• It remains absolutely ridiculous just how much Konami had the juice back in these days. Even their games no one has heard of are awesome.
• Actually I guess people have heard of it now. Like everyone else, I played this because of Game Center CX.
• I used the Nebulous Translations version, which I think is built on the RPGe original.
• Weirdly, after patching my ROM file, it would not run in NESTopia. It did, however, run on the Analogue Pocket where I played it. I think this is the first time I’ve seen a legitimate, objective benefit to the FPGA in the Pocket.
• Like many NES games, the key to success here is taking the time to get powered up early. I hadn’t done that at first, and I kept dying. So I reset my file completely, started over, farmed the easy levels to get my sword strength and money up, and had a much easier time.
• These kind of games almost always fall apart on balance and are either way too hard in the beginning, way too easy by the end, or both (looking at you, Kid Icarus). Getsu Fuuma Den does NOT suffer from this. Even after you’ve collected everything and have the ultimate weapon, the trip to the final boss is fun, and the final boss fight itself is a challenge.
• I was once again surprised by a very forgiving Continue system. You get 3 lives per continue, each Continue restores all extra lives which could be found in levels (so you can go back and get them every time if you want), and when you get Game Over, the only thing you lose is half your money. You don’t have to go hunting for items or power up your sword again.
• Yet again the music is stuck in my head. To no one’s surprise, it’s great.

• Shares some similarities with Legend of Zelda, in the sense that it’s really interesting to see which parts of the Metal Gear series have been here since the beginning. It’s probably more than you think: Cardboard boxes, cigarettes, a tank as a boss, etc. Even the plot line is roughly the same as Metal Gear Solid on the Playstation
• That said, if you don’t have a guide, this game is a SLOG. I’m not sure it would be worth playing except as an artifact of history. Equipping different card keys constantly is very annoying, the game constantly makes references to “Building X,” where X is a number, despite the fact that none of these buildings are ever labeled. There’s no map, you can’t know where you are, and the hints you would get have been really destroyed by the bad translation.
• Unlike a lot of NES games, the manual doesn’t really help any of this at all. Using a strategy guide is definitely the way to go.
• Accountability Corner: For the first time ever on one of these reviews, I have used a save state. After killing Coward Duck, I accidentally killed one of the 3 hostages, which took my star ranking from 4 to 3. I don’t know how to recover from this, so I assumed my game was in an unwinnable state. I rewound and went back to before the Coward Duck fight. I always hate to do that, but for this reason, this run was not entirely legitimate. I think I paid enough punishment for this, as after the Duck fight, I immediately died and had a TON of backtracking to do, but I didn’t save state my way out of that one. I suffered the failure just like you’d have to do on original hardware.
• A lot of the backtracking, especially when you die, is really punishing, but I did all of it, every time. I even walked all the way back to the only place in the game that has Missiles (building 1) when I was very near the end of the game because I had run out. There are many elements like this, which I think were purposely designed to make the game feel longer than it is.

• I think this is the first Vic Tokai game I’ve finished? They’re all very weird little games. This seems to be one of the easier ones (Golgo 13 I remember being brutal)
• The game does an OK job at “teaching you how to play.” For example, early on, you learn that it’s GOOD to abuse the “Shop” system, as some parts of the game even require it.
• That’s a good thing, as our main character is very weak as-is. You definitely want to be using power-ups from the shop. Unlocking the “Teleport” hermit power early on is also a huge advantage, as that’s what lets you easily get HUGE amounts of money (between the hidden gold mine and the shop where you sell your gold)
• I didn’t care for the controls at first but that’s possibly because I had just come off Kid Icarus. The controls on this game aren’t that bad once you get used to them, just make sure to never overestimate your jump distance. Eventually you’ll be using jetpacks to get everywhere anyway.
• One annoying thing which is never really fixed by the items is the fact that enemies seem to have tiny little hitboxes, whereas your character has a MASSIVE one. It was very frustrating how many times I’d duck under an enemy thinking there’s no way I’m gonna get hit, and still got hurt.
• The music is good (a couple of these songs are still stuck in my head) but there’s just not enough of it. Whoever composed this, they should have let them run wild and do several more songs.
• The visuals, especially some of the color palette choices, are incredible. Every route is unique and some are especially memorable (it’ll be a long time before I forget how pretty Route 10 looks). I also really like the “80’s anime” art style.
• No battery saves on this one, but the password system is good! It saves the exact spot you were in when you retrieved it. You can even use it to, e.g. save right before a tough boss and get as many tries at it as you want.
• The continue system is harsh but fair. There are no extra lives. When you die, you get Game Over and are sent back to the last place you were on the overworld map. All of your items are intact, but you lose part of your Force. There does not seem to be a limit to how many Game Overs you can get.

• This is another one of those games where it seems like the creators knew that a lot of the levels are really, really annoying, and you’re going to die a lot, and therefore the game is required to have an awesome soundtrack. As many times as I got fed up with certain levels, the music kept me going.
• The WORST of the design decisions (Eggplant Wizard, the enemies that steal your items) are made up for by really, really good platforming.
• That said, this game has TERRIBLE balance. The first world is the hardest by a long shot. But, if you power yourself up correctly in those early stages, the rest of the stages get easier, and the game is actually a lot of fun.
• I found that the key to success was making sure to rack up 50k points in world 1-1. There’s no timer in this game, but the process of doing that takes FOREVER. It’s definitely worthwhile though.
• For such a simplistic game, the story is very coherent. There are 3 worlds (plus the final boss fight). World 1 is an escape from Hell, which is why you’re constantly climbing up. World 2 is on Earth and is a side scroller. World 3, you’re in the sky, climbing up again. Each world feels unique and entirely its’ own.
• Overall I see the flaws in this game and understand why people would have no patience for it, but if you can spend the time it takes to get through those first few levels the right way, the payoff is really good.

• I have played through this several times before, but this was the first time since beginning this little catalog of games beaten, so the result of this run is what’s posted.
• Didn’t go for 103%, so obviously got the bad ending and a bad spot on the leaderboards
• These games are famous for so much, probably not a lot new to say. I think the music on this one is almost as good as DKC2. Especially the later “factory” style levels, which at times are genuinely high-tension and scary.
• The levels themselves I think are the hardest in the series, but this iteration of K.Rool as the final boss is the easiest. I struggled much more with the last few levels leading up to K.Rool than I did with K.Rool himself
• The trade chain with the Bears is too simplistic and too irrelevant. They could have cut that entire aspect of this game, it does nothing at all. Would have been nice to feel rewarded for talking to them all, like completing a trade chain in Zelda.

• This game is truly incredible, and one of the best games I’ve played on any platform in a long time. It seems like Konami were experts at developing for the GBA at this point, since this is the third entry in the series
• There is literally nothing to complain about. Everything is perfect. Especially, as always, the music.
• I haven’t played enough Castlevania games to know where this one sits difficulty-wise, but it’s definitely harder than SotN and easier than the original on NES.
• Not entirely sure how they pulled this off, but it really seems like even though there’s a “leveling” system, it’s not easy to just grind your way out of your problems. Plenty of bosses are still really hard (the “Death” fight is really, really brutal)
• Replay value on this is huge, and I just might do it. After getting the “good” ending (pictured) once, you have the option to play in “Julius Mode,” which allows you to go through the entire game again, this time as a Belmont. (the first run through is a character who is played Alucard-style, where you’re collecting powers and equipping items and such)
• There is also a ‘Pokemon-like’ element to this game where you’re incentivized to collect as many enemy souls (thus absorbing their power) as possible. There’s even a reward for getting all of them.

• The premise of switching between a side scrolling action game and a civilization simulator doesn’t really sound like it could work, but it worked really well in this case. Especially for such an early SNES title.
• City building mechanics are a little wonky, but you eventually get the hang of it. There is definitely a lot of reward in getting deep into this game and all its’ menus and actually understanding it
• For some reason has a reputation for being kinda hard, but it really isn’t. The controls take some getting used to, because you can’t change direction while in midair. Some of the level design is also pretty brutal. But the continue system is very fair, and battery saves are supported.
• The narrative, character design, and music all go extremely well together. There are times before a big boss fight where the music cranks up that “80’s action hero” feeling, it’s very satisfying.
• Nothing in this game is so complicated or cryptic that it’s hard to understand today. This definitely belongs on the list of “still worth playing.”

• To be clear, this is only here because I played through ALttP. I’ve still never played Four Swords at all
• The GBA port of this game is…. Fine. There are some really nice quality of life features, and it seemed like a couple dungeons were changed so that you can’t get the game in an unwinnable state. And happily, nothing was cut from the original game; all the content from the SNES is here.
• But, the sound design is extremely, extremely annoying. Giving Link the same voice from OoT/MM is such a head scratcher. Of all things to change, why that?
• Not as annoying but very insulting: After you rescue the woman in the crystal at the end of each dungeon, she does her usual speech, just like on the SNES, but at the end of it, you’re prompted with the “did you understand all that?” question, and have to select between “yes” and “not at all.” I understand that this is an OoT reference but I thought it was annoying every time I saw it.
• There are some areas in the later dungeons with puzzles which were clearly designed for having more vertical viewing area. For example, hookshot targets which were on screen on the SNES, but which aren’t visible on the GBA. Same thing with some red/blue switches. There was probably no way around this, but it would seem a little unfair to someone playing this for the first time.
• I hate to just talk about the quality of this port and not say anything about the game itself, but surely everyone who wants to play this has played it by now. It’s an abject classic, it has that status for a reason, and GBA weirdness around the edges does NOT make it less fun overall. It is still worth playing today.

Nothing can possibly be said about the quality or content of this game. Everyone knows it is a masterpiece. For me, this and the original Legend of Zelda evoke such strong emotions, have such fleshed-out worlds, and feel so complete, it doesn’t even seem possible considering the years they were released. Instead of trying to do some kind of “review,” here is a description of how I did this particular run. I think this run strikes the right balance of fun, challenging, and not so time-consuming that you can’t do it in one sitting.

• Complete worlds 1 and 2 as normal, and DO NOT FORGET to get all 3 whistles.
• In World 1-2, do the ‘infinite lives’ trick if you think you might need them. This is the one where as Raccoon Mario, you can lure Goombas out of one of the ‘unlimited Goomba’ pipes, and bounce off their heads indefinitely. Repeat this enough times without touching the ground, and eventually they will become 1UPS instead of points. The Raccoon tail is needed so that you can slowly float down off one jump while waiting for the next Goomba to fall out of the pipe. In just 1 run, I was able to get my total lives up to 21 or 22 before the time got tight and I ran on to the end.
• Whistle locations reminder
  • Whistle 1: World 1-3. Do the trick at the end where you drop through the white block, then run ‘behind’ the goal area
  • Whistle 2: World 1 Fortress. In the area with the leaf power-up, stomp the dry bones, run as far as you can to the right, then run left to build up P-speed. Fly up and to the right, off screen, and you’ll land on a platform. Go as far right as you can, and you’ll get to a door. Go in the door to find a treasure box with Whistle 2
  • Whistle 3: World 2 secret area. Fight the Hammer Bros until you find the hammer. Use it in the upper-left-most corner of the map to reveal a secret path. Beat one more Hammer Bros in here to get Whistle 3. The group of Hammer Bros in the secret area are fireball bros, and I like to use a starman before going in here just to make sure there are no mistakes.
• After beating World 2 and landing in World 3, use a Whistle to go to the Warp Zone. From the Warp Zone, go to World 5
• In World 5, go as far as it takes to beat both Hammer Bros. If you want, you can also do a few more levels to rack up points, play the match game some more, and get more items. By this point, I was almost full of items and had to start dumping some.
• After at least beating both Hammer Bros in World 5, play the whistle 2 times. This will land you in World 8.
• Play through all of World 8 as normal. You should have plenty of lives and plenty of power-ups to get through it. For the really annoying fortress level, I used the Cloud to bypass it. For the really annoying fast-scrolling level (I think this is the hardest level in the game) I used one of my extra P-wings.