Rainbow Islands

~ RAINBOW ISLANDS ~

Taito / NEC Avenue

CD-ROM

1993

I wasn't expecting all that much from Rainbow Islands when I purchased it. I do enjoy Parasol Stars, its acclaimed descendant, but not nearly as much as everyone else seems to, and the consensus has always been that RI is similar in some respects to PS but not quite as good. As it turned out, consensus had misled me. I ended up loving the game.

Its many levels scroll vertically and demand that you make your way to their peaks in relatively short spans. The race-to-the-top gameplay style appeals to me much more than Parasol Stars' bumble-around-in-a-box formula. At first, the boards called to mind Kid Icarus' similarly structured vertical stages, but with much more color, much faster action, and far less suckiness. And I immediately dug the general play system, the most appealing aspect of which is that you can accomplish so many different things with your rainbow weaponry, from killing enemies to nabbing items and building bridges.

The bosses are a charismatic lot, and the level themes, especially the ones related to other games (elements of Darius, Bubble Bobble, and Arkanoid are incorporated in particular realms), add a great deal of personality to proceedings that are entertaining to begin with. To top it all off, there's a sweet vocal number to be heard at the conclusion (if you prove yourself worthy of experiencing the best ending).

The one thing that bugged me about RI at first was how bloody difficult it can be to acquire the elusive hyper items, which endow the protagonist with some extremely useful abilities. You have to collect different-colored diamonds in the ROYGBIV order in each world, and as you can do only so much in attempting to determine the colors that appear, the process can prove extremely wearisome. But when I finally managed to get my hands on a few of these trinkets and realized how incredibly helpful they are, I understood why the game makes us go through such taxing trials to obtain them.

Rainbow Islands isn't the easiest game to come by, and $90 seems to be a common price for it these days. I was fortunately able to acquire it from a friend for much less than that a few years ago. Knowing now how enjoyable it is, I wouldn't hesitate to plunk down a substantial amount of cash for it if I had to, but I'd probably wait until I was presented with a price significantly lower than the going rate.

J.B. Harold Murder Club

~ J.B. HAROLD MURDER CLUB ~

Hudson Soft / Riverhill Soft

CD-ROM

1991

I was so into this mystery game when it first came out that, as I proceeded with my virtual investigation, I actually jotted down notes in the little black-and-white case booklet that came with the disc. It's a simple game to play, a point-and-click affair that has you go around town questioning people and looking for evidence to help solve a murder case.

But through a succession of bizarre twists and turns, the plot eventually evolves into something incredibly elaborate and intriguing. I bet it's more substantive than any mass-market mystery you can find at your local bookstore.

To this day, I have lots of fun playing through the game, even though I figured out long ago which character committed the crime. There's still a rush to be felt when finding a key piece of evidence or breaking someone down in the interrogation room. Things get surprisingly intense when a suspect is reaching his or her boiling point and you're on the verge of eliciting a confession.

Also, there's some nice jazz music to enjoy at the opening, ending, and "rest" screens. You don't have to sit through any crappy FMV, and you can leave the character voices off if you want. What might prove annoying is that you have to visit certain locations and talk to particular people over and over again. I could see why some players would consider the proceedings monotonous after a while.

While it seems like most folks who've played the game enjoy it to some degree, it really hasn't gotten much attention over the years. VideoGames & Computer Entertainment magazine praised it but also took it to task for a minor (and largely irrelevant) plot point involving a rape. It was overshadowed by Sherlock Holmes when it was first released, as Sherlock featured FMV, and while Holmes is still mentioned these days (mostly when people are making fun of it), Murder Club is just sort of out there. It's a great game to try if you're up for a little point-and-click mystery solving, and it deserves more accolades than it has received.

Puyo Puyo CD Tsuu

~ PUYO PUYO TSUU ~

Compile / NEC Interchannel

Super CD-ROM

1996

The gameplay of the original Puyo Puyo CD is intact here with a couple of new features. Now, you can negate the damage caused by your opponent's combos by immediately countering with a chain of your own, and you can really bombard your enemy if you clear your playing field entirely.

Tsuu's soundtrack doesn't live up to the standards of its predecessor, but it's still pretty good. You'll get hit with a terribly annoying in-game tune when you reach Arle's second tier of adversaries, but there's also a fantastic upbeat track that plays during the later matches. There are about twice as many characters here as there are in the first Puyo--returning cast members plus plenty of new competitors. Some of the veterans retain their playing styles from the previous release.

There are lots of pre-match animated bits to enjoy this time, and they're even funnier than those in the first game. However, you have to conquer a tower-hosted gauntlet just to unlock them. Then you have to play through 30+ matches in one-player mode--with no save feature--in order to watch them all. You then unlock more of them... and have to win 30+ matches again to watch the second set.

Thanks to the designers' apparent affinity for unlockables, you have to earn the right to select from all the different characters in two-player mode. This may not be easy, as Tsuu's single-player adventure is quite difficult, though not to the extreme that the first game's reaches.

Tsuu is genuinely rare and usually costs a significant amount of money. But while it might seem superior to its predecessor in many ways, it's actually not as good in my estimation. The first episode has better music, and its animated bits are immediately accessible (the importance of which cannot be overstated, as these games rely a great deal on their cuteness and charisma).

Puyo Puyo CD

~ PUYO PUYO CD ~

Compile / NEC Avenue

Super CD-ROM

1994

For those unacquainted with the legendary sport, Puyo Puyo is a pastime that will immediately bring to mind memories of Tetris, although it actually fits in best with the ilk of Columns. Maneuver four blobs of the same color into a string of solid contact with one another (no diagonals) and they'll vanish from your well and cause a boatload of crap (in the form of colorless blobs) to descend upon your enemy’s stack. Of course, blobs that had been resting upon those you made disappear will fall into the newly unoccupied slots, allowing for additional slime obliteration (and causing even more trash to bombard your hapless opponent’s pile). The transparent nuisances can be annihilated only if they come in contact with a vanishing thread of their colorful counterparts.

The "eliminating adjacent blobs" gameplay is fine, but the endearing characters, with their pre-match antics and hilarious in-game shouts and howls, are truly what sets Puyo apart from most well-type puzzlers.

Valiant (if often teary-eyed) Arle is a lovable little heroine, while her adversaries (among whom is the famously volatile Skeleton-T) are spirited miscreants. Humorous voice acting supplies interjections of happiness and despondency, while irresistibly catchy tracks add to the charming atmosphere (but be prepared for an awesome change of pace during the final battle, which takes place to the tune of a riff-fest more than just a little reminiscent of M.U.S.H.A.'s metal).

Don't be fooled by all the cute stuff, though--Puyo Puyo CD is hard. Your computer-controlled opponents all have their own individual playing styles; they don't merely become quicker and smarter as you advance through their ranks. This is very cool, but it also makes them extremely tough to play against. In fact, during later matches, I frequently find myself with little recourse but to hope I hit upon a large unplanned combo. Surviving the thirteen-fiend gauntlet can actually take hours. Of course, if you need a break from the one-player trial, there’s always the highly enjoyable two-player competitive mode.

Puyo Puyo CD certainly isn’t as ingenious a creation as Tetris is, but it’s far more lovable and just as addicting. The fact that it can keep players hooked throughout its lengthy and difficult one-player gauntlet is a testament to its brilliance. And once you do finally complete the adventure, you’ll probably sit back with a smile on your face and think to yourself, “Two-player mode from now on. I’m never going through that again.”

But you will.

Jim Power

~ JIM POWER ~

Loriciel / Micro World

Super CD-ROM

1992

Much-maligned Jim Power has more going for it than most reviews of it would lead you to believe. To be sure, it's an imperfect title, with its most significant flaw being horrid jumping controls. Expect to experience plenty of mid-air misadventures when you first start playing the game. But you can develop a feel for the initially awkward leaping mechanism, and once you have that feel, you can start to notice and appreciate all the good stuff.

The adventure is a bit too short at five stages, but each level can take a while (not an irritatingly long while, mind you), and variety is definitely present, as three of the stages are run-and-gun fare while the other two play like side-view shoot 'em ups. The former aren't nearly as intense as a typical Contra board, but they do make you deal with plenty of tricky platforming sections, and you've always gotta be on your guard, as swift, bizarre creatures roam the grounds.

The shooter boards toss more strange foes your way. These guys are typically too strong to face head on, so mindless blasting won't cut it; you've gotta come up with plans to get by.

The music is very good throughout, and the graphics are great, particularly the shooter-stage backgrounds and the boss sprites. Speaking of the gargantuan bosses, they're pretty awesome looking and fun to fight, even though they're basically jokes.

The jokes don't end there; the game displays a fine sense of humor with amusing opening and closing bits. And really, as long as you don't give up on it early, the adventure itself should give you plenty to smile about.

Bazaaru de Gozaaru no Game de Gozaaru

~ BAZAARU DE GOZAARU ~

NEC Home Electronics / GAME FREAK

Super CD-ROM

1996

I wanted to acquire Bazaaru de Gozaaru in part because I thought it'd be a nice collection piece, as it seems pretty darn rare, and in part because I'd long been curious about it, often wondering to myself, "What the hell is that monkey game all about?" I went in thinking that any enjoyment I'd get out of it would be gravy. Much to my surprise, I found myself addicted to it almost at once and blazed right through its eighty levels, having a great time the whole way through.

It looks like a platformer from afar, but it's really a trial-and-error-style puzzle game. In each stage, you've got to guide Bazaaru from the starting point to the goal while dealing with springs, pitfalls, and FIERCE ENEMIES... like little white puppy dogs.

Every level has a number of "action points"; your job is to select moves for Bazaaru to carry out at said points. He can jump or roll or spin... or dance or doze or do the moonwalk.

Once you've settled on your moves, you can sit back and watch the zaniness unfold, as the crazy monkey tiptoes past sleeping mutts, gobbles up bananas to extend the time he's allotted to finish his mission, and snags moneybags that are scattered about the various environs (which include a desert, an amusement park, and the moon).

There are one hundred moneybags to grab, and the fact that some of them are in out-of-the-way, tough-to-reach places adds a "sidequest" element to the proceedings. You may use the cash you collect to buy furniture for Bazaaru's house, which starts off as little more than an empty box. You can eventually have it decked out with curtains, a bed, a computer, and other such luxuriances, much to the monkey's delight.

The game isn't very challenging, which is fine with me. I enjoy tough puzzle games like Tricky Kick once in a while, but there are times when I prefer an easier ride, and Bazaaru fits the bill for those instances. Its music is decent, and its graphics are simple but nice looking. Yellowish-orange hues dominate the drawings; so, uh, be prepared for that.

This is the sort of game that definitely won't appeal to everyone, but the folks to whom it does appeal will have an awful lot of fun with it. There are those who'll have a blast solving the puzzles and those who'll get a kick out of the monkey's goofy antics. And then there's my well-off cousin Zigfriedoslov, who sure does love collecting those moneybags.