Retro Club - 8 & 16-bit puzzlers - The Bear and Badger

Moot_Geeza

retroking1981 wrote:

Not a bad game but probably just on the wrong side of 'Is it worth playing?'

I've played a couple of levels of each version, and I think I'm going to leave it there because retro's sentence is spot on for me. Before it was selected I had no idea it existed so I'm glad we played it, but it's just not quite worth the effort imo. Which is a real shame, as some of what it does is pretty good. I thought the visuals on both versions were decent on the whole, at times veering toward impressive - the shadow scenes between stages highlight how good some of the animation is - and some of the variations on standard platforming were well done. Shrinky bits, floodlight guides, bungee jumping (going by the YouTube walkthrough I watched now, didn't get that far myself). It's Earthworm Jim + MD Aladdin x Pitfall The Mayan Adventure, but via some of their wonkiest elements. A solid curio, but the key word for how it plays is 'fiddly'.

Moot_Geeza

I'll think of something today for March's game, assuming we're happy to move on, then offer April's selection back to one of you lot.

retroking1981

Yeah there are only three of us atm so I think we're good to move on.

It could get tricky picking though.

Already having played something picked or not having access to it could be an issue?

Moot_Geeza

I doubt anything I'd pick would be much of a problem for us three, will probably just go for something on the Sega/Nintendo 8/16-bit consoles. I'll offer a couple of options, then we'll see what takes our fancy. Monkey seems au fait with ROM hunting (as do Eric/Davy).

Moot_Geeza

I'm still in the mood for a platform shooter I think.

Some ideas:

I've only played Turrican briefly (Amiga), seems like a series that gets a lot of love. Segaboy obvs, so my pick here would be Mega Turrican?

I've not played much of Sparkster, and the two versions are quite different so we could do a 16-bit head to head?

Moot_Geeza

Alternatively, I keep reading that True Lies was actually a decent game.

monkey

Yeah apologies on MM in CS. I’m glad I played it because I’m a complete goon for that old school pixel animation but it played like an absolute pig.

Excluding the Saturn I think I’ve sorted out emulators for almost everything from 8-bit to last gen so any pick should be ok. Never played Turrican so happy with that. I played the two MD rocket knights last year but the SNES Sparkster is supposed to be almost like a third entry so I can give that a bash.

Moot_Geeza

I like the fact that we play all sorts tbh, no need to apologise.

retroking1981

Ok, I'm up for everything mention.

If it was up to me I'd go Sparkster head to head or True Lies.

nick_md

I swear I will try to take part in this at some point, Sparkster was great on SNES from what I remember, and I'm sure True Lies also scored highly in mags, although I never played it.

Moot_Geeza

You lot are no help narrowing this down. I'll pick out of a hat shortly.

Moot_Geeza

Actually everyone's mentioned Sparkster, so I guess that's the vote?

Done.

retroking1981

About half way through the SNES game so far.

It's good, not as good as Rocket Knight Adventures but neither of these Sparkster games were ever said to be.

Definitely better than the other two games we've played so far this year for me.

nick_md

What emulator are folk using? I may dip given the current situation.

Moot_Geeza

I'll probably play on PSP or retro pie. Can't tell you what emulators they're running though, retro kitted out both for me.

Moot_Geeza

Turns out I haven't got the SNES game on my retro pie, will have a look on the PSP later.

Played the first full level of the MD one. After initially recoiling at just how unpolished and budget the game looks in comparison to the first, I started to enjoy it. This could be pretty good.

Moot_Geeza

For reference I think the original is up there with the very best 16-bit action side scrollers and I'd have it ahead of Gunstar Heroes.

retroking1981

Sparkster (SNES) VS Sparkster (MD)

Before I get into these two games, for a bit of context, Rocket Knight Adventures is a stone cold 5/5 for me. It’s easily a top 10 for the Mega Drive and arguably Konami’s best game for the console. These games are sequels to that, and like many 16-Bit games, we were treated to two different games ala Aladdin and not just a carbon copy like The Lion King.

The graphics are great on both, but like most games for both systems the amount of colours on screen is quite apparent, and for a game as colourful as this it just gives the SNES an advantage. There’s a few more effects going on to, you know from the reflections in the water and enemies morphing from rocks in the opening level that it’s quite a looker. The MD game looks great but the SNES just edges it.

Sound is even tougher to judge, I really like both but I think for the style of the game the MD wins. That unique industrial metallic sound of the MD just sounds more appropriate to the action on screen. The SNES game sounds good but the MD music gets the adrenaline pumping more.

They both play very similar but they have slight nuances. In the SNES version the mechanics of the rocket, standard sword attack and even the HUD are all the same as RKA. It introduces a rolling attack with the L/R buttons which works well to. In the MD game the rocket is no longer charged by holding the button, but instead automatically charges after use, also in RKA and the SNES game a sonic boom type projectile is shot when Sparkster does his standard sword attack. They are minor quibbles, but it makes the SNES game feel more like the true sequel and the MD title the spin off.

Outside of the usual platforming action each game changes it up a bit. In the SNES game there’s a level where you ride on multiple metal ostrich birds running at a blinding speed, avoiding oncoming enemies, and a top down shoot em up level. The MD game has a giant robot level which is basically a one on one mech fight, an auto scrolling level and a maze level on an airship. They’re a bit hit and miss but serve as a nice change of pace between the main platforming.

So far so good, so now for the negatives. Slowdown, yes the famous SNES slowdown is unfortunately ever present here, and believe it or not Konami somehow pushed the MD's blast processing to far and even that version suffers, but admittedly nowhere near as frequent. This to me enforces the impression I had from the bland title screens that this feels a bit budget. This is still quality Konami stuff, but I think with a bit more polish neither of these games should have suffered as bad as they do in this department.

Then there's the Gems in the MD version. In the SNES game it’s the standard 100 equals a 1-up, similar but not identical to RKA. In the Mega Drive game, they trigger an item roulette. When you collect 10 gems a roulette in the HUD will start to spin and what it selects will drop from the sky. The items are; another gem (pointless), food for health, a flame orb (sword enhancement) or a bomb that inflicts damage. To be honest I found it added nothing to the game, as all of these items are scattered throughout the level anyway.

One thing to keep in mind for both games is having to play the game on hard to see the true ending, the SNES version takes it one step further however, on medium you only play 8 of the 9 levels. Then again the MD game has 6 hidden swords to collect from the 6 levels, basically a bit like the chaos emeralds in Sonic. So completing it without them also takes away from the accomplishment somewhat.

This segues nicely into one of the main differences in level designs, the MD levels are more open to exploration than the SNES ones. It's a personal preference but for games like this the linear the better imo. Don't get me wrong, it's not Meroidvania and it's still a nice simple game on the MD, but to get that true ending your gonna have to work a little more for it.

So what's my favourite of the two. SNES right? Yes... on the surface, but... no. There's one huge flaw in the SNES version that unfortunately I can't ignore... The Axle Gear boss fight for level 7. It's a one on one mech fight but overhead instead of the side on view in the MD version, and it's unforgivably hard!

I always play these retro games using save states as sparingly as possibly to get a true feel for the difficulty of the game and its use of continues etc. I spent a good half hour on this boss fight alone, found no tactic, didn't feel I was improving at all and only got past it out of sheer luck. This game has passwords and its a boss to a short and easy level, but none the less if I was playing without save states that half hour would have been 60-90mins of hell.

So yes, that's ironically the KO blow in this battle, MD Sparkster > SNES Sparkster.

But I don't want to sound to negative at the end here. Both of these games are good, very good in fact and there's next to nothing between them. Neither of them live up to Rocket Knight Adventures, but that's nothing to be ashamed about. I highly recommend both.

SNES - 4/5
MD - 4/5

My Reviews

nick_md

Nice write up. I never played RKA as I only ever dabbled/borrowed a MD as a kid, but I did play Sparkster SNES (was a SNES boy) and whilst I can't remember where I got it (I certainly didn't buy it) nor what the levels are, I do have it seared in memory as one of the best titles I played on the system; I can vividly see chunky sprites, metal airships and classic 16bit gfx. It's a game I should go back to tbh, and I should check out RKA by the sounds of it.

Moot_Geeza

Quality stuff retro.

retroking1981

What game for this month? Or we having a month off?

I've got quite an extensive list to pick from, only snag is it's quite limited in terms of system.

I have NES, SNES, Master System and Mega Drive with a sprinkle (4 games) of 32X.

Moot_Geeza

I haven't finished Sparkster yet but feel free to pick and I'll catch up.

monkey

Yeah same.

retroking1981

That's cool, no rush.

Looking forward to your Sparkster thoughts :-)

monkey

Ok finally finished Snes Sparkster. I played the two MD ones last year and this is what I wrote at the time.

I was expecting RKA to be ok and Sparkster to be better but it's the other way around. While Sparkster has a more advanced implementation of the jetpack (in RKA it's just like a one-use super jump, with Sparkster you can fire it off in mid air so stay airborne and rattle around the screen for as long as you want).
Sparkster has a slight case of the Sonic 3s though and goes a bit overboard a lot of the time. There's more annoying detours like robot boxing matches and crap novelty things that don't work as well as they might. RKA is more straightforward and better balanced as a result. They're both pretty good though. Lots of bosses, lots of opportunities to fly and bounce about and blow stuff up. The horizontal shooter sections work better than they've got any right to. Decent soundtracks and graphics throughout. I didn't realise the Snes Sparkster is a completely different game so may give that a bash.

And I did. It's ok. It's the third best. RKA is very good indeed. MD Sparkster is flawed but still mostly enjoyable. This is a strange mix of the two and it goes off in its own direction a bit as well. I played the two MD ones as they came out back in the 90s so it's hard to disentangle what I always thought about them. The original RKA was a revelation really. Smooth and quick and great looking and the characters got a bloody jetpack. Then MD sparkster came along and the jetpack was way more advanced. It didn't do the thing where you just fall down in a straight line after it runs out anymore. That was all I needed at that age. But MD Sparkster is more of a mess, way less tightness to the levels and design.
The whole series has a slight touch of the Sonic problem. You're capable of high speed but if you use it you're going to smack into something, miss stuff. The more you soup up the flying, the worse it gets. It's possible to get round this with clever level design and RKA doesn't really suffer too much.

Snes Sparkster, despite having the same limited jetpack as RKA, I always seemed to be stopping just short of some enemy and losing health from colliding, or falling into a spike pit. I feel like this goes off into more traditional platforming layout quite a bit as well. More traps and obstacles and the like. Some bits don't work and feel fiddly. There's far less distractions from the main game though. Only the one fighting robot section thank fuck. But as Retro says it really is a pain. Just pure luck and button mashing really. I spammed the save-states throughout that one, normally I try and do bosses without saving in the middle, but it was every few seconds with that one. Replay and dodge and punch and save. It would have probably been an insurmountable difficulty spike back in the day.

All this sounds negative but I still liked it, I'm just focusing on the differences. It carries over most of the good stuff from the series. The graphics are excellent. The soundtrack is probably inferior to the MD but still decent. It's probably a [7]. MD Sparkster is a [7] or [8]. RKA is a [9], skirting towards a [10].

Moot_Geeza

Nice, will get my act together now I've finished Doom Eternal. I wonder if the XBLA game was any good. Reviews suggested it was merely okay, which put me off buying at the time, but Castle of Illusion 2013 was received with a similar lack of fanfare and I quite enjoyed that.

retroking1981

Nice write up @monkey

Sounds like we're in total agreement, right down to the final paragraph clarifying that they're still good games despite the negatives.

Just moot left then we can pick another game.

Questor

Gonna get back in to this with the next pick now I am back here more regularly

retroking1981

Shinobi (Arcade)

First time I've played this, it didn't disappoint and has aged quite well for the most part.

Only real negative is some cheap boss fights, but that was standard for most arcade games of the time.

The series only improved from here, but I think this is still worth a play for retro enthusiasts.

3/5

Moot_Geeza

Just checked and my save state is still there for Sparkster, so all being well I'll finish it over the next couple of nights as I'm officially between games elsewhere. Pick away for the next game, it'll give me a kick up the arse.

Howdy, Stranger!

Categories