In 1987, Disney animation would release the cartoon Ducktales. An animation show that was known as one of Disney's best and right before Disney was about to enter their "Disney Renaissance". The show involves Uncle Scrooge and his three grandnephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie along with a wide cast of outlandish and fun characters as they go seeking out treasures all while stopping evil. The show would end in November of 1990. Around this time was when I was born, so it's easy to say I just missed out on the original Ducktales run. It was something I just missed the boat on. If there's one retro thing I love that's also video games, cartoon shows like this would be it. Maybe one day I'll do a spin off blog to talk about these things but right now the focus is still video games... Speaking of...
In 1989, Capcom would release Ducktales on the NES, based on the cartoon series. Capcom was hitting strides after the success of MegaMan 2 that many gamers did and still to this day enjoy. Another fantastic game for the Nintendo Entertainment System, but I digress. Most times when we get a movie or show tie-in, it's met with mixed results. However I'm happy to say Ducktales is one that really stands out for how good it is.
The game has you playing as Scrooge McDuck who is trying to become the world's richest duck and attempts this by going across the globe and even beyond to collect valuable treasure. All while battling villains and other bad guys from the cartoon show.
The game is a 2D platformer much like Capcom's last hit with Megaman 2. However Scrooge uses his trusty cane rather than a blaster. Scrooge can use his cane much like a pogo stick to hop and stomp on enemies. He can also use his cane to grab objects that could be use for puzzle solving and he can use it as a golf club to launch objects at enemies who are otherwise too high up for Scrooge to attack. The game feels and runs great and has very solid gameplay and controls.
Scrooge Using his cane to get past rough spots and open chests
What makes Ducktales stand out from most platformers around this time I think is how progression is done in the game. It's more than just a get to the end, defete a boss, and move on to the next level. Ducktales is a little different. Since Scrooge wants to be the richest duck and he's going to need a lot of valuable treasures to do so. The game has more focus on exploration and finding these treasures that increases your money. Look at it as a score per say but this one matters way more as again, it's more of the focus of the game. There is more focus on game completion rather than just clearing a level and moving on.
Level progression is also much different and more interactive here. Instead of doing levels in order, you can pick what levels to pick and start with first, much like Megaman 2. You have five locations to choose from. The African mines, The Amazon, The Himalayas, Transylvania, and The Moon. All with their own puzzles and bosses to deal with, all while trying to find all the treasures each location has.
Scrooge is so rich he can just go to the moon whenever
If there's one legacy some gamers know of Ducktales, it's the game's awesome music. The Moon theme is known as one of the NES' most iconic songs and yes it's a great song, but honestly I think there's a ton of great music in this game. The theme for Transylvania is also another one of my favs. Here's not Moon theme in all of its glory.
One thing that also makes Ducktales ahead of its time was the game features not one, two, but three endings. A normal ending for simply beating the game, a bad ending for beating the game with $0 (can be done with a life restore cheat, but you pretty much have to try to end the game with 0$) and a good ending with Scrooge having at least $10,000,000.
Ducktales would end up getting rave reviews and sold well. The game would get a sequel in Ducktales 2 in 1993, well past the show's original run. The cartoon itself would get a reboot in 2017 and even makes a reference of the moon theme in one episode.
Ducktales (video game) would also get a remaster in 2013 with updated graphics, music, gameplay, and even cutscenes with voice lines from some of the cast of the original cartoon. The remaster would get positive reviews as well. Honestly both version of the game are fantastic and worth playing.
In the end, Ducktales is a great platformer for the Nintendo Entertainment System and might be one of my top ten games on the legendary system. If you're into 2D platformers such like Megaman or even Mario, you'll want to give Ducktales a try. It's a quacktastic 8-bit era platformer.
About a few months ago. Someone wanted to ask me a video game related question. It was from someone who was looking to giving the Metroid games a shot and asked it the first game of the series was worth trying or would it be better to skip to Super Metroid since that’s the game if the series everyone adores. I had to sit down and think about this as it got me to think about the original 1986 Metroid on the Nintendo Entertainment System.
I also have always wanted to do a themed month with reviews and got the idea of doing an “All NES November” where I only review NES games this month. Figured since I have had Metroid on the brain and it would fit the theme, what better time to ask the question of is the original Metroid worth playing today?
Metroid has kind of a strange history for me. I only found out mostly about Metroid ala Super Smash Bros for the Nintendo 64. I did not have a Super Nintendo back when I was younger or really knew anyone that owned Super Metroid or the original Metroid on the NES. So safe to say I missed the hype that was Super Metroid. Regret that now to be quite honest, but despite Metroid being a flagship face of Nintendo, I never really knew or cared about the sci fi game until much later.
Thanks to re-releases and whatnot, there was a time I got to play the original Metroid. Mostly learning about it due to the game’s secret ending if you can beat the game fast enough. The ending if course learning that Samus is in fact female. In the mid/late 80s this was monumental. Women can be badass too you know. Samus in later years is seen as a staple of strong female protagonist in gaming and I’m 100% all for that.
Metroid is what you would call an action adventure game of sorts. This is not my first rodeo reviewing a game like Metroid as I did with Castlevania Symphony of the Night. I always saw the Metroid games as “a rat in a maze” game. I’ll explain in a bit, but first lets look at the story.
Samus Aran, (that’s you!) who is a bounty hunter and part of the Galactic Federation who is sent an emergency order to defeat the Metroid, a predatory organism that feeds off life energy found in all living things. The Space Pirates plan to replicate these Metroids to be used a biological weapons to destroy all living things. It is up to Samus to go to the Space Pirates’ base on planet Zebes and destroy the Metroid and defeat the Mother Brain (The final boss of the game) who is the head of the Space Pirates’ operation along with some rough nasty looking bosses on her side such as the commander of the Space Pirates, a dragon like monster in Ridley (who has become a recurring boss in the series). So far there’s only one known Metroid but if the Space Pirates are able to mass produce and clone this single organism, that puts the entire galaxy in danger. It’s up the Samus to stop the Metroid at the source.
Metroid is a 2D side scroller shooter. Samus can jump and has a blaster on her arm she can use to destroy alien creatures and big bad monsters. The game starts with you going down an elevator. You have a blaster and a jump and… that’s about it at first. You can’t really progress far until you go to your left and pick up your first upgrade item in the morph ball. This allows Samus to turn into a ball and can fit in much tighter spaces than before. This sets up visual how Metroid has progression. Find yourself locked or in a room you can’t continue in? Likely chance you need to come back later until you have an item that makes you progress. This might be the very first case in gaming where back tracking is done right and doesn’t feel repetitive. As you explore, you might fall into a pit and have to find your way back up. You can also pick up energy upgrades to give Samus more health, and let me tell you, you’re gonna need it. Metroid has a password system depending on how far you get to pick you back up in the game.
Samus about to start her space adventure!
The magic in Metroid is the game’s sense of exploration and isolation. You never know what’s in the next room, or around the corner at first. You feel lost but in a good way. For its time, Metroid is quite impressive in pulling this off.
Metroid is the kind of game where at first, you’re going to die, a lot. The more you play, the more power ups you get to make yourself stronger to the point that you are a one person army that can wreck anything. Metroid does a fantastic job of build up and progression along with the sense of feeling lost but in an exciting way. Again, something that was quite remarkable in 1986. The game has different areas that change up the pace of the game along with three bosses that will sure test your skill.
Samus fighting the always dangerous Ridley
As Metroid as is impressive, there comes its issues. The game can get very frustrating and having to redo an area after dying can be a struggle. Not to mention there’s moments where enemy placements just feel cheap or you never get the health you need when you need it, resulting in farming the same enemies over and over again. I think an experience system would have helped this game but that’s not what Metroid is. There’s also cases where you can soft lock yourself out of progressing if you accidently sequence break ala getting the wrong upgrade somewhere, or finding yourself in an area that you now can’t escape since you don’t have say a higher jump upgrade.
I think my issues with the original Metroid is it feels like a game that has great ideas but is so limited by the power of the NES. It feels like a game that was too ambitious and just misses the bullseye but still hits the board. There’s some good moments but the overall experience is much to be desired. It sucks because I believe it’s because of limitations rather than bad choices in a game design aspect. The game during boss fights with slow down also gives me the feeling of the game’s vision being fully realized is just short due to hardware limitations.
So returning to the question, is the original Metroid worth playing today? Well… it depends. If you are trying out the Metroid series for the first time… I’m going to say no. The game is a little rough and could be a turn off for first time players. If you want to start on Metroid, I would recommend starting on Super or better yet, start on Metroid Zero Mission. Zero Mission is a Game Boy Advance remake of this game that adds so much quality of life changes, updated graphics, and even some fresh original content to boot. Zero Mission to me feels like the game Nintendo so badly wanted the NES game to be, but could not achieve it.
I will say if you do enjoy the other Metroid games and want to experience the game that started it all, go for it. I’ve heard people say “just skip the first one” but I would not go that far as Metroid has so upside. I just would not have my first experience of Metroid being the first game. It’s very rough. Worth checking out as a historical experience but don’t go into the game thinking it’s going to be a great experience as a game because there’s a good chance it doesn’t.
Despite all this, Metroid was still quite the success and of course, launched a who series of games and became on of Nintendo’s faces of their gaming empire. Not to mention tons of games were inspired by Metroid in a gaming sense and sci-fi in general. There’s a reason the “Metroidvania” sub-genre is a thing. People love these games so it’s kind of neat to play Metroid to see where a game like this got its start.
Long story short, NES Metroid has moments and the idea is there, but really feels like a concept that was not fully realized until Super Metroid on the Super Nintendo. I think if people play this, they will either love it or hate it and nothing between. Because of this, I’m not sure if I could 100% recommended it to be honest. It also makes it very hard for me to score as I can see people loving or hating this game. I respect Metroid for all the things it’s done and was quite revolutionary for its time, however as a game you play. It’s good and is quite impressive for the system for its time but the rough parts are indeed very rough.
If you want to experience the original Metroid, I would highly recommend getting the remake in Metroid Zero Mission on the Game Boy Advance instead, but if you really want to experience the original Metroid, then I’d say at least try it as a historical piece.
Samus was a major step forward when it came to female protagonists in video games.
If I can compare the rise and fall of SEGA to any historical moment in history, I would compare it to the rise and fall of the Roman Empire. At one point in time was dominating the video game landscape in the early to mid 90s. Enough that it was giving the juggernaut video game company Nintendo a run for its money. All this with the help of a little blue hedgehog in Sonic. Sonic was there answer to Super Mario. What made Sonic stand out was his super speed. This is thanks to the SEGA Genesis being able to render sprites faster than most Nintendo systems at the time (as advertised as “blast processing”), SEGA and Sonic took advantage of this. Sonic’s high speed platforming game play made it stand out above anything else. Many tried to duplicate Sonic, but most fell short.
Growing up as a kid, we (our family) in fact didn't have a Super Nintendo. We did have the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) but that was far past my memory. I was told we had one but again, I don’t remember this. The earliest system I remember having was a SEGA Genesis. I think we got a bundle that came with Sonic The Hedgehog 2 (my review of that here) and a second 6 button controller. So yes, I did not grow up as much with the famous red plumber as I did with the hedgehog that was cool, blue, and with attitude. Sonic recently in the years has gain a mix reputation in the last decade but I will have no shame to admit, I’m a Sonic guy and I will always have a soft spot for the games.
As I was entering my later childhood. I remember having a subscription to GamePro, a video game magazine. One ad stuck out to me and it was for SEGA’s new system ready to be unleashed, the SEGA Dreamcast. The target date was September 9th, 1999. 9/9/99. The system before it was the SEGA Saturn and I ended up skipping on that for the Nintendo 64 system. Many skipped on the Saturn but that’s a whole different conversation and the missteps of the system that would result in the demise of SEGA as a first party video game company, at least I beleive so. The Dreamcast was SEGA’s final attempt to recapture the glory days of the Genesis in the early/mid 90s. Personally I love the Dreamcast. It’s a great system and I wanted it to be a success. I wanted SEGA to be back on top because I grew up with them. I guess you can say I was a SEGA fanboy in my early days. It’s a shame its lifespan was cut short. The Dreamcast was to be the answer to SEGAs prayers, but at this point in time especially in the United States, the columns were already crumbling and falling apart. The errors of the Saturn made the Dreamcast an uphill battle from the word go and SEGA could really not get back into the glory they once had. Much like Roman Empire, the only thing that could have gotten in SEGA’s way was SEGA themselves. The U.S. failure of the Saturn dug too deep of a hole for the Dreamcast to dig out of, but damn it they tried.
Much like Rome before it, SEGA had fallen.
Much like The Roman Empire, it’s fascinating to look at the history and the rise and fall of a society and civilization, SEGA is no different. There were things that only SEGA did and were quite revolutionary at the time. Many gaming historians and fans love looking back and being fascinated in this late 90s/early 2000s era of SEGA. It’s the suspense of knowing that something great was going to fall, but seeing SEGA do everything they can to right the ship they wronged before. The SEGA Dreamcast was going to be their savior, and that hero was going to once again be lead by their mascot and most popular face of the company, Sonic The Hedgehog.
The game to do this for the Dreamcast would be a launch title. The game would be Sonic Adventure. It would be Sonic’s first fully realized 3D game.
The SEGA Dreamcast was the final push to try to get back into the first party video game market.
However, if you ask me what’s one of the most polarizing games I can think of, I will tell you it’s Sonic Adventure. The game in recent history has gain a mix reaction. There are fans of the game but the game has its fair share of hate as well. To many this is seen as the beginning of the downfall of Sonic, but I don’t think so. Yes, Sonic Adventure has its issues, it’s not perfect by any means, but I love this game. It was a return to me of a childhood hero, ready to smite the the competition and bring SEGA back to its glory days. Much like some history, I feel Sonic Adventure’s is jagged.
There are only a hand full of games I feel like I could write a book on and this is one of them. This is a fair warning that this is going to be a VERY LONG review. I wanted this out for the game’s 25th anniversary in the United States, but hey better late than never. I hope at the end of this long read I open your heart to Sonic Adventure and if you’ve not played it, to at least give it a try.
Chapter 1: Nightmare Before the Dream
Sonic Adventure is Sonic’s first full 3D sonic game. However this was by far not its first attempt into the 3rd dimension. I want to talk about the era before Sonic Adventure as it will give a better idea as to why there was much hype for this game along with it being a launch game on what would be the most powerful video system in 1999 that would be on the cutting edge of technology. You see many today talk about Sonic’s golden era on the SEGA Genesis. Mainly the trilogy of Sonic, Sonic 2, and Sonic 3. There was also Sonic CD if you had the SEGA CD add-on with the Genesis system but not many did. But after Sonic 3 in 1994… there was really nothing after. There were rumors of a Sonic The Hedgehog 4 for the 32X add on for the Genesis but that rumor is only just that and the game that sparked it would become a much different game in “Knuckles Chaotix”. The 32X being a massive bomb did not help things either, so bullet dodged.
By 1996, Gaming was entering a new interactive 3d gaming age. It was no longer about sprites but more about polygons and testing the limits of what systems can do now. There was excitement as to how Sonic would look on the new much more powerful SEGA Saturn. However to say there were road blocks is in understatement. Their biggest one being something that had nothing to do with SEGA. An old red capped plumber that was a thorn in SEGAs side was about to have a renaissance that would change the landscape of video games forever. Of course this game being 1996’s Super Mario 64.
Super Mario 64 was released in 1996 and was a launch game for Nintendo’s new system at the time, the Nintendo 64. The game was revolutionary with it’s 3D graphics, controls, and overall full 360 exportation and game play. There were some 3D platforms before it but Super Mario 64 was no doubt a game changer and became the standard that every 3D platformer now had to be compared to. There were questions as to how SEGA was going to one up the red plumber this time, especially with a system that was not as powerful and could pull 3D like the Nintendo 64 can. I bring this up because I think it forced SEGA to try to make a 3D sonic game work on the Saturn and I don’t think the tech was there for such a game. I think a 2D style Sonic game would have been amazing on the Sega Saturn but I think SEGA would have looked stuck in the old ways if they did that. A 3D Mario would have crushed a 2D Sonic in that point in time. Because of this, SEGA had to be forced to make the first 3D sonic game. The game would be known as Sonic X-Treme.
The first game play of Sonic X-treme was shown at the 1996 E3 conference with this video, no doubt taking pot shots at their rival Nintendo.
As you can tell in this, Sonic X-treme as it looks to be an early build has some issues in concepts and to me I don’t think would have been a great game, let alone dethroning Super Mario 64. Sadly, Sonic X-treme would go into development hell and would evidentially get canceled as the Saturn was struggling in the US. I’d still love to see how this game would have ended up being, one of those many what ifs in gaming. Safe to say Sonic’s first 3D adventure never saw the light of day and focus would be put on the SEGA Dreamcast.
I mention all of this because there’s going to be a common theme in all of this. Sonic might be fast but it’s always seemed like in the mid 90s he’s always just a step behind Nintendo and Mario. Sonic Adventure and Super Mario 64 have tons of parallels to them. SEGA hoped that Sonic Adventure would be just as revolutionary in their launch title for their new system such as Super Mario 64 was for the Nintendo 64. Back then and even now I always felt like Sonic Adventure was in the shadow of Mario 64. Sonic Adventure I will admit is not as revolutionary or changed the game as much as Mario 64 did. People will always compare and contrast Sonic to Mario and I personally think comparing Mario 64 with Sonic Adventure is apples and oranges.
The countdown was on for September 9th 1999, the launch day of the SEGA Dreamcast in the states. I for one was excited to see my childhood hero in Sonic to make a come back and now in 3D. The game seeing previews looked amazing and was no doubt on the cutting edge of graphics at the time. I was ready to ride the SEGA ship into what would be the next generation of gaming, and Sonic Adventure would be the SEGA going “We’re so back!”
Chapter 2: The Adventure Begins
Now after tons of setup and setting the stage, this chapter will be the meat of the review where I review the game itself and talk about what works and what doesn't. The first thing you’ll find out with Sonic Adventure is the game has not one but SIX playable characters!
Sonic The Hedgehog: The famous blue blur and our main hero of the game, trying to stop the evil Dr. Robotnik (Dr. EGGMAN in some parts of the world) in what is his most evil plan yet. Sonic may be fast but is he fast enough to save the world once more?
Tails: Sonic’s best friend who is not as fast as sonic but can use his two tails to fly around for a short time. Mostly has the same story as Sonic but half way into things they get split up, making his story and Sonic’s story quite different.
Knuckles The Echidna: Sonic’s former rival now friend who’s destined is to protect the floating island of Angel Island (The setting of Sonic 3), and to protect the Master Emerald, a giant emerald that alone has a tons of secrets of its own.
Amy Rose: Our female protagonist hedgehog who has a crush on Sonic who made her debut in Sonic The Hedgehog CD playing the damsel in destress role. However in Sonic Adventure, she becomes more independent to hold her own and ready to write her own story here. Making her stand out and become a reoccurring character in the series after Sonic Adventure.
Big The Cat: Is a new character in the series who’s a massive cat who’s best friend Froggy, a frog has been acting very strange lately as Big must fish in order to save his friend. I know fishing sounds out of place but Big plays a roll in all this trust me.
Last we got E-102: A robot created by Dr. Robotnik to destroy Sonic, but has a change of heart after a very important part in the game’s story. After that he sets out to to fulfil his own goals.
You have to start out with Sonic who has the main story line, then unlock the others once you meet them in the main story mode. For example once you see Tails (A two tail fox and Sonic's best friend since Sonic 2) in the game (after the first level), you can play as Tails. This chapter will focus on Sonic’s story as the next chapter will have more focus on the other playable heroes as each of them have much different play styles. Sonic’s gameplay is the focus of the game here and chapter 2 will be no different.
Once you pop in Sonic Adventure, you get this really cool intro video showing a city being destroyed by a massive almost Godzilla like monster. Setting the tone that this will be a whole different beast than the Sonic you know before. The cinematic was mind blowing back in the late 90s and honestly today, it still holds up pretty well, some dated spots here and there but yeah this along with the game’s rocking theme song “Open Your Heart” playing in the background will no doubt get you hyped up for Sonic Adventure.
Seeing this intro in mid 1999 was mind-blowing for its time. This was a whole different ballgame for Sonic.
The game starts with you only able to play one of the six playable characters, of course that being Sonic. Sonic’s story is the longest and is the focus of the game. The game starts with Sonic jumping from rooftop to rooftop being the cool awesome Sonic I loved back as a child. Suddenly, a row of police is seen driving down the street. Sonic’s decides to check out what’s causing all the commotion.
We are then meet with police and one of our recurring bosses of the game in Chaos. Chaos is a creature that’s made entirely of water. The police shoot at him but the bullets fall to the ground because yeah the whole made of water thing. Sonic enters the scene ready to fight this mysterious creature. Then we begin to play the game. Yes, this game starts with a boss fight.
Sonic Adventure starts with oddly enough a boss fight against this old water creature known as Chaos
This boss fight is pretty easy but it makes use of you having to learn Sonic’s new ability, the homing attack. In addition of Sonic’s super speed and being able to roll into a ball to blast enemies, Sonic can now do an attack by hitting the jump button in mid air, either dashing forward in mid air or attacking the closest thing to Sonic. I honestly don’t think starting with a boss fight was the greatest of ideas as you want time for a new player to get use and have a feel for the new game. It’s not bad enough to be an eyesore but still an odd choice if you ask me.
Once you beat Chaos, this weird water creature ends up going into a storm drain to retreat. Sonic now pondering what exactly that thing was. We then get a zoom out to see Sonic’s nemesis and villain, Dr. Robotnik (Dr. Eggman in Japan) saying how Chaos is “The god of destruction” followed by an evil laugh, signifying whatever Chaos is, it can’t be good if Dr. Robotnik is involved.
We then go to the next morning of Sonic sleeping near a poolside, we hear a strange noise that wakes him up to see that Sonic’s best friend and reoccurring character in the Sonic games in Tails is about to crash his airplane. After this cutscene is the first moment you can play around with Sonic to get a feel as to how he controls. You then enter the game’s first stage in Emerald Coast. This is where we get Sonic’s main gameplay. The idea is go from the start of the stage to the end. However there are branching paths, and some short cuts if you know what and where you’re going/doing. Sonic is of course fast and stepping on speed boosters while going past loops is very exciting and fun. One iconic moment of the game is sonic running on a bridge while a whale chases him. This was one of the first things I saw when I learned about Sonic Adventure and amazed me as it showed what the power of the Sega Dreamcast can do. No way you could pull this off on the Nintendo 64 or Playstation.
As you play Sonic Adventure there’s kind of a level of unstableness where you can do some unintended moves to get ahead in some places. Some might see this as a flaw but I think it’s a plus in Sonic Adventure. It gives the player more freedom and can use their super sonic moves to go into areas in fast speeds or high places, even if the place you are getting to is not the intent. There’s a little bit of the feeling of the gameplay being a little off the rails, but I think that’s part of what makes Sonic Adventure so fun.
Sonic finishes the level to save Tails. Tails explains he was testing a prototype of a new airplane he was working on that is powered by a chaos emerald. The chaos emeralds are the McGuffin of the Sonic games as collecting all 7 can give the holder incredible power. In previous games, they were collected by doing bonus stages and getting them all can turn you into the invincible Super Sonic. This time however, the chaos emeralds will play more into the game’s story.
Now we get to experience the first “Adventure Field” in Station Square. There’s “Adventure Fields” where the player can freely walk around the area and they can go to places in the area that take them to stages. There are three adventure fields in the game. Station Square, the main city of the game full of life and people. Mystic Ruins a forest area with mystery and secrets, and the Egg Carrier, Dr. Robotnik’s flying fortress. We are encouraged to go to Tail’s workshop that’s located in the Mystic Ruins, so this shows the player that both adventure fields are quite different.
Before we reach Tails’ workshop, we get ambushed by Dr. Robotnik and we get another boss fight with the evil doctor himself in his “Egg Hornet” robotic machine. This is a pretty easy fight, just dodge and wait for an opening, nothing too hard. Just when Sonic and Tails think the coast is clear, Robotnik ends up swiping the chaos emerald. Robotnik then summons Chaos, our water creature from the start of the game. He is given a Chaos emerald and now looks stronger. Robotnik explains his master plan as any evil madman would. You see with every chaos emerald, Chaos becomes stronger. With all seven emeralds, he’ll be an unstoppable monster. With it, Robotnik will destroy Station Square and build Robotnik Land in its ruins. So now the race is on to get all the emeralds before Robotnik and Chaos do.
This part of the game has you going into the two adventure fields doing levels as sonic, such as Windy Hill, a great level that shows the speed of Sonic and even has a cool part with having to get out from inside a tornado. Ice Cap, a snowy tundra that’s not as much high speed gameplay but a little bit more platforming and puzzle solving. And Casinopolis, a Casio where sonic has to play one of two pinball mini games to get enough rings to earn an emerald. These pinball games are way more entertaining than they have any right being and there’s times when I play Sonic Adventure, I just play these. During this, Sonic learns a new move called the “light speed dash”. If there’s a row of rings lined up, sonic can charge up (by holding the spin dash button long enough) and trivial in said path of rings in a push of a button. Sadly it takes a bit to charge up (even with an optional item that reduces the charge time) and sometimes just misfires, resulting it death most times. It’s cool when it works 90% of the time, there’s just that 10%. Lesson learned where in Sonic Adventure 2, you just have to hit a button next to a row of rings and you’re on your way, streamlining the fast gameplay of 3D Sonic games.
Later on we are met with our third character in Knuckles. Knuckles thinks Sonic is after something and attacks, only to learn later he has been tricked by Robotnik much like he was in Sonic 3. We then enter another Chaos boss fight now with him having four emeralds. This fight might be one of the lowest points of the game as it’s a ton of jumping and waiting for Chaos to be wide open for an attack, all while in a swamp where your movement is more sluggish. A very boring boss fight that sadly you have to do THREE times, each within Sonic, Tails’ and Knuckles’ story. After this boss fight, we get a look at The Egg Carrier for the first time, Robotnik’s flying home base of operations and it’s massive and also quite impressive yet intermediating. Sonic and Tails decide to go after Robotnik as Knuckles says he’s got some stuff on his end to take care off (goes off to do his part of the story). We then have to do a sub-mini game in chasing the Egg Carrier in Tails’ airplane the tornado.
The Sky Chase pretty simple mini game even if it’s pretty easy and again, a little time consuming. At the end of this, Robotnik gets the last laugh as he gets a direct hit on Tail’s aircraft, the Tornado, resulting in splitting up Sonic and Tails, Tails gets left in the Mystic Ruins and Sonic gets stuck in Station Square. They can’t meet up due to a train strike that has blocked the passage between the two fields you can go to, in other words a train strike for plot reasons.
Sonic then runs into Amy, a pink female hedgehog who’s got a crush on Sonic. She tells Sonic that she’s protecting a bird as she is being chased by one of Robotnik’s robots known as Zero, who plays as her antagonist in her story.
We then enter a few more stages in Twinkle Park, a theme park theme level full of more platforming. Then Speed Highway after that, Speed Highway is what I think is the peak of Sonic’s story and game play. This level has a mix of high speed running along with some platforming mixed in. All in a rocking song and a really cool part in the middle with Sonic running down a building dodging things and crashing into a glass roof at the end. The high point of Sonic’s story and possibly the entire game.
We then learn the Robotnik’s robot has captured Amy and has taken her to the Egg Carrier. This leads Sonic to go to Red Mountain, a rocky level full of lava and death traps. At the end of the level as it seems Sonic has no way to catch up with the Egg Carrier, Tails comes in to save the day with the all new Tornado 2! Now we’re back on the trail to get to the Egg Carrier as we enter the second sky chase level, this time much harder and will test your flying skills.
At last we get to our third Adventure Field in The Egg Carrier. Sonic learns the only way to get to save Amy is to beat the Sky Deck. Another great level even if the camera and other parts of this level can be a pain. There’s one part the tilt of the ship ands up going up and down and all over the place, meaning Sonic has to use that to his advantage. You learn later that when you play as Knuckles in his story, he has to control the tilt of the ship to beat his stage. So it kind of implays that as Sonic is trying to do his thing and fighting something that’s in his way, we have Knuckles on the other end trying to help him. I always like to think both of them are in this level but just miss each other. It’s kind of a cool way to explain why something is happening in a stage based on prospective. Fun little detail here.
Sonic fins Amy on the deck of the ship, where Sonic is put face to face VS E-102, a robot created by Robotnik, but is also one of the new playable characters. As Sonic is about to defeat him, Amy stops the fight explaining E-102 helped her escape and that he’s not like the other robots and has heart. Sonic listens to Amy and shows mercy to E-102, Sonic then goes after Robotnik only to find Chaos now has six emeralds and is already a massive beast. We then enter a pretty intense boss fight with Chaos Six, with Sonic defeating Chaos once and for all *or so we think*. Sonic then chases Robotnik that leads him to The Lost World, the next to final level for Sonic, where he learns about the past in a backstory of a tribe wanting to use the Chaos Emeralds for power as Tikal, a hedgehog wants to not use the power for evil and wants to keep the peace. All while guarding a heard of cute blue baby like things known as “chao”. There’s an entire sub game that involves the chao that I’ll get into later.
We then hit Sonic’s final level in “Final Egg”. Robotnik’s hidden base full of danger and so many things that can destroy you, all leading up to the fight with The Egg Viper, a giant robot controlled by Robotnik as we hit this stories final battle, and man is it a battle, so many tricks and hard points that make this boss fight quite the battle, even with a very rude part at the end of the fight where Robotnik goes for a suicide dive at you and can result in you losing at the last part, talk about rude. Robotnik now defeated, Sonic reunites with Tails and all is well. The evil is defeated… for now.
Sonic’s final boss in his story, the Egg Viper in what is a very hard boss fight. GET A LOAD OF THIS!
In the end Sonic is fun to play as, even if there’s moments it feels like Sonic might a little too fast for his own good. There’s a few glitchy moments that can happen at times but not enough to hinder the experience of Sonic Adventure, at least in the original Dreamcast version. The port however that’s not the story at all and does great damage to Sonic Adventure, but that’s another story. There’s still 5 more stories to go into but Sonic’s is by far the focus of the game and is the longest, the other parts won’t take as long to do. The other characters I’ll focus more on their gameplay rather than telling their story like I did with Sonic.
Chapter 3: Friends
There’s much more to Sonic Adventure than just Sonic’s story. The game contains not one but SIX playable characters, each with their own part of the story. What I love about this is there will be moments in some campaigns that might not make much sense at first but are key points in someone else’s story. For example, there’s a thing during Big The Cat’s story and Chaos’ missing tail. It’s a major plot point in Big’s story but you would only know about it in one line in Sonic’s Story. Another thing I enjoy is say you play as Sonic, it might take a bit before you run into, and be able to unlock Big The Cat. However if you stop Sonic’s story and start up with Tails, you will run into him much quicker therefor unlocking him sooner. I think Sonic Adventure is best played when you are playing each character at different times and not all at once. It’s a story that’s in pieces but it all comes together when you have played everyone’s story, leading up to one more final story that’s unlocked to put a bow on the story of Sonic Adventure.
In this chapter I’ll talk about the other characters that you can play as in this game. First we’ll start with the first friend you find when playing as Sonic in Tails.
Tails is a two tail fox and Sonic’s best friend, he’s also the smart inventor of the series who’s always tweaking to build the aircraft known as The Tornado. Tails doesn't have a homing attack but he can use his tails to fly in the air for a short while, getting into places that Sonic can not. I think this makes Tails a great ying to Sonic’s yang. In 2D Sonic, I always seen things as Sonic’s speed is great for horizonal navigation, using his speed to blaze past environments. As for Tails, I see it as his focus being more about vertical navigation, being able to fly upwards. When played together, Sonic and Tails can cover a ton of ground and find some cool areas. However for Sonic Adventure, a big part of Tail’s story I think is growth and where Tails becomes not just a sidekick, but a hero in his own right.
Tail’s story start with him testing out his aircraft but running into some technical issues, leading him to crashing. We then are met with Sonic who finds Tails after finishing the first level in Sonic’s story in Emerald Coast.
Most of Tail’s story is somewhat mirrored to Sonic’s, Tails also takes on the Egg Hornet and later with Chaos 4, and the sub mini game chasing the Egg Carrier. This can be seen as kind of annoying as you might have just done these events and boss fights as Sonic before hand. As for the stages themselves, they are a little different. Instead of going from point A to point B with Sonic, it’s a race with Sonic to see who can get to that point B first. Tails’ levels often have boosters placed for him to get ahead of Sonic that Sonic can not use. Don’t worry too much about losing the race, Sonic’s race AI is not what I’d call…. good. Often times getting stick in a wall or falling to his death. Another thing is if you know the layout of the stage, you can use tail’s flying to break sequences and take massive shortcuts, often unintentional.
It is after the first sky chase game where Sonic and Tails get split up that Tails’ story becomes his own. As Sonic falls into Station Square, Tails falls into the Mystic Ruins. Tails does a few of his own levels before finding Sonic again and doing the second chase of the Egg Carrier. During this time, Tails has memories of Sonic but realizes he can’t rely on him forever. I think Tails’ story is about growth and learning how to take care of yourself. Sooner or later in like, the training wheels have got to come off.
Near the end of Tails’ story, he finds Robotnik/Eggman and Eggman now with his master plan in ruins, is going to blow up Station Square with a rocket! However, the rocket is a dude and it becomes a race between Tails and Eggman on Speed Highway to get to the rocket, all leading up to a massive battle with Eggman. This ends with Tails saving the day and becoming a hero of Station Square in his own right.
Good stuff story wise but seeing how most of the levels are abridged versions of Sonic levels and seeing how easily exploitable they are. It almost feels like Tail’s story was an afterthought, and a shame too because the story for him is great.
The third story involves the red Echidna knowns as Knuckles. Knuckles got his start in Sonic 3 as a rival of Sonic, only to learn that he was tricked by Robotnik. You see as Sonic is the representation of speed, Knuckles representation of power. He’s not as fast as Sonic, but can climb walls, and glide for a little bit. Not to mention as far as a battle goes, Knuckles has the upper hand over Sonic. Like Knuckles' theme song states “Unlike Sonic I don’t chuckle, I’d rather flex my muscles”.
Knuckles in Sonic Adventure has duty of protecting “The Master Emerald”, an item that plays some major rolls in the game, especially in the game’s “flashbacks” that gives you lore of an echidna race on the edge of a war. At the start, Knuckles runs into Chaos and finds the Master Emerald has been shattered! Without the Emerald’s power, Knuckle’s floating home of Angel Island will fall into the ocean below. Knuckles has no choice but to use his instincts to explore and find the pieces of the Master Emerald level by level.
Personally I think next to Sonic, Knuckles’ story might be my favorite in the game as it really takes advantage of the 3D environments of Sonic Adventure. Knuckles in each level has to find three pieces of the master emerald, you get a radar that will ding quicker and quicker the closer you are into finding a piece. Kind of look at it was Knuckles having a “sense” of the location of the Master Emerald shards. Find all three pieces in the level to complete it. Each time you play the level, the three pieces will be in different places, so don’t think you can just know the locations after playing the level once. Won’t be that easy, and it’s great because it keeps you on the look out as playing a Knuckles level is just as fun the sixth time as it is the first time since the locations of the shards are in different places, adding to a ton of replayable content. This is not a simple point A to point B as Knuckles levels focus more on free roaming and exploration. Honestly feels the most like a traditionally 3D platformer than the other stories. Of course, Knuckles has his own boss battles along with some shared ones. In this story, we learned about some of the secrets in the Mystic Ruin and how it’s linked to Knuckles’ lineage. Again, next to Sonic, likely the most fun I have playing Sonic Adventure.
Next up we have our only female character in Amy Rose, a pink hedgehog who has a crush on our blue hero Sonic. Amy’s stages are oddly enough quite nerve racking but in a good way. Each stage is get to the finish but it’s a “cat and mouse” kind of thing going on, with you being the mouse. Each stage has Amy being chased by a robot known as Zero. Amy can attack the robot to stun it with her hammer but it only stalls him for so long, you can’t destroy him. Zero can also shoot a laser from a distance so you can’t really stand still for too long while Zero is in the area. Most obstacles involve you trying to puzzle solve all while trying to run and hide from Zero who can attack you and be a pain to deal with. It’s also worth noting Amy is not exactly the fastest or best controlling playable character either. Her full speed takes quite a bit to get going but she can use her hammer at full speed and get a pretty good jump out of it. Her hammer also only works well in close up range. To some this might be a problem with her lack of mobility and doesn't have the wide range of attacks as the other characters do (except for Big The Cat), but I think that lack of mobility adds much more tension to Amy’s story and makes for better gameplay. Her story is quite short with only 4 stages and a few boss fights, but this one caught me by surprised on deep the gameplay is for her and at times were some of the most tense parts of the game, but in a good way.
Trying to puzzle solve while Zero (on the right) is trying to get rid of you results into some surprisingly intense gameplay.
Next up is likely what most Sonic Adventure fans want me to cover, the elephant or this case the cat in the room. That being Big The Cat. Big’s story is by far the most that feels out of place. Big is very slow and can’t jump high, so… what do you do with him? The story of Big is his best friend Froggy who’s a frog (what else would he be?) ends up getting Chaos’ tail and started to act weird and starts with him eating Big’s Chaos Emerald. Froggy then goes from place to place and it’s up to Big and his fishing skills to reel in Froggy to end the stage. Yes, one of the stories for Sonic Adventure is fishing… However, it’s not as bad as it sounds as the fishing gameplay itself as it’s not fantastic, is not exactly awful either. I know for many fans of the game this story is the most annoying to play or replay but honestly I don’t think it’s that bad, but the hate it gets I still think is still somewhat justified. It just feels out of place here but I would not call it awful or harmful enough that it ruins the total experience of Sonic Adventure as a whole. Honestly if I want to do fishing on the Dreamcast, I’ll just pick up a copy of Sega Bass Fishing, no really that game is way better than it has any right being, maybe I’ll cover that one someday.
As Big The Cat’s fishing is a good breather from the gameplay of Sonic Adventure, they are sadly a low point in the game, but not awful.
Our 6th and final character is shockingly enough has the most impactful story telling with E-102. E-102 is a robot created by Dr. Robotnik to do his evil bidding. This robot you play as is quite interesting as he can shoot from his gun and by using his laser scanner, combo multiple targets. Each E-102 stage has a counter going down instead of up as everyone else the time is going up. Run out of time and it’s a lost life. You can gain time by destroying targets and getting multiple targets can land you combos that increase your times.
E-102 is met with his “older brother” in E-101. Robotnik has the two face off in a battle with of course you being the winner. Your next goal is defending the Egg Carrier where you are told to get a bird that has tagged along with Amy. There’s a important cutscene here where Amy and her bird convinces E-102 that maybe being on Robotnik’s side is not the right side, leaving him with the choice of letting Amy go. E102 then has to face Sonic but before the final blow, Amy plays peacemaker and stops the battle, convincing that they are both good and all that stuff. This leaves E-102 to a harsh moment that he has to ask what his true goal and purpose is. He decides he’s going to “save” his brothers by meeting them at the end of a stage and destroying them. When a enemy is destroy in Sonic, they are turned back into the bird/creature they were before being robotized by Robotnik. This implies that E102 is very much the same and that destroying his other brothers would “free them”. This all leads into a final battle with a super powered up rematch with E-101. E-101 is destroyed in the battle but shortly after so is E-102. The story ending with Amy’s bird finding his parents. I think the parents it finds are E-102 and E-101, at least that’s how I see it. This alone could have been its own game, but is only part of how fantastic Sonic Adventure is.
E-102 about to finish Sonic only for Amy to convince him he’s different from the other robots. This makes E-102 question his goals.
In a way E-102’s story might be the most tragic. The story starts with him as a robot being “born” and ends with his robotic body destroyed. It’s also the only part of the story that’s not part of the game’s final story. He did a great heroic thing freeing his other brothers but no one witnesses it. He was a hero but no one realizes it. It’s kind of a tragic heartbreaking story, one I did not expect from a Sonic game but it is one of the higher points of the game.
Once you have completed all 6 of the main story arcs, you unlock “Super Sonic’s Story”, the final story of the game. It starts with Robotnik now defeated trying to think of a new plan to stop Sonic, he finds Chaos now back to his original first form but something is… not right… We get a flash and a sound knowing that something bad has happened, had Chaos now turned on Eggman? Next, Angel Island ends up falling into the ocean again, but however Knuckles is confused as The Master Emerald is back to being complete therefor Angel Island should be floating again. Kunckles wonders if the 6 of the 7 chaos emeralds he also brought back after defeating Chaos 6 on the Egg Carrier has something to do with what’s going on. As he’s getting ready to ask Sonic for advice but finds Robotnik on the ground. Robotnik says that something awful has happened and that Chaos has… but only for Chaos to attack Knuckles. Sonic becomes aware of the fall of Angel Island and goes to investigate. Sonic finds Dr. Robotnik and Knuckles as they tell them that Chaos has pretty much out of control and is more dangerous than ever. If Chaos gets the last emerald, it’s all over for Station Square if not more. Sonic and Tails find the last emerald but before they can grab it, a water vortex stops them with the last emerald now missing. Chaos now has all 7 Chaos Emeralds and now will become an unstoppable beast that attacks Station Square, leaving it in a flooded ruin. We now have witnessed the true power of “Perfect Chaos”.
We get a cutscene that’s pretty much the intro of the game of Station Square being destroyed by water and flooded. We then get all the heroes minus E-102 (because you know). We then get Eggman showing up in the Egg Carrier 2, because an evil genius always has a back up plan! However in one attack, Perfect Chaos makes the Egg Carrier 2 history, showing just how powerful and destructive Perfect Chaos really is.
Chaos begins to absorbed the power of the Chaos Emeralds. However, Sonic can use the REAL power of the emeralds and become Super Sonic. In past games, Super Sonic was an award you got if you collected all 7 Chaos Emeralds in the bonus games throughout the world. Since the Chaos Emeralds are a main focus of the game’s story, it only makes sense for the game’s finally to be a showdown with Perfect Chaos. The game does a great job setting up a big fight here. It really gives the feeling of you’re the only hope, but you’re super sonic, nothing can stop you… except time…
The battle starts with the game’s theme “Open Your Heart” playing and makes for an amazing final boss moment. The gimmick with Super Sonic is he starts with 50 rings but they tick down over time. If you run out of rings, Super Sonic goes back to normal and you can not win vs Perfect Chaos this way. So it’s a race against time with Sonic going at insane speeds dodging damage buildings and roads all while Chaos is using his attacks to not damage you but stall you so you run out of rings. You damage Perfect Chaos by running right into him and attacking his brain. It’s such a cool feeling going full speed at a final boss and pretty much punching him in the face, all while again the game’s main theme is playing. One of the best moments of the game.
The battle against Perfect Chaos with you playing as Super Sonic all while “Open your Heart” plays in the background is one of the best moments of Sonic Adventure.
Next is phase 2 of the fight where we get more serous music this time and Chaos is done playing around. Still a fun final boss but not as good as the first phase. I think Sonic Adventure two learned from this and having its final battle using the game’s theme. This final phase can be a bit challenging and might take a few attempts to defeat Perfect Chaos, he’s no slouch. Once Perfect Chaos is defeated, the game ends.
I know there’s some big details I might be skipping over but Sonic Adventure does a pretty great job with the gimmick of 6 different stories. I will admit Big’s story might be the most tedious but even then that’s not even that bad. There’s more to Sonic Adventure than just going fast with Sonic in a 3D world. Don’t get me wrong that rules, but I do enjoy how Sonic Adventure gives you different kinds of gameplay such as Knuckles stages being more free and rewards exploration rather than going from point A to point B as quickly as possible. Amy stages can surprisingly be very tense and adds an element of surprise and tension in the game. And getting massive combos and shooting things with E-102 is surprisingly fun. The game ends with Robotnik once again getting away and Sonic going after him. The more things change, the more they stay the same. However there’s one more thing I want to cover before I wrap all this up.
Chapter 4: The Chao Garden
What if I said with Sonic Adventure there’s somewhat of a game within the game? One of the side quests things you can do is the Chao Garden and it’s surprisingly deep. Chao are little green creatures that come from eggs that in the garden can be born over time or you can throw an egg to crack it open and a Chao is born.
They start out with baby like behavior, such as crawling around and sleeping all the time. Over time as you take care of it, they will start to walk and run and late into things begin to fly when you throw them in the air. You can give them fruit in trees to feed them and you can give them items you collected in the main game to give your Chao stat boosts. You can enter your Chao in Chao races where your Chao can be put up vs others in a race. Bringing in a newborn Chao might not be the best idea as they will likely sleep, or just crawl the wrong way since they are too young to understand what is happening. It’s like taking care of a digital pet. Reminds me of those old Tomogachi toys. In fact you can raise a Chao like one thank to the Dreamcast’s VMU memory card. What makes the VMU stand out is not only does it save your game’s progress, but has a small screen with buttons as well. Even when you are out and about, you can take your VMU and raise your Chao on the go. You could tell Tomogachis were the big thing at this time but is a pretty cool thing you can do if you are serous about raising and teaching your Chao. Also they are still just so adorable.
I know it might not be everyone’s thing but I really enjoy the Chao Garden in this as it does make a good breather from all the action pack stuff Sonic Adventure has to offer. It’s kind of surprising how deep the Chao Garden stuff is in this game, and it’s all optional. You can beat the game without setting foot in the garden. It’s at least worth trying out as raising and taking care of your Chao can be very relaxing and addicting. There’s players who get the most out of their Sonic Adventure gameplay just by doing the Chao Garden. No doubt worth checking out if you ever play Sonic Adventure and just want some time to destress and take a time out from all the high speed gameplay.
The SEGA VMU (Visual Memory Unit) acts as the Dreamcast’s memory card but can also be played on its own.
Chapter 5: Open Your Heart
In the end I’ll admit. Sonic Adventure is not the most polished game, it’s not the most flawless game, it’s got issues and glitches, but man do I love this game and it’s the 3D sonic game I’ve always wanted since I was a kid playing on the Sega Genesis wondering what Sonic The Hedgehog. No it’s not as revolutionary as say Mario 64, and sadly it didn't really get Sega out of the whole they were in at the time as the Dreamcast would discontinue two-three years later.
What makes things worse is the lasting legacy of Sonic Adventure is one where I feel history really tarnished the game. A few years on, Sonic Adventure would get a port on the Nintendo Gamecube called “Sonic Adventure DX Directors Cut” that added a few extra things into the game. However the port is not what I’d call good… Graphics have issues, there’s way more glitches in the game and even at times ruins the experience to what is a great game. To make matters worse, the only digital version of Sonic Adventure is the Director’s Cut version. So it’s hard for me to say “go play Sonic Adventure” since there’s more than one version and of course, the hardest one is the one I recommend. Players today will play DX and think “This is what Sonic Adventure was? This is awful”, fueling the old trope of “Sonic had a rough transition into 3D”, when that could not be further from the truth. One day I might take a deep dive into Sonic Adventure DX and how to me might be the most damaging port in the history of gaming. Well… to me personally. Luckily if you do get say Sonic Adventure DX on Steam, there are mods that fix a ton of the issues and make it more like the better Dreamcast version. So if you do get this game, I highly recommended getting some mods for it.
At the start of this thing, I talked about how Sega was the Roman Empire of video games, a once great force that would later crumble. I’m just glad before this happened I got a 3D Sonic game on a Sega system and one that was good. I hear people say the classic “sonic was never good” Sonic rough transition into 3D blah blah blah”, but if there’s anything I want to get out of this 20ish page rambling of me talking about Sonic Adventure it’s this.
Sonic Adventure on the Dreamcast is a fantastic game, it’s not the greatest or did it make the biggest step in innovation or was as big as a game changer as it’s plumber counterpart’s first 3D game, but this game rules, and I wish history was kinder to it. Enjoy Sonic the way I enjoyed it back in 1999 and the way it was meant to be.
All is well… except for Station Square being destroyed and all that fun stuff…
I know this was a very long read and a huge thank you for those who read it all. Sonic Adventure is a game I am very passionate about. I hope in the end you’ll give this awesome game a shot and that maybe I’ve Opened Your Heart to Sonic Adventure.
Sonic Adventure is a great 3D platformer even if there’s moments of glitches and exploits the player can do. It doesn't hinder the over all experience of Sonic’s first full 3D game. Sonic Adventure is a must for any 3D platformer, even if it was not as revolutionary as say Super Mario 64. Don’t listen to the haters, play Sonic Adventure. Just… makes sure it’s the original Dreamcast version.
One of the greatest things about the medium that are video games is seeing how hardware evolve with the goal of blurring the line between what is only a game and reality. That’s pretty much what video games are, something that interacts with what we do to have something exist in a virtual world. Yes the standard controller set up works just fine, but one of the great things about video games are the interactive ways to play the game as many are trying to cross the line of not just playing the game but being apart of it and its own world no matter how gimmicky it may be. Rather it be the early day attempts of a trackball controller for an Atari 5200 or to modern day virtual reality headsets (VR), many gaming companies have wants to blur the line of reality and being a part of the game itself rather than playing it. Something that makes your gaming experience one of a kind and more than just pushing buttons.
In the late 80s, the idea of wanting to make an interactive experience with gaming has not changed that much than what it is today. Some times you hit a home run and change the landscape of gaming forever, but sometimes there’s that massive swing and miss. Without success, ambition can only go so far. Not even Nintendo when in the late 80s were taking over the gaming world by storm had immunity from this, especially in the prime of their Nintendo Entertainment System (NES for short). There are a few really cool NES accessories for the system. They most notable one would likely be the NES Zapper, a first of its kind light gun that you could pull the trigger at the screen and would interact with what’s on the screen. The Zapper massive success was also helped by the simple yet fun game, “Duck Hunt”. There’s a simple fun of just shooting ducks on a screen and getting mad at that laughing dog, I see you!
Duck Hunt when you don’t get shot the duck with the NES Zapper. Also we got a funny guy over here!
Another great lesser famous but still successful accessory was the Nintendo Power Pad. You could use the power pad on the ground and use it to hit buttons and “run” in games like Track and Field. Kind of thinking of it as a controller you put on the ground and play on a pad. Kind of like a Dance Dance Revolution pad. You know maybe I should have talked about that more when the Olympics were going on. Maybe next time.
However, there’s one special accessory that has become a holy item of video game history, not for being a great accessory but in fact the opposite, something that even back in the day seemed absolutely insane of an idea and even now is quite the fascinating gaming hardware and not in all the right ways. Something that’s “so bad” that it’s quite fascinating that Nintendo would put their name on such a strange concept. Strap on, I’m reviewing The Power Glove.
So what exactly was/is The Power Glove? Well as you can see in the pic above, it’s a glove that is in the place of the controller. You use your fingers and hands in place of movement and button input. If you think this sounds totally bonkers for 1989, don’t worry it was. The concept likely comes from a movie 2 years prior in RoboCop. Hey if we can get control things with just the power of a glove, just how much society will grow and evolve? So… how does it work? The glove has sensors in the fingers that can act as your buttons. There’s a number pad that you enter to code what game you’re playing for the best fit for the job. There are also multiple sensors that sit on the TV and the sides, the glove sends out a pulse to see a XYZ positioning to see how far you are between he points. This is used for movement for games. Think of it as to how a bat uses super sonic sounds to see how far and close things are.
So the $64,000 question is… does it work?
Two games were released to take advantage of the power of the Power Glove. Super Glove Ball, a pseudo 3D puzzle game, and “Bad Street Brawler, a beat em up. But could be played just fine with a normal NES controller, but are made with the Power Glove in mind. Super Glove Ball is likely the best game with the Power Glove in mind, as it feels like a ball bounces back to you and you “drop it” back down to solve puzzles in a “break out” style puzzle game.
Other games also work with the Power Glove, but I use the term work very loosely. Let’s look at the TV ad that aired for the Power Glove.
First of all, they do a great job making the Power Glove look futuristic and all out badass. Who needs controls when you GOT THE POWER GLOVE! The future of interactive gaming is here!!! The first game shown being played is Rad Racer, and to be fair from my experience, it’s not the best controlling but it’s better than you’d think for a late 80s/early 90s accessory. Also you can hit select on the controller in Rad Racer to give it a 3D glasses look for maximum radness. The other games shown are Super Mario Bros 2 and Punch Out!, now this is where the power glove to me starts showing its limitations. You can move your hand up for Super Mario Bros to jump up, but there’s no doubt a noticeable delay and some times just won’t work. It’s cool to be able to do this, but no doubt not the controller replacement you think it would be. This especially goes for Punch Out where the input lag makes a game that’s already very hard to borderline impossible. Any sort of input delay in a game like Punch Out is the difference between winning and losing since that game relays so much on timing. To be quite honest, I wanna know how this teen beat Super Macho Man in Punch Out with the Power glove, that’s hard enough on a controller, let alone a power glove with that much input delay. I’m calling shenanigans.
The Power Glove was a success but was met with mix reviews as it… kind of worked? What game you played it on was really a dice roll as to how well or awful the Power Glove would vibe, leading to mix results.
However, the Power Glove has become quite the nostalgia item. Something that screams late 80s and early 90s aesthetic. I think when many think of The Power Glove, they think of the scene from the movie “The Wizard”. The Wizard was a movie in the 90s aimed for a younger audience. It was pretty much a Nintendo shilling advertisement into a road trip comedy adventure for the whole family to enjoy. But hey, us kids were like “yoooo a movie with video games!” so I guess mission accomplished?
At one point, we get one of our antagonist playing Rad Racer with the Power Glove and yeah it looks really cool to see. This makes our protagonists of the movie get intermediated realizing what they will be up against later. In retrospect, being intermediated by someone using the power glove is humorous but it’s no doubt in the window into a yesteryear, something I think people have a thing for now a days. Being able to be sent back in time to when things were simpler, even if it’s just for a moment.
It also gave us one of the greatest lines in cinema history.
In the end I honesty think there was potential for the Power Glove, I just don’t think the tech was quite there yet and might have been a bit too ambitious for its time. It is a cool idea of putting on a glove and playing video games on it in place of a standard D-pad and buttons and to be honest, playing video games with just a glove sounds really cool on paper. Now a days we have things like VR that get you much more into the game. I’ll give points for the admiration for the Power Glove but… yeah it’s a case where technology was not that advanced for that just yet. A for effort but not so much in execution.
