The NES at its absolute best.

StarTropics is a game that, while still suffering from a bit of its console's tropes, such as the pretty ridiculous difficulty, feels so ahead of its time. It's focus on story, including some really charming dialogue, it's focus on sprite work / music, including some of the best of both for the era - everything about this game is just kind of mind-blowing for something that isn't talked nearly as much some of its peers

Obviously, even if it's a really good one, it's still an NES game - but I had a blast with Startropics.

8/10
Game #22 of 2024, April 7th

What a game.

Impossible to comprehend the universe where Nintendo developed a game specifically for Western markets in the first place. Very easy to comprehend the universe where they eventually decided to never think about it again aside from throwing us the bone of putting the first one on Virtual Console. It's not like I'm demanding a series revival though: the things that make Startropics interesting largely don't happen in the current Big Gaming space, and nobody actually like gives a shit about the rich lore. What makes Startropics special is that it's just on something slightly out of step with most of its contemporaries. I think this is why when I saw it in Nintendo Power it looked like the coolest shit.


Because, y'know, games with a zoomed out "adventure" perspective vs a more intimate "action" mode were not unknown to me at the time. Zelda 2 is specifically a better comparison to make than Zelda 1 for ST in my mind both obviously both are in the conversation. Dragon Warrior is likewise a very popular game that had much more robust "talk to villagers" gameplay. What stands out to me here is more the structure of the game itself. If Zelda is about exploring a space. So's Dragon Warrior. Startropics is about having an ADVENTURE. Like the cartoons you were watching on Saturday morning. Mike Jones has an overarching goal, and he's largely responding to things that happen to him on the way. Dealing with local problems, getting little pieces of the mystery, that kind of thing. And I mean yes the "mystery" is stupid and revealed almost entirely in one late-game dump but it's about the journey. It's about the feeling that anything could be around the corner. The game is linear, but it feels vast, and interesting story beats are always happening in either the adventure or the action modes.


And honestly, it helps the interplay a lot that Startropics is freakin' difficult. It's slow-paced and it's deliberate and you can learn it but any little mistake can get you absolutely diced. Then when you complete an area you get a big fanfare and your pointless score meter goes way up and you're back on the overworld, where you get to talk to some guys and get little jokes and explore for hidden life-ups if you want. The tension differential is so strong, and it's a great cool-off. By the time you get to another dungeon level, you're a little stronger in a permanent way, from life or weapon upgrades, and you're ready to start the whole process over again.


Visually, and in terms of audio, there isn't a ton of variety in the locations, but mechanically I was actually surprised at how distinct the areas feel. There's almost always SOMETHING new in any given dungeon. Enemy types, powers, sub-weapons, or something else that gives every stage a distinct gimmick. The puzzle-action ratio is deceptively weighted toward puzzle, and finding the right way to use your tools to make an encounter manageable is ususally what got me through. This, too, feels like a very deliberate move to put us in a space distinct from most of the obvious points of comparison for the game, putting you in the shoes of a clever kid rather than a mighty warrior, that one subweapon that turns you into a teleporting martial arts master notwithstanding. I'm not likely to play it again too soon, but I'm curious if the sequel's decision to remove the deliberate, grid-based movement turns it into more of a straightforward action game.


Anyway, Startropics is really cool. I don't think we're likely to see anybody attempt to make a retro throwback indie title of it any time soon. I don't even know what it would like like if you did. Maybe something without a part where a guy in the South Pacific is like "oh yeah dude the British. Love those guys. So heroic." I think we'd all make fun of that now.

When it comes to discussing long forgotten Nintendo franchises, there are plenty of usual names that will pop up time and time again. Kid Icarus, Punch-Out, F-Zero, Chibi Robo, and the Mother series are just a few examples of franchises that have grown quite the following over the years, but don’t get any new games whatsoever when compared to Nintendo’s other money-makers like Mario, Zelda, Pokemon, Kirby, and others. But when it comes to those games, at least they still get some recognition from Nintendo, such as with references in other games like WarioWare, and plenty of representation into Super Smash Bros. Some franchises don’t get that kind of recognition, and are forever stuck in the past as being a small series that Nintendo tried once or twice, and then never get brought back ever again for any kind of reference or new game. One such franchise that has had this fate would be with Zelda’s short-lived sister series, StarTropics.

I had wanted to check out StarTropics for a very long time, as I was wondering what the game was all about, and why Nintendo left it to die after only two installments. I had played it for a little bit in the past, but since I am a fucking idiot, I couldn’t even make it past the first town, as I didn’t know I had to talk to every NPC. But now that I am older, smarter, and much more stubborn, I decided to fully dive into StarTropics to see what it was all about, and now that I have fully finished the game, I can say that it is a pretty good time. There are several aspects about it that do bug me, and I definitely wouldn’t play this over something like Zelda, but I would definitely say that any fan of the NES should check it out at some point.

The story takes place after Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, where Jones has been abducted by the aliens at the end of that movie, and his long-lost nephew, Mike, has to go and save him… ok, no, not really, but that is basically exactly what happens in this game, the graphics are pretty charming, being very reminiscent of the original Zelda, while also having plenty of detail that gives it plenty of personality, even if a lot of the environments blend in together, the music is pretty good, but like with the original Legend of Zelda, there aren’t too many tracks, so expect to hear the same music tracks a lot, the control is good… but also pretty frustrating at points, especially when you are trying to walk around in dungeons, feeling incredibly restrictive and delayed, and the gameplay is inventive, yet familiar at the same time, combining different elements together to make a pretty unique package for the time.

The game is an 8-bit adventure game, where you take control of Mike Jones, the most bland and boring protagonist ever seen from Nintendo, travel to plenty of different islands and dungeons, take out plenty of enemies that will impede your progress, gather plenty of health items, tools, and additional weapons that you can use to help you out throughout your journey, and fight plenty of towering bosses that will put your movement and attacking skills to the test. For the most part, it is your typical adventure game for the era, and in many ways, it is pretty similar to the original Legend of Zelda, but in many other ways, it differs from that game, such as with the case of having multiple gameplay styles.

The first gameplay style is a top-down adventure perspective similar that of Final Fantasy, where you travel around to many different islands and villages, talk to people, gather information and items, and locate dungeons and caves. However, like with Gargoyle’s Quest, I feel like this perspective is unnecessary, as it only serves as a way to get you from Point A to Point B, and nothing more. Sure, there are optional things you can see and do in these sections, such as finding Big Hearts to increase your health, but that is about it, as it is mostly just about you reaching the next main point of the game. Despite this though, I will say I really like this style in this game, as it does have a lot of charm to it, and I like seeing all the different places you go and the characters you meet. Not to mention, I love how stereotypically American everything is, with all the islands having “cola” in their name, Mike being a baseball star that also plays with yo-yos, and having several phrases spoken throughout that you definitely wouldn’t hear anywhere else, such as “jamming bananas into your ears”. The only thing it is missing is about a dozen bald eagles, rifles firing off 24/7, and having all the characters being fat as fuck. If those things were in this, then it would be the true American experience.

The second gameplay style is found in the dungeons and caves, where the main meat of the game takes place. You traverse through plenty of these dungeons, using your yo-yo and plenty of other weapons to take out plenty of enemies, gather plenty of items to help you out, and either fight bosses at the end or activate something to solve puzzles in the overworld. That, or you just move onto the next section. Like with the overworld sections, I really liked these segments, and I found going through these dungeons and solving these puzzles to be pretty satisfying. With that being said though, I did find it to get pretty repetitive as I kept going, and while I do like the puzzles, a lot of them just involve hitting squares and buttons, with not too much variety in between. Then again, the original Zelda was mainly like this too when it came to dungeon designs, and I didn’t mind it there, so I don’t mind it too much here either.

Now, despite there being plenty to love and appreciate about this game, there are issues that do hold it back from being great. For one thing, the game is WAAAAAAAY too linear. Of course, that’s not necessarily a bad thing, and I don’t typically have a problem with linearity in video games, but for an adventure game, you would expect a world to explore, a sense of freedom, a taste of… well, adventure. But no, for the most part, you are just going about this linear path, having one destination to always travel to, with little to no side content in between. Secondly, this game gets pretty damn difficult as it goes on, and not even in a fair way. There will be times where you will be bombarded by enemies, with not too many options to move around or fight back, there will be plenty of rooms and pathways that will lead to traps and gimmicks that are meant to get you killed, and there are even signs that can take away the amount of lives you have! Because, you know, that is certainly fair.

And finally, one issue this game has that many not realize is that it is a guide game in the most literal sense. Most games can be beaten without the need of a guide if you just look around long enough, but with this game, you absolutely NEED one. For most of it, it is pretty linear, once again, so you won’t have that much trouble figuring out what to do, but in one part of the game, you do need a guide to get through. When you are talking with Dr. Jones’ assistant, he will tell you to “dip your letter in water”, and what he means by this is, if you bought a copy of this game when it came out, it came with a physical letter that you have to pour water on, and when you do, it will reveal coordinates you have to tell your navigation unit to proceed forward. This is pretty cool and all, and it makes you feel like you are part of the adventure, but let’s be honest here: you are most likely playing this game through one of its rereleases or an emulator, and even more likely then that, you probably don’t have that letter, so you need to look up the code in order to move on. There’s not necessarily anything wrong with that, but come on, Nintendo, what kind of ass design is that? You all are better then this.

Overall, despite some poor design choices and some intense difficulty, I still found StarTropics to be a pretty enjoyable game, and definitely one of the more stand out titles from the NES library that I am glad I finally took the time to play. I would definitely recommend it for those who want to see what other games Nintendo has made throughout their career, as well as for those who wanna play an NES adventure game that is not Zelda, as it will definitely be the type of game you are looking for. I mean hell, it’s no wonder this game managed to get a sequel…… in 1994…… for the NES…….. yeah, they pretty much sent that game out to die.

Game #364

Pros: Massive adventure with TONS of variety. You never really could predict what the game would throw at you next, adventuring across islands, travelling in a submarine, visiting an alien ship, it was all very adventure-y goodness! The music, great, as one would expect from first party Nintendo, but what I think I loved most, was how much character and humor, CHARM, was in this game. Coming across a difficult puzzle (and this game had some real tricky ones!) was always accompanied by something with personality and color, to keep you engaged with its world.

Cons: Some puzzles are a bit too obtuse, and you may need to go to outside sources to pass through them (there is the infamous hidden message in a note you have to dip in water to read... a note that was real, contained in the physical copy of the game, where you had to actually in reality, dip the note in water to read. And this is either a really cool thing, or a really bad thing, depending how you play the game).

What it means to me: It's not usual that an NES game can hold my attention all the way to the end, for days on end, but this game was one of them! I first really got into it and played it on the NES Classic Edition Mini, and really, it's probably the highlight of that entire mini console experience. I fully enjoyed my time with this game, and I consider myself a fan. Would LOVE to see the series return one day, and would love even more if it got some recognition in Smash Bros, like... Playable Mike Jones perhaps?? Maybe? Tough sell when the game never released in Japan, I know...

I heard of the reputation of Startropics as one of the hidden gems of the NES era: a title Nintendo made so specifically for american audience that didn't even made it into Japan (even though a japanese team made it).

Honestly japan missed out on it: Startropics is a treasure.
It's a game so different to anything I ever played, a title that combines so many different things and ideas into a package that feels unique to this day...

it's like a bizzarre cocktail of dungeon exploration, rpg overworld with NPCs interactions, environmental puzzle solving, stricht platforming, precise bossfights....

Many compared it with Zelda 1 and I will strongly disagree: the result of this mismash of ideas makes Startropics its own beast, with its own world, charm and overall identity.

Mike, the protagonist, is a weird character to control too: his movements combines the ability to use yoyo and other weapons for ranged attacks, with the ability to rotate and jump around while attacking and moving from one panel of the map to the other. This makes for a peculiar movement, stiff and hard to master... but extremely satisfying if you get the feel of it. Combine this movement and equipment with enemies of various patterns, and dungeons that fully encorporate this weird mechanics, and you got challenges that feel amazingly fun.
Ngl, the game feels kinda unfair sometimes: it's difficult in classic NES fashion, but to this tougher encounters often adds unclear solutions to puzzles, invisible corridors and even routes that will lead to death end without warning (I especially found funny the powerup that lets you get an extra life.... except when it takes a life away from you randomly)
I played this one with save states via the Switch NSO and I honestly feel bad for whoever tried it without those at the time.

In similar ways, the overworld exploration, the other main gameplay form of the title, is a curious blend of ideas. Sometimes it generates some really cool environmental puzzles, like the one with the Parrot in chapter 5, while in other cases is never clear why you have to talk to almost everyone in a town before the guard lets you out for good.

What the game excells at, and the reason why all of these oddness comes well together, is the presentation: the game already does something amazing for an NES title: dividing all of his levels in Chapters, adding cutscenes and more cinematic effects, creating complex sprites and portraits for the bigger NPCs, making towns and secondary character that can rival the ones from a FF town.
The setting is not just a tropical island but a whole dreamy world full of goofy dialogues and characters, always creative settings and events, and a charm that feels timeless. The game is famous even for how it breaks the fourth wall, thanks to the letter of Mike's Uncle, an extra paper that was sold alongside the NES cartridge at the time (let's just say this game did what Kojima made in the MGS saga, which is SO COOL for a NES game).

Startropics really feels like an adventure. You got ups and downs, but a continuous story that caught your attention and lets you keep going, due for either the really charming writing or the curiosity of the challenges ahead.

Definitely one of my favorite NES games. Some of the design choices can feel a little clunky and dated today, but regardless this is an incredible title to check out.

Thought it was a jrpg, but it’s a top down zelda-like with an over world similar to final fantasy with wacky dialogue and tone of Earthbound. Feels like America in the eyes of Japan. It’s all cola, dates from American history, banana cream pie and kids overindulging, baseball, Dr. Jones, big apple, etc. Made the game charming though because it felt very distinct although basic.

It upgrades nearly every aspect of the original zelda: controls, secrets, dungeon layouts and giving clues to players, enemy variety is pretty good, no reliance on having specific items to progress, it’s linear but has the allusion of openness, dialogue, music is very catchy but overplayed, etc. my favorite NES game as far as I remember. Although the original mario is amazing, there’s something about this weird and charming game.