Son Son Ii (pc Engine Game)


bast525

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Dec 4, 2004
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Well, I have loved this game for a very long time, I played it back in 1989 on my first import PC Engine system, the original white one that was the size of a portable CD player. I had sold that game and system a long time ago, and had longed to play it again, but only recently, thanks to great emulators for the PC, Xbox, and now most recently the GP32, have I been able to again enjoy this great game.

So, here is my review of a game that many people would probably never bother to try and most have probably never heard of for the PC Engine. It was a japanese only game, it never came to the US and I think it never made a europe release either (correct me if I'm wrong here?)




Overview: This game is an action platform game from fan favorite Capcom, based on the same chinese story/legend as that infamous cartoon series Dragonball and it's various spin offs. It is the sequel to the original Son Son game (which was a relatively simplistic NES game as well I think it was in japanese arcades? that game is not nearly as enjoyable though IMO). It follows the hero "Son Goku" on a trip thru the legends version of heaven/hell. Though there is a translated/patched version of the game out there, I haven't been able to get it to work well on any of the emu's I've tried it on, so I dont know or understand the story fully, just picking up cues from what I know of the actual story and legend of Son Goku. Anyways it's a great game, and in many ways actually feels like a lighthearted and fast paced Castlevania game.

Graphics: Bright and colorful, as good looking a PC Engine game as there ever was. Mostly the sprites are small but look good, very cartoony and colorful. The backgrounds are nice looking and vary nicely with each new level. Levels comprise of the typical greenery/mountainous area, the lava cave, the snow level, a cool oriental town level, and others. I forget the exact number of levels, I think it's 6 or 8, but each is pretty long and the game is a good length overall. The enemies are wacky characters the likes of cartoony demons, bats with their tongues hanging out, and the ever-popular-in-Japan jellies (think Puyo Puyo). Many of the enemies will also seem familiar to Castlevania fans, like skeletons that throw bones in an upward arc to come smacking down into your head. Some of the sprites are pretty big, particularly a couple of the boss sprites, though animation on all of them is pretty limited. All in all, it's pretty typical looking of a 15 year old game.

Sound: the music is great, IMO, some of the best music for a non-CD PC Engine game. It's mostly upbeat, and most of it has a strong oriental flavor, befitting the theme of the game.

Controls: work perfectly... responsive, typical Capcom execution here. One button to jump, one to use your weapon, a staff, which works similiar to the whip in Castlevania, but much faster, capable of rapid multiple attacks. You can also buy magic attacks which can be selected by pressing left or right on the pad when the game is paused. You use your spells by pushing attack and jump at the same time, and each 'casting' will drain your magic bar at the top of the screen. You can refill the magic bar by picking up (or buying) the little scrolls that you will find as you break open jars. Another tip, if you need to jump a little extra high, jump while standing still, you will jump straight up and a little higher than a running jump. Keep in mind you can move around in mid air AFTER you jump.

Gameplay: This game really shines in the gameplay department. A typical platformer, with running, jumping over pits, jumping onto moving platforms, and climbing poles and other similar objects, all while fighting off constant waves of foes, and breaking open jars to pick up items (usually fruit which when picked up gives you "Zenny", which as you probably guessed, is money). The levels, from the very beginning, are very large, and many have multiple paths that you can choose to explore, though you generally do end up exploring the entirety of the level before you move on. This is another way it reminds me of the more recent GBA and PSX Castlevania games, in how large the levels are and how you can choose to go different ways and just go off exploring til you find something of use or find your way to a door to another area. Asides from just finding your way thru the level, you usually have to find a key (sometimes more than one) to get thru the locked doors that will block your way to the next section of the level or to the room where that levels boss awaits. Another Castlevania-like facet is that there are plenty of hidden areas and secret breakable walls to be found if you take the time to look, which often hide money or upgrades for your staff weapon, or lead to other parts of the level.

Along the way you will also run into friendly characters who will talk to you, probably giving you some useful hint or some such, but of course, again, in Japanese. The funny part is they always explode in small cloud of smoke when done relaying their message to you, sometimes they will leave behind fruit-zenny. Some characters that you run into are actually shopkeepers and will allow you to purchase items from them with the Zenny you've accumalated.

Since I've played the heck out of the game I'll give a rundown of the items and what they do, in case anyone reads this and actually tries the game :)

- heart - self explanatory... refills your life gauge
- red fist - without this item you cannot break any of the hidden breakable walls, so buy it if you can... it is a limited use item, after a certain number of uses it will turn green, then after one more use it will vanish
- three balls - this is a magic spell, and surrounds you with a spinning shield. Doesn't make you invincible, unfortunately, but does damage enemies that touch it
- pink turnip like thing - another spell, this one is just a throwable weapon
- genie lamp - lets you continue if you die. You will restart at the beginning of whatever level you were on. Can only be used once, so if you die remember to buy another!
- cloud - true to Goku's character in Dragonball, you can buy this cloud to ride on, which lets you free fly around the screen. Once bought, it will automatically be 'equipped' when you enter your next boss fight... yes unfortunately, it can only be used in boss fights... and it's also a single use item.
- bulbous two sectioned bottle (sorry I didn't know another way to describe it!) - this is an emergency life refill. If you die while carrying this you will recieve an instant, but only partial, refill of your life bar. Yes, another single use item.
- stick upgrade - self explanatory, this will be just an icon of your staff with a number next to it denoting it's level. If I remember right, you can get up to a level 5 or a level 7 staff by the end of the game. These can also be found hidden in breakable walls.
- ???? - There are items that up the limit of your life and magic bars, unfortunately, I can't remember what they look like!! I think the life upgrade is a red ball with a four pointed star over it?
- ???? - I think there are one or two other spells, I know there is a lightning bolt spell but I dont think I've ever used it to know what it does... my guess, is it kills all enemies on the screen. There's also a bomb... self explanatory here. Don't know what the others do... never used the spells much myself.

Hmm... what else. Well, the bosses are cool but nothing really special, and generally pretty tough to beat. The game in general gets increasingly challenging as you progress, and does get pretty tough towards the end, but not TOO hard (except for the last boss fight!). No harder than your average Mega Man game. One thing to watch out for, if you take too long in any given level (there is not a posted time limit, so you wont know it's been too long until this happens, but it's generally plenty of time), a demon will appear riding a cloud that will chase you and throw lighting at you, he can follow you anywhere, and is VERY hard to kill. And even if you do kill him, within a minute he will appear again! Very annoying, so don't just dawdle along :) Once you get to the boss room he will leave you be though.

Taking in all it's seperate parts the game would seem like nothing special but when you're actually playing it that Capcom 2D magic comes thru with fun gameplay and fantastic controls. The best part is it runs pretty much perfectly on GP Engine at 133mhz and 30fps settings, full speed as far as I can tell. I'll have to try the english translated version on this emu if I can ever track it down again.


Here are some pics of the game from the intro and first level:

sonson201.gif
sonson202.gif


sonson203.gif
sonson204.gif


A great game and very worth playing on your GP if you like action platformers at all!
 
Sounds good. Can you add some screenshots to your review (I like reviews with screenshots :D) ?
 
what the hell I posted pics and they worked fine at first but suddenly they don't?

Uh oh Ganepark is agreeing with me... LOL just kidding dude...
 
I'll try it! Thanks, great review!!!

PS. Bast, did you finish, and enjoy untold legends? Dunno whether to order it.....
 
lubidog posted on Apr 10 2005 at 03:10 PM said:
PS. Bast, did you finish, and enjoy untold legends? Dunno whether to order it.....

No I dont think I'm even CLOSE to finishing it. It is enjoyable... if you've ever played Champions of Norrath or Baldurs Gate: Dark Alliance you know EXACTLY what to expect. I dont play it as much because I like to have a lot of time to play it in one go or else I always get kinda lost, and also I dont play it outdoors at all because it is a VERY dark game and hard to see in bright light conditions... it is by far the worst offender out of all the PSP games I've tried so far, including MG Acid which is also dark but Legends is worse.

It is a fun game though and would be a blast in multiplayer... but not one of the PSP's best so far... I say, if you haven't already tried Champions of Norrath or Dark Alliance, and unless you have liked those games, dont get Legends, at least, not until it gets cheaper or you can find a used one or something.



Hey are you guys seeing the pics I posted? They worked at first but now I just get red X's...

if you get red X's and want to see the pics, right click the X, click on properties, than highlight and Ctrl-C Ctrl-V the URL...
 
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bast525 posted on Apr 10 2005 at 03:35 PM said:
lubidog posted on Apr 10 2005 at 03:10 PM said:
PS. Bast, did you finish, and enjoy untold legends? Dunno whether to order it.....

No I dont think I'm even CLOSE to finishing it. It is enjoyable... if you've ever played Champions of Norrath or Baldurs Gate: Dark Alliance you know EXACTLY what to expect. I dont play it as much because I like to have a lot of time to play it in one go or else I always get kinda lost, and also I dont play it outdoors at all because it is a VERY dark game and hard to see in bright light conditions... it is by far the worst offender out of all the PSP games I've tried so far, including MG Acid which is also dark but Legends is worse.

It is a fun game though and would be a blast in multiplayer... but not one of the PSP's best so far... I say, if you haven't already tried Champions of Norrath or Dark Alliance, and unless you have liked those games, dont get Legends, at least, not until it gets cheaper or you can find a used one or something.



Hey are you guys seeing the pics I posted? They worked at first but now I just get red X's...

if you get red X's and want to see the pics, right click the X, click on properties, than highlight and Ctrl-C Ctrl-V the URL...


Thanks, I never played those games, just want something other than a recing game! (Not complaining tho!).

And I can see lovely pics!

Thanks again!
 
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Esn posted on Apr 11 2005 at 09:06 AM said:
It just says "user posted image" for me. Maybe you could post the urls to the pics?

I second that! :D
 
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They probably don`t like people linking to stuff on their site. :rolleyes:

EDIT: @ bast525, You can edit you review and link to the images in my previous post if you want, It will make your review look more complete.
I will then delete my previous post.

Trooper
 
trooper posted on Apr 12 2005 at 01:09 PM said:
They probably don`t like people linking to stuff on their site. :rolleyes:

EDIT: @ bast525, You can edit you review and link to the images in my previous post if you want, It will make your review look more complete.
I will then delete my previous post.

Trooper


Done. Thanks Trooper :)

By the way all, thought I'd mention, I was kindly provided with a copy of the translation patched version of the game, and it seems to work perfectly on GP Engine. Shouldn't be too hard finding this version if anyone's interested.

Writing reviews is sweet... have to do this more often :)
 
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