetting the others.  Just look at their reaction once you join one; they instantly become shocked and then either become angry or sad afterwards.  It's almost enough to make you feel bad for not choosing the others in each area.

I personally loved Kirby's Dream Land 3 and many things about it.  Since the first time I played it I fell in love with it, and since then it's become my fourth favorite Kirby game; after Kirby Mass Attack, Kirby's Epic Yarn, and my number one favorite which I'll get to shortly. If you want to try a really good Kirby game, this will do it for you!  If you expect it to be like, say, Kirby Super Star then you may come out disappointed.  It's like ActRaiser 2 in this regard, in that if you don't think of it as an ActRaiser game then there's a chance that you might like it.  If you don't think of Kirby's Dream Land 3 as something else and just think of it as a game on its own, you should be all set.  If you're curious about it, I recommend you give it a go, and if you give it a chance I think you might enjoy it.  =)  But if you wish to experience the ultimate TV console Kirby experience (as far as I'm concerned)

then you need look no further than this masterpiece!  =)  However, that's for another day.

9.0/10

P.S.: To each their own.  =)

P.S. 2: It sure was nice for Kirby and his friends to recoup and reassemble R.O.B. in Level 3-6.  It's ironic, however, that they would combat each other eleven years later in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.  <=|

P.S. 3: There would be a Kirby's Dream Land 4 in 2000 for the Nintendo 64 called Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards, which was nowhere near as good in my opinion and fared worse than this game critic- and gamer-wise.

P.S. 4: Poor Nago, Pitch, and Chu-Chu would make their second and last appearance in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards, albeit as cameos via the Stone + Cutter combo ability.  Rick, Kine, and Coo are cool and all, but why not use these guys again?  =(  They're fun, Nago especially, who I've grown to really like.

P.S. 5:

The difference between the two good endings are the way the characters are drawn and illustrated, and both versions are interestingly drawn in their own right.

P.S. 6: Fun fact: the sixth level, Hyper Zone, was named after HAL Laboratory's first SNES game.

P.S. 7: For those that are wondering: no, I haven't yet played Kirby's Dream Collection on the Wii, and I feel bad about it too!  Even though I have all the games that are on the compilation (albeit two of them as remakes), I'm more interested in the content and leftover challenge stages from Kirby's Return to Dream Land.  I hope I get to play it one of these days.

P.S. 8: Credit where credit is due: all the movie posters in the two collages I crafted are from Wikipedia; all the video game screenshots where taken by me as well as the emoticon; the cover of Kirby's Return to Dream Land is from www.techandgames.com; and the cover for Kirby no Kirakira Kizzu is from kirby.wikia.com.

P.S. 9: Gosh, I hope this review wasn't too long.  =(

P.S. 10: My favorite version of the Kirby anime is the original Japanese version.  I'm not real fond of the 4Kids dub.

I'll admit that the "friend envy" element took me by surprise and it was certainly interesting.  But no other game would do such a thing as that.  =)

=)  =|  ... eeeooooooohh, yeeeeeah!

Thank you for reading my review, please leave a comment and I hope you have a great day!  Take care!  =)

Track & Field (NES) Review

Written: May 4th-5th, 2013

Alternative Title: Track & Field in Barcelona   O  

Year: 1987 | Developed and Published by: Konami

Olympic events sure are fun to watch whenever they're shown on TV (or when you're in the stadium's audience).  Video game companies must think so too, since these Olympic sports have been the subject of video games as "Olympic simulators" for many decades now.  One of these companies is Konami, who has crafted a series of Olympics-related games for roughly three decades now.  Their first in this many series was Hyper Olympic (or Track & Field depending on the region), which debuted in arcades in 1983 featuring several fun events (and there was an actual voice sample used for the announcer at certain points).  It was so successful that they decided to make an arcade follow-up to it the subsequent year called Hyper Sports (or Hyper Olympic '84 as it was known in Japan), which featured about as many fun events but were different.  Both these games were so well-received that they were individually ported to the Famicom in 1985.  So where am I going with this?  After noticing that the NES was getting popular (in America, at least; Europe was more into the Sega Master System back then), Konami decided to merge both their Famicom ports of Hyper Olympic and Hyper Sports into one game simply called Track & Field; and since there are technically two games in one cartridge, you know what that means!  =D

Welcome everyone, to another installment of 2-for-1 Special!  =)

"Chariots of Fire" plays in the background

Hyper Olympic (1983, 1985)

100 Meter Dash

In the arcade version there were six events to play, whilst this 8-bit rendition of Hyper Olympic only retained four.  It's not a bad amount, to be honest, and said events are done really well.  In each event you have three tries to qualify for the next one, but should you qualify at least once out of three possible times you'll be all set.  If not, then it's game over.  Just like I'll be discussing the 2-for-1 Special games in their chronological order I'll be going over the events in the order that they are played.  They are the 100 Meter Dash, the Long Jump, the 110 Meter Hurdles, and finally the Javelin Throw.  The two events excised from the arcade were the Hammer Throw and the High Jump (which got converted to the 8-bit Hyper Sports port instead, but I'll get to that one later).  As it stands, I'll only cover the events that are available here.

Long Jump

The controls are pretty solid and good, and they only require the Control Pad and the A button; although a lot of the time you'll be required to continually tap the A button for these events (so use your trigger finger and your thumb simultaneously).  The rules for the 100 Meter Dash is pretty straightforward: just run all the way to the finish line.  To run all you have to do is tap the A button, so try to get to the end as fast as you can.  This is also the first of a couple events where you see your opponent on the same screen as you, racing against him.  Oh, by the way, do not attempt start until you're signaled to go otherwise you'll get a foul.  Our next event is the Long Jump where the goal is to jump as far as you can.  In most games you'll have to liberally tap the A button to run fast, but for some events you'll be enabled to use the Control Pad for certain actions.  In the Long Jump event you use the Control Pad to jump, and depending on how long you hold it down or how soon or late you let go, your athlete will either jump closer or jump much farther (I recommend you shoot for the latter).  Careful trajectory is key.  Rules state that you must jump before crossing the white line otherwise you'll get a foul regardless of how far or close you jumped.

110 Meter Hurdles

After qualifying for that event it's time for the 110 Meter Hurdles.  The last of the two racing events, it's like the 100 Meter Dash only it's 10 meters longer and there are hurdles serving as obstacles.  Only start running after being signaled to go otherwise you'll get a foul and have two more tries left.  For this event you'll be alternating between tapping the A button quickly and pressing the Control Pad to jump over any of these obstacles.  Make sure you time the jumps right otherwise you'll be docked by a few seconds.  The last event in the first half is the Javelin Throw; in this event you have to launch your javelin and ensure that it lands past the qualifying point.  The first part will require a lot of running but before you touch the white line press any button on the Control Pad to throw it.  Like the Long Jump, proper trajectory will come into play and will determine whether you succeed or fail.  Hold the Control Pad down just enough and let go at the opportune time to make a highly distanced throw.

Javelin Throw

What's pretty good about these events are how tight and solid the controls are even though most of it will have you tap the A button over and over again.  What's also great is how in certain events you have to carefully strategize and determine the trajectory in order to ensure your qualification, for it's a nice touch.  The game is colorful, the animations are very good, and I like how there is line scrolling in these events to incorporate depth.  The sound is good (even if there are no voice samples here) and there is a good amount of challenge, for in the further difficulty modes the requirement to qualification will increase, which will gradually give the events a bit more challenge.  I like Hyper Olympic's events, for they're fun to play and enjoy.  But now it's time to discuss the second half of the package.

Hyper Sports (1984, 1985)

Skeet Shooting

After Hyper Olympic did well in the arcades Konami followed up with Hyper Sports, which especially was successful since its release.  The arcade game had seven events whilst the 8-bit Famicom conversion carried three of its events, even lifting one event from Hyper Olympic (High Jump).  The same rules apply here: you've got up to three chances to qualify for the next event, otherwise you'll be dropped out entirely.  In the order that you do these events, you'll be partaking in Skeet Shooting, Triple Jump, Archery, and High Jump.  In the arcade original there were four other events: Swimming, Long Horse, Weight Lifting, and Pole Vault; but since those events didn't make it to the transition, I won't be talking about them.

Triple Jump

The first event in Hyper Sports is Skeet Shooting, one of the two games in the entire package that don't require liberal button tapping at all, which is actually refreshing for a change.  =)  You have fifteen seconds to shoot as many skeets as you need to qualify to the next event.  You have two crosshairs floating in front of you, one on your right and the other to the left.  Once the skeets get inside the crosshair, shoot it with the A button, and if it pops up from the left press anywhere in the Control Pad.  At first it will start off slow but then the momentum will pick up gradually so you'll have to find the perfect rhythm to get as many as you can.  Afterwards is the Triple Jump event where the goal is to land past the qualified point after having made the third jump.  The first thing you do is tap the running button until you make the first jump behind the white line, and then after you land you do another jump, and finally you do the ultimate jump.  Proper trajectory will have to taken into account if you wish to jump higher, closer, or farther.  A good way of doing so is to tap the A button as you press any of the directions in the Control Pad.  Faiure to jump before crossing the white line or not landing anywhere in the sand will result in a foul.

Archery

Once the Triple Jump is over you'll be partaking in the Archery event.  The objective here is to score as many points as you can by trying to shoot at the bullseye that moves from the top to the bottom (or vice versa in subsequent difficulty modes). You only have eight arrows at your disposal, so you must attempt to score just enough to qualify to the next event.  The first thing to be done is decide how much wind will be facing up or down (just roll with it), and you must hold down the A button until you feel you've got the proper angle trajectory.  What I recommend is not going above 6 degrees otherwise the arrow will fly off-course and possibly miss the target as a result.  The last event is the High Jump, leftover from Hyper Olympic.  It's one of the hardest in the game, but it is manageable with enough practice.  You must run all the way to the end until you reach the two poles with the bar on top of it, and then you must jump over said bar trying your best not to tip it otherwise it's a foul.  Like the Triple Jump you can tap the A button as you jump in the air with the Control Pad in order to gain more height, however you'll have to plan your trajectory angles very well in order to succeed.

High Jump

All the events are solid and tightly controlled, and the incorporation of strategizing your trajectory in certain events is great, too.  Once again, the game looks very colorful, albeit a little darker in certain spots and lacking line scrolling, and the animations are once again really good (even if the character design and the animations themselves are different).  This time there's a red border surrounding the score's HUD, the sound is good, and this time there's a short bit of music playing anytime you don't succeed.  The Skeet Shooting segment looks similar to the skeet shooting event from Duck Hunt, only you can see the shooter and you don't shoot a light gun at the TV screen (at least before flatscreen TVs became the norm).   The amount of challenge found here is good, and what's cool is how the subsequent loops add some gradual challenge throughout.  Hyper Sports is fun, and the events here are really good.

Track & Field is a great collection of events, in my opinion, and for Konami to assimilate two games in one cartridge was a really excellent decision.  The 8-bit rendition of the famous "Chariots of Fire" sounds very decent, and I like how the simple, swift two-frame blinking audience for whenever you succeed gives the illusion that the audience is applauding (accompanied by the applause sound effect that would be re-used in the Famicom adapation of the arcade title Circus Charlie).  There's a big amount of replay value to be found, and the longer you stay in the game the more gradually challenging it will become.  What's neat is how you don't have to necessarily play these events in order if you don't want to, but you can play these events in any order you wish via Select button.

Each of the two games (halves) look and feel different, and it's pretty easy to tell thanks to specific details.  Even the characters slightly look inconsistent, where the first player is pink-skinned with light brown hair wearing a magenta top in Hyper Olympic while in Hyper Sports the hair is darker brown, the skin tone is tan and the top is dark pink; in the first half the second player is black wearing blue shirts and a white top, while in the second half he's the same as the first player only the top is cyan.  Though that's just a minor nitpick of mine; in hindsight, I find it pretty amusing that two mustachioed athletes are competing against each other.  When you lose three times your character cries with his head down, and each win/loss animation is fairly interesting.

The winning animation from the first half is good, and so is the one from the latter half, but is it just me or does the way the second athlete raise his arms look weird?  0_O

The latter half has a decent loss animation as he scratches his head, and in the first half *laughs*  What the hell is that animation?!  Is it me or does he look like he's wearing a diaper standing like that?  XD  And what the hell is he doing?  Is he combing his hair as he's rubbing his chest up and down?  That is just as mind boggling as it it funny!!  XD

What's really great about Track & Field is how depending on what actions you've done there will be an easter egg that will pop up.  For example, if you and the adversary finish at the same time a character will sidewalk up from the right offscreen for extra points, and if you score equally thrice on the High Jump event a small astronaut will glide down to the ground.  It adds so much to the replay value, and it's always fun to see these brief easter eggs appear.

I first played Track & Field on a plug-and-play over at one of my cousins' house in Italy when I was little (in it they showed the American title screen and not the green one they used for the PAL version), and I always had a blast playing it (I think it was one of my most oft-played games on the plug-and-play); it's one of those NES games that's just as fun to play by yourself as it is to play with others.  Incidentally, it was one of the first games where I began to truly understand the difference between 50 MHz (PAL) and 60 MHz (NTSC), after I caught up with it on the NES back in '05-'06.  In Europe, classic 8-bit games would run approximately 16.7% slower than if they were being played in America (even the music would be slowed down), and while the latter had the games fill up the screen the former had the screen a little compressed with a black border above and below it.  It's often fascinating to learn these things as you grow up, though I do feel bad that European gamers had to put up with that for a long time before HDTVs would be the norm (I did hear that the speed issue was remedied midway in the SNES lifespan in Europe, but the borders were still there).  =(

Even though much of Track & Field will have you tap the A button many times, it's a very enjoyable game, and it's always fun to revisit every once in awhile.  Whether or not you're a fan of Olympic sports I recommend that you play this game, especially with two people, for it's very charming and enjoyable despite its simplicity and in my book it's fantastic.  So fantastic in fact that I wish its NES sequel Track & Field II wasn't such a letdown (to me, that is).  It may have more detailed visuals, looked realistic, have (muffled) voice samples, and offered more events than before, but I honestly felt that it lacked the overall charm and enjoyment that this game (two games, technically) offered, and in the end I thought it was a disappointing follow-up (I may divulge more about it one day, but not right now).  =(  The original is a fun game, and one of my favorites on the NES; and what do you expect from the company that gave us Castlevania, TwinBee, Antarctic Adventure, Parodius, Blades of Steel, Sparkster, Life Force, and Contra among other games and series?  =)

Hyper Olympic: 9.0/10
Hyper Sports: 8.5/10
Overall Package Score:
8.5/10

Thank you for reading my review, please leave a comment and I hope you have a great day!  Take care!  =)

P.S.: I recall that on the plug-and-play when you were in the screen where you could choose which events you play, the Konami logo was gone (as expected when it comes to these systems) but the screen was just reduced to black (no greens-like border around them) save for the white words.

P.S. 2: My 2-for-1 Special reviews will not just be two games in one package, I will also review two games that are played individually.

P.S. 3: I learned from last time in my Mickey Mouse: Magic Wands! review, and put in a black border below each frame so that ugly watermark wouldn't go over the image on the bottom corner when I converted them to .gif animations.  I've also perfected a few seamless .gifs, which I'm actually proud of (save for the watermark, but otherwise not bad).  =)

P.S. 4: By the way, I just love how in the Archery event the athlete can magically shoot an arrow without a bow in his hand!