RetroGameClub #4 - DoReMi Fantasy: Milon's Quest

[Sayo]

The concept behind this thread is quite simple, one (or more) game(s) are chosen and you are all invited to play till completion (or at least as far as you can) and we use this thread to discuss the game and anything relating to it.
The deadline for this current thread is that of 14 days or two weeks given that the holiday season is right around the corner and people might have less time to play.

• A game is chosen (suggestions are encouraged)
• It can be a game for any retro console or computer, if it's something like a modern port or decompilation that's okay too
• Preferably lesser known titles instead of something everyone has already played
• Play the game till completion or at least as far as you can get in the game
• Use any means to play the game, be it emulation or real hardware
• Links will be provided, preferably from CDRomance, if the game is not available there, I can curate it for CDR.
• If you are using save states or similar, please be honest and disclose it

For this fourth entry of Retro Game Club, we will be playing DoReMi Fantasy: Milon's Quest (DoReMi Fantasy: Milon no Doki Doki Daibouken) for the Super Famicom, an action adventure side-scrolling title developed by Hudson that never left Japan. It serves as a sequel to 1986's rather infamous Milon's Secret Castle but do not fret, for this is a much more straightforward experience. Featuring drop-dead gorgeous visuals and tight controls, this is surely one of the quintessential hidden gems of the SFC.

• DoReMi Fantasy: Milon's Quest can be downloaded from RGT here DoReMi Fantasy: Milon's Quest (J+English Patched) SNES ROM

Some links of interest

• Hardcore Gaming 101 article about DoReMi Fantasy
• DoReMi Fantasy's soundtrack on Youtube
• A guide for DoReMi Fantasy from GameFAQs

This game is basically the cutest sh*t ever and if you disagree, then you have no soul

 

[ATenderLad]

This is a pretty fun kind of thread, I dig it.

I spent a couple hours playing, on Snes9x the game crashes after the fourth boss. That happen to anyone else?

 

[dropsmegamega]

I played this one a few years ago. It's too early for me to replay it, but I really recommend it. I love the OST too, its by the same composer of the bomberman series.

 

[Najjoom]

good idea, sadly DoReMi Fantasy: Milon's Quest is not a game i want to play or interested in but i will try to participate if a game i am interested in comes up.
for suggestions here are a couple of games
Shanghai II: Dragon's Eye on PC DOS
Faselei on Neo Geo Pocket Color

 

[Sayo]

This is a pretty fun kind of thread, I dig it.

I spent a couple hours playing, on Snes9x the game crashes after the fourth boss. That happen to anyone else?

Hmm, that's odd. I am testing the game with Mednafen and no crashes so far.

I played this one a few years ago. It's too early for me to replay it, but I really recommend it. I love the OST too, its by the same composer of the bomberman series.

Oh it's the Bomberman composer? Nice

good idea, sadly DoReMi Fantasy: Milon's Quest is not a game i want to play or interested in but i will try to participate if a game i am interested in comes up.
for suggestions here are a couple of games
Shanghai II: Dragon's Eye on PC DOS
Faselei on Neo Geo Pocket Color

I'll take those suggestions into account, I might run a poll for an upcoming thread.

 

[Sandisc454]

This game is sick! I don't usually play Platformers, but this game is pretty fun so far. I think the visuals are great and I love the music! If it wasn't for this thread, I don't think I'll would tried this game out on my own so thanks for this, Sayo!

 

[ATenderLad]

Hmm, that's odd. I am testing the game with Mednafen and no crashes so far.

I tried getting through again, softlocks during cutscenes kept happening on Snes9x. Switching over Bsnes, was able to finish the game.

...which was tough! I feel like the hitbox for the player is a bit wider than the sprite, kept getting poked by things I was sure I avoided. Also this game has strange movement, it feels like you move faster if you shoot while jumping, or better yet shoot and jump forward at the same time, like Mega Man X with the buttons swapped around.

The animation is darling, I particularly liked one level later on that has high, blustery winds that Milon changes his walking and jumping animations for, hair blown around and struggling to keep their hat on. Some of the level design is fun too, it's very similar to Kirby in places but that's hardly a negative.

Might be the end of the praise, sadly. The performance plummets at times, and most of the last three worlds are played with noticeable slowdown. Between that and your already slightly sluggish movement, you'll take a fair few hits and deaths that don't feel like your fault.

Progression is a bit weird too, you unlock abilities that you practically never use, the weirdest being the POWER to push one specific kind of block, which you only see in a handful of levels. and only ever one block at a time. The ability to aim up or at an angle would have been a damn sight better appreciated!

I'm not sure what the music theme was going for, other than finding notes and instruments music doesn't play much of a role (and none of the in-game music is memorable, the final boss theme is a snooze), you're told to use a Magic Harp to seal away the villain but it's just an androgynous evil witch, and the harp doesn't actually make an appearance in the fight or the ending.

A small tip to anyone else who plays it, you can charge your attack, it's slow and not noticeably powerful or anything, but unleashing it does give you i-frames. The wind-up is too long to use against most enemies, but it's a solid option against the last boss, particularly their homing projectiles phases.

 

[Sayo]

It's a decent game but I certainly wouldn't qualify it as an outstanding platformer, it's a game that overstays its welcome on almost every front.
A fantastic soundtrack with some exceptional use of samples, with songs that tend to range from mellow and cheerful to atmospheric ambience, but you'll end up listening to them so much you'll want to stop playing, they seriously could have used a few more songs, otherwise it's one of the best soundtracks on the SFC.
As for the gameplay, I can tell this borrows heavily from Taito's classic games like Bubble Bobble and even Rainbow Islands (ladder mechanic resembles the way you build rainbow bridges) as well as Liquid Kids to an extent. The difficulty is generally pretty forgiving, this isn't any harder than a Nintendo platformer like SMB3 or maybe even easier, it does seem to spike up the difficulty during World 6 (Fire Peak) though, but I found that the bosses are the most tedious and challenging part of the game, but mostly just tedious. Particularly the last boss who has a really cheap attack consisting of a teleporting, punch that doesn't seem to have any coherence as to where it'll land.
As for the abstract ending, it seems like it was allegedly added in by the translation team, which explains why it feels so cheap and off-beat, the regular release jumped straight to the credits, which paired with how it reuses a regular song for the staff roll, leads me to believe they ran either out of budget, space, time or all three.
Overall a decent experience with some colorful graphics, detailed animation, interesting use of rotation and scaling effects (snowman boss) and a cozy house music style soundtrack.
7/10

I tried getting through again, softlocks during cutscenes kept happening on Snes9x. Switching over Bsnes, was able to finish the game.

Oh yeah the game is pretty tough when it comes to performance, I encountered repeated slowdown when things got too crowded. Good writeup and i agree with most points

 

[ATenderLad]

As for the abstract ending, it seems like it was allegedly added in by the translation team, which explains why it feels so cheap and off-beat, the regular release jumped straight to the credits, which paired with how it reuses a regular song for the staff roll, leads me to believe they ran either out of budget, space, time or all three.

I *was* wondering what in the hell that ending was, that makes sense.

 

[Sayo]

I *was* wondering what in the hell that ending was, that makes sense.

Yeah it's one of the most oddball things I've ever seen, lol. I mean at least they tried but I personally think they could've just added a few more CG and called it a day.

 

[ATenderLad]

Any hint as to what the next game will be?

 

[Sayo]

Any hint as to what the next game will be?

I'm open to suggestions

 

[Najjoom]

I'm open to suggestions

Shanghai II: Dragon's Eye on PC DOS
Faselei on Neo Geo Pocket Color
RoboCop Versus The Terminator on Sega Mega Drive
Gradius II on NES
Shinobi II on Sega Game Gear

 

[Sayo]

Shanghai II: Dragon's Eye on PC DOS
Faselei on Neo Geo Pocket Color
RoboCop Versus The Terminator on Sega Mega Drive
Gradius II on NES
Shinobi II on Sega Game Gear

Noted, I already got some suggestions earlier for the current thread but yours are not going ignored, I particularly like Shinobi II so that might be soon.

 

[Yousef]

@Sayo hi there, if it’s possible, it might be worth posting a list of previous game club games to avoid redundant suggestions.

That said. Hmmm…if you want lesser played games, I believe glover for the psx might fit the bill.
For slightly older games, Shining Force might be great.

 

[Sayo]

@Sayo hi there, if it’s possible, it might be worth posting a list of previous game club games to avoid redundant suggestions.

That said. Hmmm…if you want lesser played games, I believe glover for the psx might fit the bill.
For slightly older games, Shining Force might be great.

Good call Yousef, I'll list the games we've already played right here and will probably make some sort of document for the next OP.

• Little Samson (NES)
• Bonk's Adventure (PCE)
• Magical Chase (PCE)
• Coryoon (PCE)
• Doremi Fantasy (SNES)
• Twinkle Tale (MD)

 

[davshap]

I'm open to suggestions

- The Chaos Engine/Soldiers of Fortune (SNES/MD)
- Isolated Warrior (NES)
- Total Carnage (SNES)
- Skeleton Krew (MD)
- Mercenary Force (GB)
- Burning Angels (PCE)
- Bloody Wolf (PCE)
- Super Turrican 2 (SNES)