First Impression: Neutopia (Wii U – TurboGraphix16) ~ Is this Zelda?

Wikipedia entry

There are a lot of different Zelda clones out there. And to be honest, I don’t mind it at all. It keeps Nintendo on its toes in making the next Zelda game. If it’s not good enough, then the clones have a chance to be the next big hit. Recently, I took a look at some of them. Blossom King and Lenna’s Inception are two good examples. So, during my week off this week, I was browsing the Nintendo Wii U eShop and I discovered Neutopia. At first, I thought it was an indie developer creating another 2D Zelda clone, but I was quite surprised when I saw that the developer was Hudson Soft. So, I dug a bit deeper, and it turns out that this game was never released in Europe until the Wii and Wii U era. So, why didn’t we get this game, and its sequel over here in Europe? Was the Zelda clone not good enough, or did we miss out? Let’s find out, while I invite you to leave a comment in the comment section down below with your thoughts and/or opinions on the content of this article and/or this game.

Is this Zelda?

I find the story in this game quite amusing. It’s, to a certain degree, a cross between your cliché Zelda and Final Fantasy story. Change the Triforce with crystals. Sprinkle some Zelda II with a sleeping princess in a shrine, that instead of getting cursed… gets kidnapped Link to the Past style. Oh, and let’s not forget that the crystals are elemental crystals. The story is silly but oh so amusing to me. The story isn’t the main focal point in this game. Besides the main character, the villain, and the princess… There aren’t many unique characters in the game. Which isn’t a bad thing. The name of the villain is hilarious, actually. He is called Dirth, yes… dirt with an additional H.

In terms of gameplay, this game is everything I could hope for. This game is Zelda I at its heart, and I love it. It didn’t take long for me to get immersed in the game and start exploring the world. All the mechanics were clear to me right away. I had to explore the lands, find the dungeons and find all the medallions. I started out with a sword and started exploring. The controls are extremely easy to learn as well, so in no time I was in the action.

Something that took me by surprise is that there are only 4 dungeons. But, there are two medallions in each dungeon. So, you’ll have to explore them quite thoroughly to make sure you found everything. Speaking of exploring, I was afraid that I would have to look for ages for the various dungeons since the game also copied the “map” system from Zelda I. Thankfully, you have a Charmed Compass that points you into the general direction of the dungeons.

There are no keys in this game, so no locked door puzzles. Yet, the map system has a unique feature. It plays a special sound effect whenever you are near a boss or a medallion. This brings me nicely to the audiovisual presentation of this game. The music in this game, oh heavens. The music in this game is excellent! This chiptune soundtrack fits the game so well and is one of the best things in this game. It made the exploration and trying to beat the various challenges the game gives you even more fun. The sound effects are decent too, if only I wished there were a bit more of them to make the enemies and weapons come more alive.

Is this game hard? Well, if you know how to play Zelda I, it’s not hard at all. You have to know that you can burn bushes, push rocks, and that villagers are hidden all over the world that gives you VERY helpful advice. For real, read what the villagers have to say. The only nitpick I have is that when you accidentally press the skip button, you’ll have to exit and re-enter their location to know what they said.

This game is also somewhat forgiving. When you die, you go to the latest checkpoint you saved at. So, whenever you did something big or before a dungeon, remember to save. This isn’t your modern game with autosaves. The save system is unique, when save you get a very long password and the chance to save in a slot. But do yourself a favor, and only use that save feature to create checkpoints so when you die, you don’t lose too much progress and use the actual save states of the virtual console to save. I found that much more reliable than the load system. Especially since the save slots are RAM-based! Any RAM memory can be overwritten. The only thing you lose is a bit of gold.

The items that enemies can drop are the exact same as in the first Zelda game. Apart from having different sprites. From gold, bomb to even a time-stopping power up. And if you listen well to the villagers, you’ll know what each item does, since they hint at them pretty well.

Visually, this game looks amazing. The only thing I found a shame is that there were no real towns or anything in the game. But that’s a minor nitpick since, evener then, the map is quite memorable and great fun to explore. Of course, you have your typical locals from a forest, mountains, and desert, but they all fit the world so well. Strangely enough, there is no ice/cold area in this game. That’s something you don’t see every game every day. But, we don’t see perfect games every day either. Yet, is this game one of those?

This isn’t as good as Zelda.

Sadly enough, no. This game has some flaws. The first is the bombs. The big issue is that you need way too many of them to beat the game, and you can only carry 8 of them at the start. There is also no easy way to farm them, so when you require more… It’s enemy killing time, and cross your fingers they drop bombs. And bombs are one of the few items that stack. When the wings drop, to easily escape to the last save point, you can only have one. Even when you picked up two. … Okay, you can carry two health points.

There is something I feel a bit mixed about, and that is some villagers. Some villagers give you special rewards like money. But only once. That alone is just fine. But, here is the annoying thing. If you die and go back to that spot, you can’t get the money again. Yet, when I think about this… It makes a bit sense too. Since, if the reward of the villager is higher than what you lose when you die… It would be money exploit waiting to happen. If only you could decline the money before you get it, that would have been amazing.

Now, that it was difficult to create a good map system on an 8-bit system for Zelda I, I can totally understand. You only have so much RAM and resources to play with before the system starts to lag. But, on a system that’s at least twice as powerful, the map system can do more. The map system is a huge mess in my eyes.

First, there is no overworld map, so you don’t know where you are in the overworld. Something that the first Zelda game actually did! Second, after getting the dungeon map, it resets the visited rooms when you leave the dungeon by any means. And third, it only shows you the rooms for the first medallion. Which in itself isn’t a big issue, but it’s a big issue since when you die exploring the second part of the dungeon, guess what… The map is reset and the new rooms are gone! Oh, and I hope you remembered where to bomb to continue.

Sadly, this game has the same annoyance as the first Zelda game when it comes to hitboxes. During my playthrough, I felt that sometimes it was easier for the enemies to hit me compared to hitting them. The fact you can’t hit enemies diagonally is a huge issue. Since, when you aren’t lined up right… You don’t hit the enemy, but they hit you. Well, you can hit enemies diagonally but not with the sword. Just increasing the hitboxes of the enemies by a tiny bit would have solved this issue.

Something minor about this is that some airborne enemies were tricky to know when you were able to hit and not hit them. Speaking of iffy enemy design, I found some enemies a bit too cheap. Those mud crawlers are so annoying in predicting where they will turn up.

Now, I think I said almost everything I wanted to say about this game. I honestly think it’s time to wrap this up in a nice conclusion.

Is this worth your time?

For this conclusion, I won’t beat around the bush. If you enjoy any 2D adventure game like let’s say: Zelda I, Blossom Tales, Lenna’s Inception, Fairune… This game is right up your alley. This amazing retro title is an excellent time waster. It does have some flaws, but when you get used to the flaws, this game is stunning. Currently, I’m halfway done with the game, but I couldn’t wait in finishing the game before I started writing this review.

This game brought me back to the joy of 2D Zelda games. Which is one of my favorite types of games. Just keep in mind that this game is a retro game and the things I talked about in my review, and you are golden. I’m playing this game blind and not using a walkthrough at all. It’s a blast, and can’t wait to see what the game is going to throw at me next. And let’s not forget the sequel! Which improvements were made and is it going to be as much fun as this one?

Now, if you decide to play this game… I personally would advise you to play this game on the Virtual Console or PSN. If you want to play it on the TurboGraphix 16, be careful with saving in the cabinets/save files. Do write down your passwords. Since saving to RAM… I don’t trust it personally. And sadly enough, the passwords are long and complex. It’s case-sensitive even.

I highly enjoyed my time with this game, and I can’t recommend it enough to fellow 2D adventure game fans and retro game fans. But, I can totally understand that because of its age and quirks, this game might not be so enjoyable for everybody. But, give it a chance, I really think it is worth it.

And with that said, I want to thank you all for reading this article, and I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I hope to be able to welcome you to another one, but until then, have a great rest of your day and take care.

Those annoying mud things

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Top 10 Wii games I played until now – Part 1

I’m planning to buy a Wii U next month. I have been delaying this purchase for too long. Another thing I have been delaying for too long is my article of my top 10 Wii games I ever played. Here is a bit of shocker. The Nintendo Wii is the first console I ever owned. Yes, I never owned a SNES or anything among those lines. I grew up on the Nintendo handhelds and various PC games. Now-a-days, I have a PS1 / 2, Wii and SNES. So, I can play some games I missed out upon. In any case, this list is my opinion and is based on the games I have played. I hope that the title made that clear enough. Feel free to make a comment with your favorite games on the Nintendo Wii. And as usual, feel free to leave a comment with your opinion on the content of this article. 

 

#10: Pandora’s Tower

This is one of the latest games I have started playing on the Wii. But it’s one of the best action adventure games I have played in a long while.

It mostly reminded me of a mixture of the Castlevania, Zelda and Metroid games. It also blew me away that the story of this game went quite deep. I honestly felt that it didn’t feel at home on a family friendly console. I always pictured the Wii for games that the whole family could play, but I have been proven wrong by this game.

The writing is excellent. Which shouldn’t have surprised me to be honest. xSEED games worked on this title. After seeing their work on the Corpse Party series, Zero Escape series and this game… I have high expectations of this game. It’s not letting me down.

I got interested in playing this game after I googled for new Wii games to play. (It also gave me the idea for this article. So yeah.) I also learned that recently this game has been re-released on the Wii U eShop. This is a big reason for you guys to go to your Wii U and give this game a shot. I have only played the first hour of this game and I like it that much that it deserves a spot in my top 10 Wii games.

If you like action & adventure games in the style of Zelda, Metroid and Castlevania this game is one that you don’t want to miss!

#9: Lost in Shadow

This game is based on something every kid did. Playing with shadows. Your fingers were Mario (or Sonic, depending which fanbase you were at in the past) who jumped from object to object.

A company that I thought didn’t exist anymore made this game: Hudson. Sadly enough, this is one of their last titles before they went under almost a year later. It’s quite a shame to see since I would have loved to see more games of them. But hey, we were talking about this game right…?

In this game you play a shadow that got separated from it’s body. Your goal is to get your body back. This game is a platformer that could mess with your mind if you play it for the first time. Since most of the action is actually taking place in the background. In some occasions you can jump to the parts in front to solve puzzles.

Also, I like how each dialogue part, each tutorial and each save point makes your shadow heavier. I haven’t gotten far enough into the game to know if this makes a change or not when you beat the game.

#8: Kirby Epic Yarn

The spin-offs of Kirby are always very creative and set standards. This game even got a spiritual sequel under the name of Yoshi’s Woolly World. In this game, they got rid of Kirby’s signature ability to suck up enemies. Oh, this mechanic was introduced in the 2nd game. The one on the NES.

In this game, you have to mess around with the background in some places. Which makes for some rather unique puzzles.

At it’s core, this game is a platformer with some on rail shooter sections. These on rail shooter sections are the parts where Kirby turns into a firetruck or a spaceship.

As you would expect from your usual Kirby game, this one isn’t too challenging. Once you know what to do and where to go, it’s rather easy. The tricky part comes in the bonus challenges. I remember them to be rather hard.

The visual style is something different. I seriously enjoyed my time in the Yarn World. Truth to be told, with the mechanic where you couldn’t die, this Kirby game was the most relaxing game I have ever played. When I came home from a busy day at work or when I just needed to relax, this game got me to the right state of mind each and every time. Only the Zelda games get me to that state of mind, so this is that exception on the rule.

I’m curious if the Yoshi sequel will have the same effect on me. So, I have Yoshi’s Woolly World on my “To buy” list for sure.

#7: PokePark Wii 1 & 2

So, this game is an adventure game with mini games mixed in. It was rather though for me to pick my favorite, so that’s why I decided to put them both on the 6th place. The first game set a fun standard for an interesting Pokemon spin-off game.

This game isn’t one of the best spin-offs. I can understand that this game is kind of “boring” for some people. The reason for that is that it’s repetitive. I’m one of the Pokémon fans who actually enjoyed this game. It was something different from the usual battling and collecting gym badges. I also have a weakness for games that try something different.

I have fond memories of the story of these games. It’s a story that underlines the power of friendship. Not once, but at least twice. The story made me smile many times.

The sequel came a little bit after Pokémon Black & White got released. And guess what, the main characters in those games are the Pokémon introduced in Pokémon Black & White. While I enjoyed the sequel more then the original… Like I said earlier, both games are equally as good. They are both worth it if your child or young relative is into Pokémon and has a Nintendo Wii. This is a perfect gift for the upcoming holidays!

#6: Metroid Other M

The amount of hate this game received for some story mechanics…. Well, honestly, I see where it comes from. This game isn’t perfect, I can agree with that. But the gameplay is anything I wanted from a 3D Metroid game. It even has some 2D elements that work perfectly for this game.

I haven’t finished this game and I really should. I was first putt off by all the bashing this game got on the internet— Actually, let’s try to not bash this game and look at it from another angle. Is this game actually fun? Well, if you haven’t figured out the answer to that question… I wonder if you have read the title of this article. 🙂

This game actually proves that shooters can work on the Wii. I have tried the Call Of Duty games on the Wii, and believe me… I pick this game over those anytime of the day.

I’m not going to talk too much about this game since I’m planning to write a more indepth article of this game in the future. So, I’m saving up my opinion for when I write that article. For now, I’ll say to you guys and girls that this game is a mighty fine game to play and it would be a shame to overlook it. Be ready for some amazing battles and an interesting story. Yes, I liked the story in this game. I personally think it was written quite well.

Wrapping up

So, I think it’s time to wrap up this article. Next week I will talk about my top 5 Wii games. I’m quite sure that some titles will come as no surprise.

Truth to be told, this list was quite hard to put together. The main reason is that I haven’t played that many games on the Nintendo Wii. Consoles don’t interest me that much since I play more (3)DS games and PC games. But writing this article actually made me willing to play on my Wii again. And yes, this might mean that in the future, I might write more articles on Wii games.

It also has been a long time since I played most of these games on my list. I actually wrote the parts out of memory without looking anything up. Since I think that the power of your memory makes articles like these even better. If a game deserves a spot in your top 10, it should leave an impression on you that you won’t forget anytime soon. But if you think that made the quality of this article not that good, feel free to let me know.

In any case, I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing this. I hope to welcome you next week where I reveal my top 5 Wii games and my honorable mentions. Until then, and take care.. Oh, and game on of course~!

Update: Part 2 is here