Received: October 28th, 2017 | Written: January 6th-7th/11th-19th, 2020
(As played on Game Boy Player)
Year: 1999 | Developed by: Planet Interactive
Year: 1999 | Developed by: Planet Interactive
Published by: Infogrames
Happy 2020, everyone, hope everyone's had a Happy New Year so far and hope to kickstart the new decade in high gear. 😃
Sometime in 1993 PAL SNES owners in Europe were graced with a game called Mr. Nutz, a platformer developed by Ocean Software's French division's very own Pierre Adane and Philippe Dessoly. Originally intended for the Amiga computer at one point in development until Ocean's wise decision to make it a Nintendo 16-bit vehicle, this squirrel-starring game reportedly took eighteen months to make which would eventually see an American release on August 1994 with the Japanese Super Famicom version being among the last games published there by Sofel that October 7th.
Images from GameFAQs
1994 would also see the MegaDrive and Game Boy versions of Mr. Nutz being released exclusively in Europe, the former of which took six months to make versus the SNES original's eighteen with the latter being the first handheld conversion of this platformer (which was also produced by Adane and Dessoly and was coded by Fernando Velez, Frédéric Zimmer, and Adane). Interesting of note though is that of the games developed by them, this is the only Ocean Software platformer I can think of that is not based on a movie property.
The former applies to the American and European SNES release, and the latter applied only to Europe because Natsume was too lazy to translate its predecessor in multiple European languages so they took out the words entirely, so they weren't allowed to publish their games in PAL format again
I said "games de-ve-loped by them". 😑 Unless the company in question filled in both spots, developers and publishers are not the same thing. Anyway!On April 1996 Infogrames bought and merged with Ocean, so any future treatment of Mr. Nutz would be handled by them regardless of who converted it (at least, back when Infogrames was still active).
In 1999 a European developing company called Planet Interactive Development came into being whose catalogue comprised exclusively of Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance games until 2002 and were for the most part licensed fare (based on properties such as DreamWorks' The Road to El Dorado, Brandstätter Group's Playmobil toy brand, Robert Velter's Spirou & Fantasio, Lucien de Gieter's Papyrus, Yoram Gross' Flipper and Lopaka, Walter Lantz's Woody Woodpecker, Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and Michel Ocelot's Kirikou et la Sorcière, just to name several). The one exception that is not based on a licensed comic or movie property?
Image from GameFAQs
Their inaugural title Mr. Nutz which was released on the Game Boy Color in the North American and European continents on December 1999, making it the second time that America officially got a version of this game after the original SNES version. You know how some of the Game Boy Color releases were essentially colorized versions of games previously available on the monochromatic Game Boy handheld (like Nintendo's Zelda no Densetsu: Yume o Miru Shima/The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening)?Well, Game Boy Color Mr. Nutz is one of those as it's a colorized version of Ocean Software's Game Boy port, but the frustrating part: this version has got no proper credits which is infuriating for reasons I'll get into. Anyway, how does this handheld version compare to the SNES original and how does it fare in its own right?
The world is increasingly getting colder due to the abominable Yeti Mr. Blizzard's plan to enshroud the planet in ice and snow so that he can rule over it.
Not quite as seamless a splice job like the previous one I did for my review of Digital Eclipse's Scooby-Doo!: Classic Creep Capers, but it's the best I can do for this instance
But not if the squirrel Mr. Nutz has got anything to say about it for he'll go far and wide to warm up the earth and prevent this new ice age from happening. ❄
Left: "OW!" | Right: Now you see me, now you don't
In the sidescrolling platformer Mr. Nutz you take control of the eponymous squirrel who can move left and right, look up, duck down, jump (and while underwater, swim up) with the A button, toss the acorn projectiles with the B button, and should you hold down while you press B you'll make Mr. Nutz attack at close range by swishing his tail; the original 16-bit version utilized three face buttons but since the Game Boy (Color) only has two face buttons Ocean Software (and later Planet Interactive) decided to compensate for this and allow him to run simply by holding down the direction button long enough. Yep, no more holding down a button to make him run, now he'll go from walking to running almost instantaneously.
Left: I didn't know the Piranha Plants' estranged cousin was in this game | Right: Coins floating above a tree
Each stage is made up of different portions as your goal is to reach the exit (one of two if you search thoroughly enough), but along the way you'll have to contend with a multitude of enemies. You'll also come across many coins which you can collect for points (and if you get all of them in the present stage you'll be given a bonus), red dots to replenish your lost health by one, and a Mr. Nutz head to not only give you another life but completely replenish your health as well.
Left: Do the pirouette leap! | Right: Tiny spiders
Should you lose a life during a stage portion, you'll start again from the beginning of said portion, but should you lose your last life you'll be taken to the game over screen where you have a short amount of time to choose to continue or quit the game therefore sending you back to the title screen--using up a continue will also start you back from the beginning of the stage portion you lost your life in. Before beginning the game proper you can choose to have the game's language set to French, English, and Spanish, and in the options screen you can decide to either augment or decrease your life (as high as 4), health (as high as 6), and credit count (as high as 3).
Left: Spiderwebs abound 🕸 | Right: Full moon coin leap
Successfully clearing a stage will lead you to the stage clear screen where you're given points based on your gathered coin count, time bonus depending how quickly you got to the end, and skill points, and you'll be notice whether you got all the coins in a stage or not; if you have then you'll be awarded an extra credit but if you haven't then you'll be told what percentage of the coins you collected. You'll also be given a six-character password to resume your progress from the beginning of the next stage should you come back to it at a later point after taking a break, though that's if you don't beat it in one go.
Left: Running down a grassy slope | Right: Creepy tree face
Just like Philippe Dessoly worked on the original SNES version's visuals, so too did he work on the original monochromatic version's visuals only this time he was accompanied by who I presume must be his brother Sylvain Dessoly and Christophe Sœur. The Game Boy Color edition of Mr. Nutz adds a vibrant color palette to the proceedings and while it doesn't quite hold a candle to the gorgeous-looking Nintendo 16-bit incarnation (mainly due to the lack of visually in-depth line and parallax scrolling and occasional color-layering effects wizardry) there is a lot of eye candy in this handheld take as well as a good sense of detail here and there.
Left: Hooray, subtlety | Right: Bouncy platforms
The first two segments of Woody Land are brightly colored with the trees in the backdrop and foreground while the third and fourth segments transpire at night with the blue trees and grass with occasional spiderwebs and a nicely drawn full moon (which is also featured in the third portion of Mean Streets); Adventure Park on the Game Boy Color has largely got a turquoise sky, though once in awhile you'll see a white mountainous backdrop and sometimes you'll come across some creepy open-mouthed trees;
Left: Incoming pesky bird | Right: Mole mania *rimshot*
the Living Room and Kitchen areas have got detailed backgrounds with the worn out wall patterns, a broom, and a checkered floor pattern, and once Mr. Nutz gets shrunk down for the Sink Section there are occasional faces in the faucet and large knobs; Volcano Underpass has got a dark rocky background with occasional lava and then once you get to Clouds you're greeted by a vibrant blue sky (but whereas there was a looming rainbow arch in the warm-colored sky SNES original it's less of a rainbow in the Game Boy Color port and more of a rainbow-colored Aurora Borealis;
Left: Secret ground spot | Right: Look, I know the enemies in this handheld version generally respawn a la HAL Laboratory's Kirby franchise whereas it wasn't the case until you lost your life in the SNES original, but that's no reason to lose your ever-respawning heads
Mean Streets has got a carnival-like aesthetic with the tents, spherical trees, game stands with targets and prizes in stock, and I like how in the vein of the Nintendo 16-bit original the day gradually gets darker with each subsequent stage portions; and in the final stage there's Ice Scream where the inside of the igloo is frigid with flavorful ice cream cones and when you're outside are glaciers and frozen waters littered with ice (the fact that Planet Interactive got all that makes up for the fact that there's no dazzling parallax scrolling in this conversion) culminating in Frozen Nutz with the smirky clouds, snow-covered trees, and occasional icy hand sculptures holding on to the slippery platforms that go up on an incline. Disappointingly, however, the room with the boss encounter is just a solid background color compared to what led up to it.The titular Mr. Nutz displayed some of the most fluidly detailed animation when it came to walking, running, and when he lost all his health on the SNES, and I'm glad to see that he got to be just as fluid on the Game Boy (Color): 😃
especially all his idle animations for when he held still, crouched down, and looked up
which despite the 8-bit visual aesthetic this time around and feeling the need to include a black outline still manage to be smoothly animated which I highly appreciate.
Couldn't afford to convert the tipping animation, though, but I don't mind it so much since Mr. Nutz has lost none of his adorable charm and likability in handheld transition with his hat and sleeveless vest and trainers which I think is more important, and the Game Boy Color really knew how to make good use of the vibrantly scarlet palette for his fur (another good example of red being used to good effect in this format: llama Kuzco's wool in Sandbox Studios' adaptation of Disney's The Emperor's New Groove).
Left: Ladybug disposal | Right: Wait, where is that rope hanging from? 😕
The enemies, on the other hand, concerning the Game Boy (Color) version all have basic animations by comparison (particularly they were almost or on par with him in terms of fluid motions in the SNES original), though design-wise they are still varied and endearing in their own right: in his journey Mr. Nutz must contend with sentient fruit, masked slugs, differently-sized spiders, sentient pirouette twirling ballet drum heads, pesky birds, oblong-shaped ladybugs, moles big and small, scarecrows that occasionally toss their head at you, living light bulbs that move even when their bulb is shattered, sentient roast turkeys that walk with their bones,
Left: Invisiplatforms are a go! 😃 | Right: Falling conveniently on a switch
snorkeling tomatoes (or whatever they're supposed to be), lightbulb fish that occasionally turn on their spark, bats, flaming foes fired up to see you, mining moles that occasionally toss their pickaxes at you, intimidating nebulous clouds that form up in the sky, absent-minded party mice, penguins, ball-shaped mini-sasquatches, tiny blue birds carrying snowballs twice or thrice their size with their talons, and psychopathic Eskimo men that will toss their knives at you. All of them have got decent designs and I like their reactions upon being taken out by a squirrel,
Big shoutout goes to the pudgy green Volcano Underpass dragon that is impervious to your attacks
even if there are some that I particularly missed from the Nintendo 16-bit original, but never mind.Exclusive to the Game Boy Color, at least as far as I'm aware, is a wavy mirage effect that fades from white until everything is straightened out which is pretty cool for this handheld to perform even if it's only relegated to the map screen and precedes the title cards of each stage portion; when Mr. Nutz enters the water Planet Interactive managed to reduce his opacity significantly which gives him a visually immersive quality (even if everything else isn't, and the coins and power-ups there is a solid block around them until they are collected which does make it lack visual polish but with the Game Boy Color I'll take what I can get), and when you turn the game on there is a new screenshot as the story is being explained to you.
I love that this version of Mr. Nutz added that,
Image from GameFAQs
even if a good chunk of it was lifted verbatim from the back of the original SNES box,especially because all the preceding versions before this didn't explain the plot in-game until Mr. Blizzard's ouster 'cause until then regarding the story you were pretty much left in the cold... deliberate word choice. My only complaint is that, because the Game Boy's screen was small, they had to pretty much dedicate one big-sized word (save "Mr. Nutz") per line--basically:
IT'S
COLD.
IT'S
REALLY,
You get the idea, they even do the same for when you defeat Mr. Blizzard on the Game Boy Color at the end. It's not game-breaking or anything, but it does make these sequences drag and feel longer than they should be as a result. Still, you've got an in-game story preceding your adventure for once, so that's nice at least.
Nubs has mastered the viola, YAY! 🎻🎵 I'm so proud of that Tengu 😊
2/2/22 Update: Nubs is a Kappa, 2020 me
I realize it may seem superfluous to bring up the plot at all (especially since it's not exactly Mr. Nutz's primary focus or forte), but just because a lot of people might read the manual and/or research the story from another source that doesn't automatically mean everyone does as sometimes some people will generally judge a game primarily based on what's in-game, content v. context and all that. And platformers in general, unless you're Telenet Japan's iconic Valis franchise, Wolf Team's El Viento, or Namco's Xandra no Daibōken: Valkyrie to no Deai/Whirlo to name a few notable examples, are usually not played for story purposes (I'm not saying all platformers need to be, but I'm always appreciative of those that are).
Left: "Wow, never been greeted at the beginning of a section by a giant mallet before!" | Right: Let's enter the house
Boss-wise, their designs are sufficient enough and they are still bigger than Mr. Nutz, but like I said earlier the backgrounds are disappointingly basic during these rooms compared to what preceded them--another thing that disappoints me about the bosses in the Game Boy Color version is that they lack the intense buildup of the Nintendo 16-bit originator as some of them are just... there right away with no fanfare or buildup. 😞The first boss, Mr. Spider, is all right; they got his hillbilly attire down pat (sans straw hat) and his leg movements solid enough, but it's set in the backdrop of a plain blue sky instead of a dark moonlit one. 🕷 One thing of note is that Mr. Spider was the only boss that talked to Mr. Nutz before engaging in battle in the original SNES cart, his dialogue--like
the message in Adventure Park to gather the key to enter the witch's house and the one in Ice Scream urging you to enter the igloo--being removed entirely for the Game Boy conversions. I don't mind entirely that they removed Mr. Spider's speech as it was a bit distracting once you realized the other bosses don't follow suit (especially Mr. Blizzard at the end). I suppose a worse alternative would've been for all the bosses to talk to you except the final one before initiating a battle, though no game could possib--
Image from GameFAQs
oh, are you serious, right now? Dammit, irony setup me. 😖The witch at the end of the Adventure Park stage is drawn decently and her form is easily discernable due to the battle transpiring in the backdrop of a cyan background. But whereas she seemingly was a part of a painting until she grew bigger because of Mode 7 to reveal her true size in the SNES version, she's already bigger sized here and only occasionally tosses three skulls as opposed to multiple ones at once and doesn't really leave the screen.
Left screenshot screengrabbed while watching World of Longplay's Mr. Nutz (MegaDrive) Longplay video on YouTube
And when she gets defeated at the end she doesn't shrink back down or turn into a bunch of skulls (including her broom?) but turns left and right spastically.What made the octopus section great the first time around was that it began with total silence but once you got further he started looming in from the edge therefore creating a sense of tension; buildup is completely absent here as he's just there but his gaze still manages to be intimidating in the Game Boy Color port with his tentacle animation being solid taking place in an open area rather than one with an octopus-wide opening; with Mr. Nutz's opacity being reduced compared to everything else there is a visual disconnect, but the attacks are like in the original and that's what matters. 🐙
His head never goes below the clouds in this version, as he'll slowly and ominously lowers his until he can't do it anymore which is when it's time to jump the middle of his head as opposed to the top of it
Once you reach the top of the Clouds, you will come face to face with Ograoum Papas who practically announced his arrival with his loud footsteps before slowly raising his head in the SNES, but in the Game Boy Color version his head just appears with no buildup and--holy crap, they actually fixed his anatomy in this version? 👐 Awesome! Score one for handheld version; no finger signal to alert you of his swiftly swooping hand but at least his anatomy is no longer distractingly disproportionate.
FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT, EVERYONE! 👀
One of the things that's made this boss very memorable for many is how during certain parts he'll launch his near unlimited supply of eyeballs from his eye sockets made disturbing on account that the next set of eyes literally roll in and how inbetween you could see a brief glimpse of his empty eye socket; the Game Boy Color version only has him sprout two sets of eyeballs at a time and until they're disposed of you can see right inside his sockets as he reamins in place.Which you could kinda, sorta see if you paused at the correct time after jumping on him the last time in the original also as his head fell down before his eyes followed suit, and his defeat in the Game Boy (Color) version... uhhhm… Just gonna remain in place with his squeezed-in eyes, is he? All right, moving on...
The end of Mean Streets culminates in a battle against Little Clown, and guess what? The handheld iteration of this boss has got no buildup either as he's already there in front of you! Starting to notice a pattern yet? 😔
Little Clown's name made sense in the SNES original, when he entered the scene he was tiny until Mode 7 effects wizardry made him grow bigger than you and grew even more so when he unleashed his three twisty heads Exorcist-style towards you, the Mode 7 also enabled him to do proper flips, and Mode 7 scaling and rotating were not a thing for the Game Boy (Color) so his jumps are stiff and remains the same size throughout and fires only one head and throws one pie.
Can't have him fall on his face without the aid of rotation effects, so let's have Little Clown's defeat be represented by him doing a weird surrender curtsey bow... I dunno...
The original SNES version of Mr. Nutz was composed by Raphaël Gesqua, who prior to this game worked on Delphine Software's highly revered cinematic platformer Flashback and later on would provide music for Delphine again with Flashback's sequel Fade to Black, their motorcycle racing Moto Racer series, and the universally reviled tournament fighter Shaq Fu, and most recently did the music for Golgoth Studio's HD remake of TAD Corporation's 1989 coin-op JuJu Densetsu/Toki in 2018. Gesqua was twenty-one when the game first came out in Europe in 1993, and for him to compose the soundtrack by that age is an impressive accomplishment because the soundtrack quality is phenomenal and is among the best qualities of the Nintendo 16-bit original as it succinctly breathes life into an already lively game. 😃
Left: Pushing a chair | Right: No matter how many coins there are in this game, there'll be nowhere near as many as there would be in arguably the weakest installment of Nintendo's Super Mario franchise New Super Mario Bros. 2
Gesqua only did the music for the SNES version, so naturally someone else had to convert his music when it came to the ports (while also crediting him as the original composer, which is nice; why can't more ports credit the original composer?); for the MegaDrive it was converted by Krisalis Software (and if that company's involved, that must mean Matt Furniss cannot be far behind) and for the Game Boy (Color) that responsibility fell on Jonathan Dunn whose other music credits comprised of Ocean's adaptation of Barry Sonnenfeld's directorial debut and adaptation of Charles Addams' The Addams Family, The Addams Family: Pugsley's Scavenger Hunt, Ocean's video game adaptation of Steven Spielberg's movie adaptation of Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park and its video game follow-up Jurassic Park Part 2: The Chaos Continues, and Ocean's adaptation of Brian Levant's theatrical live-action adaptation of Hanna-Barbera's The Flintstones.
Left: Fridge | Right: Shattering a lightbulb with legs
And Dunn has done a pretty good job at converting the SNES music to Game Boy format, and I love that like Gesqua before him he tried to elongate the themes so they don't outstay their welcome which I'm highly appreciative of. 😃 That's actually one of the things I love about Mr. Nutz's soundtrack is how long the melodies are if you listened long enough and how wonderfully it blends into the atmosphere and does a good job at setting the proper tone, and the Game Boy music is mostly successful in that regard (unlike the SNES music where it kept playing while paused, after losing a life, and making it to the next non-boss stage portion, the music in the handheld version starts all over after making it to the next stage portion and after losing a life).
Left: Swinging from rope to rope | Right: Rolling through the drain
Woody Land's theme sounds just as affable and lighthearted in this version which extends itself to the fourth stage portion at night plus this time around it doubles as the title and ending themes; Adventure Park's theme has got an appropriately adventurous and engaging flair to it and is the Game Boy (Color) version's longest song; after defeating the witch at the end of the second stage you're greeted to this enjoyably bouncy theme (with a slightly faster tempo than the SNES original) that permeates throughout from the Living Room to the end of the Sink Section; one of the bests songs in the SNES original, "Clouds", got converted well into this handheld format but humorously plays in the Volcano Underpass segments as well(it reminds me of NMS Software's Game Boy version of Virgin Interactive's adaptation of Disney's Aladdin and how the "A Whole New World" theme played in the backdrop of a dangerously reddish Cave of Wonders and how it doesn't fit at all, the tonal inconsistency is truly magical 😆);
the Mean Streets theme is still jovial fun; and throughout Ice Scream and Frozen Nutz those areas are backed by what in the original 16-bit version would've been the Volcano Underpass theme (I'm guessing the Game Boy could only handle one song per stage apart from the boss at the end and that's why it remained constant here) which gives those locations a more ominous vibe.
Another cool thing about the bosses the first time around was how each of their had a distinct theme dedicated to them, it gave them all a sense of personality and character as it amped the music to seriously sinister and dark levels (with exquisitely instrumental buildup to boot), and I always approve of games regardless of genre where bosses don't just use the same theme over and over. Anyway, the Game Boy (Color) version of Mr. Nutz opts to assign all the bosses Mr. Spider's theme which sounds intimidating still but by the same token disappointingly makes the bosses feel interchangeable with the same theme backing them up. 😞 On the bright side, the Game Boy version's sound design is still good with Mr. Nutz's jumps, when he gathers power-ups and coins, after bouncing on an enemy, and as he enters the water, et al (I even recognized a few sound effects from Ocean's Game Boy take on Jurassic Park).
Alas, the Game Boy Color version has got no credits when you beat the game; was Infogrames' deal with Planet Interactive go along the lines of, "All right, we'll give you enough funds to essentially colorize the preceding Game Boy version but not enough to credit you for it"? Did they think that because it's more or less exactly like the Game Boy port that no credits were required in the slightest? You're still obligated as a company to give credit to those involved, especially given the introductory screen and the mirage effects (how do we know there weren't new staff involved?); and if Mr. Nutz creators Pierre Adane and Philippe Dessoly were involved in the Game Boy Color port why not credit them? There's a word for '90s video games that don't have a credits sequence, and that's "lazy". 😑
It's Mr. Nutz! Heee's the BEST! 😃👍
It's no secret that I like the original SNES game Mr. Nutz, quite a lot actually, I've made it pretty well-known on occasion, I reviewed and gave it an 8.5 out of 10 in my March 2014 review of it (I'm more than willing to rereview that version someday) which is my among my most popular reviews on my StarBlog. 😃It was simultaneously the first game I ordered on eBay and physical SNES cart I bought back in May 2009 after being curious about it after learning about it several months prior, it arrived just in time for my high school graduation, and it's one of my many favorites as it holds a special place in my heart that should I ever part with my expansive 200+ Nintendo 16-bit game collection in the future rest assured that Mr. Nutz (along twelve other NTSC SNES games and thirteen Super Famicarts before anyone starts jumping the gun) will not be among them. 😊
Left: Slippery soap bar platforming 🧼 | Right: Hands off, plunger!
I learned after playing the SNES version that there were different versions of this game, including one for the Game Boy Color which I decided to eventually look into on October 2017 alongside the SNES conversion of Traveller's Tales' Mickey Mania: The Timeless Adventures of Mickey Mouse. Kind of appropriate since they have one thing in common: they're inferior ports of superior rodent-starring platformers.Okay, okay, it's not quite fair to say that about Game Boy Color Mr. Nutz as it is competently made and is solid fun in its own right and has got the major benefit of not feeling like an incomplete and halfhearted take that feels like it was based on a much earlier build of the better Sega 16-bit platforming cult classic like that aforementioned Nintendo 16-bit Mickey Mouse platformer port. That said, today's conversion is good but certainly doesn't hold a candle to Ocean Software's SNES original.
Mr. Nutz on the SNES was a charmingly enjoyable and endearing platformer, one that proved that just because a game might have a cute aesthetic that doesn't necessarily mean it'll go easy on you as it could prove to be hard if you were not careful. The difficulty might have been neutered somewhat in the Game Boy (Color) version but there were still some challenging moments, and I'm glad that Mr. Nutz's loose jumping controls which made accessing certain platforms possible (which would not be possible with a different kind of jumping control) also survived the transition. 😃
In one portion the game even leaves a coin-formation namedrop of Nice! 😃 …… or they complemented how nice it was of you to discover that secret; it could be that
Another element that increased Mr. Nutz's appeal the first time around, which is also the case here, is the bevy of secrets it had if you searched every nook and cranny as it adds replay value, they're not mandatory but it's always exciting to find a new hidden location (i.e. inside a suspiciously open trunk in Woody Land, entering the mouth of a creepy Adventure Park tree) and try to access them each time you play to give yourself the extra challenge; I'm also happy to report that invisible platforms that turned visible upon stepping in certain inconspicuous spots have also made a resurgence here. 😃
Left: Jumping on a bubbly enemy | Right: Standing on a floating sponge
One thing I found interesting is that both Adventure Park and Volcano Underpass have been kind of trimmed and streamlined at once, the former of which now comprises of seven parts instead of three and the latter consisting of two parts as opposed to three like before, plus the stage portions that didn't have title cards before in the SNES version now have them (like "Witches Room !", "The Granary", which I thought was an attic before but apparently not, "Sink Section", and "Octopus").
Left: Hopping across lava | Right: Vanquished a living flame 🔥
This is the first version of Mr. Nutz where his health capacity could be as high as six which does make for a slightly easier experience than it was back when the health capacity was five; I liked the Game Boy (Color) version mostly followed in the same template and structure as the SNES original, when you finish the game you'll be told many coins you gathered out the total number of coins in the game (unless you got them all in the SNES version, you wouldn't know); and a nice addition was the ability to set the language setting to native French, English, and Spanish when you turned it on.
Left: Nebulous cloud enemy sighted | Right: Running on a cloud with a particularly rainbow-flavored Aurora Borealis in the sky 🌈☁
One fun thing I used to do, even though I knew it wouldn't work, was insert the Game Boy Color-only games on a Super Game Boy as each of them had different and at times interesting "Please put in the correct format" screens (a thing I learned the hard way when I first got Nintendo's Super Mario Bros. Deluxe in the Summer of '99). And out of curiosity, I wanted to try plugging this game in that peripheral cartridge.Game Boy Color Mr. Nutz unfortunately has got to have the most plain boring "This Game Boy Color cart is specifically made for this format, please insert it in the correct unit" screen ever. I've played lesser Game Boy Color-only games that had superior and more interesting screens than this.
Left: Being confronted by cute bees | Right: Super Nutz
One thing that no doubt might have turned some away from the SNES original is the fact that it had to beaten in one sitting and losing your last life in a part of the stage and using one of your unlimited continues meant starting the stage in question from the beginning; versions of the game from the MegaDrive take onward incorporated a password system which probably made life easier for some, even though if you stuck with it long enough it was possible to beat the game in one go.
Left: Swishy, swishy (Wait, I don't recall those red prize plushies having menacing demon eyes in the original) | Right: "Hey, bird, ya hungry?"
The Game Boy Color version, specifically speaking, has got a limited continue system that is a bit more forgiving as it makes you pick up from the beginning of the stage portion instead of the beginning of the stage period, and its password is simple and to the point at six characters and is easy to remember (especially since two characters in a row will be occupied by the same letter) and is always the same regardless of how many coins you collected. Depending how you play it the game can last roughly an hour and a half or two hours which is a pretty reasonable length regardless of the version.
Left: Ball-shaped tree platforms | Right: Floating sandwich platforms under the moon
One thing that's always impressed about Mr. Nutz is that, despite being a Nintendo 16-bit, it was pretty much done solely by two people (three if you count the composer) when generally other games on the console were worked on by comparatively bigger staffs. 😲 And something that I've only realized in the past few years is that, because of this knowledge and the amount of time it took to be developed, one could make a case of Mr. Nutz being an example of an indie platformer of the '90s. An official indie game before indie gaming became a thing, which I consider to be even more impressive--if that's the case, then Pierre Adane and Philippe Dessoly were ahead of their time and that deserves respect.Besides that, it's got my personal vote for the cutest design for a video game bee from the '90s ever! 😍 Change my mind.
It really is too bad that Mr. Nutz didn't go on future adventures like the SNES original teased in the end, as there was potential.
Images from GameFAQs
And yeah! Yeah! There was Neon Studios' inaugural title Mr. Nutz: Hoppin' Mad on the Amiga in 1994 (with plans to convert it to the Sega MegaDrive simply as Mr. Nutz 2 being cancelled despite being reportedly being complete and being given a review by a magazine), but remember: before Ocean agreed to publish their game it originally was meant to star a new rodent named Timet the Flying Squirrel before changing him to the video game squirrel we all know and love. Add on top of that the fact that that one was more of a speed-based platformer much akin to Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog while the original Mr. Nutz had a more slow-paced approach.
Left: Hopping rodents on display | Right: Attendance
The Game Boy Color version's difficulty is neutered a bit, like I said, which does render the game slightly less hard than Ocean Software's original which can simultaneously be a positive and a negative thing depending on how you look at it; it's still fun to play and is well made to a point, don't get me wrong, but it's clear that this handheld conversion is missing that core difficulty and je ne sais quoi-lity that made the original SNES Mr. Nutz so special to me, the lack of in-game credits is glaring, and I want my boss buildup! 😣
Left: Lethal Eskimo | Right: Miniature Yeti ball
So what's inspired me to cover this Game Boy Color take? Shortly after this Christmas passed I decided to see on eBay if there was a repro Genesis cart version of Mr. Nutz since I did recall seeing one years ago; there weren't any, but it did cross-reference other versions of it available of it--I was surprised to find that the original Game Boy cart was available to purchase from a US seller on eBay when it's generally Europe-only. I was excited to see it, but I wanted to be a good boy and wait until several days had passed after Christmas, so by the time I decided to purchase something I found that someone beat me to the punch.
Left: "Ha HA, no Happy Feet threequel for you!" 🐧 | Right: Standing by the entrance of the igloo
Oh well, I don't mind. Maybe early on I thought, "It would've be cool to own the monochromatic version of this game", but after revisiting the Game Boy Color version I figured that since it's the colorized version of the monochrome Game Boy port that this would be enough for me. 🙂 That said, I do still plan on looking into the MegaDrive version someday, and while I still have reservations about trying DreamOn's Game Boy Advance version of Mr. Nutz (since what footage I've seen on YouTube doesn't exactly fill me with confidence), I'm open to look into that version as w--
Image from GameFAQs; and why is the Game Boy Advance cover more or less aping the unremarkable American cover of Ukiyotei's Kuri Skunk, Punky Skunk?
Wait, what?? … Who? The? Hell? Is? That?? 🤨 Why does Mr. Nutz have an orangey brown fur instead of his traditional red one, and why does he look psychotic? They got his enemies down pat, at least. 👍 I do find it interesting how regardless of the cover he's in how he always had a green cap on when in the game proper it was yellow; maybe it was a similar situation to Insomniac Games' Spyro the Dragon who at one point was meant to be green until he got changed to purple so he wouldn't clash with the green around him... that or they were trying to avoid a potential color bleed from happening on the screen.
Left: Hopping from icy platform to icy platform | Right: Oh, wow, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me in the SNES original, but it's true here too: those aren't rocks below the snow, they're petrified skulls 💀
And yeah, I do admit that Mr. Nutz was never a platformer that was played for story, because if you actually stopped to consider all the routes taken and what happened to him in-between it really falls apart because all logic and sense is thrown out the window once you start the third stage (he gets shrunk down to size, presumedly gets unshrunk in-between stages offscreen, scales up clouds, and then has to go all the back down to earth?); luckily I find the gameplay to be very agreeable and enjoyable enough to make up for the lack of plot.
YEAH, test of COMPASSION all the way!
But if you prefer your platformers to be narrative-driven, I recommend the aforementioned Valis series and El Viento and especially Xandra no Daibōken: Valkyrie to no Deai as you'll find more satisfaction in that regard--the last of which might tend to be challenging here and there (but is not impossible) but is engagingly enjoyable to play once you've got the versatile play control down pat and pulling through to the end regardless how hard things get makes the proceedings all the more rewarding story- and gameplay-wise. 😃See? Krino approves. 😊
Left: Strong bird to carry a snowball that size | Right: Icy hand sculpture
I know there are people that don't feel highly about Mr. Nutz, I understand and respect that as peoples' mileage may vary, but I do find that Pierre Adane and Philippe Dessoly's creation (and game) deserves more respect and recognition then he deserves. If you were curious about this game but wanted to play a version that had lesser difficulty then sure, I say go for the Game Boy Color take as it's still got replay value, but if you want to play a version that has got a stronger sense of challenge and difficulty and sense of depth then I recommend looking into the SNES original (though that's if you can afford it nowadays as I noticed its price tag has alarmingly spiked up a bit in the past several years; I... must've lucked out when I got the SNES cart for less than $30 almost eleven years ago, and that scares me in hindsight 😨).
Oh, you silly Blizzy! 😝 🎵 A cold never bothered me anyway 🎵
And if you're willing and open-minded to look into this game, then all I can say is bonne chance and go Nutz! 😃
My Personal Score: 7.0/10
d(^-^)bTO EACH THEIR OWNd(^-^)b
Thank you for reading my review, please leave me a comment and let me know what you think (neither spam nor NSFW allowed); hope you have a great day and that your 2020 is off to a good start, and take care! 🙂
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Aw, no stupid surprised octoface*? Disappointing. 🙁
* I just love Phelan "Phelous" Porteous' "stupid surprised [insert name here]" jokes 😄
Is this version a port of the SNES and GBA versions or is it an entirely different game?
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