Holy shit, why am I doing so many VG reviews? Lemme answer my own question. I feel kinda guilty for leaving Blue Yoshi dormant for over 3 whole months and now I'm bombarding it with posts. But since I have nothing new, I'm just doing video games. And sure, why not NES games.
Here's a non-biased, brief explanation of this game. Little Nemo: The Dream Master is a game that was made on the NES about a boy named Nemo. Nemo is invited to Slumberland by the princess so they can play together. It's a sidescrolling platformer and has around 8 levels.
Ok, here's the biased version. This game was made by Capcom.
FUCKING KNUCKLES!!! YOU MEAN CAPCOM??? THE ONE THAT MADE THE MEGA MAN SERIES? AND THE STREET FIGHTER SERIES? AND THE RESIDENT EVIL SERIES? AND FUCKING BIONIC FUCKING COMMANDO???
Uh huh.
YAY.
I'm not a huge fan of Capcom, but many people are. And they have this reputation for making kickass games that can still be played today, even if they're old school, and especially if they're next gen.
This game was overshadowed by the glory that the more famous series radiate. It also didn't help that this game is damn old. The only reason I found out about this game is because I just heard the name and heard the claim about how great it was. So I looked into it.
Sorry, I'm going to skip back to the story. For more detail adding. From the intro sequence, I guess you're supposed to infer that the story takes place in 1905 in New York. And I just look at the city and I just have to take their word for it. I suck at history and I wouldn't know anything about what New York looked like in 1905. So a blimp comes down right next to Nemo's bedroom window and a messenger from Slumberland tells Nemo that the Princess has invited him to Slumberland. Nemo is skeptical, but the messenger gives Nemo a gift from the princess. Nemo recieved...candy. He then loses all suspicion and agrees to go with the messenger up to Slumberland.
OK STOP RIGHT THERE. ALL YOU KIDS WHO ARE READING THIS, DO NOT GO WITH ANY STRANGER THAT GIVES YOU CANDY.
For fuck's sake, why the hell would they include that in a CHILDREN'S VIDEO GAME? Are they fucking RETARDED??? Even Nemo says, "I guess anyone who's smart enough to give me candy can't be all that bad." FUCKING HELL. DON'T LISTEN TO NEMO, HE FREAKEN HALLUCINATES A BLIMP AND A MESSENGER FOR DAMN DING DONG FUCK (actually those are part of Slumberland, but they're still not real). I don't know what this game was rated, but it's probably not E. Capcom...the video game molesters.
Anyway, so you're taken up to the first level in Slumberland. This freaky clown character walks up to you and tells you that you can use your candy to put animals in a sleep. And guess what. It's true. You have to use 3 pieces of candy in order to make the animals sleep. Once they're asleep, you just touch them and then you like, become them. Either that or you get to ride on them.
First of all, why is Nemo using candy, a GIFT from the princess, to feed animals. Isn't that kind of rude? Secondly, why do you need 3 pieces of candy? Why not just 1? Thirdly, WHAT KIND OF PSYCHIC POWERS DOES THIS BASTARD HAVE TO BE CONTROLLING ANIMALS IN THEIR SLEEP?
Let's talk about animal powerups. In this game, there is a frog, a gorrilla, a salamander, a fish, a hermit crab, a hornet, and a mouse with a hammer. Yeah...awesome. Each one has an ability and some have the same abilities as other ones, with slight differences. For example, fish swims rapidly, the hornet can fly, and the hermit crab can burrow. But it's like every animal HAS to have a drawback. Let's take the frog for example. The frog can swim pretty fast, and can jump very high. But his walking speed is super laggy. The salamander can run fast, walk up walls, but his jump is pathetic.
To pass a level, you're going to need the help of these animals. But when you first start the game, every animal hurt you. Yes, that's right. Even the animals that give you powerups can inflict damage onto Nemo, unless they're in the candy induced sleep. On top of that, there are animals that don't even give you powerups, but their main goal seems to be to kill you. Well there are some characteristics of animals that give you powerups and here are some.
-They only move from side to side.
-They eat your candy.
-They look nice.
Seriously, all the other animals in the game look like hell monsters. But the animals that give you powers look adorable and happy. You'll just know.
In Super Mario Bros, you clear a level by hanging onto a flagpole. In Mega Man, you clear a level by defeating a Robot Master. In Tetris you pass a level if you have enough points. Guess how you clear a level in Little Nemo? It's pretty unique, actually. In each area, there's a door stationed somewhere with multiple keyholes, usually 6 of them. Scattered throughout the level are the keys needed to open the door. I think in only one level, there are more keys than there are keyholes, but other than that, you pretty much have to find every key available. Sometimes it can get real tricky. The keys' locations aren't always so obvious. Sometimes they're even barely visible. How is that fair...? So after you collect the keys, you stroll over to the door and unlock each lock and get through to the next level. Simple right? Heh heh heh NO.
This game is one of the hardest I've ever played. And this is coming from a guy who uses emulators and save states. SAVE STATES. AND IT WAS STILL HARD. You really have to get your perfect mode on. Otherwise, you're just going to fail over and over again. If you beat this game on the actual console, without save states and all those computerized sneaky cheats, then you're the man. The game will bow down to you. But I highly doubt that anyone has done this.
For a game with no bosses, the levels can get really challenging. There are infinite respawning enemies, hard jumps, and crazy hazards. Actually there are bosses in the game, but they're in the last 3 levels only. And those bosses don't fuck around either. You step in there, you just turned down the mercy dial. All hell will rain on you.
This game was actually really fun to play. I would have thought that HAL Laboratories would've made this game, since you take on so many powers from enemies, like Kirby. Well, maybe because I play Kirby a lot, I like this game. But it's still enjoyable. Even though Capcom sent out a bad message for kids, they made an enjoyable adventure. If you ever do get the chance to beat the game, even with cheats, the ending just makes you feel satisfied, and during the staff credits, you just sit back and reflect on all the hard work you put into saving Slumberland.
Then you say, "What the fuck am I doing? Time to go back to homework."
Gameplay: 8/10
Controls: 9/10
Difficulty: 9/10
Graphics: 6/10
Music/Sound: 8/10
Overall: 8/10
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