Thoughts on StarTropics for NES

[vintagegamecrazy]

Hey fellow gamers, just yesterday night I started a game of Startropics for the NES. I am going to finally play through this game. I started playing it and was just comparing it to Zelda as it was obviously trying to ride the popularity wave of Zelda. I think I will enjoy it a lot. A few things in my opinion make it good like some of the greated rpg style map layout I have seen and decent but not great graphics for its time, and so far a very good storyline. It also has some very bad points like poor music design, which a game made by Nintendo who had some of the best music in earlier games and the lousy tunes just makes no sense. The control also keeps this game from being awsome.

The reason I left this post is that I want to get your opinions on what you think of this game, series. How does it stack up to the second one, to the Zelda serier or to any other game it the RPGesque genre. Post your thoughts and recollections.

[GrandAmChandler]

Make sure you have the letter that came with the game so you can enter in the password for the sub! If not I remember it being something simple...

I love this game too. Zodas revenge did well too, although not quite the impact as the first one. There is just something about that first dungeon music.... Damn catchy...

[SoulBlazer]

I agree with grand, the first dungeon music is DAMN good! I could sing that for hours, and it's been remixed quite a few times also. The rest of the music in the game is good as well, I thought.

It was a great game, as far as I'm concerned -- good action, good stages, nice silly plot, just the right difficulty.

Number two is good as well -- Nintendo's next to last game for the NES, and it shows what the system could do even in 1994. I started writing a walkthrough for it but never finished it.

[The Manimal]

StarTropics 2: Zoda's Revenge has much better movement of the character (can go diagonally)...but isn't as good as the original StarTropics.

I don't think it's a Zelda 'wave-rider' as it came out in 1991, I believe. It's a really fun game! MUST HAVE in my opinion, though I never gave it a chance early on because the storyline seemed a bit stupid (using a yo-yo to beat monsters on a tropical island). Of course, I was young then and it seemed 'dorky' at the time. Didn't take into account it was a GOOD GAME. What's funny is I thought Totally Rad was 'cool' @_@

[Needle]

StarTropics is a pretty decent game. As mentioned above, there is a part in the game where you need the actual tangible letter that came with the game in order to proceed. If you don't have it, you can get the answer from GameFAQS.

The one thing that always bothered me about StarTropics though was the character movement. It's very jerky, but manageable once you get used to it. Boss fights are inventive but sometimes frustrating, as often there's only one way or one item that is effective, limiting your attacks to the amount of ammo you have.

The storyline gets really weird at the end. Some chapters are harder/have more dungeons than others. Chapters 5 and 7 make me want to cry. :)

It's definitely a quality game worth taking a run through. I've never played the sequel.

[lendelin]

You have a little gem on your hands! Although well-known, I think Startropics was always underrated. I played it weeks after it was released, and when I finished the game, I enjoyed it as much as Zelda, it's definetely in my top ten NES favorites and on the same quality level with Zelda.

It's one of the games which get better and better the farther you go. The first two stages are ok, but the sheer variety of gameplay, the story, the cahllenge, and the surprises and puzzles keep on coming which makes it an intriguing game. The last two stages aren't easy, and the boss battles and some rooms require nice strategy and reflexes. Great game.

Note: Nintendo Power covered the game extensively with maps in two issues (vol.21 and 22, except for the last two stages), and it's in Nintendos "NES Game Atlas" completely covered.

[vintagegamecrazy]

Hey Man, You need to see a psychiatrist if you ever liked Totally Rad. I feel sorry for you. I had enough of that game the first time I played it.

[Jorpho]

A similar guide was published some time later in NP, although I have no idea which issue. (Something in the 60's or 70's, I think.)

It is surprising Nintendo hasn't tried to rerelease these games yet.
________
Tube Amateur (http://www.fucktube.com/)

[Anonymous]

747. Yes, it's ingrained into what's left of my soul.

[GrandAmChandler]

747. Yes, it's ingrained into what's left of my soul.

That's it!! I couldn't remember I thought it was 757 (like the plane) ahh well I was close..

[calthaer]

I have both issues of the Nintendo Power that covered the first Startropics games, along with the maps and all that. If you want scans of them, let me know.

It was those issues, incidentally, that made me want to play the game in the first place. I had originally gotten them because they covered the Taxan G.I.Joe game in them and I wanted to read about that.

[jerkov]

Looks like I'm in the minority but I always liked the second Startropics better. I liked traveling through time, exploring all of the various locations, and meeting historic figures. It was also a tad easier than the original, which I think is a plus because there were some damn hard parts in Startropics. I always found the sequel to be a more interesting, more playable game.

[vintagegamecrazy]

Ya, post those scans when you get a chance.

[calthaer]

Hmm...I can't seem to find my Nintendo Power issue #21 - the Part I of Startropics issue with the crazy red parrot on the front. It was in bad shape and I hope I didn't throw it out just because it didn't have the G.I.Joe info in it. I just moved so I have to look around and see if it's still here; I'm going to kick myself hard if I chucked it in my zealousness to clean up some of my junk.

What I do have is the stuff from Part II in issue #22 - I've scanned in the big "world map" maps that was a three-page spread on the back of the poster that month. It's a pretty cool map. I've scanned in the three pages and spliced them together to form one big 1Mb image. Check it out at

http://www.geocities.com/calthaer/stropicmap.txt

Have to name it .txt because Yahoo doesn't like you linking jpgs and stuff like that :) Should still work as a jpg though. If you want to save it and use it just rename it as a .jpg image file.

While uploading that I saw that I have a hunter4.txt file (replace stropicmap.txt with hunter4.txt) that is a huge diagram of Samus Aran's ship from one of the Nintendo comics they had. I wonder if I'll exceed my geocities bandwidth? Get 'em while the getting's good; I might not keep 'em around forever.

I'll see what I can do about scanning in Part II and tracking down Part I. Man if I threw that out...

[kainemaxwell]

it's a definite fun adventure taking place in modern times. The music and graphics are great, along with the humor and little other video game references here and there too.

[GrandAmChandler]

Ooooh what if "Star Tropics 3" was on Cube!!!!



OR Better yet!!

What if Star tropics 1 & 2 were re-released on GBA! @_@


I'd buy 'em all!

[vintagegamecrazy]

Those maps are a beauty to look at. Try to track down the rest.

[calthaer]

The other maps don't look that good; it's mostly screenshots and the normal walkthrough / strategy fare. I'll scan in Part II when I get a chance; still haven't found Part I yet. Like I said I just moved back in and I'm trying to get my gaming rig set up at the same time :)

[Ruudos]

StarTropics is my favorite game ever!
I never had any problem with the play control too, remember that most of the enemies move the same way as you do. I also enjoyed the music (especially the the short victory tune). But the best thing is the ending, beat it, see it and tell me again if this game has great graphics or not LOL .