Welcome to another edition of Playing With Power. The review article that looks at all things Nintendo Entertainment System. July is upon us, and the heat is definitely coming down. And with the warm weather already taking full effect, it’s definitely time for a cold game to cool things down. Which makes the game of the week all the more fitting. It is also one of the rarest NES games on the console. Let’s look at Snow Brothers.
YEAR OF RELEASE: 1991
PUBLISHER: Capcom
GENRE: Action Puzzle
Not too much information on the history of Snow Brothers. It was released in 1990 to arcade machines, and later to video game consoles. It was a clone in many ways of Bubble Bobble, a wildly popular game released in 1986. Of course, with the success of Bubble Bobble would see many clones, one of which being Snow Brothers.
It would be released to the NES in 1991, as well as other ports on the Amiga, Sega Megadrive, and the Game Boy. Due to a limited release, the game has since gone on to be one of the hardest to find titles on the NES, with copies usually going into the hundreds on ebay. But is the game worth the money?
COVER STORY
A well drawn and action packed cover. We get our two heroes in the Snow Brothers throwing snow balls, and facing off with many of the enemies in the game. If that wasn’t eye catching enough, it of course is bedecked in the beautiful purple Capcom border. Capcom’s covers for the most part were great once they added the border, and this one is definitely another fine example of that.
STORY
The kingdom of Whiteland is ruled by two brave princes named Nick and Tom. But the peace is shattered when the demon named King Scorch would lead the two princes to the mountains, and used his magic to transform the two brothers into snowmen. With the princes unable to protect Whiteland, King Scorch takes over, and captures Princess Terri and Princess Tina. It’s up to Nick and Ton to return to their kingdom, and stop King Scorch and his army.
GAMEPLAY
Snow Brothers is a 1-2 player co-op action game. You control Nick and Tom as you must go through 50 levels and defeat the many enemies in your way to rescuing Princess Terri and Tina. You move your characters with the D-Pad, jump with the A Button, and shoot with the B button. Your main weapon is snow that you shoot at your enemies. This will turn them into giant snowballs. You must then roll the ball to the bottom of the floor.
To complete a level, you must defeat all the enemies in the stage to advance. These start from simple red grunts, but soon gets tougher with enemies that breathe fire, enemies that turn into spinning tornadoes, and more. Your snow brother can only take one hit of damage, meaning that you have to be strategic at times as to how you handle enemies. But you have to be quick, or a pumpkin enemy will show up and try to kill you. You can’t destroy it, making it all the more tricky.
After nine floors of basic grunt enemies, you’ll face one of the bosses in the game. These will take the most strategy to survive in as some can be pretty tough. Especially the bird bosses at the end of world three. After completing a world, you can try your hand at a bonus slot machine, which can earn you extra lives and bonus points. You start with three lives, and only get a couple continues.
If you manage to hit any enemies with a rolling snowball, they will drop items. These range from candy and sweets that add bonus points, to magic jars that will increase your powers. The red potion jar will increase the speed of your player, the blue will make bigger snow shots which will make enemies become snowballs faster, and yellow bottles will increase the firing range, which is a useful combo after getting the blue bottle.
You will also find a special jar that will make your snow brother into a giant that can easily wipe out enemies on screen. Another special jar, will change the world to a gray area. You’ll have to destroy four weird blue orb creatures to spell out the word “Snow” and earn yourself an extra life. All of these items are of course random, so when you’ll find them in-game is different every time.
The game has simple controls, and for the most part isn’t too hard. Though there are a few bothersome issues with hit detection, making it easy for you to die. You do have several continues, but the game actually wants you to win without them to get the best ending of the game. Thankfully unlike Bubble Bobble, the best ending does not require two players, so if you’re going solo for this challenge, rest easy.
GRAPHICS
The game has some great graphics. Everything is well detailed, from the enemy sprites, to the level designs, to the snow brothers themselves. Considering this was Capcom in the 90’s, and they were fiercely becoming one of the best licensed companies on the NES, this should come as no shock. Their magic is shown in full force once again.
MUSIC
The game has some okay music. Nothing as amazing as other Capcom games, but the peppy and energetic soundtrack is very fitting of the type of game this is. The best song in the game is the last world theme, which does give off a great tone that this is the end of the game, and everything is at stake.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zf0wuv1n-oA
OVERALL THOUGHTS
Snow Brothers is a decent Bubble Bobble clone. And I do mean clone. So much of the game’s basic gameplay elements are taken straight from Bubble Bobble. From the plot of changing two protagonists into creatures, the levels and objectives, the indestructible enemies that can harm you if you take too long, and even the multiple endings. But with all of that clear, it’s still fun. They do have some neat innovations, and the game looks and sounds great as well.
It’s a shame the game has become a sort of lost relic on the NES. It’s definitely something that people who are fans of the original Bubble Bobble would enjoy if you want a quicker fix on a classic title. So if you can find it, especially on the cheap, pick it up. It’s definitely not a game to leave out in the cold.
RATING: Thumbs Up