El Viento (GEN) Review

Received: August 29th, 2019 | Written: February 19th-March 5th, 2020

Year: 1991 | Developed by: Wolf Team
Published by: Renovation

Before I begin this review I wanted to share a quick announcement with the retro gaming crowd if you haven't heard already.

Even though I played this game on both Konami's PlayStation Portable compilation TwinBee Portable and on the original Super Famicart, this news nonetheless pleases me  😄

On February 19th, 2020, nearly twenty-seven years after its March 1993 debut on the Super Famicom, Konami's fantastic cute'em up Pop'n TwinBee (one of the best, if not the best, games in the TwinBee series) finally saw an official release in North America for the first time via the Nintendo Switch Online service after previously having been available exclusively in Japan and Europe (even digital rereleases on the Nintendo Wii U Virtual Console download service).  Awesome!  😃  One of my top favorites by Konami ever as well as among my top favorite games in the cute'em up genre, I highly recommend you check it out if you haven't played it before; it's a ton of reasonably challenging and endearingly lighthearted fun!  👍

The European version was sadly saddled with a cheaply unappealing and crudely designed cover art which majorly undersold the high quality of the game unfortunately  😑

And while I'm on the subject of Nintendo 16-bit games that were formerly only available on Japanese and European markets for over two and a half plus decades: February 19th, 2020 also saw an official American release of Namco's Super Family Tennis for the first time on Nintendo Switch Online (albeit under the European version Smash Tennis) which is also exciting news as it's also a great game, and one of the best tennis games of the '90s in my opinion.  😃🎾  I also recommend playing this game when you get the chance, if you haven't already, it's that good.  👍

Anyway, now that I got that out of the way,

who wants to reenter the realm of Wolf Team?

Earnest Evans was among the first games to be released on Sega's Mega-CD add-on to their MegaDrive in Japan on December 1991 which received a localized Genesis cart conversion for the American audience in 1992 (minus a good chunk of the cutscenes and voice acting and story, meaning in-game there was no point, as the Sega 16-bit console could only afford to do so much).  It had, um, a less than stellar reception let's just say, but it was the first in what would become Wolf Team's "Hastur" trilogy as Valis77/HD refers to these games as.

Screengrabbed while watching the Earnest Evans World of Longplay (Mega-CD) video on YouTube

One of the biggest concessions to come from Earnest Evans was the introduction of green-haired Annet Myer, a young Peruvian priestess descended from Hastur's bloodline whom Earnest saves and becomes a vital companion to him throughout his adventure and whose contributions were largely shown in the Mega-CD original's cutscenes provided by animation studio Madhouse who would go on to provide the cutscenes for Media.Vision's PlayStation One turn-based RPG Wild Arms.

She did technically appear in-game in the virtually cutscene-less Genesis version, but only in the beginning snippet of that game's sixth stage as she drives you through a horde of bad guys and missiles raining down on you until coming to a crashing stop in the opening seconds.

Images from GameFAQs; geez, Renovation, you can't make a good cover art to save your life, can you?

Annet would also serve as the central protagonist in the second in Wolf Team's particular trilogy El Viento (which translates to "The Wind"; produced by Masaaki Uno, directed by Hiroyuki Kayano, executive produced by Masahiro Akishino, and programmed by Yukihiko Tani and Hiroshi Izumino) which Wolf Team themselves released on the MegaDrive in Japan on September 20th, 1991 while the American Genesis version would arrive later that year courtesy of Renovation; a European MegaDrive edition by Ubisoft was apparently taken into consideration but got cancelled for reasons unknown (had it actually happened though, it would've been the only title of the three to see a PAL conversion).  This is actually a case of made second but came out first because Earnest and Annet met in Earnest Evans and this game takes place following that title's events.

The story of El Viento, written and planned by Chishio Ōtsuyama who prior to this game did the story for Sol-Feace (another Wolf Team vehicle), takes place in an alternate reality of Earth in 1928 New York City.  A cult leader named Henry alongside gangster Vincente DeMarco (who in the original Japanese version was Al Capone... I can see why they can changed his name Stateside, he looks nothing like him), and the sorceress Restiana are working together to resurrect the malevolent god of destruction Hastur.

And the only one that can put a stop this destructive plot is one of the people who happens to be descended from Hastur's bloodline, the Peruvian priestess Annet Myer

with the help of her adoptive treasure hunting father figure Earnest Evans as well as the ambiguously motivated and mysterious Zigfried Munhausen.

Disposing of Dick Tracy here

In the sidescrolling action-platformer El Viento you take control of Annet Myer who you can move left and right and duck down (in one portion you can even crouch walk underneath tight spaces, but that's only done automatically); with the default controls you can jump with the B button with your altitude gained based on how hard you press the button (you can even press down while in midair to be in your crouch position while off the ground, plus your jumps can also be controlled in midair), by holding down and forward you can dash ahead by repeatedly tapping the B button, with the A button you can toss your double-bladed boomerangs from a distance towards your foes which will rebound back to you,

Platforming ahead

and by holding down the C button you can charge up your magic until a sufficient amount of MP has been depleted (it won't go any lower) which you can conjure by letting go, after which the gauge will automatically replenish itself so long as you don't press C again until needed.  You initially start off with just one spell, but as you progress further you'll be learning four new ones which take up more MP each time with the gauge capacity slightly augmented; another thing of note is that the longer you hold down the button

Defenestrating some baddies

should you have more than one spell under your belt it'll automatically switch over to the subsequent one (and there's no way to switch to the preceding one in that event).  Along the way are power-ups that will aid Annet in her journey, such as the crystals which will cause your boomerang to home in on your enemies until its timer reaches zero, a full orange jar to replenish some of your lost health, and round edible items to slightly raise your health capacity (these items can also be gotten with your boomerang and water magic).  Each stage is divided into parts and they all culminate in a boss fight at the end.

Chased and ambushed by a speedy car

El Viento has got strong and colorful visuals that have a good amount of detail when it comes to the backgrounds and décor in certain areas, with each stage having a diverse sense of design that were done by Masayuki Matsushima, Kiyoka Tajima, Yuji Ushijima, and Tomonobu Kizuki (three of whom also did the visuals for Earnest Evans) with graphic support provided by Toshio Yamamoto.  😃  The first stage has got a blue horizon sky in the backdrop of bricked buildings with reflective windows and balconies and carefully paved out roads,

Jumping down the stairs

the third stage begins at a winery with the wine bottles and barrels of rum adorning the place which is followed by a blue-bricked sewer culminating in a rocky cavern with a dark purple backdrop, the beginning of the fourth stage has got a neat parallax scrolling water sequence as you ride on a dolphin swimming fast, the fifth stage takes place inside the realm of an ancient temple with gargoyle statues (some of which come to life) with green pastures when you step outdoors, the sixth stage transpires in a factory with a line-up of cars, and the final stage takes place within the inside of the Empire State Building.

Defeated a tank

Annet Myer has got a solid in-game design with her exaggeratedly elongated hair straps being dangled by the wind while she's remaining still, and her running, dashing, jumping, and boomerang-throwing animations are remarkably fluid and there is a sense of detail to her fluidity.  Among the enemies you contend with throughout the game are differently colored mobsters, masked motor bikers with blond hair flowing behind them, rotating happy face cannons, a morbidly obese mohawk guy throwing endless amounts of Molotovs at you,

Boomerang tossing

large mutated rats, jumping piranhas that you can use as a makeshift platform, imposing water dragons, hang gliding men dropping bombs down at you while you're above the water, bats, gargoyles, and turret cannons, et al, and they are designed well plus when some of them bite it they either fall back or keel over unless they explode.  The bosses Annet faces are by and large huge and imposing, with the exception of Restiana who has got very limited animation when you first meet up with her,

Makeshift veggie platforms

as they comprise of a tank, a nucleus boss protected by a huge body of wavy and dithering water which you can contort with your boomerangs, an electric thorn bush, a machine, and Restiana-turned Hastur at the end.  Annet's main design seen in the Japanese MegaDrive cover and cutscenes was done by Kazutoshi Yamane, whose other credit for Wolf Team was contributing the illustration for Arcus Odyssey, and during these moments she's got an expressive nature about her especially with her sharp green hair, tiny figure, and combative posture.

And the cutscene visuals themselves are nicely designed--true, while they are static images apart from the introduction and ending cutscenes, the colors are vibrantly well-chosen especially when considering the Sega 16-bit console's limited color palette, the angles are dynamic and ideally chosen, and the characters are expressively detailed with occasionally effective usage of dark shading.  😃

Dashing past collapsible wood

Returning as composer following Earnest Evans, frequent Wolf Team composer Motoi Sakuraba delivers yet another strong soundtrack which does a good job at complementing the diverse environments you travel through in El Viento.  Aside from also providing music for fellow Wolf Team venues like Sol-Feace, Arcus Odyssey/Spirits, Granada, and Tales of Phantasia, he also would provide music for Camelot Software Planning's Golden Sun, Mario Golf, and Mario Tennis franchises

Spinning neutral-faced platforms

(including their frequent random battle seemingly ad infinitum PlayStation One turn-based RPG Beyond the Beyond), tri-Ace's Star Ocean RPG franchise, as well as Project Sora's Shin Hikari Shinwa: Parutena no Kagami/Kid Icarus: Uprising, and he contributed music alongside four other equally talented composers for Game Atelier's fantastic 2018 title Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom.  The introductory theme after the Wolf Team logo presents itself sets the tone and draws you in,

Facing off against Restiana

the title theme is great and action-packed which would have an eccentric and faster tempo reprisal in the penultimate stage as you're getting nearer to the end, the first stage theme set in New York City kicks off the game in an action-packed way, the second stage theme is a pleasurable listen, the third stage theme has got an atmospheric beat especially with the slap bass, the fourth stage theme has got an upbeat catchy tone, conversely the fifth stage theme is somber with a deep sense of urgency

Restiana retreats

for it is the one track where if you listened to it side by side with Earnest Evans' soundtrack you can pretty much put two and two together on who composed it and it's also one of El Viento's most compelling themes, the sixth stage theme is highly action-packed, and the final stage theme set in the Empire State Building has got a real sense of do or die about its composition.  There are two intermission themes when it comes to the cutscenes (the first of which is only heard partially in-game), three different boss themes,

Mobsters in a winery

and the final boss theme when you battle against a Restiana turned Hastur there is an epic yet nuanced quality playing in the background.  The ending has got an incredibly somber theme and the credits theme is well-composed and a good listen all around.  Ryōta Furuya also handled music support which I surmise is another way of saying "sound provider" or "sound effects creator" which he did for the Genesis conversion of Wolf Team's Sol-Feace, Sol-Deace, Seireishin Seiki Fhey Area,

Running through the sewers

the Mega-CD/Sega CD conversion of Data East's laserdisc coin-op Road Blaster which was ported to that format by Wolf Team, and the Super Famicom-based Neugier: Umi to Kaze no Kōdō, but Furuya also created music for Wolf Team's Hiōden II, Devastator, and Tales of Phantasia as well as Telenet Japan's Tenshi no Uta: Shiroki Tsubasa no Inori.  El Viento's sound effects are solidly chosen, like the impactful sounds for when Annet's boomerangs hits her foes, the chime sound for when she gets an item, and the loud sound for the explosions.

Crouch walking

… I'm sure there's a proper term for that, but I don't know it

Much like Earnest Evans this second game in the trilogy has got a limited continue-based life system and requires to be beaten in one sitting; but whereas that aforementioned game has got five continues and lets you resume from the spot, El Viento takes you back to the title screen where you have a choice to start the game anew or use up one of your three continues which has you pick up from the beginning of the stage you lost all your health.

Cave dweller

I think it's worth bringing up that El Viento has got three different codes which can be accessed that I learned from GameFAQs after pausing it: level skip, magic upgrade, and slow motion gameplay.  I'll simply focus on the last one (up, left, right, down, A to which it'll automatically unpause) because it's a pretty weird code when seen in motion: basically it'll heavily reduce the speed of the game, however if you don't hold any buttons down then everything remains frozen unless you press and hold down the button(s) in which case there'll be movement again not just for Annet but for all around her--if you wish to revert back to normal gameplay speed simply press the Start button to disable the slow motion.  Again, it's weird but interesting to try.

I learned about Earnest Evans over a decade ago but for the longest time had no interest in playing it: the usual screenshot uploaded was from the first stage and the main character sprite looked unappealing.  It wasn't until August 2019 that I ultimately decided to play the Genesis version after having watched a tiny bit of gameplay on it from YouTube and I was genuinely surprised at how much I ended up liking it; it's got a lot of problems, to be sure, and I hesitate to even call it "good" but to me it's an okay game I don't mind playing once in awhile as it's fun to play in a guilty pleasure kind of way.  😄

Personally it's a game I'd rather play than The Kremlin's Marko because unlike the exaggeratingly cartoony knockoff of Krisalis Software's Soccer Kid, Wolf Team's game at least was manageable and had a more consistent sense of enjoyment to it and wasn't cheap to the point of taking the piss at you.

I don't want your thumbs up, Marko, neither you and nor your game are in my favor  😒

And speaking of Marko, I thought I'd take the time to finally make a visual case on why it's better to play Genesis games on, well, a Genesis than on a RetroGen cartridge when I neglected to show a visual comparison in my last four Genesis video game reviews post-obtaining a Genesis because...  YUP!  Had I known that the second model Genesis console had yellow, white, and red A/V cables long ago I would've gotten it in late 2012 instead of a RetroGen.  😔

I vaguely recalled learning over a decade ago about El Viento and how it shares the same universe which is why I decided to play it right after Earnest Evans that same August.  Now on the surface (based on just looking at these screenshots, for instance) the prospect of these two games sharing ties with each other might be hard to believe given the former game has a much darker and more detailed palette than the latter (not to mention the Earnest Evans was comprised of individually integrated sprites which gave him a somewhat organic ragdoll quality whereas Annet Myer was just one sprite) they do both have an inherently Wolf Team feel about them when you play them,

and they both culminate in a battle against Hastur in the end; and on the whole I found El Viento more satisfying on the gameplay front.

Water dragons

The great thing about this game is that Annet's boomerangs have got a wide range when you throw them so you don't necessarily have to be close to your enemies like in the previous game of the trilogy which makes for a more fun and convenient time, and I like that Annet's spells vary in terms of magical ability and potency depending on the scenario.  It also really helps that she's very nimble and agile with her jumps and has got controls that are for the most part very responsive.  And I also liked that Annet has got different spells that she learns during the course of the game,

Magically dousing out the flames

such as the water stream spell which can gradually deplete the flame and spiked ball health bar and the wave beam to detonate switches and the final one which momentarily homes in magic missile projectiles on her foes, the last of which takes up a ton of MP.  El Viento is largely linear in terms of layout design, but on occasion there are key moments that entail a more open-ended sense of exploration; in the last portion of the first stage you get to go through a series of doors, the fourth stage

Nucleus battle

once you infiltrate a ship is laid out in a labyrinthine manner so it's not entirely straightforward, the temple stage has you go up a few stories and step outside, and then there's the final stage which involves activating switches (sometimes more than once) in order to open up the path.  The boss battles all have their own strategies and are pretty simple once you learn their patterns, and some have distinct aspects about them: during the nucleus boss the core is protected by a wavy dithering body of water which you can distort and twist,

Detonating an explosive container

but be careful which part you do so because occasionally the body becomes motionless and once it springs into motion again the water segment(s) you pushed back will spring back at you like a rubber band (I don't know how to properly describe it, but it's the best I can formulate my words accurately); the boss at the temple involves a lot of bubbles and if even one touches you you'll momentarily be unable to throw your boomerang so you must use the explosive magic to be able to use it again; and the boss at the end of the car production factory

Water body

is structured in a "Three Balls, One Cup" manner where damage is done from your end upon choosing the correct box he's behind, but choose wrong and you'll pay dearly for it (if your eyes aren't fast enough, you can do the pause-unpause trick or point your finger and hang on to it any time it moves).  Earnest Evans had plenty of impressive effects that you generally don't see from the Genesis (giving it a somewhat organic visual quality if that makes sense), but with El Viento Wolf Team comparatively dialed back on the visual chicanery and fancy effects of the aforementioned title and focused on the gameplay.

What El Viento does also have over Earnest Evans, however, are pixelated explosions.  

Lots.  And lots.  Of pixelated explosions, all of which take up a good chunk of the screen.  There's even pixilation after the hang gliding goons drop bombs in the water and in the same dolphin-riding sequence you must contend with a large tentacle creature (presumably Cthulhu?) a few times.

Running ahead

This game had a mixed to generally positive reception upon release, but over time it has developed a cult following and the general consensus is that it's among Wolf Team's better titles and that it was superior to Earnest Evans, although that wasn't exactly hard.  El Viento also has the benefit of having a story that gradually develops in-between stages and is very interesting and engagingly told; unfortunately when the prior title got converted from the Mega-CD to the Genesis it lost pretty much all its cutscenes which made the game proper appear aimless and without point unless you knew the story beforehand.

El Viento at least was driven by narrative and had a proper ending and conclusion;

I'd... hardly call a seemingly never ending extended outtake of Earnest being chased by a huge boulder only to seemingly be crushed by it with his hand sticking out afterward during the credits a proper ending because the Genesis version didn't have one on account of its technical limitations in terms of cutscenes like the Mega-CD original did.

Right image screengrabbed while watching the Annet Futatabi World of Longplay video on YouTube

The ending of this game subtly implied that there would be a future installment in this trilogy, which there was in the form of Annet Futatabi (which literally translates to "Annet, Once Again") on the Mega-CD which instead of being a sidescrolling platformer like El Viento was a traditional beat'em up a la Capcom's Final Fight and Jaleco's Rushing Beat, however it ended up faring just as bad as, if not worse than, Earnest Evans.

Water stream collecting health power-up

This trilogy of games really is a weird paradox in of itself when you stop to really think about it: Earnest Evans was the only game of the three to receive both a CD and cart-based format, El Viento was exclusively cartridge-based, and Annet Futatabi was CD-only and in Japan, all of them were praised for the anime cutscenes in-between stages which were deemed the best (or good) part of these games, they each have different modes of gameplay, and considering most of these titles were largely panned by those that played them that pretty much makes the middle chapter El Viento the outlier of the trio since it was also praised for its gameplay.

We'll give Earnest Evans the benefit of the doubt and say that its lack of polish is attributed to being rushed for the December 1991 Mega-CD console release

Poor Earnest Evans, though, Wolf Team liked him enough for him to stick around for the other two titles but not enough for him to be a leading man a second time while Annet Myer's second go-around as the main protagonist ended up not faring any better.  ☹

Screengrabbed while watching the Earnest Evans (Mega-CD) World of Longplay video on YouTube

I, um, hope both Kazuki Yao and Yuko Minaguchi at least had fun voicing their respective characters during the two lesser-received games' cutscenes, because wow...  😬  Can't help but feel sorry for Wolf Team.

Gravity leap

While rewatching the Earnest Evans and Annet Futatabi gameplay videos (exclusively for the cutscenes) on YouTube in preparation for this review, one comment I read likened El Viento's gameplay somewhat to Sega's ninja-based Shinobi franchise, and yeah; I can kinda see that--it's fast-paced, requires long-ranged projectile weapons, and entails different kinds of magic.  It's no better than Megasoft's The Super Shinobi 2/Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja in my opinion but is superior

Thorn bush battle

to Sega's The Super Shinobi/The Revenge of Shinobi in my opinion (I know there are those who hold that particular game on a high pedestal, and I respect that, but let's be honest: that Shinobi iteration has not aged well).  This game is also presently the most I spent on a physical Genesis cart at nearly $50 which I reduced significantly thanks to an eBay gift card my sister's mother-in-law gave me for Christmas in 2018 since she knew I liked to shop for physical games from yesteryear on eBay; took awhile before I ended up using it, I guess I was waiting for the right game to use it and right after I played Earnest Evans.

Be vigilant for gargoyles coming to life

Now while El Viento is a good game through and through, I don't think it's one without its own share of problems; not enough to ruin the game or anything, but enough to slightly undermine its otherwise high quality.  Like Earnest Evans before her Annet has got no invincibility time whenever she sustains damage and if a beam is held on to her or if you stay in a bed of spikes, which means that unless you get out of the way or jump onto safe ground you'll continuously lose damage, there is one point during the ship section where you must get on a makeshift detonator platform (the one that's above the spikes and has an enclosed spot big enough for Annet to stand on)

Destroying a bat chamber

otherwise you are forced to detonate the platforms and get to an above tip after sustaining a bit of damage due to spikes (if you're in a spot where the ceiling spot is right above Annet's head she won't be able to jump up to the side of it which will cause her to be knocked back down, so you have no choice but to take the tough route), there is a bit of slowdown (generally shortly after an explosion or two occurred), during the static cutscenes unless you're paying attention or unless the person they're talking to is namedropped it's a bit hard to discern who it is that's currently talking (incorporating the name by the dialogue being spoken would've helped a little),

but the most frustrating part about the game for me is the entirety of the Empire State Building stage leading up to the battle of Restiana turned Hastur where you must activate switches (the correct ones even) and make your way to the doorway to the subsequent portion all the while contending with those stupid bat creatures; not helped by the fact that they take too much damage to do away with, some will cling on to you thereby causing you to gradually lose damage, even if you defeat them they'll respawn in bigger numbers, it is such a major hassle to charge up your gauge every time just to activate the homing magic against them, and health power-ups appear later on in far limited numbers, making for a full-on insufferable cheapfest.  😣  The most damning thing is that the final battle is far more reasonably manageable compared to the stage that led up to it, same goes for the prior seven stages before it.

Surprisingly gruesome for a game from 1991 that was also released in America, but it's pretty tame compared to the graphic violence seen in the cutscenes for the Wolf Team-developed Mugen Senshi Valis II based on what I saw on YouTube, and that incarnation was Japan-only

Although a part of me cannot help but wonder if it may have been done on purpose, though...

What am I saying?  That's no excuse!  😠  Earnest Evans, for all its faults, I could at least play all the way through to the end (continues lost along the way notwithstanding) without resorting to a stage skip code; I'm a little saddened that El Viento,

an otherwise better crafted and well-made platformer, decides to play the cheap card during the final stage bar the boss fight because ultimately it winds up doing this game a huge disservice making that part of the game the only segment I feel compelled to utilize the level skip code.  😩  I can't think of another otherwise good platformer that has a cheaply and poorly thought-out portion that slightly undermines the whole package...

I still stand by my assertion that Whoopee Camp's second Tomba!/Tombi! game has got the worst video game mine car sequence ever

Oh wait...  😐  Yes, I can!  😑  But that's a ship for another time--well, provided the next time I start that game and eventually access the ???? room it doesn't load for an eternity never leaving the loading screen making me think there's something wrong with my game disc, but again, that's for another time.

Car production factory

It is too bad, because like I said today's game is good but the final stage undid its quality a tiny bit and prevented it from reaching true greatness in my opinion, and of the handful of games I played that were done by Wolf Team (the others of which are Arcus Spirits, Earnest Evans, and Neugier) I liked this one the most as up until the last stage it is a lot of fast-paced fun with very intuitive and versatile gameplay, an engaging story, a brilliant soundtrack, and it concludes itself on a very dark and somber note (more so than Sega's MegaDrive/Genesis launch title Space Harrier II did three years prior--yes, seriously, a retro launch title ended on a bleak note, I'm just as surprised as you are).

Magically homing in on a highly

advanced machine

Although I wouldn't mind opening myself up to more Wolf Team content when I get the chance, like Sol-Feace, Final Zone, and Tales of Phatnasia to name some (I think I'm more than ready to try that last one), maybe Dino Land too, but one game at time.  If you've been curious about El Viento and can afford it, I recommend this game as it's a lot of fun for the most part and works just as much as a spiritual follow-up to Earnest Evans as it does its own standalone title, and it's a good alternative to the Sega 16-bit versions of the Telenet Japan's first and third Valis platformers in terms of female-led platformers on the Sega format.  It's not perfect, but I think it's a good platformer overall.  😃

My Personal Score: 8.0/10

d(^-^)bTO EACH THEIR OWNd(^-^)b

● There are longplay videos on YouTube of Earnest Evans and Annet Futatabi by Rage Quitter 87 which have English subtitles for the cutscenes if you turn the closed captioning on for those who want a full translation of the individual games' plot.

● Before I forget, for nearly two months I've been watching The Owl House on Disney Channel, and so far I've enjoyed all seven episodes that have aired (tomorrow, March 6th, will come the eighth); Wendie Malick's Eda is great, Alex Hirsch's King is funny and adorable, I like the overflowing narrative and the sense of world building, it's ingeniously creative and clever, but more importantly it's engaging and fun.  😃

● In other irrelevant news: from February 26th to March 2nd, in honor of its 20th anniversary (which would be the former date), I've marathoned all of Doug Langdale's classic animated series The Weekenders on DVD, all four discs (the entire first season I've watched in the same day).  😄  Still a brilliant show I love coming back to once in awhile and my favorite Disney animated series of all time (I think the writing is absolutely pitch perfect), but one thing I've found odd in my recent rewatch: in the series finale "Tino's Dad" they don't leave a voice credit for Tino's Dad?  Seriously?  😐  I had to rewind a few times to make I wasn't overlooking it in the episode's credits but...  yeah.  Weird.  😕

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 take care!  😃

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Screengrabbed from watching the Earnest Evans (Mega-CD) and Annet Futatabi World of Longplay videos on YouTube, respectively

Geez, Annet couldn't make up her mind on what color eyes she had, could she?  👁

Left screengrabbed while watching Earnest Evans World of Longplay (Mega-CD) video on YouTube, used two frames to create the .gif

She occasionally flip-flopped between having emerald eyes and brown eyes in Earnest Evans, but clearly they were emerald overall.  I figured before rewatching the cutscenes of the first and third game in the trilogy in preparation for this review that they were brown in El Viento because of the MegaDrive/Genesis' limited color palette; but no, Wolf Team's art team deliberately kept them brown in Annet Futatabi.  🤨  If they wanted Annet to have brown eyes, they should've made that decision from the start rather than forego eye color continuity in the subsequent games.