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Game Review - originally written by Spinner 8
I thought I was good at side-scrolling games until I played this. Anyone who thinks they kick ass at side-scrollers needs to play this and be forever humbled. It's hard. Incredibly hard. This game is difficult to the point of Unfair. However, it still manages to be fun to play. There's a basic overworld, which consists of your Hero moving along predetermined paths to event squares, where you can have some fortune-telling old hag laugh at you, or buy items from a guy with Tourette's Syndrome, or go and get your ass kicked in one of the side-scrolling stages. I wish I knew what the items did, but I'm too lazy to find out. Well anyway, I guess this is your standard NES game in the same vein as Castlevania - you'll die frequently, hurl your controller at the TV and swear to never play the game again, and then you'll just try again the next day.
I thought I was good at side-scrolling games until I played this. Anyone who thinks they kick ass at side-scrollers needs to play this and be forever humbled. It's hard. Incredibly hard. This game is difficult to the point of Unfair. However, it still manages to be fun to play. There's a basic overworld, which consists of your Hero moving along predetermined paths to event squares, where you can have some fortune-telling old hag laugh at you, or buy items from a guy with Tourette's Syndrome, or go and get your ass kicked in one of the side-scrolling stages. I wish I knew what the items did, but I'm too lazy to find out. Well anyway, I guess this is your standard NES game in the same vein as Castlevania - you'll die frequently, hurl your controller at the TV and swear to never play the game again, and then you'll just try again the next day.
Great early Metroid-Vania. Reportedly made by the team who made the first Castlevania, it neatly fills the gameplay evolution gap between Castlevania 1 & 2. While Castlevania borrows from western mythology, this borrows from Japanese mythology for a Japanese audience. While not a stand out classic, it every bit deserves to be considered an entry in the growth of this genre. Recommended as the missing gameplay link between Castlevania 1 & 2. English translation patch was excellent.
this game is peak nes absurd enemy designs theres a flying Fishbone with a skull for a head in the very first level
An early Konami game, and it's decent. You traverse a world map but then go into side-scrolling sections, sort of like Zelda II, only there are no towns this time around. There are three first-person dungeons you have to navigate in which gameplay is completely different. This was probably more fun back in the day and I wouldn't recommend playing without a guide, but it's still decent.