I was pleasantly surprised by this early NES puzzle game. The controls are easy to learn, but still force you to push them to their limit in the later stages. The layouts were often intriguing and it was a lot fun learning how to make it through the stages the more I played them.

My biggest complaint is that sometimes the difficulty can be a bit too overbearing. From mobs of enemies that show you no mercy, to points where I just sit there and say "Okay. How was I supposed to figure that out without a guide?" Despite this, I do enjoy the game for what it is.

Solomon's Key on NES – without a subtitle unlike its Master System counterpart, Oujo Rihita no Namida – is intended to be Tecmo's puzzle platformer, certainly drawing on the philosophy of Wrecking Crew (1985). The title is divided into a succession of levels, where you have to get a key and get to the exit door. Like Wrecking Crew, the game emphasises forward-thinking and a rather pacifist approach from the player, insofar as the entire title can be played without using fireballs. These spells thus appear as expedients that allow to ease a level by getting rid of a few enemies, if the pressure of time or of the platforming becomes too intense. In reality, the game does not encourage their use, as most levels have mirrors that summon enemies ad infinitum: a better solution is to try to trap them with the blocks our character can create or destroy, in order to manage space. The game's challenges alternate between planning, testing reflexes and the ability to think the level backwards, to perform all the manoeuvres necessary to reach the door. As such, it's not uncommon to forget to destroy or create a block, making the level impossible; it's this aspect that has earned the game its reputation of being one of the most difficult titles on the NES, so much so that the pressure of time and the length of the manoeuvres force you to rote learn all 48 boards. For the rest, Solomon's Key isn't bad: it's often clever, but the rigid controls and cryptic nature of some of the stages – especially the secret rooms to get the true ending – make for a frustrating experience at times. In the same way as Mighty Bomb Jack, who makes a cameo here, it's very easy for someone to miss the secret objectives, i.e. collecting the ever-hidden Solomon's Seals.

It has to be said that the NES port doesn't really help to immerse oneself in the story. If the Master System version emphasises the sacrifice of Princess Rihita and the need to save her, the NES version makes no mention of it and it is difficult to understand why you have to collect the pages of Time and Space to enter the final secret room: although the manual does mention that the princess is locked up, it never mentions that she has given herself as hostage to delay the monsters' invasion. Like many Japanese games, the choice of setting is a kind of Arabian fantasy – this was already the case in Mighty Bomb Jack. The references are blended together without really making sense: Egyptian figures are mixed with elements of Arabic literature, not to mention the mention of Solomon, more or less used for esoteric purposes, echoing the whole Kabbalah tradition. The catch-all nature of the environment and story prevents a real sense of immersion, unlike other titles whose focus was tighter and more intelligible – this is the strength of The Legend of Zelda, for example. Solomon's Key is certainly not a bad game, by virtue of its interesting propositions for the puzzle genre. But it still comes across as messy and ill-assured, sometimes too cruel or too conceited for its own good. For better or worse, Solomon's Key 2 (1992), which has a completely different aesthetic angle, drawing from a more childish setting, was formed from this formula.

If you enjoy thinking and faeries, you should play this. You control a wizard named Dana. Dana took the mundane yet practical path in wizard school - he can create and destroy blocks. Not the flashiest ability, but deceptively powerful. Obviously great for mobility and defense, but pulling the rug out from under an enemy and watching them plummet to their death is delicious. The puzzles that the developers squeezed out of the simple mechanics are myriad and sometimes God-cursing-ly cruel. But like, in a good way. It never feels hopeless. The levels have optional objectives, giving it something like an integrated difficulty selector. It's one of those games that only has one track playing on repeat, but at least it's a banger.

This is a solid game for it's time. It's gotta be the best Switch online game that was new to me when I found it (It's competing with stuff like City Connection and Eliminator Boat Duel, but still).

Another puzzle platformer that I beat recently and this one is better than the previous one that I played : Mystery Tower.

First of all, the character has a magic wand that can do multiple stuff and can jump. The main utility of this wand is to create or destroy blocks in the game. This is what makes the puzzle part of the game since you need to create your own platform to complete the level.

By the way, the way you complete a level is you first need to grab a key, and then reach a door. However, there will be a whole bunch of enemies and obstacles in your way to make the level hard. The puzzle aspect is really hard and the solution is not that obvious (I will admit that I used a guide for certain levels). You can eliminate enemies by making them drop from a high place or throw fire at them. To throw fire you can collect some flame vases and that will add a flame charge to your wand. The wand is neat because the items in the game can be changed with your wand.

The 2 main annoyances for me were the timer. I'm really not a fan of time limits in general, but when it comes to puzzle game, I prefer to take my time to grasp the situation and find a solution for it. The other thing is that there's no save file or password system to beat it. So you need to beat the whole thing in one sitting (or leave the console open).

With the wand system alone, this game is better than the previous puzzle platformer that I have beaten not too long ago (Mystery Tower). This one is easier to recommend to someone who like to think a lot, but the solutions are sometime really hard to find.

Game #39 of my challenge

This game is very fun but should have really had a save method or even a password system. I can't imagine how anyone beat this back in the 80s, but it's definitely a joy to play today with save states and the rewind feature of the Switch. Although some of the design choices are a little weird. I'm not sure if the game is supposed to be played this way, but there were many times when I had to stand on a block with fire but halfway off so I wouldn't get burned as well as make several pixel-perfect jumps by having to jump into or out of one block holes. It really feels like you shouldn't be able to do things like that but I managed to complete the puzzles that way so maybe I'm wrong. Again, just a very weird design choice if intentional. Still pretty fun though overall.

There is some undeniable wit in its very own premise of being able to create and destroy (part of) the map at will as a puzzle solver tool, however, the strength of the premise never finds a worthy match in the design of any level.

Sure, there are enough smart elements to carry the game, but as the levels are formed into puzzle boxes they are underwhelming, with solutions usually taking about 3 or 4 not that clever steps to clear and few rearrangements of expectations within the given rules, more often than not, it feels like it has nothing to twist even. The worries of not being competent in following the premise intelligence are confirmed by the addition of the action elements.

If the puzzle game is well thought out at its premise, the same cannot be said about the action. At best, it will give a few surprises through exploration or luck, but it will often feel as a detriment in the way to make the game look more interesting. Sure, it's important to add a timer to twist a bit more what a possible solution can be, but, apart from that, action usually will mean just a mere transit (regardless of its difficulty to execute) between solving a level and discovering a new one. It seems even more clear looking at how the levels are thought out in a very tight tile distribution, and realizing that the time limit is just a real time, and less intellectually interesting, number of movements limit.

To envision Solomon's Key as a pure puzzle game is not only possible but a revelation that there might have been a better similar game and that the level design always falls behind what the premise suggests. Thinking about Solomon's Key as an action game, it’s just too stiff to stand on its own, even the jump, the only action with some uncertain momentum, is an easy tile distance calculation. And I’m afraid most of the time will be spent dealing with the latter type of game.

When I learned Fire n' Ice was actually a sequel to this, I was excited to try this out. Fire n' Ice is an underrated classic.

This not as much. It's more a stepping stone. or block, if you will. You can jump in this game which is great, and there's a lot of cheese you can do here that you can't in Fire n Ice. Sadly for 100% the game expects this jank. And 100% is why the game is rated 2 stars: it's jut obtuse and while there are some hints you have to guess where an object is when you block and unblock a spot. Heck even in Any% one Key is like this. It's counter intuitive and gives off that Nintendo Power Game vibe. Especially on Level Princess don't get me started on that nonsense. It gets worse when you think about how this was intended to be played: You're supposed to clear the whole game in one sitting. No passwords no nothing, Game Over is back to the start if you don't know the Continue cheat which again, is a Nintendo Power Game thing.

The music is good but...its only one or two tracks. Compared to Fire n' Ice's 10. I get FnI is better but by this much? It makes Solomon's Key feel more like a prototype than anything, so I'm at least glad this was the building block for Fire and Ice.