In spite of the (too) many years I've been a critic, the only Sting-developed game that I've reviewed was Hyperdevotion Noire: Goddess Black Heart. It's a damn shame, isn't it? A developer with such a rich and eclectic library, yet all I ever covered was their Neptunia spin-off. That's changing today, because I'm going to look at Riviera: Th- nope. Okay, well how about Yggdr- ha ha hah! Yeah, that isn't happening either. Actually, I've decided to discuss the underrated Super Famicom classic, Treasure Hu- it's Melfand Stories. Let's be real. There was never any doubt. Sting has put out some genre-benders but I'm keeping it traditional with a look at their side-scrolling arcade adventure.
When I use the word "arcade" to describe this, I sincerely mean that it wouldn't look out of place sitting in a Game Center between The King of Dragons and Gaiapolis. Although Sting hadn't yet found their niche, they clearly had an understanding of what makes arcade games so good. It starts with how much attention is given to hitboxes and hurtboxes. If the player feels like they were cheated out of their coin, then they'll walk away from the machine never to return. You're going to be fighting a lot of monsters that approach from the air as well as on the ground, and I mean a lot. Whomever you decide to play as will have to deal with small armies and swarms at the same time. Despite this, I never feel like the game takes health away just because something got uncomfortably close. Ducking, jumping, and timing your strikes for the most opportune moment matter. The mechanics here are pretty basic, but they're genuine. You don't get a wide variety of moves for each of the four characters. You get enough to win the game with.
Basically, your goal in Melfand Stories is to reach the Castle and defeat the evil king Nomolwa. How you go about this is decided by a routing system. Depending on the path you take, you'll get one of four "stories". Though the plot beats are roughly the same, you'll challenge different stages and bump into a variety of side-characters. The person you decide to play as also has their own reason for fighting. By 1994 standards, it's a thoughtful approach to storytelling that Sting would only improve upon in future games. Each choice leads to either Easy or Hard stages. It's best to start Easy, because Hard runs with the assumption that you're familiar with how the game works and gets a little mean.
While this adventure is essentially comprised of stage after stage of enemies attacking from multiple directions, it's not really comparable to the likes of Kung Fu Master or Vigilante. Stages are broken up into sections, and these sections may contain unique foes that must be fought in a specific way. Skeletons are quick to stab, so you'll want to keep your distance. A swarm of harpies isn't too rough provided your counterattacks are timely. Haunted armor with a halberd? Try jumping its initial strike and then land a flurry of blows, but don't get overzealous if there's more than one. Since all of the playable characters have just a couple of moves, your best technique is simply knowing what to do in a given situation. Bosses appear in both the middle and ends of stages, each having their own strategy. Most of them go down quickly, which is good because you're on a somewhat strict time limit. It can be a problem if you're struggling to find the rhythm in a boss's pattern and land hits. Though I've never run out of time myself, it's sometimes because I got too aggressive in a fight and paid the ultimate price.
Due to the infrequency of healing items, the damage you take can't be shrugged off. Rushing through a section while getting repeatedly pecked or stabbed in the hopes that a restorative will undo everything is a terrible idea. Melfand Stories emphasizes the importance of every interaction, especially if it involves what's normally considered to be fodder. The times you can get through a section without taking damage feel like a great achievement. A playthrough is arcade-length, so even on the Hard routes it's still short enough that credit feeding works. Also, you'll earn an extra credit for hitting 20k points and then every 40k thereafter. I think it's a neat incentive to help players along, especially in co-op games because it assists whoever is having a harder time. That said, the score does reset when continuing and even adds the +1 to the end of the player's score to indicate a continue was used. Sting released multiple shmups prior to this, and even a port of Truxton. They have a good sense for how arcade games work.
One of this game's most notable qualities is its block. Blocking is done simply by holding down the attack button, but it's easily the most essential technique the player can learn. Granted, playing it overly safe is dangerous due to the time limit. This is fine, preferred even, because it adds layers to the depth. Avoiding an enemy's attack entirely while landing a hit is always preferable, but blocking is still far superior to tanking damage and hoping for the best. Also, those times where simply blocking is the best strategy can't be ignored. In the Sky stage, you can easily deal with annoying rolling monsters by using block & punish tactics.
The strength of the block is also in its limitations. During a block, the direction you're facing, as well as whether you're standing or crouching absolutely make a difference. Projectiles that curve around to smack a hero or heroine in the back of the head are more common than you'd think. Over time, you'll develop an acute awareness of where fireballs are most likely to land, making the satisfaction of blocking them all the sweeter. Of course, it helps if you're familiar with cross-ups in fighting games. Mainly, even when blocking isn't the end-all solution to every problem in Melfand Stories, it's at least a large part of it. Oh, and you can also crouch-walk or slide. This extra level of mobility is lovely to have, and particularly beneficial to characters like Norse. His walking speed is rather slow, but he slides like greased lightning.
The more you invest in this game, the more rewarding it gets. Being able to block attacks and win is one thing, but utterly humiliating what troubled you before unlocks the mwah level of satisfaction. Captain Foot or whatever lizard-brain wants to call himself can be completely undone with close attacks. Something as simple as changing what side of the screen you're standing in can drastically affect the effectiveness of dive-bombing birds. Standing just outside of a golem's reach while still bashing him to bits is great. Alongside the multiple routes and playable characters, there's a lot of long-term value in learning and eventually exploiting.
Melfand Stories is among the more obscure games in the Super Famicom library. Its emphasis on the fundamentals might even make it look a little dated when placed next to hits such as Wild Guns and Ninja Warriors Again. However, I think this classic is finally starting to find its audience, as more as more people are getting on youtube to call it an underrated gem. Also, extra credit to Sting for whatever wizardry they used to get so many sprites onscreen without a hint of slowdown. I couldn't believe it when I realized I was getting chased by nearly a dozen harpies and the "hardware" didn't so much as cough.
No comments:
Post a Comment