Welcome to another edition of Playing With Power. The review column that looks back at the greatness of the Nintendo Entertainment System. Fall is well under way, and the weather is starting to get quite chilly, I think a tropical vacation is in order. And I know just the game for the Job.
Year of Release: 1990
Publisher: Nintendo
Genre: Adventure
StarTropics doesn’t have too much of a history in its development, but the one major factor is that neither it, not its sequel “Zoda’s Revenge” ever got Japanese releases. Which is definitely odd considering that this was a game series made by Nintendo, and by Japanese designers. This does come off as very strange, as the style of gameplay that StarTropics provides would’be probably been pretty popular in Japan. The game was released in North America on December 1st, 1990. And Nintendo made sure to make this game feel more like an interactive adventure, but we’ll get to that in the review. While StarTropics wasn’t a super hit for the console, it still earned a cult following among NES fans.
Story
Mike Jones has just arrived at the tropical C-Island to visit his archaeologist uncle, Dr. Jones. However, upon arrival, he learns that his uncle has mysteriously vanished. Using his uncle’s submarine, the Sub-C, Mike has to travel from island to island to find out what is going on, and what evil force has taken his Uncle captive.
Gameplay
StarTropics’ gameplay is broken into two distinct gameplay elements. One is an RPG-esque style where you travel to different villages and areas, talking to everyone in order to progress the story. And the main meat of the game, which is a top-down action game.
The RPG-esque style is basic in its controls and look. You walk up to the villagers, press A, and they’ll respond to you. Unlike games where talking to all the NPCs in an area is optional, here it’s mandatory, which can be annoying since most villagers won’t offer too much in terms of helpful advice. Also in this gameplay style, you can find hidden areas, and heart pieces to add an extra heart to your health bar. And you’ll need all the health you can ger. Because this game gets hard fast.
But the main gameplay element in this style is having to use the Sub-C, your uncle’s submarine. Inside, you’ll be greeted by Nav-Com (who is designed to look like R.O.B), who will help you navigate your way through the game. As you progress, you’ll find codes that can help the sub do things like dive through currents, and traverse underwater areas. They become quite handy in later chapters.
Speaking of which, the game is broken into eight chapters. Each having a new challenge to overcome as you continue your search. In one chapter, you’ll have to rescue a baby dolphin from an evil octopus. Another chapter will have you search for a crystal ball in a graveyard, in order to be turned into a girl, giving you the ability to enter a women-only village. You’ll have to find a mountain hermit to wake the daughter of a village chief. You’ll even be swallowed by a whale, and need to traverse inside it to find a lighter that can be used to smoke up the whale’s insides and help you escape. And, of course you’ll eventually find Dr. Jones, and head into a UFO to battle the true evil of this game, the alien Zoda.
Which brings us to the meat element of this game, the top-down action elements. You’ll enter caves throughout the game. In them, Mike will square off with the creatures and monsters that plague C-Island. Your line of defense? a yo-yo you get from the chief in the beginning of the game. Now you’d wonder, why not a sword, or an axe? Because the yo-yo kicks ass, that’s why. Pressing B will fire it at enemies. It starts short range, but gets stronger with upgrades you earn throughout the game, as well as how much health you currently have.
You’ll find plenty of other weapons as you go along. Baseballs, baseball bats, bolos, and slingshots among others can help you stop enemies. However, unlike the yo-yo, the amount you can use is limited, as well as they will not stay in your inventory after completing a chapter, which is annoying. You also get other abilities, like a snowman doll that will freeze an entire area, and spike shoes that will kill all enemies on screen. Most of these items will need to be used wisely, as some will be essential in tricky areas. For example, in one cave, you’ll find magic rods that, when used, will reveal ghosts that must be destroyed in order to find the actual hidden areas in a level. Another example are monsters that can only be killed when their attacks are reflected by mirrors you collect.
As you can already tell, you’ll deal with plenty of puzzle solving, and quick thinking in every action level. You’ll do everything from avoiding giant bowling ball boulders, searching for paths that don’t lead to dead ends, or hopping from block to block in time before they vanish. You’ll have to be on your toes at all times, as you’ll always have a different challenge to overcome. You’ll go from caves, to a lava filled underground. An undersea temple, and finally the UFO at the end of the game. And this game can be notoriously hard, with tons of instant kills, dead ends, and other health depleting items. But you can find plenty of health restores, and extra lives. However, the extra lives can also be tricky, as they randomize the amount of lives you’ll get. You can even lose lives this way, so be careful.
The controls of the game are simple. The D-pad controls Mike in four directions. Since he controls more tank-like, you can’t move him in 360 degrees. B is your attack, A is jump. Select will toggle through your other weapons. And start pauses. In the pause area by pressing down, you’ll see there are the other collected items to select like your health bottles, and items like the snowman doll and magic rods.
Now, obviously you must already be deducing that these action elements feel a lot like The Legend of Zelda. Well, that’s how I think the game was intended in the first place. Hell, even the game select menu is exactly like the Legend of Zelda, all the way down to the three save files. Not to mention the health is in heart form. I believe the game was made to be more of a linear Zelda-esque adventure, with plenty of original elements, and gameplay mechanics than just another straight-up Zelda clone.
You’ll face off with plenty of perilous enemies in the game as well. Stock enemies like snakes and bats. As well as skeletons, mummies, weird ostrich skeleton things, and plenty of alien robots. There are plenty of bosses as well. From a giant snake, a giant octopus, and a giant ghost among many others. Not to mention the ultimate final boss in Zoda.
The game uses battery backup to save files. You can’t save at will though. The game autosaves after completing an action area, or completing a chapter.
I mentioned earlier about Nintendo’s attempts to add some extra interactivity for the game. Well, with one of the game’s puzzles you need a code to find Dr. Jone’s location. However, you don’t learn of this code in the game. The only way to get the code is if you have the actual note from Dr. Jones. If you bought the game new, you would get included with the game a letter from your uncle. If you take the letter, and immerse it in water, you’ll get the numbers “747”, which is the code you need. This is a really unique idea, and one of the cooler things I’ve seen done for an NES game. Of course the downside would be if you didn’t have the letter, or got rid of it soon after buying the game. I can only imagine how many people rented this game, got to this part of the game, and wound up stuck due to having no clue what to do next. So in that respect, while cool, it was a tad impractical.
Graphics
The graphics are great on this game. Granted, while the bulk of the top-down elements are pretty generic. The one shining factor to them are the interactions with some of the villagers and side characters. Some you’ll see face to face. They are all well animated, and each have interesting and unique looks. The action levels all look great, giving the feeling of being in a perilous area. The enemies and bosses are all designed great too. Not really much to complain about.
Music
This game has a solid soundtrack. They all give off a tropical feel. From the peppier overworld themes, to the mysterious sounding underground music. While the games doesn’t offer too much variety in the soundtrack. There are still plenty of catchy and memorable tracks.
Overall Thoughts
This game is an underrated gem. It’s one of the few NES games that really give you the feeling of a big adventure. The story is unique, the controls are excellent, and the music is wickedly catchy. The difficulty can be a turn-off for some, and the puzzles at times annoyingly vague, especially if you lack certain items (like a certain note). While it does borrow heavily from Zelda, it does keep it’s gameplay feeling fresh and original. This game also holds a soft spot in my heart because it’s the first game I bought in my collection. And even after acquiring 260 games, it’s still a game I’ll play every now and again. It’s a unique and amazing title to add to any NES library. If you’ve grown tired of other adventures on your NES, maybe it’s time to pack your bags, and take a little trip to C-Island. And don’t forget, to stop aliens from controlling your brain, just stick bananas in your ears.
Rating: Thumbs Up