by
Evan Norris
, posted 11 hours in the past / 682 Views
Modern audiences in all probability aren’t overly accustomed to Felix the Cat. A cartoon character from the silent movie period, he has a protracted and storied historical past lasting over a century — though not a lot productiveness over the previous 30 years. There was a small flurry of exercise within the early 90s, when Felix the Cat: The Movie arrived on VHS within the US in 1991 and a online game primarily based on his adventures launched on NES the next 12 months. That sport, Felix the Cat, is the topic of a brand new, up to date launch from Limited Run Games, in collaboration with Konami and Universal Games & Digital Platforms.
The fashionable Felix the Cat is a bundle of three titles: the NES sport from 1992; its Game Boy model from 1993; and, most surprisingly, the unreleased Famicom model. Planned for launch in late 1992, the Japanese variant of the sport has by no means seen the sunshine of day in a correct, official launch till now. It’s an sudden reward from Limited Run Games, though it performs precisely just like the NES model, minus some language adjustments.
The unquestionable spotlight of the compilation is the NES model. A number of Nintendo followers in all probability weren’t listening to a licensed platformer on NES in 1992, greater than a 12 months into the lifespan of its technologically-superior successor SNES, however they missed out on one of the crucial charming and entertaining video games on the platform. Developed by Shimada Kikaku and revealed by Hudson Soft, it deserves to be in your assortment in the event you’re a fan of 8-bit platforming.
What makes it so particular is Felix’s magic bag, which, within the lore of the cartoon, can summon an infinite variety of objects on the cat’s request. Felix begins the primary stage with a punching glove that emerges from the bag — basically a short-range melee attack to fend off enemies. If the heroic cat picks up 10 Felix tokens (scattered all through every stage), he’ll earn a coronary heart from his girlfriend Kitty, which upgrades his magic merchandise. The punching bag turns into a magic wand that assaults in a number of instructions; the magic wand turns into a motorbike with a projectile; and the motorbike turns into a tank with an arcing cannonball. As a end result, there are a lot of other ways to expertise, and conquer, every stage.
Kikaku did not cease there, although. He additionally created many several types of ranges to accompany this central mechanic, and distinctive transformations for every. There are aerial ranges, within the vein of Balloon Fight, the place Felix glides with an umbrella, floats in a scorching air balloon, or pilots a fighter airplane. There are underwater sections the place the feisty feline depends alternatively on a snorkel, a sea turtle, and a submersible. And there are above-water areas the place Felix both floats lazily in an interior tube or rides a dolphin. Because of all these variations, the sport boasts an enormous quantity of creativity and attraction.
Not every thing is ideal, although. The sport is on the simple aspect and reasonably quick; there are 9 ranges and a number of levels per stage, however they may all be completed in a single sitting. Still, it is completely a sport that ought to be in your radar, significantly in the event you get pleasure from licensed platformers of the NES period.
As for the Game Boy port, nicely, it is decidedly much less spectacular. It accommodates the identical story and mechanics because the NES iteration, however with much less spectacular graphics and fewer ranges. It additionally suffers from body price points that do not seem in any respect within the home console model.
So, whereas Felix the Cat contains three video games, it actually contains solely a single important one. The Game Boy model is an inferior port, and the Famicom model, whereas momentous, is kind of similar to the NES providing.
Unfortunately, Limited Run Games does not do a lot with particular options to make up for this. The compilation has a lot of the commonplace quality-of-life upgrades — save states, border and filter choices, rewind — however not a lot else. You cannot remap the controls, and there aren’t any directions in anyway. Since Felix the Cat depends on a reasonably novel transformation and scoring system, the sport calls for some type of how-to-play part. It might additionally use some historic context, achievements, a leaderboard, or any form of bonus content material to raise the proceedings. As it stands now, this can be a reasonably bare-bones assortment.
Still, it is perhaps a worthwhile funding, in the event you simply have to play the unique video games. On eBay, the NES and Game Boy cartridges promote for round $100 apiece.
Felix the Cat will not catapult the cartoon feline to stardom as soon as once more, however it ought to shine a lightweight on an underplayed, underappreciated licensed sport from the waning days of NES. With creative transformations, numerous ranges, and attraction to spare, it is one of many higher platformers on a system outlined by them. It’s only a disgrace this contemporary launch does not do extra to contextualize, improve, and have a good time it.
This assessment relies on a digital copy of Felix the Cat for the NS, supplied by the writer.
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