Opinions on poorly documented imports

[celerystalker]

Around the turn of the century, Sunsoft got a little weird. They started putting out the Sunsoft Memorial Series, a series of 6 discs, each containing emulation or ports (most likely emulation) of 2 NES/Famicom games, on the original Playstation. I call this weird for a few reasons. First, these are NES games, some very heavily associated with Nintendo for me (like Blaster Master and Journey to Silius), and it feels a little odd to play them on Playstation because of that. Secondly, with only 2 games per disc, compared to other compilations of the time, these discs barely use their storage space. Lastly, the choices of games... some are brilliant, and others so confounding that they would be how Sunsoft would choose to display their legacy thay one can only scratch one's head in bewilderment. I'm going to go over these all eventually, probably out of order, but I'll start with the first.

The first game Sunsoft chose to represent its proud tradition was Ikki. Odds are, if you've heard of Ikki, you know the word "kusoge" and how this game all but defined it, but I'll be objective from my first-hand point of view. You play as a farmer rebelling and being assaulted by various soldiers and ninjas. Your actual goal is to locate all of the coins strewn about each stage, which are about a 4-screen grid in size. You automatically throw your weapon at the nearest enemy, which kind of works, but you can't lead an enemy as a result and have to be pretty close or have a good angle to hit. The only real powerup is a staff that works a bit like the hammer in Donkey Kong, only you can only attack upward and it actually decreases your range, so use it at your own risk. Couple this with the fact that you must get quite close to the edge of the screen to scroll, and you have a very difficult game. Still, you can work around the faults with methodical movement, and the pace is frantic. The graphics are a little below average for an early title, but not the worst you'll see, and there are only 4 looping stages. It's a bit of a mess, but can be oddly compelling.

The other game on volume 1 is Super Arabian, which is a superior single-screen arcade-style game in the vein of Donkey Kong in which moving through ladders and platforms on a single screen, your goal is to collect all of the bags in each level yo spell out the secret word, such as "horse" or "flower." Picking up the letters in the correct order will net you a hefty bonus, and since the game loops after several varied screens, playing for score is where it's at. You are not defenseless inSuper Arabian, as aside from an invincibility powerup, you can kick the bejeesus out of any enemy as well with a well-placed kick. Hit detection is pretty solid, so I usually felt like it was my fault when I died. There are several varieties of enemies that fly, crawl, and climb at you, and the screens offer a surprising amount of variety in theme and obstacles such as moving platforms, ladders, vines you can hang from and shimmy across, etc. There's also an alternate mode where the bags are unmarked and MUST be collected in the proper order, adding another layer of challenge for veterans. It's all in English to boot, and I really enjoyed it.

So, you have 2 games with no real language barrier here, both of which are probably measuredin kilobytes. Still, there's an early arcade addictive quality, especially to Super Arabian, which I liked a bunch. However... these Sunsoft discs are a mixed bag on price. People often try to get $30 out of this one, and the truth is you could buy both of these loose carts combined for less than $10, or boxed for about $20-$30, so in this case it's not a great bargain unless you hold out for a goid deal. I paid about $15 for this, and I feel okay about it, but I'd generally say skip Ikki and pick up a loose cart of Super Arabian for $5. It's all in English and old-school arcade fun!