Rod-Land

Rod-Land

released on Dec 31, 1990

Rod-Land

released on Dec 31, 1990

The player(s) control one or two fairies called Tam and Rit armed with a magic wand (rod). Following the concept of Taito's Bubble Bobble, the rod doesn't kill the monsters directly, but only leaves them immobilized, crying. To kill them, the rod can grasp them in a magic force-field and the player can smash them down over her head until they disappear and leave a power-up behind. Each level is only one small screen composed of monsters, platforms, ladders and, later, tunnels. Unlike other games of the genre, the players can never jump, but have to use ladders. They can conjure one custom ladder above or below them in order to go to the appropriate platform. There can be only one such 'custom' ladder; therefore if the fairy summons it again, it will disappear from its previous position in order to appear again next to the fairy. This can be beneficial for the player, if a monster is climbing that ladder to approach her. The fairies' quest is to rescue their mother, trapped in a tower. In the sequel (part of the original arcade machine) they must venture into a pyramid, to stop an evil demon that is building a mobile fortress. The spirit of their departed father "guides" them at a couple of points. The ending implies that the demon in the pyramid was somehow responsible for their father's death.


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It's like Bubble Bobble but with cute anime tots and ladders! How dare a game this cute be so insanely difficult!

Bon petit jeu de plateforme mignon tout plein, dans la lignée des Bubble and Bobble, Snow Bros & Tumblepop. Rod Land sait séduire grâce à son charme et à sa personnalité propre. Mais si son univers semble tout doux et paisible aux premiers abords, sauver la maman des deux héros ne se révèlera pas être une sinécure pour autant. La difficulté s'accroît rapidement au fur et à mesure que l'on gravit la tour et que les tableaux s'enchaînent sans pour autant qu'elle ne devienne rédhibitoire. Les deux héros sont armés d'un sceptre magique pour se défaire de leurs ennemis et ont la possibilité de poser une échelle ou bon leur chante pour évoluer de plateforme en plateforme ou esquiver les menaces. Le concept est simple, accrocheur et vite pris en main en bon jeu d'arcade qu'il est.

This is a fairly good conversion of the Amiga game with a fantastic OST and a few added quirks. You're now able to do short hops off ladders, and the ladders themselves are even able to collect flowers for you if they make contact. There's also the option to have an actual jump, but it's not really needed in my opinion. There's also a few additional levels that attempt to turn the game into a more traditional 2D platformer for their duration, but to be honest, they were the weakest part of the experience and (again) not really necessary. You also get the option to continue this time, and you're going to need it as the bee enemies are twice as fast and now shoot a barrage of missiles from their stingers. The last proper stage is pretty much a middle finger to the player as there are around eight of the bastards that proceeded to consume all the lives I'd been stockpiling like tic tacs. Still, had a great time although Amiga is still the way to go for this game to me.

Hot take- this game is far more enjoyable than Bubble Bobble.

It's cuter, has more responsive controls and a better gimmick. Your character's ability to build and eliminate their own ladder to get around the board is a creative double edged sword. On one hand, you'll be able to get goodies you otherwise couldn't but you can also fuck yourself over since the enemies can also use ladders. Fortunately this game isn't overly punishing even if you only get one continue (on Amiga anyways...the NES version gives you a handful of credits), and it's easy to rack up extends once you figure out how to manipulate the rotating orbs during the "EXTRA game" segments.

The only real downside of this game is that it's missing the second quest from the arcade version. Other than that, it's great and fully worth your time if you need a dose of squee-adorable puzzle platforming.

One of the greatest Amiga games ever. Not as punishing as most games of the era and the controls are really fluid making it one of the most fun Amiga games to play still.