As pleasing as it is to see genuinely cherished retro video games re-released, it can be equally pleasing to see more obscure titles gain a revival too – the kind that few will have heard of, and even fewer will have played. That’s the case with Sunsoft is Back, which brings together three of Sunsoft’s early Famicom (NES) games never released outside of Japan. The PC version of this collection launched earlier this year and left many bewildered, as the trio of titles remained untranslated. All change for this belated console conversion, which sees the trio in English for the first time. A good thing too, considering one is a text-heavy adventure.
You’ll be forgiven for never having heard of The Wing of Madoola, Firework Thrower Kantaro’s 53 Stations of the Toukaido, and Ripple Island before. These are deep cuts of Sunsoft history, released before the developer/publisher made a name for themselves in the West with various Batman, Looney Tunes, and Superman tie-ins. To put this into more perspective, Firework Thrower Kantaro and The Wing of Madoola were released in 1986. The humble NES hadn’t even received Zelda II or Super Mario Bros. 2 at this point, making them relatively early releases.
With this in mind, it doesn’t come as a surprise to find that Firework Thrower Kantaro is pretty basic. It’s a side-scrolling platformer in which our hero can drop and throw bombs, run ‘n jump and…that’s it. The graphics are crude, the animation is basic, and jumping feels stiff. Despite visual shortcomings, it does have a surprisingly large selection of enemy types, including yokai that steal items and, uh, a prostitute who clings onto Kantaro to slow him down. It may also be of interest to Japanese history buffs – the titular stations were resting areas on a route that ran along the coast, and the developers tried to incorporate landmarks into the game’s backdrops.
It’s also a surprise to find that The Wing of Madoola is far more advanced even though it launched the same year, looking and playing similarly to Zelda II due to having detailed backdrops and RPG-style elements such as items that increase stats. Our red-haired warrior Lucia has a generous amount of health. Annoyingly, the same applies to the enemies – even smaller foes require several hits to vanquish. Although it resembles a typical side-scroller, it’s a bit more involving as you’re required to find a crystal ball that’ll open the exit, with stages becoming more maze-like. And while Lucia can withstand a lot of damage, one life is all you get. The rewind tool does at least make things a bit more palatable these days. It’s a richer experience than Firework Thrower Kantaro, but at the same time, a bit more frustrating.
This leaves us with Ripple Island, a clear highlight. It’s a point ‘n click adventure with a simple interface featuring a row of icons (talk, look, move, grab, etc) along the middle of the screen. It’s also easy to imagine the large sprites being impressive at the time. It appears to be aimed at younger gamers, as there’s a non-violent theme – roughly half the experience boils down to talking to animals and finding them food, such as berries and acorns, to progress. The story is spread over five chapters, involving a quest to find three jewels to fend off a grotesque giant frog, who’s set on conquering the island. If you’re a fan of the genre it’s worth sitting down with it for the couple of hours it takes to finish. Most will likely find it to be a fun and easy-going experience – a few cryptic puzzle solutions notwithstanding.
This collection, as a whole, showcases effort and a desire to portray these titles in the best possible way. In addition to the rewind tool, there’s a choice of boarders, a CRT filter, three different screen sizes (widescreen, pixel perfect, and 4:3) and every game has a rotatable cart render and a gallery with artwork. Original manual scans are present too.
While the three games present aren’t exactly classics, far removed from the later titles Sunsoft was renowned for, none of them are bad either – they’re just a bit middling. Ripple Island is the best of the bunch and a pleasant way to spend an afternoon; the other two titles are barely above average, although The Wing of Madoola does have some depth to it. It’s a shame Super Arabian – a single screen platformer from 1985 – isn’t here, as it would’ve helped sweeten the deal. As it stands, this is best recommended to those who consider all things Famicom their area of expertise.
Red Art Games’ Sunsoft is Back! Retro Game Selection is out 6th Sept on consoles. A PC version is also available.