Mr. Nutz (SNES) Review

Written: March 17th-22nd, 2014

Year: 1993, 1994 | Developed and Published by: Ocean

 

Somewhere over the rainbow, cloooouds
arrrren't bluuuueeeee...

Well, I've held off on this one long enough, so let's not waste any time and get cracking.  In the early '90s a pair of French developers under the employment of the late company Ocean (before it became Infogrames and before it got acquired by Atari years ago), Pierre Adane and Philippe Dessoly, had considered crafting their own independent game with a squirrel as the main character for the Amiga.  After being presented with the idea Ocean approved, but since the disk-based system was nowhere near as accessible and affordable as most consoles were at the time, they decided to not only to act as publisher, but as developer for the SNES game and sometime later the MegaDrive console instead.  Personally speaking, I think they made the right call.  =)

 

Reportedly having taken a full year and a half to create, today's game landed in European shores in 1993 for the SNES, followed by a US and Japanese release several months later.  Deciding to settle on a name, it took a few choice names until it got the moniker that it's stuck with; feeling that Squirrel's Game wouldn't sell well, it was renamed Mr. Nuts--but someone at Ocean had the right idea and felt that it would've been too inappropriate and vague for it to be released like that, so finally it was given a title that sounded neither ambiguous nor offensive and worked as a cool name by itself: Mr. Nutz.  It's been reported that some areas were removed from the final incarnation of the platformer (though supposedly they made an appearance in the Game Boy Advance port--more on the ports later).  Now, Mr. Nutz is a cool name, but you must be wondering: is it a cool game?

 

Nothing like holding your breath underwater
indefinitely while combatting a menacing-looking
octopus

Mr. Nutz is a 2D sidescrolling platformer starring the eponymous crimson red anthropomorphic squirrel.  Before I talk about the controls, I'm telling you right now: change the control settings, because the default setting feels very awkward; however it's all in personal taste which control scheme you choose, but if I were you I'd stick with the AB-Y-X method.  Now, Mr. Nutz has got a lot of techniques in his arsenal; he can walk, he can duck, he can jump, he can swing between ropes or chains, he can swim, he can run (hold Y), he can swish his long tail around for close ranged attacks (v+X; don't ask), and he can throw the acorns with the X button.  The thing about the acorns are that you don't have an unlimited amount, so it's best to use them sparingly.  Along the way you'll come across platforms that either must be jumped on in the nick of time or ones that you have to jump up from before it drops or disintegrates; many are stationary but there are a select few in comparison that will move or rotate around.  At the end of each stage there is a boss to fight, each with different patterns than the last, each requiring that you take out their health one bar at a time.

What you'll notice upon playing this game is that its controls (in particular the jump controls) are rather loose.  It doesn't necessarily equate to a bad thing, but depending on how a game was structured to begin with it can either be a benefit or a hindrance.  And thankfully for Mr. Nutz's case it falls right in the former, and I'll explain why.  There are instances where you have to jump towards specific platforms (sometimes block-sized) which require you to run and have just enough jumping power to land on them; also the looseness helps because if you jump you might find yourself landing farther depending on how much speed you've picked up, sometimes requiring you to weave-jump platforms above you.  Without the looseness in the controls the game would've not been able to be progressed considering some of its area designs.  The rest of the controls are really solid and it's intuitive to play and traverse the numerous areas.  Mr. Nutz has a health gauge of five, and all around there are lots of coins that are optional (or mandatory if you're confident) to collect.

Jumping for joy

The visuals for Mr. Nutz are absolutely gorgeous!  =)  They are brimming with bright, vibrant colors that really pop out at you while also presenting a lot of detail; they're so polished too that it really matches the atmosphere of the area that you are in.  Each individual area has got a sort of personal charm and look that make it their own, not to mention each location has got their series of big attention to detail (even the little ones).  The first area takes place in the woods, where it starts out with green and vibrant foliage, and the farther you get with each section of the stage it gets darker until it becomes night; the backdrops and foregrounds may look different (at night there will be a moon and a series of spiderwebs), but the transition and immersion from night to day is really impeccable, and the night colors are well-chosen.  And that's just one example.  Several other areas look exquisitely detailed as well, such as Adventure Park, the faucet portions, the cloud-ridden areas with a pretty rainbow looming in the distance, and so forth.  The line scrolling work is well done when it counts, creating a sense of depth (particularly in two of the last stage's final areas), plus the color layering is well-done whenever you're underwater or behind some translucent clouds.

 

Another thing of great note is the animation of Mr. Nutz and the regular enemies: they are so fluid and smooth that it still amazes me whenever I see it in motion.  His walking and running animations are flawless, as are the jumping, swimming, acorn-throwing, and swinging motions.  On the cover he may look like a real badass with that menacing grin and those shades of his that are only seen on there, but when you play the game he's actually a cute little critter facing impossible odds in order to save the day; and honestly I don't find that to be such a bad thing, as I feel that it adds to Mr. Nutz's cute and lighthearted charm.  The enemies are lighthearted and cutely designed too, such as the walking fruits with eyeballs (that die in different ways depending on how you finish them off; whether it be by splitting them in half or by swishing them away with your tail... don't ask), disposable porcupines, tambourines with flamboyant ballet get-up that attack you with their twirls and pirouettes, a variant of bee enemies, bird enemies that seek you out until you do them off, literal hand-plungers, tiny fish that emit electric barriers from time to time (they're not eels, how's it possible?), enemies that have full fire on their bodies save for their firefighter helmet, among others.  I have a few more examples to point out:

Hey, I didn't know that the Piranha Plants were in this game!  =O

This For the Birds reject will try to defeat you by dropping snowballs more than twice their size.

Hey hey hey, what is this?  I thought this was a squirrel-themed game, not a video game adaptation of March of the Penguins!  And the scary part is that there actually is a video game adaptation based on that movie.

 

Okay, so among the designs that are actually rather clever and inventive, I will admit there were some that weren't as original (like the venus fly trap enemy); whether it was intentional or coincidence (both before and after the game was made), I don't mind it so much because they're still charming and well-designed enemies.  Yes, some from previous areas return in the form of a palette-swapped version, but aside from that I'm okay with that.  If the character and enemies are cute and lighthearted, then the bosses are the exact opposite.  They are big, serious, and dark in both tone and design.  They don't have as much animation as Mr. Nutz does, but they do still look good: such as a giant hairy spider in a hillbilly outfit, a downright menacing-looking octopus, and a witch on a broomstick who looks like the one from Snow White and the Seven Dwarves if she had the beak of the vulture that pursued her in the movie.  I'm not even joking, she actually looks like that!  A couple of them use Mode 7 rotating and scaling effects, and some of the boss locations look relatively dark, matching their tone and serious demeanor (some actually look really damn intimidating considering that it was aimed for a younger audience, and I'll spotlight one of them later).

 

The soundtrack for Mr. Nutz was composed by renowned French composer Raphaël Gesqua, who was very young when he made the music, and it was one of the first video games that he had worked on for sound.  Considering that status, I find the quality of his work here to be really impressive, as it does a very good job of complementing the appropriate settings and lending an atmospheric feel.  =)  Yeah, there are a few light and bouncy themes in the mix, but the majority of it really stands out with neat instrumental choices (such as the horns, the cymbals, and the heavy piano) and the fact that they're considerably long songs; it's made even better by the fact that it won't start over if you lose a life, it'll just keep on playing.  Score!  =D  I like that the songs are long because as a result they don't end up being overly repetitive (the first two verses sound the same, but the third one sounds different), and the songs' lengthy scope is worthwhile, with a few exceptions of course.

 

Stan: "Why ain't them just the cutest bees you've ever
laid eyes on."
Nicolas Cage: "No, not the bees!  NOT THE BEES!!!"  DX

The title theme I feel does a good job at setting the scope for the adventure that lies before you.  The nighttime Woody Land theme (yes, they actually called it that) is really slow-building and pretty to listen to, the sweeping Adventure Park theme sounds adventurous as its name implies, the theme for when you've been shrunk down for the faucet areas is really catchy, the theme for the cloud-filled area is the best song in the game for it really feels like you've just gotten out of a long dark cave and it feels heavenly in a fitting way.  The ending theme is a really big reward if you manage to overcome all of Mr. Nutz's obstacles, including the final boss.  The game over theme, though, is actually really sad and desperate, and all the boss themes have their own dark flair (all six of them), which makes each of them stand out.

 

Are there any low points for the soundtrack?  Actually yes, since a few of the bounciness and unusual compositions of a few themes make them sound a bit nauseating after awhile (though not necessarily in a bad way), in particular during half the boss fights.  The volcano theme is obnoxious for its overtly heavy handedness, and while I'm not big on circus music, the Mean Streets is passable at least (I'll take it over the circus music present in Glover and Bubsy in Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind).  Overall, I consider the majority of Gesqua's music to be really good, with only a few really low-quality songs.  Still, I really commend his effort, and you know what's crazy?  There is actually an option to turn off the soundtrack before you start the game... the very thing that lends the overall world its atmosphere to begin with.  What is even the hell, Ocean?!?  >=(  The sound effects aren't anything to write home about, but for what we've got they're decent.  There is a cute bounce sound effect for whenever Mr. Nutz jumps, enemies have their own death sounds (the birds "chirp", for example), whenever a boss takes damage they make what sounds like a hollowed grunting sound (I can't quite describe it, you'll have to hear it for yourself to get the proper idea), the swimming effects are nice, the coin effects are decent, and a lot of the other sound effects are good.

 

Look at all that depth in the background

Mr. Nutz is a fairly challenging game in its own right, and there are many factors that apply to that.  The area designs are neatly laid-out, and there are a couple moments when blind leaps of faith may have to be made.  Some platforms require that you make precise landings because they're small, but because the controls are loose it's easy to position yourself quickly enough in midair.  There are various acorns laid about, and they serve well as long-ranged projectiles, but you do not have an unlimited amount, so it is best to only use when you really need them.  The areas range from short and linear to large and open-ended, and it may take a bit to reach your destination.  If you lose a life during a portion of a stage, then you'll have to start from the beginning of that portion (say you lose during the middle of 2-2, you have to start at the beginning of it).  Okay, that's no problem; what happens if you lose all your lives?  Well, if that happens, then you have to start the entire stage all over again (say you lost them all in say anywhere in World 6, then World 6 must be started all over again).  Admittedly, it can be frustrating when that happens, since for one the path towards the end is long and there are enemies which you must contend with along the way.  But it's not impossible, for there are many elements that help balance things out.

 

In the options menu the highest you can set your lives is six and for health the highest count you can make them is five.  If you go at a slow and steady pace then less enemies will show up, even though you'll have to speed up in a few portions.  The quicker you run the higher you fly up in the air as you jump, and throughout the course of the game you'll notice coins scattered about.  For every fifty that you collect, one dot will be refilled in your heath bar; and should you manage to collect all of them by the end of the stage you'll earn a life.  It's not mandatory, but if you don't feel confident that you'll make it then it may be a good idea to search every nook and cranny.  In these stages you'll also find health icons, but if you find a life (and here's the great part): then regardless of how much health you have then the whole health bar will be revitalized.  The whole health bar!  Now that's what I call a freebie!  =)  Each boss has their own set strategy you have to follow in order to take them down, and for the most part they're not bad fights ('cept for Little Clown which is longer than it needs to be).  Among the regular items are rare items, some that you'll need to progress (like the key in Adventure Park) and others that do different things.

Say, I wonder what this item does?

Mr. Nutz is a platformer, so it's a given that it won't be played for the plot but for the fun and challenge.  Though in this case it probably would've been nice if there was much of a plot to begin with, as the structure is incoherent at best (you don't even know what it's about until your adventure is over, and even then you'll have a hard time fathoming that an ice storm had to be stopped by a supposedly magical yeti who is tired of all the green surrounding the world, and that all the enemies you fought were controlled under his magic).  There is no intro sequence, you're thrust right into the fray as soon as you start.  The first two stages, I'll buy that Mr. Nutz would go from here to there, but for the rest it's absolutely befuddling.  In the third stage you come across a grail which will shrink you down to bite size.

 

 

Okay, so he has shrunk down to a very small size; but then he finishes the faucet area and somehow gets back to his normal height.  And for that matter once he exits the volcano he hops on a series of clouds until he faces the boss.  Well, how the hell does he get down afterwards?  And this is a problem; there is no establishment of the plot (no in-betweens, just the map screen after you beat a stage and that's it), so as a result a lot of what happens doesn't make sense.  Still, it's much less bizarre and nonsensical than The Adventures of Kid Kleets/Soccer Kid at least.  There is also the matter of wasted potential: see, the first boss Mr. Spider talks to you before he fights you.

And... that's it.  No other boss talks to you, not even Mr. Blizzard, the main antagonist.  It's very unfortunate that the only times that a dialogue box pops up is when Mr. Spider talks to you, in the beginning of Adventure Park part 3 where you're told to look for a key, and at the start of the sixth world where you must enter an igloo to progress forward; because it feels a bit wasted here.  It also does not help matters at all that the plot is fairly nonexistent.  If you're going have dialogue spoken by the bosses, either have it be done by most or all of them or don't do them at all.  But if you are to have a single boss talk to you then have it be the final boss, not the boss at the start of the game!  =(  Just... no!  Now, this may be a lighthearted adventure, but beneath the surface it is all kinds of weird!  In particular during the boss fights, which as I aforementioned are dark and serious in comparison to the cute and lighthearted enemies you face earlier.  The octopus looks threatening, Mr. Spider looks scary, but all of them pale in comparison to the absolutely horrifying sight that is: Ograum Papas.

The buildup for the boss' appearance is intense, for it starts with a clear view of the ground with shaking abound, and then Ograum Papas slowly rises up revealing his head, wearing an expression on his face that says "I'm going to murder you!"

So he proceeds to attack you with his... anatomically backwards hands?  No, seriously, they're anatomically backwards hands!  Wow, how did that happen?  And for that matter, it doesn't look right; they're not even swiping in their right direction.  *tries imitating hand swipes*  It's not as comfortable as it looks, guys, it's very awkward.  But, hey, it doesn't seem so bad; all you have to do is hop on his head enough times and you're free to go.  Well, it's all fun and games until someone loses their ey--

|= }=> O=> D=> O.O

... Whaaaaaaaat the fuuuuuuuuu------  D=>

I mean, holy crap, did you see that?!  He just gouged out his unlimited arsenal of eyes, revealing from time to time empty sockets!  And the way that his backup eyes roll out from behind his sockets is so disturbing to look at that I can't believe Ocean actually thought this boss was fitting for game that was made for kids!  There's your nightmare fuel right there; God only knows how many kids were traumatized and got nightmares from Ograum Papas' very being.  O.O  I couldn't believe what I saw when I first saw this; I mean, that is way too intense.  ...  You know, for kids!  All right, let's move forward, I don't want to dwell too much on this.

 

Screencap of MD footage while watching
AlexZhano's video on YouTube

I've only played the SNES version of the game, and while normally I don't make comparisons to versions I haven't played, I'm willing to make an exception (for enlightening purposes).  After its European SNES release in 1993, the MegaDrive version of Mr. Nutz followed suit the next year as a PAL exclusive.  While the Nintendo 16-bit original took 18 months to make, it took the Sega 16-bit version a third of that time period to get finished.  The visual look is faithful except they are brighter, some colors were altered (due the console's limited color palette), Gesqua lent his music for this version but a few songs are missing and some sound a little off with the tinny sound samples, and Mode 7 was not at all present here (two of the bosses used this frequently, without them they look stiff), so Ocean had to redraw their defeated animations; aside from those differences it's not really all that different.

The same year Ocean crafted a portable version for the Game Boy original, released in European and American shores.  The area designs were altered significantly and some of the details in the backdrop were omitted due the system's limitations but it managed to retain its fluid animation and Gesqua's soundtrack (albeit with different results).  After the debut of the Game Boy Color many companies contemplated rereleasing some of their monochromatic games for that system, and in 1999 Mr. Nutz was one of them (released after Ocean converted themselves to Infogrames).  It was basically equal to the Game Boy version, except the backdrops had more detail to them, the health bar now allowed up to six dots, and there was an introduction sequence.

Then in 2001 another version of the title was made, this time for the Game Boy Advance by Infogrames; and from what I hear it is the weakest version of them all.  The game frame was uncomfortably zoomed in, so Mr. Nutz was about a quarter of the size of the screen, Gesqua's music was absent and instead replaced with forgettable dribble, and it only saw release in Europe; out of all the versions of the game, this was the only one that had bonus areas that took place underwater if you managed to collect all the coins in the stage.  The thing that these four ports have in common unlike the SNES original is that they have password systems, while the Nintendo 16-bit version had to be beaten all in one sitting.  General consensus regarding Mr. Nutz is that the SNES original was the superior version of them all, despite the lack of passwords and extra features.

It wouldn't be a standalone venture, for there was a prequel that followed soon after... sort of.

Screencaps from watching MD version of Mr. Nutz: Hoppin' Mad while watching cubex55's video on YouTube

After Mr. Nutz was released, a company called Neon Studios (initially Kaiko) made their own squirrel game which was going to be christened Timet the Flying Squirrel, but after finding Ocean to publish their game for the Amiga as a PAL exclusive, they changed the character from Timet to Mr. Nutz as he was already an Ocean-based character.  A MegaDrive version was to be made in 1995, and despite being completed and reviewed by a Euro magazine, it was canned for indiscernible reasons.  Many thought that it would be lost for good, until an unidentified source released an ROM of it in 2009, which eventually got converted to playable cartridge format for both MegaDrive and Genesis cartridges.  Now I don't mind when games try to go in a different direction, but I'm not 100% positive it was a good idea to turn Mr. Nutz into something he was not.

Long story short: after Sonic the Hedgehog's success in 1991, many games tried mimic its speeding formula and most were met with scrutiny (especially in Bubsy's case); Mr. Nutz was not one of them.  It was a slow-paced platformer with intricately designed areas and shared little elements with the blue hedgehog's game; Mr. Nutz: Hoppin' Mad (sometimes referred to as Mr. Nutz 2 despite its prequel status), on the other hand, decided to take things in a different route and turn itself into a blatant Sonic wannabe (with a couple different control schemes), except that from time to time there is an overworld, dialogue, and forms of areas likened to shoot'em ups.  If Ocean wasn't involved in any way, it would be Timet who would be the main character and not Mr. Nutz, but because of this the crimson red squirrel is now labeled as a Sonic imitator and hurt his image as such.  The original game was a platformer; stay a platformer, don't turn it into something it wasn't meant to be from the start!  I've seen more than half an hour's worth of gameplay footage on YouTube, and while at first I was intrigued I honestly found what I saw to be a bit unimpressive at the least.  =(  That's not to say that I won't try it someday, I might, who knows?  Maybe it's not as bad as I'm presuming it to be, but at this moment I'm not really that interested in that one.

Swinging away

Mr. Nutz wasn't a critical hit at release (with generally middling opinions: some praised it for its visuals, good gameplay, and soundtrack; while others were displeased with its difficulty, lack of overall plot, derivative nature, and the fact that there was no password system for the SNES), but it was a success in terms of its sales.  It has since then garnered a bit of a cult following, with people liking it despite what the naysayers say about it and willing to overlook some of its issues.  Despite the following, there are still some gamers out there that look down on this game, considering it to be generic and mediocre fluff.  The main character Mr. Nutz is often compared to Rare's creation Conker, which is absolutely bonkers.  They may share a similar outward design and have fur tones that are almost a close color, but aside from that they have got nothing in common.  More than half of the games Conker was in he was adorable and the tone was light, but with Conker's Bad Fur Day he took on a more raunchy and vulgar expression (or the game did at least) despite his cute appearance; Mr. Nutz was a more lighthearted and appealing character approachable for everybody.  Conker had modern clothing, while Mr. Nutz had attire which befitted that of an older generation; plus they both had different techniques and personalites.  I'm not saying you shouldn't like either game or character, I'm just saying that these comparisons (while not totally unfounded) are ridiculous.

This is a game that I have fun playing anytime I get to it, and it's one that I've long had a soft spot for.  =)  I've first heard of this game back in 2008 when I read it on a now defunct website where the verdict was positive; I checked a gameplay footage of it, and it was right then and there that I just had to play Mr. Nutz.  One video was enough to have me sold, but at the the I didn't have an SNES console (before I used to play with that console whenever I visited relatives) but two days before 2009 I was given a complete surprise: one of my cousins lent me his SNES console with some of his games.  It totally took me by surprise, but I was grateful for that and really appreciated it, since the SNES was my favorite console (still is).  =)

But it wouldn't be until five months later that I would experience this game; since I didn't see many retro stores, I've contemplated going to eBay for sometime but I was new to that experience.  Eventually in May of that year, I created an account and looked for the first game to order (there were a lot of choices), and I decided that Mr. Nutz for the SNES would be that game.  When it arrived on May 29th, 2009, I couldn't believe it!  I was super excited for many reasons than one.  Not only was Mr. Nutz the first game I bought from eBay (my eBay adventures started with game, opening me to a world I never experienced before), it was also my first ever SNES cartridge and the first I've ever bought; the other SNES games I played were either on someone else's SNES console or on the Nintendo Wii Virtual Console, but to have a physical SNES cart which I could call my own was incredible.  And to make things even better, it arrived the day before I graduated from high school (if you ask me this was a really good graduation gift).  =)

Look at all the ice around!

Since the day that I got it, I loved it.  I still love it now, almost five years later, though I'm not coy to acknowledge its flaws.  The absence of plot as a whole is a turn-off (its weird elements don't help its case either), it can get a little infuriating to redo an entire stage after having lost all your lives, and the fact that it must be beaten in one sitting (the SNES version) is rather pressing.  At the end of the day there is more good than bad here, and despite being a platformer I think it has a sense of replay value (since you can choose whether to take or find the secret routes or not).  The visuals are still pretty to look at, the music is atmospheric in quality, and the controls, while loose, do give it an advantage as far as platforming is concerned (they're also actually solid in their own right too).  It is challenging, but it is manageable if you stick with it; this holds true even when you compare it to Plok, The Addams Family: Pugsley's Scavenger Hunt, and Xandra no Daibōken: Valkyrie to no Deai, which are all more challenging than this game (some more than others).  =)  Mr. Nutz may not have left much of an impression on some, but it is a game that I like for what it is; do not judge it for its title, its appearance, or the company that developed it, otherwise you may underestimate its positive elements and the overall good quality.  It doesn't aim to be like Sonic the Hedgehog; if anything, I think this was inspired in part by Castle of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse, and it shows in some elements.  It's not a bad source of inspiration, however, but it does make it endearing.

It's got its flaws that bog it down just slightly, but overall I consider Mr. Nutz to be a solid Euro platformer.  The fact that only two people created this SNES game (three if you include the composer) is absolutely mindblowing; it's not often that you hear of a 16-bit game created by a team this small.  Another neat thing about it is that there is zero slowdown whatsoever; there are moments when many enemies will crowd up the screen and despite it becoming hectic it doesn't interrupt the smooth flow.  I counted at least twelve-thirteen big skulls that the witch boss tossed towards you, and it did not affect the frame rate once.  If you want, you could decide to either play this game in English or in French, in case you wanted to learn some new words or dialogue in a different language.  =)  If you're in the mood for a fun platformer, then this should do the trick.  If you expect a really great masterpiece among platforming, it's probably best you look elsewhere.  If you want to play a game for its challenge and fun and not so much for the story, then Mr. Nutz is a good opportunity to do so.  Just remember to not judge it by its cover and play it for what it is.  It's no Mario or Kirby, but for what it is it's good; I recommend it for those who seek a good challenge.  Whatever the outcome, and despite its flaws, Mr. Nutz will always hold a special place in my heart as my first SNES game.

8.5/10





( >'.')>TO EACH THEIR OWN<('.'< )

P.S.: I just had to throw in that line from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, I had to!  XD  In context, since there was a grail, it made sense to use it.

 

P.S. 2: How is Mr. Nutz holding his tail when he's swimming underwater?  And why hold it like that?

 

P.S. 3: As far as I know, this game has got the most realistic-looking sponge seen in a 16-bit platformer, and champagne glasses too!

 

P.S. 4: There was another squirrel starring game in the '90s called Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel but it fared a lot worse than this game.

 

P.S. 5: I often notice little subtle details that are fairly peculiar with this game:

 For example, are those rock formations in the left or do they resemble petrified skulls?  o_O  Also, would you take a look at that mountain glacier in the distance; is it me or does that look like a face?

 

P.S. 6: When I thought of reviewing this game awhile ago I considered making a French intro before going back to English; I figured it would've made sense considering which country Mr. Nutz was made in.

 

Thank you for reading my review, please leave a comment and let me know what you think.  Take care!  =)

 

I mean seriously, Ocean, what substance did you take that made you concoct an image this disturbing??  o-o

Impressions: Ys V Expert (SFC)

Received: December 25th, 2013 / Written: February 19th-26th, 2014

Year: 1995, 1996 | Developed by: Nihon Falcom | Published by: Koei | [|O|]

 

Adol's back with more power than before!

Here's a game that I've been curious about and have been wanting to play for a while (long before I had access to a Retro Duo).  But first a little bit of background in the series.  In the wake of the adventure genre that was revitalized in the mid-80's came the Ys adventure games from a little company by the name of Nihon Falcom, starting with Ys I: Anicent Ys Vanished for the NEC PC-8801 in 1987, followed the next year with Ys II: Ancient Ys Vanished - The Final Chapter also for the same system.  These two games were at one point meant to be combined into one big adventure, until it was decided by some people involved to split the two entries; which wouldn't be the case for very long as they got combined into the ultimate version Ys (Book) I & II for the PC-Engine in 1989/1990 with a little help by Hudson Soft.  Many concur that this was for the best, considering that the first game ended on a sheer cliffhanger, with the second game immediately taking place after the fact (sort of like the way Insidious: Chapter 2 followed shortly after the end of the first movie, except once you see it you'll wish they just stuck with the original; but that's irrelevant).

 

Jump your way through

The first two games were a massive hit with critics and gamers, being praised for the great storyline, good-looking anime cutscenes, astounding rock soundtrack, and the funny yet simplistic method of attacking enemies by shoving them.  One of the reasons the Ys series is lauded so is because of the storyline, and Adol Christin is such an ambitious and fun to control character.  It was clear that united these two games stood strong (and got many rereleases and ports as a result), and what was also clear was that a franchise had been born.  So Nihon Falcom decided to create a third entry in the series for the NEC PC-8801 in 1989; enter Ys III: Wanderers from Ys, which took the series in a very different direction and has since left many that played it divided.  It shifted from a top-down perspective to a sidescrolling RPG in the vein of Zelda II: The Adventure of Link.  Some didn't mind and found it refreshing while others were turned off by this big shift in theme and the fact that it was linear and short.  It got a few ports (SNES, MegaDrive/Genesis, PC-Engine) and eventually got remade as an in-depth and challenging top-down adventure Ys: The Oath in Felghana on the PC and later for the PlayStation Portable, which was more favorably received.  Sensing the disappointment fans of the previous two titles expressed, Falcom figured it was time to bounce back.

 

Well, if it ain't another fiery salamander

In late 1993, a fourth Ys was being worked on and got released, but since Nihon Falcom was busy making Brandish 2: The Planet Buster at the time, they had to appoint different companies to make different variations of their game.  Tonkin House, responsible for the Nintendo 16-bit adaptation of the third game, crafted Ys IV: Mask of the Sun for the Super Famicom, while Hudson Soft handled their PC-Engine variant Ys IV: The Dawn of Ys a month later; Sega was slated to make their own take for the MegaDrive/Genesis, but it ultimately was canned halfway in development.  The fourth game went back to its roots by bringing back the top-down viewpoint, complex dungeon designs, and the attack-shove that was sorely missed in game three.  Naturally, because of this, it did exceptionally well, and has garnered quite a following.  While the former was the canon entry in the series (until late 2012), surprisingly it was the non-canon latter version that got more recognition and fame.  Unfortunately, Ys IV remained a Japan-exclusive entry for roughly two decades, up until Nihon Falcom made their own adaptation of the game, Memories of Celceta, for the PlayStation Vita which actually got a release in the West and replaced Mask of the Sun as the official Ys IV of the series canon; which I'm still bummed out about since the Super Famicom entry is fantastic and now I have to buy a Vita, but I don't wish to do it for just that game alone.  >=(

Now at this point it was clear that the series had reached its peak and that the title that would follow it would be nowhere near as good as Ys IV.  Feeling that the Super Famicom could handle just one more Ys game, work on the fifth iteration was being done.  Unlike the Nintendo 16-bit adaptations of the third and fourth games which were done by Tonkin House, the fifth installment was made by Nihon Falcom themselves, which was quite a shock to many as they never developed a Nintendo 16-bit (let alone a TV console, unless you count their 16-bit port of Popful Mail) game before as much of their library before and after consisted of titles made for home computers (with a few exceptions in recent years with select titles for the PSP and the PS Vita).  So this was quite a risk that they were making, and for their most highly celebrated series as well no less.  But, they pulled it off somehow.  So in December of 1995, gamers were given Ys V: Ushinawareta Suna no Miyako Kefin, an SFC exclusive in the series.

Both images from MobyGames

But if you've read my thoughts on Ys IV: Mask of the Sun, then you would know that it wasn't the only version of the game that was made.  Since it was criticized for its low difficulty, Nihon Falcom decided to make a slightly more challenging version in Ys V Expert, which was released less than three months later for the same console, but this time by Koei of all companies, in March of 1996.  Aside from the change in difficulty I'm not certain what else was altered if anything.  Being conflicted by this, since I knew that I only had a chance with one of these two versions and not both, I had to make a choice.  I did eventually, but I literally flipped a coin just in case, and it landed on the side that I wanted (tails), which meant that I chose the Expert version (which I got this Christmas in '13).  Alas, Ys V never received a Western release, like the fourth game before it, and since the latter got a localized release on the Vita, that makes this fifth volume the only game in the series that's stayed exclusively in Japan, and until 2003 it seemed like it would be the last installation for Ys.  =(  But why was that?  What was it about Adol's fifth adventure that has caused such a long hiatus?

Legends tell that in the continent of Afroka there was a big desert city by the name of Kefin.  It's been said that there is a great treasure in that place, but there are some that don't believe that is the case.  The thing about Kefin?  It's floating up in the sky, just like the land of Ys did in Ys II, however the outcome will be much different by the end.  So reaching the desert city will require certain assistance, items, and magic.  To travel there and discover its secrets will require that the traveler have courage, great strength, and a strong will.

As this is going on, a man on a mission/expedition discovers a small unconscious girl on the ground of a big desert with an ocarina clutched in her hand.  Not knowing where she came from, he decides to raise her as his own child and take her to his homeland.  Several years have passed for the girl, named Nina, is all grown up as her father takes off for another trip, not to return,  Things have started to happen along the way, and that's when Adol Christin shows up.

The neat thing about the first part of the intro is how the words scroll in English as there is Japanese subtitles at the bottom.  It's cool, though it almost makes me wish that the whole game did that.  Every other dialogue is in Japanese kanji; still, it's nice to have that one event.  =)

Battling in the dry lands

If you thought that Ys III: Wanderers from Ys strayed far from the series' formula (as far as the pre-2000 Ys titles are concerned), then you haven't played this game.  Like the first, second, and fourth installments, Ys V is viewed from a bird's eye perspective, but that's where the similarities end.  Adol no longer shoves enemies and bosses to kill them; rather, he attacks them with his sword this time.  Also, he can walk around in eight directions as opposed to the square-pattern of four like the old adventures, and he can jump too.  Adol even positions his shield ahead of him by holding the Y button, and later on once you collect enough elemental stones and convert them to magic, you charge up the magic with the R shoulder button (or tap it if you want to go faster until it reaches 100; the third set of numbers in your HUD), plus you can shift up to three of your selection with the L shoulder button.

"Uh, wrong way, Bub, you're supposed to
attack me head on!"

And all the while I'm playing this, I couldn't help but be reminded of Brain Lord with this control scheme.  Brain Lord of all games!  Yeah, I know, it's too obscure a comparison to make, but a part of me thinks this just cannot be coincidence.  The jumping and attacking controls have been switched of course (in that game, it's A to jump and B to attack; vice versa for Ys V), in both games you can place your shield ahead of you with the Y button (only your shield is more sturdier here than it is there), you can charge your magic (albeit with different buttons), and you can cycle through your magic spells in both games.  The things that make Ys V different than Brain Lord is that in here you cannot jump diagonally (only straight up or ahead of you), the menu interface is diverse, the distinct lack of puzzle plaques, and the fact that there are more towns and pathways to explore and traverse.  The controls are slightly polished (though Adol still has that trait of walking fast), and if you've been used to the attack methods in the past games (in particular Ys IV) then it may take some time for you to adjust to the controls; but once you do you'll have no problem with it.  =)



Oh, bull!

If you have a map on you, you can have a look at which portion of Afroka you're in via the Select button, and the menu interface is rather intriguing.  To access the menu you press the X button, and what makes it cool are how five small icons appear around Adol which you can cycle through (sometimes in a cross-pattern and other times in a linear pattern depending on which side of the screen you're at).  The five icons consist of equipment (stickman with sword and shield), inventory (brush-like icon), game settings (Super Famicom controller), magic settings (gemstone with starburst), and finally the save icon (small rectangular shape with shades inbetween).  It's intuitive in its own right, and for the first time in the series you do not collect your armor and weaponry as you did in the last games, for this time you actually not only buy (or find) them but you sell them to vendors too!  That's quite a drastic departure in the series.  You will also find specific elemental stones throughout the course of the game, and once you've got enough then you hand them to the necromancer to hand the magic technique over to you (how it works depends on which combination you chose, since there are several to pick).

 

Battling a sea demon in blue

But the gameplay is far from the only aspect that's changed for this entry, as lots of elements have changed too: like the soundtrack.  In the previous four Ys games there was a rock-style soundtrack which helped differentiate itself from other adventure series and made it unique.  For Ys V Nihon Falcom opted for a more symphonic style.  Uh, what?  I know Ys IV: Mask of the Sun had some symphonic melodies (and that a couple merged with the rock genre) but for the most part it stayed true to series' formula of music.  To listen to an Ys soundtrack that is exclusively symphonic and lacking any rock tunes at all feels very weird.  {=|  Anyway, how is the soundtrack?  Well, it's good.  The choice of instrumentation I feel was solid and a lot of them blend in so well with their respective environments.  The intro theme sounds slow and brooding, the theme for when you see the demo showcasing Adol's abilities sounds triumphant, and some of the town themes sound pleasant for the ears.  =)  Several other songs are good too, like the mysterious cave theme, a few of the triumphant overworld themes, an epic track taking place near the canyons, a slow and foreboding desert theme, and variously great-sounding dungeon themes.  The boss themes sound dark and ominous with the unsettling compositions.  The sound effects are decent, with different sounds for each magic conjured up and the sound each enemies and bosses make; though it might just be me but I could swear that a few of them sounded like they were lifted from some 16-bit SquareSoft games.  =|

 

Another departure for the Ys games for this installment were the visuals.  The past games were more about story than they were the visuals, with the standout pieces being the anime cutscenes and more detail focused on the areas, backgrounds, and bosses as opposed to the characters and enemies themselves, which were tiny by comparison; also, what made these A-RPGs unique were the fact that all the action was being surveyed inside a pretty-looking frame with the HUD below it.  Nihon Falcom decided to give Ys V more breathing room by excising the frame and filling up the whole screen, with a different-looking HUD as a whole.  And because there was more breathing room, the character and enemy sprites got bigger and a little more detailed in the process.  I'm sorry, I don't mean for this to be a comparison review, but it's hard not to notice (particularly for the time it came out), but the visuals are good to say the least.  Each area is designed with a slightly different design that for the most part they stand out; and they were done in such detail that wasn't seen in previous Ys outings before.  A few areas incorporate a style that involves grain and some indoor areas have a distinct look where details are so similar that navigation requires being careful.  The villages, forests, battlefields, deserts, falls, caves, bridges, ports, and dungeons all look good; and some have a nifty effect going for them from time to time (such as shading effects during the forests for a clever shadow effect, dark rain in this port-ridden area, and a wavy effect in the desert portion where sand is also flowing in the air).  Some of the more powerful magic elements look wonderful when seen in motion; like the heavy boulder or the fire burning around.

 

Lunge

The character designs are decent, as are the animations; even though I admit that some of them look rather cookie-cutter.  Adol's walking and fighting animations are smooth (though I'm still baffled that his posture and various animations are eerily similar to those of Remeer's from Brain Lord; man, I need to review that one day), as are the NPCs' design and animations as a whole (some even have personality, and the good news is: the left and right sprites are different instead of copy-paste).    =)  The myriad of enemies you face have good designs and animation, such as a wasp that disguises itself as a flower until you approach it, flaming heads, evil gnomes, headless warriors, skeletal warriors, Treebeard's spawn, and more.  The boss designs are big and towering, for they're very menacing in look and style.  Now if there's one downside to the visuals it's this: the clipping is atrocious.  It makes me wonder if it was looked at before release; there are moments when if you're near (or rather, in front of) a pillar or a set of stairs and use your sword near there, the front fourth or third of it pops up when it should be obscured.  The water effects are nice, but they don't really look all that polished (in fact, it appears a bit choppy).  A few areas look surprisingly rigid, and sometimes the rigidness tends to make things look equal so you have to pay attention in order to locate stairs or doors.  But aside from these blemishes, there's nothing all that wrong with the visuals.

Such a deadly adversary

I've only experienced Ys V Expert (so I can't make a comparison) of the two, but the main thing I looked up about it was that the original pre-Expert version did not supply enough challenge to satisfy gamers (almost makes me wonder how easy it was exactly).  Ys V Expert has got a decent amount of challenge, but it's not a hard game per se.  It does start out hard, but it gets easier as you find better equipment and level up.  Aside from adjusting to the sword-attack techniques early on, there are elements that will keep you on your toes.  You'll notice that whenever you kill a certain enemy they'll leave behind special gems and jewels which you can trade to merchants for money.  Yes, you do not earn money by killing monsters (but you do still get experience points)!  Man, this fifth Ys venture sure likes to be different from the rest.  It took me awhile to realize that, but once I did I became accustomed to it just fine; trading's especially useful as they go for quite a bargain and there will be equipment that is costly near the end.  What I find neat is how you can level up not just your sword but your magic as well (if you do the latter, your health will be completely refilled, and if you do the latter your magic will completely refill itself; a little similar to how it occurred in Secret of Mana).  In the inventory you can store up to ten of each helpful item, whether it be herbs, remedies, and magic restorations, so it's a little helpful and convenient that way.

Even though it's not a sidescroller like the third Ys, Ys V is surprisingly linear for the most part (though up until you go to Kefin, you can backtrack to your heart's content).  Of course, there are forking paths in certain dungeons, but a lot of the time it's apparent where you have to go next.  A lot of the safe areas are easy to explore, and there are some dungeons where navigation is a requirement.  There is this underground dungeon later on which is designed like a maze so different stairs will lead you to different parts of the area, and while it's not necessarily unnavigable, it is a bit frustrating in terms of design and size (or at least, until you have the paths memorized).  The bosses cannot be fought with offensive magic, so you'll have to dish out the physical attacks yourself (a la Equinox).  The bosses offer a decent challenge (some are easier than others), and many require a good strategy to take them down (even though the core spot is the same).  But with all these changes that were made, can you still save in any part of the game (save for boss battles)?  Yes,... and no.  You do restart at the last portion you saved in if you lost a life, however if you wanted to continue your progress after a prolonged wait you'll have to save your game at an inn.  That is just something that keeps you on your toes.  This isn't anything major, but there are a couple moments with slowdown.

I liked the first four Ys games a lot (even the third, despite some of its issues; the fourth game I believe is the pinnacle of the series) and consider them to be fun adventure games.  So what does that make Ys V?  Well, that really depends on your perspective on this game.  For me personally, I view it in two categories: as an A-RPG, it's good; as an Ys title, it's a mixed bag.  While it's nice for the series to go in a different direction straying far from the predecessors' formula trying something new, it ultimately becomes its own undoing as it ends up feeling just like any A-RPG in the genre (I know that it's a bad thing to say, but that's just my observation for today's game), which may probably have turned off loyalists of the previous four Ys outings at the time.  I haven't seen many reviews of this game beforehand (which gives me the impression that this fifth iteration wasn't that well received), which made me feel a little apprehensive of it even though I really wanted to play it (ever since I saw a YouTube video of it back in '08 or '09 I think showcasing the intro and its demo sequence with Adol).  Despite the plethora of changes however, there are elements from past titles which were retained: Adol still walks fast and has his health fully refilled as soon as he defeats a boss, the boss disintegrates in a rainbow-like fashion, chests have to be opened while you're in front of them, the Metroid-like "found item" tune plays when you open a chest with a vital item, some items can be found by walking in certain gaps, Adol's health gradually fills up as he holds still in specific areas, a few sounds sound fairly Ys-like, there are still some anime cutscenes, and one of the ending songs is a remix from a previous installment; so really, it's not entirely devoid of these elements.

"Hey, you look like that guy from those Xak
games, do you know that?"

The dialogue box is different but it's not too bad a thing really (even though I miss the dialogue boxes overlapping each other like in the last games), for you have a choice of up to four different skintones to apply to it.  =)  The visuals are good (even though some models are cookie-cutter and the clipping issues are bothersome), the music is good (even if there's no rock present in it), the gameplay is good (even though it's a bit reminiscent of Brain Lord but with more polish to me), and the boss fights are good (even though they have the same weak spot despite differing strategies).  I finished Ys V Expert in about ten non-consecutive hours in roughly under two months' time (with some breaks here and there; I did look up a guide just a few times) at (sword) Level 19 and (magic) Level 15.  I liked this installment enough, and thinking about it now it was significantly better than I expected to be beforehand... buuuuuut out of the five Ys games that I played, this one was the weakest entry for me (not because it's bad, but because it tried to be different from the series' formula even if it meant that it played like any other A-RPG, and that's a shame because there's so much good going for it).  Still, for what it is, it's a fun solid adventure game; I thought it was interesting that depending on the sword you used Adol could either lunge at, swing at, or swipe at enemies (that I find a bit clever).  There's a fun Time Attack mode if you beat the game the first time where you must battle a series of bosses back to back, each with a predetermined level (and equipment); and it makes for a good replay value.  Another element I thought was nice was the fact that during any time of the game you could change the color of Adol's shirt, armor, and later on his hair; it adds some fun to the package, though that's not to say that there weren't any fun moments during the story, there were.

 

So, who would like this game?  That's a tough call to make.  If you want to play an adventure game that offers a lot of entertainment even if it has some issues, it's not bad.  If you're attached to the structure that was set from the last four games but expect it to be here, you may not like this game so much.  If you liked any of Adol's adventures but could care less if it was set up differently or not, then this adventure will be right up your alley.  It may have some issues, but the good outweighs the bad as far as I'm concerned (at least give the developers some credit for trying).  If you can, import it; you may find Ys' Super Famicom swansong to be an interesting experience regardless of whether you end up liking it or not.  After it came out it was the last game in the series until 2003 when Nihon Falcom surprised everyone by making Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim (too bad I don't have a backwards compatible PC; good thing I own a PSP, so I can't wait to try that one some day).  If it took the fourth Ys (of any kind) two decades to be officially released in the West, chances are the same may apply for Ys V.  =(

 

 

My Impressions: 8.0/10

( >'.')>TO EACH THEIR OWN<('.'< )

P.S.: Adol sure has got a nice, long green cape on him that you only see in the cover and the cutscenes.

 

P.S. 2: The reason I don't feel so highly about Insidious: Chapter 2 is because of many reasons.  I didn't mind the first half of it, but once it got to the second half the movie started to lose its effect on me (not to mention there are moments that completely ruin the first movie for me) so it was no longer frightening at that point (a couple moments made it enter self-parody).  I think it was a mistake for James Wan to direct this after having done the superb The Conjuring months prior, and the fact that this is the last horror endeavor he'll ever be involved in makes me feel a bit sad because he's obviously a talented director but this movie was just mediocre and disappointing to me.  =(

 

P.S. 3: Speaking of Xak, I heard it's a cross between Zelda and Ys so I'm very curious about playing Xak: The Art of Visual Stage for the Super Famicom some time this year (plus, I saw a gameplay video which immediately had me sold).  =)  I also wouldn't mind giving the Ys clone Lagoon for the SNES a go one of these days, despite its less than rave reputation among gamers.

 

P.S. 4: I've always loved the "fin" message at the end of most games.  =)

 

P.S. 5: Because of how this game was structured, I'm more than inclined to christen it Brain Lord 2.0.  =}

 

P.S. 6: I found out about Popful Mail by accident (as I was trying to remember what the ending song sounded like through YouTube while making my review), and I'd like to play it one day.  I liked Ys III: Wanderers from Ys, so I can't imagine myself not liking that one (as it turns out that it's a sidescroller).

 

P.S. 7: Years ago when I heard that Adol wasn't going to shove enemies in the DS remake of Ys I & II, I wasn't certain how it was going to work.  Having played Ys V, my doubts have been put to rest.  =)

 

P.S. 8: Go see The Lego Movie!  'cause "everything was awesome!!!"  =D

 

Thank you for reading, please leave a comment and let me know what you think.  Take care!  =)