A port of Magic John
Totally Rad is an action game in which you play Jake, a magician wannabe being trained by the Master Magician Zebediah. One day, during his training, Jake is attacked by surprise by unknown foes who kidnap Allison, his girlfriend. Then, Jake has to save her and discover what lies behind that attack.
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Playing Through My Evercade Collection Part 15: Jaleco Collection
I mean jeez talk about being as late 80s/early 90s as you can get with a cover. Honestly at this point the NES was on its way and companies like Jaleco knew exactly how to get it good from the system when it came to graphics and sound design. Gameplay wise... Its a mixed bag.
Its not 'bad' as such, theres plenty of variety, the gameplay is hard but never gets to the point where im yelling bullshit at the screen... but its also not amazing either, the level design is a little mishmash with mostly 'fine' areas mixed in with the one or two annoying ones.
Controls are a little awkward and the heavily draining magic gauge makes certain situations way tougher than they need to be. That said, switching between forms to pass through areas is quite neat and theres often the odd moment of 'aha' as you realise what form would be best for what situation. Its a neat feeling
So once again, thank goodness for Evercade save states. Not a horrible game but certainly one that has a lot of this sort of era platforming tropes to make persevering through tough.
I mean jeez talk about being as late 80s/early 90s as you can get with a cover. Honestly at this point the NES was on its way and companies like Jaleco knew exactly how to get it good from the system when it came to graphics and sound design. Gameplay wise... Its a mixed bag.
Its not 'bad' as such, theres plenty of variety, the gameplay is hard but never gets to the point where im yelling bullshit at the screen... but its also not amazing either, the level design is a little mishmash with mostly 'fine' areas mixed in with the one or two annoying ones.
Controls are a little awkward and the heavily draining magic gauge makes certain situations way tougher than they need to be. That said, switching between forms to pass through areas is quite neat and theres often the odd moment of 'aha' as you realise what form would be best for what situation. Its a neat feeling
So once again, thank goodness for Evercade save states. Not a horrible game but certainly one that has a lot of this sort of era platforming tropes to make persevering through tough.
Good god, that has to be the most 90s title for not just a video game, but any THING ever, isn’t it? I mean, seriously, what’s the sequel gonna be called? Way Past Cool? Totally Tubular? Absolutely Righteous? Fucking Tits? Wait, no, my bad, they never said that last one back in the 90s… or at least, I don’t think they did. But anyway, not only does Totally Rad carry the most 90s title I have ever heard for a video game, but it also carries the most 90s setup for a video game at the time as well, being your typical NES platformer made by Aicom, the same developers as Vice: Project Doom, and being published by Jaleco Entertainment. Truth be told, I have been very hesitant to check out any product that has Jaleco’s dirty logo slapped onto it, due to me trying out some of their games on the NSO service, and finding out that they are not all that good. But then again, with a title like that, how could I not try it out at some point in my life? And now that I have played it, I can say for certain that it is a pretty good game. It doesn’t have too many unique features compared to other NES games, but there is plenty to love here, both ironically and unironically.
The story is your average “save girl” plot for half of it, and the other half involves stopping an evil society from taking over, which is as generic and 90s as you can get for an NES game, the graphics are very simple for an NES game, but they do look pretty appealing, with a lot of good designs for the characters and enemies, as well as horrifying designs for the bosses that will keep me up at night, the music is alright, with the tracks being good from what I could recall, but as I sit here right now, I can barely remember that many of them, so that must mean something, the control is what you would expect for this game, and while it works well for the most part, the shooting, particularly for when you try to charge a shot, feels pretty awkward to pull off, and the gameplay is what you would expect from a game from this era, but there are several additions that make it more enjoyable and unique from others.
The game is your good ol’ regular 2D platformer, where you take control of everybody’s favorite character of all time… Jake, go through a large set of levels in plenty of different locations (even if some of them do blend in together), take down all the enemies that stand in your way using the power of the energy balls that you shoot out of your hands, use plenty of magic spells to give you an advantage against your foes along the way, and take on plenty of definitely unique, yet simple enough bosses that will provide you a good challenge. For the most part, it is all your pretty standard stuff, but as proven by Vice: Project Doom, Aicom knows how to incorporate more into their games then just the checklist features, and thankfully with this game, there are two things that make it stand out: the magic spells, and the cutscenes.
As mentioned previously, the magic spells do help you out throughout the game, and there are plenty of them to choose from, giving you plenty of different ways to help you take on the challenges presented before you… which I only found out when I was very late into the game. For most of my time, I just used the default spell, which heals you completely, and trust me, that was plenty of help for most of the game, but then I discovered several other useful abilities that you gain throughout the game, such as an ability that allows you to freeze time momentarily to get more shots in, or even different suits like one that allows you to fly around in the air. Yeah, they may not be the most creative magic spells for a game like this, but they do lend a great amount of help in taking on the challenges that this game throws at you, especially towards the end. As for the cutscenes, they are, for the most part, your typical NES cutscenes, but the dialogue for these cutscenes contain some of the most forced 90s surfer lingo that I have ever seen, to the point where it is honestly great. It may be pretty cringe-inducing, but it also paints a clear picture as to what developers thought people in that era wanted, as well as what people actually could have talked like back then (I wasn’t around in the 90s, if that wasn’t obvious enough), so it is a joy to read in plenty of instances.
With that being said, it isn’t perfect by any means, or even that great. Like a lot of NES games at the time, the environments, enemies, and attacks, as a whole, are pretty generic, so if you were to just look at screenshots for the game that don’t show off any of the boss designs or terrible dialogue, you would assume that it is just another shovelware platformer for the system, and for the most part, you would be right. It is still fun for a good amount of it, but it isn’t gonna win over anyone who isn’t typically a fan of these kinds of games. Not to mention, there are plenty of points I found in the game where the level design can get kiiiiiiiiiiiiinda bad. It isn’t anything too atrocious, nothing on the same level as the first NES TMNT game, but there were points platforming could be pretty frustrating due to it, leading to some unwanted damage or deaths.
Overall, despite the generic look of the game and the poor level design in places, I guess you could say that this game is totally rad! (please unfollow me right now)....... but no, forreal, it is good for what it is, and while it doesn’t have too much going for it when compared to other similar games on the system, it was something that I was glad to check out after knowing about it for a long time. I would recommend it for those who are big fans of old-school platformers like me, but for everyone else, there are definitely plenty of much better titles you can choose from on the same system. Besides, Totally Rad is a stupid name anyway…………. but not as stupid as its original name, Magic John, which is way too close to being a game about Magic Johnson, which I’m sure we can all agree that NOBODY wants to exist. We already got Shaq Fu twice, we don’t need anymore shit like that from another basketball player.
Game #347
The story is your average “save girl” plot for half of it, and the other half involves stopping an evil society from taking over, which is as generic and 90s as you can get for an NES game, the graphics are very simple for an NES game, but they do look pretty appealing, with a lot of good designs for the characters and enemies, as well as horrifying designs for the bosses that will keep me up at night, the music is alright, with the tracks being good from what I could recall, but as I sit here right now, I can barely remember that many of them, so that must mean something, the control is what you would expect for this game, and while it works well for the most part, the shooting, particularly for when you try to charge a shot, feels pretty awkward to pull off, and the gameplay is what you would expect from a game from this era, but there are several additions that make it more enjoyable and unique from others.
The game is your good ol’ regular 2D platformer, where you take control of everybody’s favorite character of all time… Jake, go through a large set of levels in plenty of different locations (even if some of them do blend in together), take down all the enemies that stand in your way using the power of the energy balls that you shoot out of your hands, use plenty of magic spells to give you an advantage against your foes along the way, and take on plenty of definitely unique, yet simple enough bosses that will provide you a good challenge. For the most part, it is all your pretty standard stuff, but as proven by Vice: Project Doom, Aicom knows how to incorporate more into their games then just the checklist features, and thankfully with this game, there are two things that make it stand out: the magic spells, and the cutscenes.
As mentioned previously, the magic spells do help you out throughout the game, and there are plenty of them to choose from, giving you plenty of different ways to help you take on the challenges presented before you… which I only found out when I was very late into the game. For most of my time, I just used the default spell, which heals you completely, and trust me, that was plenty of help for most of the game, but then I discovered several other useful abilities that you gain throughout the game, such as an ability that allows you to freeze time momentarily to get more shots in, or even different suits like one that allows you to fly around in the air. Yeah, they may not be the most creative magic spells for a game like this, but they do lend a great amount of help in taking on the challenges that this game throws at you, especially towards the end. As for the cutscenes, they are, for the most part, your typical NES cutscenes, but the dialogue for these cutscenes contain some of the most forced 90s surfer lingo that I have ever seen, to the point where it is honestly great. It may be pretty cringe-inducing, but it also paints a clear picture as to what developers thought people in that era wanted, as well as what people actually could have talked like back then (I wasn’t around in the 90s, if that wasn’t obvious enough), so it is a joy to read in plenty of instances.
With that being said, it isn’t perfect by any means, or even that great. Like a lot of NES games at the time, the environments, enemies, and attacks, as a whole, are pretty generic, so if you were to just look at screenshots for the game that don’t show off any of the boss designs or terrible dialogue, you would assume that it is just another shovelware platformer for the system, and for the most part, you would be right. It is still fun for a good amount of it, but it isn’t gonna win over anyone who isn’t typically a fan of these kinds of games. Not to mention, there are plenty of points I found in the game where the level design can get kiiiiiiiiiiiiinda bad. It isn’t anything too atrocious, nothing on the same level as the first NES TMNT game, but there were points platforming could be pretty frustrating due to it, leading to some unwanted damage or deaths.
Overall, despite the generic look of the game and the poor level design in places, I guess you could say that this game is totally rad! (please unfollow me right now)....... but no, forreal, it is good for what it is, and while it doesn’t have too much going for it when compared to other similar games on the system, it was something that I was glad to check out after knowing about it for a long time. I would recommend it for those who are big fans of old-school platformers like me, but for everyone else, there are definitely plenty of much better titles you can choose from on the same system. Besides, Totally Rad is a stupid name anyway…………. but not as stupid as its original name, Magic John, which is way too close to being a game about Magic Johnson, which I’m sure we can all agree that NOBODY wants to exist. We already got Shaq Fu twice, we don’t need anymore shit like that from another basketball player.
Game #347
This game is a great little gem, if you keep ONE fact in mind: it's a game that BEGS you to use Game Genie. For one thing in particular: INFINITE MAGIC.
Why? Because the game very clearly wants you to use your magic spells. It's basically BUILT around that mechanic. However, the developers seem to have forgotten one important detail: your magic bar DRAINS, quickly, and there is literally NO way to fill it back up, in-stage. It only refills to full once you go to a new stage. Which is complete bullshit.
What they SHOULD have done, clearly, was include some kind of power you could FREQUENTLY get from enemies, which would refill your magic, thus enabling to use it more freely. But since they DIDN'T? Slap on that "Infinite Magic" code, and go to town! You don't even have to think of it as cheating, but rather, fixing a fatal mistake the devs overlooked. Even WITH "Infinite Magic", the game is QUITE difficult, and you can definitely still die.
But WITH magic that doesn't run out in two seconds? The game is a fun ride. WITHOUT, trying to just play this game with the basic charge shot? Not how the devs intended it to be played at all, and quite a chore. So just use that code, bro. It's, like, TOTALLY RAD!
Why? Because the game very clearly wants you to use your magic spells. It's basically BUILT around that mechanic. However, the developers seem to have forgotten one important detail: your magic bar DRAINS, quickly, and there is literally NO way to fill it back up, in-stage. It only refills to full once you go to a new stage. Which is complete bullshit.
What they SHOULD have done, clearly, was include some kind of power you could FREQUENTLY get from enemies, which would refill your magic, thus enabling to use it more freely. But since they DIDN'T? Slap on that "Infinite Magic" code, and go to town! You don't even have to think of it as cheating, but rather, fixing a fatal mistake the devs overlooked. Even WITH "Infinite Magic", the game is QUITE difficult, and you can definitely still die.
But WITH magic that doesn't run out in two seconds? The game is a fun ride. WITHOUT, trying to just play this game with the basic charge shot? Not how the devs intended it to be played at all, and quite a chore. So just use that code, bro. It's, like, TOTALLY RAD!
yeah, this... is pretty much what i remembered. this game was straight up irresistible bait to a kid browsing rentals in 1991 (at video tyme... before the blockbuster buyout). preceding the era of 'tude and following the most righteous triumph of bill & ted (rather blatantly), totally rad was very attractive.
it's a great-looking and great-sounding nes game, yet its gameplay is... er, marginally rad? it's not exactly bad. its platforming is utterly basic - more like contra than mario, though hardly on contra's level with its shooting. odd quirks like the inability to run up small diagonal ramps or keep your weapon charge while jumping make it more awkward than it should be. the magic system is... well, it's there, but it's very limited in that there are no replenishing drops - you have to manage your mp between checkpoints. you also can't use your heal spell while transformed, so you'll have to go into the pause menu to revert to your human form, and then pause again to heal, and then probably pause again to transform once more. yeah, there are transformations giving you different attacks and abilities - sort of a blend of mega man and super mario bros 3, or something, though not nearly as good as either.
a little bit rad and a little bit gnarly, but most of all it's... well, it's charming and even a bit odd, yet fairly standard, ultimately. worth a shot.
it's a great-looking and great-sounding nes game, yet its gameplay is... er, marginally rad? it's not exactly bad. its platforming is utterly basic - more like contra than mario, though hardly on contra's level with its shooting. odd quirks like the inability to run up small diagonal ramps or keep your weapon charge while jumping make it more awkward than it should be. the magic system is... well, it's there, but it's very limited in that there are no replenishing drops - you have to manage your mp between checkpoints. you also can't use your heal spell while transformed, so you'll have to go into the pause menu to revert to your human form, and then pause again to heal, and then probably pause again to transform once more. yeah, there are transformations giving you different attacks and abilities - sort of a blend of mega man and super mario bros 3, or something, though not nearly as good as either.
a little bit rad and a little bit gnarly, but most of all it's... well, it's charming and even a bit odd, yet fairly standard, ultimately. worth a shot.
totally bad