CR '24: Mar-Apr - Fanatical For Fourth Gen Fan Translations
Apr 9, 2024 20:34:14 GMT -5
Post by Sarge on Apr 9, 2024 20:34:14 GMT -5
Alright, here we go. A big long blurb on Marvelous: Another Treausre Island. I'm trying to write longer reviews, as I'm thinking about occasionally submitting to a site that I sometimes frequent.
Anyone remember Marvelous: Another Treasure Island? No? Well, I wouldn't blame you, given that it never released outside of Japan. Nintendo Power saw fit to give it some coverage, but as a very late game in the SNES lifespan, they passed on localizing it. After all, it was late 1996, and the N64 had already launched in Japan, and in the US less than a month earlier. So the question becomes: did we miss out on a great Nintendo-developed gem?
The intro sets the stage, with talking monkeys and such, with one of them being given three colored keys that he is supposed to give to humans that are “worthy”. It's already established the tone quite a bit that this isn't a terribly serious game.
Cut to our intrepid adventurers, Deon, Max, and Jack. You'll be controlling them through the journey, which initially gives you the rather mundane task of collecting firewood so that you and your fellow campers can prepare a meal. This kicks off the meat of the game, which is obtaining new abilities for your fellows to clear obstacles, or applying your current abilities to situations. All this plays out in a very The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past way. The game's engine shares a lot of similarities and viewpoints, and even gives you the Pegasus Boo... I mean Dash Shoes, for instance. But unlike Zelda, which combines action-combat to drive the action, this is a primarily adventure-oriented game. You can bring up a cursor at any time to examine objects, point-and-click adventure game-style, and you'll often need to use one of the three boys specifically for solving said puzzles, or occasionally using the “Teamwork” command to use all three. It's a really neat setup that evokes a bit of The Lost Vikings feel.
While the game concentrates on light puzzling (most of the game's puzzles end up fairly obvious, although occasionally you'll get a headscratcher), there's some light combat as well. Don't expect A Link to the Past here, though – it's all rather basic, more a means to an end than any real draw to the proceedings. And speaking of the puzzling, most of the game allows you to pick up Luck Rocks through various actions (puzzles, mini-games, exploration), and you can spend one to get hints from your bird companion, at least through the first four of the five chapters. This can save you a lot of grief if you are having a hard time figuring out what you should be doing next, as most of the hints I received were very useful.
The starting area clearly hides a secret treasure, but all sorts of plot shenanigans ensue and you end up traveling to other places. Chapters 2-4 are different islands that have their own theme and hijinks to unravel, and talking monkeys is the least of where the game goes. It surprised me from a game that I thought would be playing things relatively straight (despite said talking monkeys), but it was pretty welcome. Definitely a lot of Saturday morning cartoon vibes from the proceedings.
Chapter 5 really sees a turn, though – the prior chapters are much more adventure-gamey, but the last one effectively turns into a full-blown Zelda-style dungeon. There are some frustrations here, though – it feels like a real leap in complexity, and some of the puzzles/mini-games are less than enjoyable. Hope you're good at sliding tile puzzles, because there's one here! Furthermore, you have to collect colored treasure chests on multiple floors in the correct order, as your keys “upgrade”, allowing you to open the next chest. It feels a bit frustrating to find one, and then not be able to do anything about it until later, assuming you can remember where it was! But even with those blemishes, I didn't find it too egregious – but I found myself more wishing for a proper adventure-style wrap-up, and less Zelda dungeoning in a game that until then hadn't gone that route. Perhaps this is the Eiji Aonuma influence, though – this is the first game he helmed for Nintendo!
Graphically, you can tell this landed in the late-gen SNES era. Some very nice tilesets and graphics, and a lot of character and style across the board. It might not quite have the greatest graphical pizzazz, but it's no slouch. It even employs the rarely-used 512x448 resolution for many of the close-up graphics, as well as text. The environments end up pretty varied as well, which is really appreciated and necessary for a game like this – I've seen some describe the game as short, but if you're not following a guide, you might end up putting 15-ish hours in.
The sound doesn't stand out quite as much, but it fits the action quite well. For whatever reason, there are a few tunes that stuck in my head, so they did something right, anyway. You're not going to come away from this one with new listening material for your playlist, but you'll still find them pleasant for the action on hand.
In the end, I don't know exactly where I land on this – there are aspects that are really cool, and then there are some bits that feel a bit frustrating. The Zelda fan in me wants to like aspects of the final chapter, but it also felt quite a bit out of place, and the key hunt ended up feeling a bit too long and padded. But I enjoyed the story elements as well, and while nothing here is truly complex, either from a plot or puzzling standpoint, I still think it skates by heavily on “vibes” and makes for a mostly fun playthrough. I'll give this one a 7.5/10 – certainly worth a shot if you're looking for a very console-centric take on the adventure genre.
Anyone remember Marvelous: Another Treasure Island? No? Well, I wouldn't blame you, given that it never released outside of Japan. Nintendo Power saw fit to give it some coverage, but as a very late game in the SNES lifespan, they passed on localizing it. After all, it was late 1996, and the N64 had already launched in Japan, and in the US less than a month earlier. So the question becomes: did we miss out on a great Nintendo-developed gem?
The intro sets the stage, with talking monkeys and such, with one of them being given three colored keys that he is supposed to give to humans that are “worthy”. It's already established the tone quite a bit that this isn't a terribly serious game.
Cut to our intrepid adventurers, Deon, Max, and Jack. You'll be controlling them through the journey, which initially gives you the rather mundane task of collecting firewood so that you and your fellow campers can prepare a meal. This kicks off the meat of the game, which is obtaining new abilities for your fellows to clear obstacles, or applying your current abilities to situations. All this plays out in a very The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past way. The game's engine shares a lot of similarities and viewpoints, and even gives you the Pegasus Boo... I mean Dash Shoes, for instance. But unlike Zelda, which combines action-combat to drive the action, this is a primarily adventure-oriented game. You can bring up a cursor at any time to examine objects, point-and-click adventure game-style, and you'll often need to use one of the three boys specifically for solving said puzzles, or occasionally using the “Teamwork” command to use all three. It's a really neat setup that evokes a bit of The Lost Vikings feel.
While the game concentrates on light puzzling (most of the game's puzzles end up fairly obvious, although occasionally you'll get a headscratcher), there's some light combat as well. Don't expect A Link to the Past here, though – it's all rather basic, more a means to an end than any real draw to the proceedings. And speaking of the puzzling, most of the game allows you to pick up Luck Rocks through various actions (puzzles, mini-games, exploration), and you can spend one to get hints from your bird companion, at least through the first four of the five chapters. This can save you a lot of grief if you are having a hard time figuring out what you should be doing next, as most of the hints I received were very useful.
The starting area clearly hides a secret treasure, but all sorts of plot shenanigans ensue and you end up traveling to other places. Chapters 2-4 are different islands that have their own theme and hijinks to unravel, and talking monkeys is the least of where the game goes. It surprised me from a game that I thought would be playing things relatively straight (despite said talking monkeys), but it was pretty welcome. Definitely a lot of Saturday morning cartoon vibes from the proceedings.
Chapter 5 really sees a turn, though – the prior chapters are much more adventure-gamey, but the last one effectively turns into a full-blown Zelda-style dungeon. There are some frustrations here, though – it feels like a real leap in complexity, and some of the puzzles/mini-games are less than enjoyable. Hope you're good at sliding tile puzzles, because there's one here! Furthermore, you have to collect colored treasure chests on multiple floors in the correct order, as your keys “upgrade”, allowing you to open the next chest. It feels a bit frustrating to find one, and then not be able to do anything about it until later, assuming you can remember where it was! But even with those blemishes, I didn't find it too egregious – but I found myself more wishing for a proper adventure-style wrap-up, and less Zelda dungeoning in a game that until then hadn't gone that route. Perhaps this is the Eiji Aonuma influence, though – this is the first game he helmed for Nintendo!
Graphically, you can tell this landed in the late-gen SNES era. Some very nice tilesets and graphics, and a lot of character and style across the board. It might not quite have the greatest graphical pizzazz, but it's no slouch. It even employs the rarely-used 512x448 resolution for many of the close-up graphics, as well as text. The environments end up pretty varied as well, which is really appreciated and necessary for a game like this – I've seen some describe the game as short, but if you're not following a guide, you might end up putting 15-ish hours in.
The sound doesn't stand out quite as much, but it fits the action quite well. For whatever reason, there are a few tunes that stuck in my head, so they did something right, anyway. You're not going to come away from this one with new listening material for your playlist, but you'll still find them pleasant for the action on hand.
In the end, I don't know exactly where I land on this – there are aspects that are really cool, and then there are some bits that feel a bit frustrating. The Zelda fan in me wants to like aspects of the final chapter, but it also felt quite a bit out of place, and the key hunt ended up feeling a bit too long and padded. But I enjoyed the story elements as well, and while nothing here is truly complex, either from a plot or puzzling standpoint, I still think it skates by heavily on “vibes” and makes for a mostly fun playthrough. I'll give this one a 7.5/10 – certainly worth a shot if you're looking for a very console-centric take on the adventure genre.
