Star Fox for Super Famicom

I’ve actually never played this game before, since I didn’t grow up having games of my own I just never encountered it. I’ve heard a lot of people through the years praising it though so I finally went ahead and bought it! Star Fox is what it’s called in Japan. This popular series has also gone by the name of Starwing and Lylat Wars, mainly in Europe.

SFC Star Fox - Starwing

A lot of people are probably gonna hate me now, but I don’t really care, everyone is entitled to their own opinion! ;D

I didn’t like it.. It might be because I don’t have any nostalgic memories when playing it. I bet it was all amazing and such when it came out, but it hasn’t’ aged well in that case. The controls were a bit stiff and I found it hard to aim and hit the targets.. I did give it a good hour or so before quitting.

Star-Fox  Star-Fox-Training-2
Star-Fox-Scramble!  Star-Fox-First-Boss

I also tried several different routes you could choose from, and reached a couple of different bosses, all but one of which I couldn’t beat..

Star-Fox-Stage-Select  Star-Fox-Corneria
Star-Fox-Asteroids  Star-Fox-Second-Boss-2

I have to admit that the graphics are unique for the SNES and the polygon shapes are somewhat charming, but this type of shooter (rail shooter) just isn’t my type of shmup. I prefer sidescrolling shooters, horizontal or vertical or fixed shooters like space invaders :) Bullet hell shooters are also quite fun ^_^

Star-Fox-Fly-out Star-Fox-Red-stage
Star-Fox-Stage Star-Fox-Game-Over

I will put this in my shelf, to await that nostalgic friend that will visit me and ask for it. Then I will gladly pull it out, let them play it for all the hours they want while I watch and in my mind being glad that I don’t have to play it again ;D

Star-Fox-SFC-complete-sq

Twinkle Tale for Sega Mega Drive

I recently bought this amazing shooter from FredJ, it’s called Twinkle Tale for Sega Mega Drive! It was released exclusively in Japan in 1992, developed by Zap Corporation and published by WAS (Wonder Amusement Studio). I’ve never heard of any one of these two, but they sure did a great job with this game!
Twinkle-Tale-Sega-Mega-Drive-Complete

Twinkle Tale is an overhead shmup, but it’s different since your character is walking around on the ground and you can walk in all directions. There are chests to open, narrow paths to follow and different roads to choose from (they all lead to the same end though). At first glance it looks like a fantasy RPG (and you all know how fond I am of RPG’s… >_<) but when you start shooting, feeling the fluent controls and experiencing the amazing graphics and sprites it all changes and you can’t do anything but love this game! ^_^
Twinkle-Tale-Sega-Mega-Drive-Cartridge

Since I still can’t record gameplay from my japanese Sega Mega Drive I had to use my iPhone to try and take some screenshots..
Twinkle Tale start screen copy

You can set the game to various difficult levels, I started on normal, but it was still pretty difficult.. The controls are pretty simple. You have a magic attack which is limited unless you pick up power-ups for it, but 3 is the maximum you can carry. You shoot with the B button and you can change between 3 various shots with C.
twinkle tale configuration mode

The first shot is straight forward and powerful, the second one spreads wider and is a bit less powerful, the third shot is a homing shot that aims directly towards any enemies but is pretty weak. This third one is the one I ended up using mostly during the stages since it took out all the smaller foes and medium foes quickly, but on the bosses I preferred the strong shot. You can level up all your shots to a maximum of lvl 3. If you get hit you loose one lvl of the shot you have equipped. You will quickly find power-ups though, since there are a lot of chests and stuff that carry items in all the stages.
Twinkle-Tale-Sega-Stage-1
twinkle-tale-stage2

You have three life bars, once you get hit three times it’s Game Over. However you have a couple of credits. You will encounter mobs of enemies coming at you, goblins throwing sticks, bats, mages, giant stone golems, skeletons, gargoyles and various other creatures. The enemies are very varied and well made and you encounter new ones on each stage.
Twinkle-tale-sega-game-over

You will also encounter various obstacles throughout the stages, like falling rocks in narrow paths, shooting arrows from the walls etc.
Twinkle-tale-falling-rocks

twinkle-tale-arrows

I made it as far as to the second boss on my first couple of credits. I made a few stupid mistakes, like walking right up the path where the boss would come from, thinking that was the way out, and he killed me instantly >_< I bet my second attempt will go much better! I just had to stop to write about it first ^_^ I also took some picture from the manual. It looks like it’s torn all around the edges but that “rip” is actually printed on the paper, I guess to make it look old?
Twinkle-tale-SMD-manual
Twinkle-Tale-Sega-Mega-Drive-Manual

And here’s the first boss, a three headed dragon-lion-thingy:
Twinkle-Tale-Sega-Mega-Drive-Boss1

twinkle-tale-gate

And the second boss, a giant floating knight casting lightning:
Twinkle-tale-sega-mega-drive-boss-2
Twinkle-tale-sega-mega-drive-boss2

This game is pretty rare, and it wasn’t cheap, but I’m really happy I bought it. It’s an awesome addition to my collection and it has great replay value! I will continue my attempt to advance past the second boss after this post ;D