In the dreamland, various Baku alongside the impossible beings the dreams are home of are surrounding a giant light orb, as an equally huge hourglass runs out of sand, as soon as it’s empty from above, the orb cracks lie an egg, revealing clusters of stars burning and clouds of resolutions, the Bakus celebrate, between them I am
Me: (Finishing New Year dinner’s leftovers) Well, this year has been pretty good, actually it’s been a year since I joined this forum, well, New years celebrations are done, so back to business, after all I haven’t written a review (Looks aside to see if he’s alone) IN A YEAR
(Scene abruptly ends as a giant tomato prepares to slam me… worth it)
Little Samson, a humble game made in 1992 from Legitimaly obscure developer Takeru and published by the less obscure Taito is a platformer game that if you read the reviews online the game might as well cure Cancer for all the praise it gets, as someone that played it in his youth, I can say the game is great, but seriously speculators, your guts rumble can be heard from my home (Only the manual is in 500 bucks!) so today to greet 20256 we will see one of the NES library’s holy grails, ¿Does the game still holds today, or the game is who the bells tolls? Let’s see today
HISTORY:
Left: The game's lore
Right: The game's ingame plot
Per usual, the game’s plot is minimal, a…kid, a knight, a dragon and a mouse go to an adventure to kill some stuff, the dragon betrays us after the tutorial but now he is our friend… okay, the plot isn’t the best, I need context *Pulls the manual from a shelf that totally was always there and gives it a quick read* oh, it makes sense now
The story revolves about the Prince of Darkness, Ta Keed, long ago conquering the kingdom of Forgy, until the gods sealed him inside a mountain and divided their powers on four bells in case he came back
Some years later a thunder destroyed the mountain releasing the dark prince (H0ope the thunder released the Monster kind without the Human souls), leading the emperor Hans XIV to send an army, unfortunately sending an army to kill a demon was like sending an ant to kill an elephant, so the army was powerless, the current four bearers of the bells were found fortunately
Samson: A kid, no much is known, making him a simple kid that can climb walls
Kikira: A dragon, turned into her form due to…being a cretin, it barely worked, in fact you face her after the small tutorial levels all because she hates Samson’s guts
Gamm: Not actually a knight, but a golem, formerly a thief, he was cursed in a form that makes his thieving impossible not by divinity, but by messing around a wizard’s, sturdy, casing both of them to transform in a botched thievery attempt
K.O: The wizard that Gamm tried to steal from, sadly he was in the crossfire of the incident, becoming a tiny mouse
The emperor gathers the current four bearers of the bells that contains the powers of the gods and a journey to stope once and for all the tyranny of Ta Keed begins
I always found amusing that mystical seals made by gods can be broken by simple stuff, I mean, ¿A THUNDER? total KEK, that aside the plot is surprisingly deep, at least the one from the manual, even when you get the proper cutscenes, which by the way are my favorite uses of “Show don’t tell” you can get a grasp of what’s going on
GAMEPLAY
Bakuma: Oh hi Samson, how you doing
Samson: Oh hi, you know... hanging around
*Rimshot*
What the game lacks in dialogue boxes is compensated via gameplay
Each character has a unique gimmick that makes them fun to use, akin to a class in an RPG
Samsom is the all-around guy, he can climb walls and shoot in a straight line, unlike most shooting games of the era he can courch to deal with low enemies, average life bar and damage, his round skills can make him the only character you need to win the game, granted it won’t be easy
Kikira is fitting for a dragon able to fly and spit fire, you don’t have control of the flight though, instead you glide for a while before having to land, useful to clear hard platforming sections, also the only one that can charge her shot, giving a fiery blast, sadly the flames go up in a curve, so she can’t be used as liberally in combat, she is more for a Anti annoying air enemies wiper
Gamm as a Golem can no-sell spikes, usually a death sentence in platformer games, while slow and bulky, having the biggest sprite, he also has the biggest damage output and life bar, he can aim upwards too, but his “projectile” is like Rayman’s fist and relatively short ranged, still good range, but if the enemy is too far you are out of luck, to compensate each punch packs a (Heh) punch
K.O, for being the weakest of the gang he can be flat out a NUKE if properly used, he is small and a fly’s sneeze can send him to the Shadow Realm, but he can climb walls like Samson and is the fastest of the group, mixed with the smallest sprite he can be useful for a quick run, the meat of his gameplay however is his weapon: bombs, instead of a projectile he leaves a bomb, the bomb stays in place and after a while it will blow in a small but powerful expulsion, the tradeoff is that you need to lure the enemies, but if you can set them right, even the bosses will be shredded like cheese in a pizzeria, I has seen YouTube videos of folks beating THE FRIGGIN FINAL BOSS with only the little mouse… former wizard guys
As we seen each character has his own gimmick, ups and downs requiring quick thinking, you can swap members of the crew in the Pause Menu
You aren’t thrown into battle with only what you were wearing, you can also pick aside of life refills and 1-ups small crystal balls that raises the max life, but only a certain amount per character, and potions to refill yourself
The level progression starts with small ante piece levels so you can learn how to play as each character, the levels are easy, not even having bosses, after our first boss battle, however the game has linear progression, however some hidden routes can be found
DIFFICULTY
On top, a fun experience, on the bottom, pain, but the only way to get the true ending
Don’t let the cuddly main characters or the cheerful music be deceptions, the game is still a NES game, so if you aren’t careful, the game will CHEW AND SPIT YOU, NO MERCY
As mentioned, the intro levels are fair enough, after all you are learning to play the game, however after that the game scenically lets off your hand and throw you into a ball pit, but replace ball with mine and pit with field, the first boss, your dragon ally has a relatively easy to decipher AI but her damage is considerable, working as a forewarn of how the bosses will work here
As mentioned, the game has life extensions, but each character can only raise their own a certain bit, and the potions? They don’t stack and aren’t shared, you only get one per character, and the character that picks it can only use it on themselves, so pick carefully
Enemies are easily patterns but the level design and their placement will make you think your steps, the bosses as expected aren’t pushovers, aside of highly punishing attacks with patters you WILL die surely, their collision damage will even make Gamm, the one with the biggest life bar be smacked around
Gamm, K.O and Kikira if they die you simply continue with them unable to be used for the current level, but if Samson dies, the life is counted as lost, worse is that when attractive to be able to avoid certain death by pressing start and swapping to another character than can tank or at least dodge, the game’s pause screen is picky when it works, you need to stay still and on the ground to be able to swap, so if you are about to be hit or fall, then you are SOL, I don’t know if it was intended or an oversight, but is still annoying
The game is difficult, but you have an easy mode, changes made?
Enemies hit and tank less efficiently
Less enemies
If a non-Samson character dies, he still can be used (Granted, he counts a total life loss)
A proper way to play it right? Yes…n’t
For starters I played the game as a wee bean, so my skills weren’t too good, I played the game on easy and easy only, the game was still hard, but it was doable, the final boss was as expected, so AFAIK I beat the game the intended way, however while finding again the game and beating it now in Normal, I came to realize the ending I believed was the only one… was a fake one and the game pulls the “congratulations… now Git Gud and play in hard” card, by that point I was far better at games, the game mercifully has passwords and infinite continues, so losing wasn’t a big (heh X2) loss, the game rewarded my efforts with three extra stages and the ACTUAL ending, I can tell, it is satisfactory, especially after 16 years of accidental self-gaslighting
Not barricading around the bush, the game is hard, but if you manage to get the grasp of it, the hard that all it asks is for you to say on your foot and pay attention, the bosses while tuned for Samson can be beaten as you wish as long as you take in account their weakness, so if you want a challenging game, give it a go
Graphics
When it comes to Graphics, the budget wasn't penny pinched
The other reason the game is remembered, the art style is GORGEROUS, easily the you can see the game came on the NES’ Twilight, the main cast is well animated, K.O is utterly huggable in his idle animation, and the Enemies range from equally cute to no different from an RPG late game mob, may be the bosses are equally cu…
WHAT THE FU..!?
Coming from a Dream beast… sleeping is overrated anyway (what the actual fuck)
The backgrounds are easily the best part, the levels are varied in theming, we have an ice castle, ruins, an enchanted forest, and the castle of the prince Ta Keed itself, the boss arenas when mostly being black backgrounds sometimes use cool arena designs
Overall, when not diverting of the usual fantasy game settings, the levels have their own shade of original ideas, the bosses when creepy, are still pretty well animated, and their contrast with a literal mouse gives strong Kirby vibes to the battles
MUSIC AND SOUND
The tunes are great, the theme of Gamm is pretty triumphant for a thief that became The Thing trying to rob someone’s house and the boss theme fits the creepy appearance of the bosses
The sounds are also satisfactory… if you ignore Samson’s shooting sound
¿You have played Contra or Megaman’s shooting sound? Pleasant, low, short, well here is not the case, I mean Samson shoots bells so it makes sense they sound like bells, but the shooting sound is so grating after a while, given his long range and rounded usage, it’s a problem
I wish that was the only problem, the level music, is not bad but the execution is, each one of the heroes has a tune that plays once selected, which sound good but that means the levels has no unique theme, only the bosses and some levels has a unique tune, leading to repetition at times, the music of the heroes is good, but some variety and especially the levels having their own tune could make the experience better
A BITTERSWEET TALE OF A POSTHUMOUS TALE
Nowadays the game is deemed as a must play, and the game is so renewed a desired the game can reach in physical huge prices, the manual alone can be around 400 bucks in a chill day, so the game must be loved at its time, right?
NO
The game at the time of release was seen as a great game, but as we mentioned earlier when discussing Demon’s Crest, money talks, and not much was generated by the game, for a big company that would be merely a setback, but Takeru, the developer was a small blip in the radar, and while memorable as seen as many reviews at the time, the financial failure of both this game and an Adventure game meant Takeru had to go, fret not, its developers managed to move to another developer called Mitchell Corporation… honestly I know nothing of them, but at least they managed to make it out relatively fine
Nowadays the game is a Holy Grail, a must play, sadly the lack of a rerelease meant the only ones that managed to fetch a playthrough were ironically the pirates, mercifully a Rerelease has been announced for modern consoles, so maybe the bells will chime again
CONCLUSION
Well, let’s not end one of the first Reviews of the year in a sour note, so let’s get back in track
The game, still is solid, granted it could benefit of:
- A more pleasant shooting sound for Samson
- Actual music for the levels, the heroes’ themes are good, but they can overstay
- Tuning the character select’s timing, considering it is also your only way to pause, you get why it’s a necessity
Be you are the lucky one that got it when it was cheap, the rich ones that nabbed a copy now or simply emulate, all of us can enjoy the game so come on gather the bells and chime for the True end
Bakuma Out
Pros
- + A nice graphical design
- + Challenging but fair
- + Easy mode that doesn't dumb itself for you
- + Unique characters
Cons
- - Stages could have their own music
- - Samson's shots are too noisy
- - Pause button can fail in the worst ways
- - Enemies and bosses can cheapshot you
- - Potions could be handled better
- - Climbing controls take a time to hang
8
Gameplay
Each stage can be completed Samson Solo, but the cast is fun to play around
10
Graphics
Some stages repeating theme aside, the graphics are stunning, bosses are as imposing as an army of demons must be
8
Story
Slighyly on the basic, is good they are able to narrate it with zero dialogue
7
Sound
Pretty good tunes, scarce but still plentyful
8
Replayability
An easy mode if you simply want to play the game, a Normal mode for challenge seekersand lots of hidden spots will keep you busy for a while
8.5
out of 10
Overall
As good as many reviews make it look, granted you really want to train on easy first
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