In my quest to play every notable Famicom game to stay locked in Japan, perhaps the one I had hyped up to me the most was Murasame Castle. A cursory glance of the Japanese web will instantly reveal just how beloved this game was in Japan, with a tokusatsu created based on it of all things.
Well, I feel like I've sorta gained a reputation as the NES' strongest soldier around these parts, so it always feels awkward when I give an NES game a score below its average here. Roughly a week ago, I 1cc'd Gradius and made a review praising it for how it defied the boundaries of its genre and broke new ground even if it had some notable shortcomings; lately I've been engrossed in several games due to the academic factor surrounding them alone after all.
With Gradius I could overlook crippling flaws such as the lack of varied boss fights and enjoy it for its sheer ambition and how it helped shape the trajectory of the genre with its physics, but I feel like I'm in an odd spot with Murasame Castle. The mix and match of genres here is just alien to me. Takamaru initially moves at a very sluggish pace, and even with powerups he still struggles to keep up with the sheer variety of projectiles on screen to the point where beating every level became a matter of routing when it would be most useful to cast the shadow jutsu. The variety of powerups is rather meaningless because the fire is just straightup better than the other 2 combined, and the sideways hitbox also makes the 3 way shots unambiguously better than the quadruple shots. Basically, it feels like fairly little thought went into the game's core.
Did I still feel accomplished finishing the game, however? Yes. It took around 4 hours. Just long and difficult (barring the final boss who sadly was a cakewalk) enough to beat in a couple sessions and it has been a while since I drew my own maps to route a game which was refreshing. It also has Koji Kondo's best OST, if you ask me! I suppose I can see a bit of its DNA in my beloved Pocky & Rocky as well funnily enough. And hey, if this element interests you, several sound effects from it would be recycled in SMB3. I was very surprised to hear the screams when I shot the bosses!
I guess there's enough positives here I'd recommend it for those interested in experiencing more of the Famicom, and if nothing else it's a huge improvement on Zelda 1 in my book. However, I can't say it's in my list of must plays. Maybe if it had a Super Famicom sequel that built on the mechanics, core idea, and physics. Oh well!
Well, I feel like I've sorta gained a reputation as the NES' strongest soldier around these parts, so it always feels awkward when I give an NES game a score below its average here. Roughly a week ago, I 1cc'd Gradius and made a review praising it for how it defied the boundaries of its genre and broke new ground even if it had some notable shortcomings; lately I've been engrossed in several games due to the academic factor surrounding them alone after all.
With Gradius I could overlook crippling flaws such as the lack of varied boss fights and enjoy it for its sheer ambition and how it helped shape the trajectory of the genre with its physics, but I feel like I'm in an odd spot with Murasame Castle. The mix and match of genres here is just alien to me. Takamaru initially moves at a very sluggish pace, and even with powerups he still struggles to keep up with the sheer variety of projectiles on screen to the point where beating every level became a matter of routing when it would be most useful to cast the shadow jutsu. The variety of powerups is rather meaningless because the fire is just straightup better than the other 2 combined, and the sideways hitbox also makes the 3 way shots unambiguously better than the quadruple shots. Basically, it feels like fairly little thought went into the game's core.
Did I still feel accomplished finishing the game, however? Yes. It took around 4 hours. Just long and difficult (barring the final boss who sadly was a cakewalk) enough to beat in a couple sessions and it has been a while since I drew my own maps to route a game which was refreshing. It also has Koji Kondo's best OST, if you ask me! I suppose I can see a bit of its DNA in my beloved Pocky & Rocky as well funnily enough. And hey, if this element interests you, several sound effects from it would be recycled in SMB3. I was very surprised to hear the screams when I shot the bosses!
I guess there's enough positives here I'd recommend it for those interested in experiencing more of the Famicom, and if nothing else it's a huge improvement on Zelda 1 in my book. However, I can't say it's in my list of must plays. Maybe if it had a Super Famicom sequel that built on the mechanics, core idea, and physics. Oh well!