The Great Playthrough: Game 68 - Choplifter

Choplifter
Released on: Apple II, Atari 5200/7800, Colecovision, Commodore 64, MSX, NES, Master System and many more
Played on: Sega Master System
Release date: 1985

After my venture into popular modern gaming last blog, I'm back to some traditional retro goodness here, and I do believe this is the first Master System game I've reviewed...

*Checks back over the list*

Oops, I was wrong! I totally forgot about Castle of Illusion!

Anyway, it feels like ages since I've played on the Master System, so I was looking forward to this - although, it has to be said, I was unsure about Choplifter. I got it recently when I bought a few games from a flash sale the wonderful Vintage Gamer had on Facebook - and I bought five games from them - four of which I really wanted, but Choplifter was kind of an impulse buy.

I remember playing a version of this game many MANY years ago when I was young and we had a BBC Micro (back in the days when you could just rip off other games and no-one really cared) and I remember enjoying it then, but I've been disappointed before with 80s arcade games when I try them out in the modern day.

So I fired up the Master System, took the pad, pressed the start button and.... spent five minutes trying to figure out how to turn the helicopter around!

But once I'd figured that out, I set out on my mission to shoot down planes, collect stranded soliders and get them back to base. And after getting over the fact that the game is quite hard (which is the normal state of affairs with older arcade conversions) I really got into it, and enjoyed my time with it.

It does have it's negative points (just like any game) - the sound design is pretty non-existent and very repetitive, and while I do enjoy a challenge, the difficulty level did mean that I didn't even make it past the first stage. The graphics suffer occasionally from trying to fit too much on screen at once, although it is a remarkably good job - whoever programmed this conversion really knew what they were doing!

In regards to the difficulty level, although it was hard, the game never felt unfair. In comparison to games I've spoken about recently, it felt more like Ghouls'N'Ghosts than Super Star Wars - death was common, but never malicious or unavoidable. Instead, thanks to the good game design, I felt like I was getting somewhere slightly further or learning something new every time I tried the level.

And I know this is going to sound strange, but the thing that affected me most about the game, and really reeled me in, was this innocent little box in the top-right corner:

That's right, the box shows you how many men are DEAD - whether by your chopper being shot down, or by them being shelled while you were ferrying their friends back to base, or (and this is the embarassing part) by you accidentally LANDING THE CHOPPER ON THEM AND KILLING THEM!

OH THE HUMANITY!!!!!

I may be mocking it slightly, but this ticking clock of death really made me worry about the people I was trying to save! And it kept me going back, over and over again.....

In short, it's a fun arcade game that will entertain you for a short time - is it a game designed for constant hours of play? No, but if you've got a spare half-hour, you could do a lot worse than to slot it into your system and enjoy the retro fun

Rating - 7.5/10
Time Played - 45 Minutes
Would I play it again? Definitely!

The Great Playthrough - Game 57: Castle of Illusion

So, in the last blog I promised you a game on a console that hadn't featured in this playthrough so far, and I don't aim to disappoint you guys!

It's time to play on my new Master System II! And what game will I be playing?

It's the return of photos containing an awkwardly
grinning Brawny!

Castle of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse
Released on: Sega Megadrive, Sega Game Gear, Sega Master SystemPlayed on: Sega Master System
Release date: 1990

Firstly, before I carry on, I should give shout outs to both my gorgeous wife (who bought me the Master System II for my birthday) and the great folks at Warez, which is where I bought this game at a very reasonable price!

Believe it or not, the Master System is the first 8 bit console I have ever owned, and consequentially, I was so excited sitting down to play this game - and it didn't disappoint!

(Wow, I just noticed that I've ended the last two paragraphs in exclamation marks. I should keep an eye on that, or pretty soon I'll end up as one of those people who writes stuff in Comic Sans all the time...)

As many of you may know, or may have guessed by the fact I was excited to play the game, this is a 2D platformer. And a bloody well made one at that. This is from back in the day when Disney characters were in good video games - unlike such modern wonders as Disney Princess: Magical Jewellery, or Just Dance: Disney Party, or the money-sucking leviathan that is Disney Infinity.

So what's the plot?

Well, an evil witch has kidnapped Minnie, and Mickey has to go save her. He has to tackle a selection of levels (which you can attack in a non-linear order, no less) and find some gems, because then they will mean he can .. do something... which will mean he can save Minnie...

Oh who cares about the plot! The point is that this game contains running, jumping, bouncing on enemies to kill them and is set in a bright and colourful world - but still it doesn't feel like a rip off of any of the usual suspects - it is its own thing, and that is great.

It's also hard. Proper hard. There's a reason that something being "8-bit hard" is a phrase...

(Wait, is that a phrase? *Googles it* OK, it turns out it isn't a phrase. Ignore that sentence!)

It's amazing that this game was designed for children - because most children would give up on the first level! But instead of being like a lot of modern games, it always keeps you coming back for more. After my hour or so of play, I had completed two zones (including defeating two awkward bosses) and I would quite happily have carried on, were it not a ridiculous time at night!

The bad things about this game? There aren't a lot. The music is pretty damn repetitive, and very occasionally the collision detection can seem a touch unfair, but I'm really just nitpicking at this point. All of you who enjoy platformers, you should play this game. It's so good that not only am I likely to go back and play more, but I am seriously tempted to buy the Mega Drive version (as it has different levels etc) and then the sequels!

I can't get over how good it is. Everyone had told me that it was a great game, but I wasn't expecting it to be this good!

And you can all play (a version of) it now - it's recently been remade and released for current gen consoles (PS3, Xbox) - and while it's not an exact remake, it seems to have been enjoyed by many. Or you could head over to Warez and buy yourself a master system / mega drive and get a copy yourself!

Rating; 9/10
Time played: 1 hour 10 minutes
Would I play it again? Try to stop me!

Next time, it's yet another return for the infamous blue blur...