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HT Gaming: I Suck at Old Games

One consequence of the downloadable content like the Wii’s Virtual Console is that I’ve run into several of my old favorites that I’m simply no good at anymore.  It’s a little disheartening to run into a game which used to only take me a day to beat that suddenly becomes impossible to finish.  I’m not sure if that’s a reflection of a higher tolerance of poor game mechanics when I was younger, a reduction in my quick reflexes, or just a shift in game design from the old days.  My guess is a combination of the three (shut up, it’s not a cop out).

The game that really hit home to begin with was Startropics.  It used to be my absolute favorite game back in the NES days.  (For the trivia buffs, the game’s sequel, Zoda’s Revenge, was the second to last game licensed in the United States for the NES.)  Most of the game still plays the same for me, and I actually still enjoy it.  The game is obviously dated – it is a NES game, after all.  However, the story is still fun (as long as you aren’t looking for anything too deep) and the game still provides losers like me with a challenge.

Most of the controls are timing based, with weapons such as the yo-yo and upgraded versions of it.  The monsters usually moved in a recognizable pattern, and a lot of the strategy in the game revolves around figuring out that pattern.  Especially the stupid bats.  Man, I hated those bats.  Bosses usually didn’t move, or if they did, moved to specific places.  As with many games of its era, the bosses were usually defeated with either something learned in that dungeon, or a weapon picked up there.

The puzzles really don’t hold up all that well in difficulty (as well as one that, if I remember correctly, you needed a piece of paper that came with the game – reminds me of the old LucasArts ‘copyright protection’).  However, the puzzles really are interesting, I think.  There’s one that requires you to find a famous pirate’s pet parrot (alliteration rocks) in order to learn the pirate’s favorite song.  Once you play the song on a giant organ you can continue on through the level.

The game’s locations are scattered around islands that are usually pretty unique, giving the game a little flexibility.  But where I run into the brick wall is when the game abandons the island setting and heads into space.  Seriously, it makes sense if you know the whole story.  It also sets up well for the story in the next game.  However, the game requires a lot quicker twitch reflexes in the last level, and I just fail miserably.  I really want to blame it on the translation to the Wii hardware, but I think I’m just deluding myself.

The end result of all this?  Here’s to many, many more classic games showing up on the Virtual Console, Xbox Live Arcade and Sony’s Home (though I’m not even sure if that includes downloadable games).