Club Retro 2020: February - Game Gear

Tails Adventure (shouldn't it be Tails' Adventure?) is an action-adventure Game Gear exclusive, developed by Aspect and published by SEGA in 1995. (This game has appeared on some Sonic compilations as well.) Tails' Adventure was originally released in Japan, USA, and Europe. The character "Tails" is part of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, despite the lack of Sonic anywhere on the cover art. In this spinoff from the main series, the plot differs based on which regional version you play. Because the Japanese version released first, I'm treating its plot as canon. To touch on the aesthetics real fast; Tails' Adventure has outstanding graphics and above average audio. Tails' sprite itself is almost on par with the Genesis version's, very well animated and expressive. This is one of the very best looking games for Game Gear.

In the Japanese version's plot, before Tails even met Sonic the Hedgehog, Tails was living on an island paradise. The island is a magical place, filled with energy from the Chaos Emeralds buried beneath its surface. One day while relaxing, Tails is woken by an explosion that comes from inside the island. A bird (Flicky) tells Tails that Battle Kukku (robo-battle-ducks) have invaded the island. The bird alerts Tails that Battle Kukku are mining the island for the Chaos Emeralds. The robo-battle-ducks want to use the Chaos Emerald powers for their war machines. Tails isn't having that, so Tails goes on his own quest to find parts to build a weapon capable of defeating the evil Battle Kukku. And Tails also wants to recover all the Chaos Emeralds before the ducks do. All of this stuff plot-wise happened pre-Sonic and pre-Robotnik, and that explains why neither Sonic nor Robotnik are on the cover art.

Unlike a normal Sonic game, Tails Adventure is a very slow affair. There's no running at blistering speeds and bouncing off baddies here. Rather Tails walks at a languid pace, and he flies kinda casually as well. Tails' primary means of attack are EXPLOSIVES. Seriously, the little two-tailed fox is quite the mad bomber in his game. Bombs are used to kill ducks, and also destroy barricades. The base gameplay, rather than being a linear stage based platformer, is instead a nonlinear world-exploratory platformer. (Or as some would say, a "metroidvania".) That's right, Tails goes around to different locations on the island, exploring for power-ups that let him reach new areas previously inaccessible before. Usually these new areas are opened by having the right kind of explosive to destroy their barriers. New types of bombs are discovered by exploring, but there are movement and equipment power-ups to be found as well. And as such, new locations become available when the right kind of locomotive power-up is gained as well. The overall gameplay is solid, and even a bit forward-thinking for its time. After all "Metroidvania"s weren't all that common in 1995, especially not on handhelds.

One of Tails' most useful tools is his Remote Robot. It's basically a drone that can walk and fly, and is impervious to damage (usually). Tails can use this drone to recon a level, but it is more often used to reach switches or power-ups that Tails simply can't reach on his own (size restrictive area). Tail's most amazing equipment however, is his submarine. Yes Tails has his own freakin' submersible, that he uses to explore the waters around the island. The submarine itself has to be built initially, but then can be leveled up with found upgrades. It can even gain the ability to eventually fly out of water! Stages that use the submarine are similar to shmups, but sometimes employ a dose of exploration of their own. There are enemies to be shot, and barriers to be destroyed, meaning even underwater levels harbor that sweet sweet nonlinear exploration.

One has to give SEGA credit for allowing Tails' spinoff to be so different from its source material. Unfortunately not too many critics of its day were fond of Tails' Adventure. Probably because this wasn't just more Sonic as they already knew it. And in modern times, Tails' Adventure tends to get panned by retro-critics as well. For example Jeremy Parish of 1UP had this to say about the game: "The likes of Tails Sky Patrol and Tails Adventure are scraping the bottom of the barrel. It would take some powerful nostalgia (and possibly hard liquor) to keep gamers interested in these nigh-unplayable portable titles from an era best forgotten."* Personally I find that statement incredibly idiotic and extremely misinformed (at least concerning Tails Adventure and its era). This game is a misunderstood experience, one that is routinely dismissed prematurely, by players who only give it five minutes before passing judgement. To the contrary, I found Tails Adventure to be a charming hidden gem. A wonder full of surprises, interesting mechanics, and plenty of hardship. This game is as AAA as Game Gear gets. If you are a fan of nonlinear exploratory platformers, you'd do well to join Tails on his cruelly forgotten little adventure.

*archive link

Edit: fixed some grammar errors

A lot of that reminds me a bit of Bomberman 64 in ways, just minus the 3D and all. I wonder what an ambitious 16bit era Metroidvania Bomberman would have been like, but this kind of sounds like the answer in ways haha.

I swear, if I feel better and stop being stressed this month, I'll play something! I definitely want to check this one out.