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You’d never think it to look at the title, but what is presented here is a collection of three games from the back catalogue of SUNSOFT. Coming from SUNSOFT themselves, alongside Red Art Games, SUNSOFT is Back! Retro Game Selection promises to let us play three of the 8-bit classics that were never released in English before. Are you excited yet?
These are all action and adventure games, according to the publisher, but I guess those words meant something else way back in the mists of time. Still, get your retro goggles on and let’s investigate something never seen here before…
The presentation of SUNSOFT is Back! Retro Game Selection is a bit of an odd one to describe, as each of the three games is from the 8-bit generation of gaming, and so look more than a little bit retro. I can’t even say if the conversion to these new platforms is accurate, as I’ve never seen them before. Suffice it to say that the games look like you would expect, and let’s leave it at that.
There are new features to enjoy, however, including a gallery that showcases the art from each game and promotional material for them too. I always find these fascinating and there is even a section that includes 3D models of the cartridges, should that float your very particular boat.
It must be said, the audio and sound is also of the time, with various jolly chiptune ditties to bop along to. With some CRT filters that you can turn on at will, the chances are this package will take you straight back to the 1980’s, without the need for leg warmers or shoulder pads.
So how do we tackle these three games? Well, I’m going to roll the narrative chat and how things play into one big pile of loveliness – times three!
The first game in the collection goes by the name of Ripple Island, and it is, for want of a better term, a basic RPG. This is an RPG in the old style – you have a selection of symbols to choose from, and there are things to discover as you explore and interact. We play as Kyle, a young lad who has decided to try to find a better life. He does this by pledging to help King Dotella against the evil Emperor Groaker. As we all know, the deadliest enemy any nefarious villain can face is a young boy wandering about the place.
Maybe it’s me and the way that I have been spoiled by games of recent times, but I found Ripple Island to be very hard work, mostly due to the problems put forward and the weird, obtuse solutions attached to them. As an example, an early encounter sees a weasel refusing to let you past (go with me here). Exploring about the place, I found some berries that when given to the said weasel made it fall asleep, but as soon as I tried to go past it, it woke up again. And it got more confusing from there. Still, if you have the patience to try every single combination of things with every other thing, then this is the game for you.
The second game is another odd one – The Wing of Madoola. We play as Lucia, a fierce warrior who is on a mission to recover the titular Wing of Madoola from an evil king, Daltos. This plays out as a side scrolling platform fighter – or at least it would if Lucia’s sword wasn’t made of cardboard. See, it doesn’t matter how many times I hit even regular enemies, I couldn’t kill a single one. I was soon reduced to running and hiding, left to explore in hope of grabbing a few things to collect. Nothing made me any stronger, and each run soon ended when an enemy managed to make contact with my fragile warrior. This is a simple game, with a simple premise, but the execution is pretty poor. I remember games being rubbish in the ‘80s, but in a way I’m glad I didn’t have to play this back in the day.
The last game in the collection is called *deep breath* Firework Thrower Kantaro’s 53 Stations of the Tokaido. Because, why wouldn’t it be called that!? We play as Kantaro, a firework merchant on a journey to meet our best girl, Momoko. Oh, and evil merchants are trying to steal our fireworks for themselves. We can’t let this happen, and so we have to traverse a series of left to right scrolling screens, either avoiding evil ninjas or throwing bombs at them. It is much easier to run away, mind, as throwing the bombs is extremely imprecise.
There are other quality of life tweaks to bring things a little bit up to date, with saves available to be used, and a handy rewind feature that you can choose to use if you want to have a few runs at a tough part of the game. The main thing to take away from SUNSOFT is Back! Retro Game Selection is how far games have come in a relatively short period of time – to go from Ripple Island to Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 in my lifetime is bonkers.
It means that SUNSOFT is Back! Retro Game Selection is an interesting collection, if only so we can see how far the gaming industry has come. Just be warned, the games themselves are punishingly difficult and extremely unfriendly.
SUNSOFT is Back! Retro Game Selection: Three Japan-Only Famicom Games Get English Release – https://www.thexboxhub.com/sunsoft-is-back-retro-game-selection-three-japan-only-famicom-games-get-english-release/
Buy this collection from the Xbox Store – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/sunsoft-is-back-retro-game-selection/9n5n0gxr9h0p