Sweet Home - Capcom, 1989(Famicom) Released at the very tail end of the decade and not playable in English until fan localizations years later, naturally I didn't get to play this game until the 80s were long in the rearview mirror, but wanting to mention it is half the reason I started writing this post to begin with. A video game adaptation of an 80s horror game, Sweet Home is the spiritual predecessor of Resident Evil and defines Survival Horror before the genre even had that name. People love to use "ahead of its time" to talk about ambitiously designed games, and no game embodies that phrase to me more than Sweet Home.  Sweet Home is about a group of 5 people investigating the haunted estate of fresco painter Mamiya Ichirou, cursed by the ghost of his wife. Trapped in the mansion by Lady Mamiya, only by confronting and exorcising the ghost can they escape. The characters can be controlled individually, or in teams of up to 3 members. Each member brings along with them a unique tool: A lighter for burning obstacles and lighting candles, a medical kit for curing status, a key that unlocks certain doors, a camera that reveals hints from the frescos scatted in the mansion, and a vacuum for removing broken glass and cleaning frescos too dirty to photograph.  Each person can hold their signature tool, 2 items, and one weapon. You can't set items down, only swap them out with other items. Items picked up may be either reusable or consumable tools. A plank of wood to cross small gaps, a shovel for digging holes, tonics to restore health. Many items are like Resident Evil puzzle items where you might wonder why you found a decorate spear until you see the one suit of armor not holding one. Many items can also be used in battle with special effects against certain enemies.  Speaking of battles, Sweet Home's combat is an RPG style with a first person view towards a single enemy. The monster designs are an amazing showcase of beautiful 8 bit horror. Despite being in a max team of 3, you can use the call command to control another character's team to bring them to you so you can fight with the full 5 man squad. Options to deal with monsters are to strike with your weapon, use your tools for special effects, or pray at them, the equivalent of a magic attack. Many monsters have a weakness to a certain tool and figuring out what to use against each one will end battles quick and keep the attrition from wearing you down. Making heavy use of tools and treating monsters more as puzzle obstacles than things to directly fight is key.  Survival really is the key in this game too. Damage from enemies and obstacles, falling from a wooden plank that breaks as you cross, and other hazards are just waiting for their chance to end a character's life. When someone dies in Sweet Home, it's permanent. You not only lose them in combat but that's 2 less free item spaces to make use of. Items exist that can replace the function of a character's signature tool, but those have to be carried in a normal slot. Just 1 or 2 deaths can make the inventory management feel impossible.  Finally at the end is Lady Mamiya. More of a puzzle than a traditional boss, she can only be defeated by discovering the needed items to perform an exorcism and the correct order to use them in. Not that being a puzzle doesn't mean she won't be unleashing tons of damage to stay alive through during it.  There's multiple endings once Lady Mamiya's spirit is set free, depending on the number of survivors. The endings for 2 and 3 alive are essentially the same, so effectively there are 4 possible endings you can get.  The game does have some flaws and the inventory management and menu'ing and item swapping can feel tedious at points. It's definitely a game that rubbed up against the limitations of the Famicom and the 4 button + dpad controller. That aside, it's a game that still holds up extremely well and is absolutely worth it to play just to experience the game that is one of the key origin points of video game horror. Credit to Breaking Canon and Miketopus's LP as screenshot sources Next game I'll post about : smiles, saunas, and stone hands
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Jun 17, 2021 13:24
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This has definitely convinced me to give SMAC a shot despite that not really being a genre I play much. Next game I'm going to efffort post on is going to be River City Ransom, my personal all-time favorite, and just realized I'm gonna have to replay it this week to get some screenshots.
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Jun 18, 2021 12:59
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River City Ransom - AKA Street Gangs, aka Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari River City Ransom is the localized version of the third game in Technos Japan's Kunio-kun series, an early franchise that never really properly made it to the US without some pretty heavy Americanizing of the characters and style. Not initially successful at launch in either sales or reviews, the game's eventually become a cult classic, with multiple spinoff/sequels in recent years. Up util DE: Final Cut, RCR is what I'd always without hesitation claim is my favorite all-time game.    The game loads up straight into character select, and one screen of exposition and the title drop is all the story you get to set you on your way. You play as either Alex (white shirt) or Ryan (blue shirt) as you punch and kick your way through Slick's gangs to rescue Ryan's girlfriend Cyndi.    Core of the gameplay is the traditional beat 'em up style. Pseudo-3d movement along the streets. No auto-scrolling like the arcade style of the genre. You have free movement in each section which could be about 1-4 screens long or so. As you enter each section, you're given the area's name and which gang currently claims it as their turf. To get through River City, you'll have to face fearsome gangs such as "The Generic Dudes," "The Frat Guys," "The Homeboys," "The Cowboys," and "The Plague." Each gang tends to have their preferred style and level of aggression, and harder late game gangs will also drop more money when defeated. The streets are also littered with various weapons favored by juvenile delinquents the world over. Rocks, brass knuckles, sticks, lead pipes, tires, trash cans can all be found everywhere. Your choice of weapon may also include anyone currently knocked on the ground, who can be picked up and swung or thrown at your enemies. This includes not only enemies, but the other player if you're in multiplayer. Beware, this also includes enemies being able to pick up YOU. There's no amount of lives or continues, but dying instead costs you half of your current cash reserves, which can be a terrible setback if you've been saving up.     What really set River City Ransom apart was its pioneering of mixing action gaming with RPG elements. You have several stats that can be raised through purchasing items, mostly food but sometimes music, or a slick pair of Texas boots, or even relaxing in a sauna. Punch/Kick/Weapon/Throwing raise your damage, Agility raises movement speed and jump distance, Defense/Strength cover your ability to block/break blocks, Willpower is your chance to get back up and recover health when you'd otherwise die, and Stamina/Max Power govern your health. On top of stat raising items are also books that grant techniques, like Stone Hands and Dragon Feet, which give you triple attacks with punches and kicks respectively, or Acro Circus which turns your jump into a damaging spin-jump. Getting one of the first two books is a major priority and probably the first thing a player saves up for.    To progress through the game, there are several bosses scattered around the city, and all (except Benny and Clyde) must be defeated in order to unlock the gates to River City High. While some bosses will appear immediately in their rooms, most of them require defeating every normal gang member in the area first to flush them out. Each boss can also be respawned infinitely, providing reliable sources of cash.    Finally in River City High, you fight your way up through the floors of the school until you face the dragon twins Randy and Andy, a homage to Double Dragon heroes Billy and Jimmy, with the Double Dragon theme playing during their fight. Significantly more difficult than the rest of the game, with the actual final boss, Alex's former friend Simon who thought changing his name to Slick would make him sound cooler, being a relative cakewalk in comparison.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkT_r3wV_vwRiver City Ransom is just one of the most charming and endearing games I've played. While my screenshots have all been from single player, where the game truly shines is the 2-player action. Shared screen play with friendly fire always on and it becomes an easy game to go from a few "accidental" friendly fire hits to intentionally knocking down your friend so you can throw them at an enemy. The main Running Around theme is one of those songs that is just permanently etched in my mind and so perfectly fits the street fighting genre. The game is available in the NES lineup on the Switch Online package and is easy to jump into. Can take 20 minutes or a couple hours to beat depending on how much you feel the need to boost your stats. It's one of very few games I can always pick up and have my day feel better for playing it. It's a game worth playing solo, and one I absolutely recommend if you've got a friend or family member up for some couch co-op.
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Jul 20, 2021 11:13
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