SNES Game of the Week 118 - Clock Tower

[Snake]

Bishojo Senshi Sailor Moon, Score: C+

Basically Final Fight with Sailor Moon characters.  Oh, but they add a button-hold charge attack.  My go-to character is the lovely Sailor Venus, Crescent-O Beaaaammm-u!
Colorful graphics, lovely soundtrack and voice-overs  that does  a decent job of mimicking the TV anime's mood.  But playing it a few times is enough.  

[retr0gamer]

Sailor Mars is the correct answer.

[dsparil]

I'd go with a C too. Pretty much was Snake said. I'd also add that I think more play testing would have tightened up some of the problems it has e.g. it takes way too long for enemies to get back up. It's a bit too dull at the beginning but maybe a little too BS towards the end. The sequel, R, fixes up the most immediate issues although I'd have to replay it to see if the difficulty balance is better. There's also a Genesis "port", but I remember that basically being a different game with the same level themes. That one might be the best overall although it still has some little issues.

[excelsior]

• Publisher - Sony Imagesoft
• Developer - Ukiyotei
• Genre - Platform
• Initial Release - 17 July 1992

Your blood is pumping and a chill raises down your spine. You've come face-to-face with the most infamous pirate of them all, Captain Hook, the fiend who's kidnapped your children and sworn never to let them go. As Peter Pan, this is the fight of your life. Everything that came before - your deal with Rufio, your battles against pirates, even your soaring flights high above Neverland - are nothing compared to this moment.

  

  

[excelsior]

This was a rental for me back in the day, so my memory is on the vague side. As I recall there are a couple of issues. The hit detection is a bit off, and walking speed is slow, meaning it's always necessary to run, that feeling a little clumsy, though nothing that can't be adjusted to. Otherwise it's a pretty solid action-platformer. There's some weapon upgrades which allow you to shoot a projectile and you gain Peter's flight ability throughout, which both add more enjoyment to the gameplay. Stages have a good amount of verticality in them. As far as a movie licensed game, I would say this one is worth a play at least, although if I remember correctly it more generally follows the story of Peter Pan, than specifically the Hook movie. It does have music adapted from the film though, which is nice. For me, the bigger point of interest is that this game acts as something of a precursor to Skyblazer.

Ranking - C

[spanky]

Sorry, I didn't get to the Sailor Moon game! Been busy lately. It looks like a perfectly adequate rental, but I really don't like the casual walking animations of the Sailor Soldiers (Senshi? Scouts?).

However, I have played this! I remember renting the NES game and being pretty disappointed with it, but the SNES version, which I saw in magazines looked much better. I wouldn't play the SNES version until years and years later and guess what, it is much better! It has that warm color palette that I love about some of the best games in this era plus some really nice spritework and animations - I always love it when they animate hair and clothes blowing in the wind. The SNES version of the movie score comes off very nicely as well. It plays fine, maybe your jumps feels just a hair slow and floaty but I think that's by design. I can think of absolutely nothing bad to say about this game. It's a B.

[Snake]

Hook 

The game is a bit on the easy side.  I remember my friend got it new over the weekend, and we finished it in one sitting in a matter of hours.  But the controls and gameplay are tight and responsive.  It keeps fairy dust flight from being game-breaking by putting in a time-use limit.  The way your Robin Williams avatar jumps and kind floats at jump height makes for ease and fun maneuverability.  I just wish that you didn't lose the sword upgrade from a one-hit bump.  It's cool to see a few cameos of the actual characters, like Rufio and Thud Butt.  

Graphics are bright and colorful, and I kind of prefer the visuals to the Sega CD release.  Agreed, the soundtrack is a quality adaptation from the film.  

Short and sweet. Solid, but not addictive.  

Grade - B

[excelsior]

• Publisher - Konami
• Developer - Konami
• Genre - Shoot-em-up
• Initial Release - 3 July 1992

The year is 1993, and the changes in world history have been astonishing, with only seven years left before the beginning of the 21st century. Earth's people have lost everything, their hopes, their dreams, their work and their money. Revolutionary things are about to happen: Young boys hide amongst the fantasy world of their computers, ignoring the rest of the families. There is only Sushi or Curry to eat, the computerized refrigerator is often on strike and rumor has it that the Great Octopus is soon to arrive on Earth. This can only mean trouble. In a word, war!

  

  

[excelsior]

This weeks game is pure nonsense and all the better for it. For me, this was actually my first experience of the Gradius style of shoot-em-up gameplay, actually releasing in Europe, where Gradius III did not. Even Konami's international release strategy was nonsense! For me this resulted in many of these moments of parody being more iconic than their initial inspirations. Although now, having gone back and played the Gradius series the humour feels elevated, there's enough here through simple silliness to enjoy and appreciate. The game borrows stage and enemy design that was already operating at a masterclass and only makes it more interesting through greater personality. It also runs really nicely, which can't be said for the Super Famicom only follow ups. For me, this is the systems standout shooter.

Rank - S

[dsparil]

Oops, fell behind with Hook, but I can say that Parodius definitely is a top tier (S) game. It's actually the whole thing plus a bit more unlike the TG16 which is missing stages.

[retr0gamer]

It's a fantastic conversion of Parodius and he extras mean it's probably my favourite way to play the game. Performs a lot better than gradius 3 as well. I don't get why these came to Europe and not the US. Perhaps we got more Parodius and twinbee games because the msx had a presence here and the Parodius and twinbee games on that did quite well.

Edit, forgot my rank. Solid S tier.

[excelsior]

Added a poll for week 75's game. Next week we will be covering a port of an SNK grappler. Perhaps that will influence your choices. And yes, one of these selections is not like the others.

retr0gamer dsparil - tagged so you don't miss it.

[excelsior]

Checking those early votes. Are we pollin' or are we trollin'?

[vnisanian2001]

Who's that in your avatar now, excelsior? Kylie Minogue?

[retr0gamer]

Oct 8, 2023 22:05:36 GMT -5 excelsior said:

Checking those early votes. Are we pollin' or are we trollin'?

Always good to re evaluate something. Even if it is a 2D platformer with fall damage.