Shining Force CD: A Reflection on Nostalgia

I didn't realize how much the "Sword of Hajya/The Evil God Awakes" sucks.

One of the things that always annoyed me about my beloved childhood Game Gear Shining Force was how a few battles into the game, your Force splits into two parties. This means that for the next few hours of the game, you are fighting battles with about 5 or 6 characters in each party. This wouldn't be so much of a problem, if the battles themselves weren't so stacked against you.

Sure, you say. It's supposed to be hard - you're unexpectedly split up and the odds are stacked against you! To that I say "go hump a weedwacker." First of all, you cannot pick who goes in what team (which I suppose makes sense, due to the events at the particular moment your guys split up) so if your characters aren't leveled properly on either team - guess what! Difficult grinding time!

Then you have the maps. Most of the Shining games don't put you on maps that have very slim paths, but when you split up and only have 6 characters, there are a lot of them. There is also a map wherein you play in the dark, and enemies randomly appear as you make your way across the map. Oh yay! My mage, who I had been keeping in the back due to her low HP and defense (and who also happens to be the party leader, which means if she dies, it's game over) is now surrounded by zombies and dark knights. Oh and my healer - who also has the highest attack power in this party - is near the frontlines, so if she gets damaged, he might be two turns away from healing her! Oh and he also has low MP so he may be out of healing charges anyway. Fun!

The other party, with the main character you named at the beginning of the game (Deanna, for whatever reason, is the canon name) is a bit better balanced, but doesn't face nearly as difficult battles as Natasha's party mentioned above. Right now, I'm in a lava battle with this team, and I'm finding it difficult to find the urge to play.

Which really speaks to the issue I have with many RPGs, though. It's probably why I don't find Final Fantasy IV or Four Heroes of Light too enthralling - people are constantly coming and going from my party. Let me level them up! Don't let me possibly lose equipment when they leave! Stop making stupid plots where the people have to leave for little to no reason (Shining Force CD and the aforementioned Final Fantasy games are very guilty of this, 4HoL in particular). It's frustrating to have to deal with some asshole leaving your party when you've built them up for hours on end. I mean, if it's like Tellah from FFIV and they don't come back ever, fine! I don't even know why I put up with it in Final Fantasy VI... Although come to think of it, at least there the reasons the characters split up were usually for good reason (Sabin jumping in the river to fight Ultros aside).

Anyway I'm going to beat Shining Force CD, dammit. No matter what this stupid thing throws at me. But the original Shining Force Gaiden, "Toward the Root of Evil," is so far the better chapter.

Shining Force CD: The Sword of Hajya

A few days ago, I beat the first scenario of Shining Force CD, "Towards the Root of Evil," based on the Japan-only Game Gear game, "Shining Force Gaiden." Sadly, there were no additional battles as creative (or fun) as the one where you had to find weapons on the beach, but the game did ramp up the difficulty a bit as it wore on.

Which isn't to say it is as difficult as its console counterparts; it isn't. Very rarely did I feel in danger in "Towards the Root of Evil," and really wasn't until the very last battle. There were bosses, sure, but with proper movement, and the slow pace I usually go through battles, I very rarely had player characters in any amount of danger. Now, it's very likely this is just because I know the battle system of these games inside and out, and therefore know the AI patterns of the enemies, but I would like to see a bit more challenge in the second part of Shining Force CD.

As for the final battle... The main bad guy of the game, Woldol, inexplicably turns into a scorpion and is invincible until you hit him with the Sword of Hajya. Going into the battle, I thought this was a Taros from Shining Force II situation in which only the main character could damage him, so I prepared accordingly, only to find out that after being damaged once with the Sword of Hajya, any old Force member can damage him. By the time I realized this, I had let a few of my party members die while trying to fend off Woldol from targeting the main character. It didn't matter, though, because once I realized what to do, I just threw everything I had at him and he went down pretty easily (coincidentally by the main character, no less).

What I do like about this scenario is how it ties into the second Game Gear game (part 2 of Shining Force CD, released as Sword of Hajya in America on the Game Gear in 1994). The main character of "Towards the Root of Evil" is actually Prince Nick, who, at the beginning of the second game, along with Gyan and presumably Claude, leave to go conquer Iom, where they eventually get defeated and your party has to help them. When I first played the Sword of Hajya, I had no idea why Prince Nick seemed to be important and why there was some random bird who looked important in the army that left that never spoke. And why Gyan had a face portrait. I never beat the Game Gear game, so it's possible that I'll eventually join up with those guys in "The Evil God Awakes," as part 2 is called in Shining Force CD (confused yet?).

Looking at a FAQ for what I missed in "Towards the Root of Evil" shows that apparently there were a few secret characters you can only get by searching certain bushes during certain battles. I like the idea of secret characters, but think it's dumb you can only get them by randomly searching bushes during battles. It'd be one thing if the game gave you some kind of hint, or something, but I had no idea they were even there. Also, I apparently missed a secret already in "The Evil God Awakes" because I didn't search a well a few battles ago. The item you find there supposedly unlocks the hidden boss rush chapter, where your party fights every boss from both "Towards the Root of Evil" and "The Evil God Awakes." I suppose I might try to get that eventually, just to see all the content the game offers (I'd also like to write about it).

Anyway, so I'm underneath the castle of Emild, about to fight the first true boss of the game, Gordon, to finally re-obtain the Sword of Hajya. I have gotten this far in the Game Gear version, and don't really remember having a problem with Gordon, so we'll see if that still holds true. I will likely write about Shining Force CD soon...

Shining Force CD: Fanservice of the Highest Caliber

I picked up Shining Force CD a little while ago, knowing it's a Sega CD remake of the two Game Gear Shining Forces (one of which was only released in America on this disc) but what I didn't know was how there is actually a few chapters exclusive to this release.

This makes Shining Force CD an absolute treat for series fans.

Having grown up playing Shining Force II, I still prefer the strategy-lite approach to tactical RPGs the classic Shining series uses, as opposed to the complicated "make-sure-your-guys-aren't-exposing-their-backs" tedious BS of the Final Fantasy Tactics lineage (and pretty much every other tactics series besides maybe Advance Wars or Fire Emblem). There aren't too many games like this left, sadly, and Sega seems to want to make the Shining series into action-RPG only. This makes me sad, because there is Ys for that, and I want more Shining Force.

I picked up Shining Force III last year, and played a few hours of it before being distracted by other things. That may happen with Shining Force CD, but I don't think it will. You see, the game has 2D graphics, basically a mix between Shining Force I and II. Having been 16 years since the game released, I have memories of Shining Force II and this game calls back to it very well. In fact, I think that's the best way to enjoy this game; having played the original Shining Forces as a kid, going back to this sixteen years later is a treat, somewhat like Mega Man 9 was when that came out in 2008.

Anyway, so there are a few differences. Unlike Shining Force II, there is no between battle exploring - there is simply the option to Save, manage items and characters, and the occasional shop, then on to the next battle. Which is somewhat disappointing, because I really liked talking to people in Shining Force II - made the world seem more real. Then again, having played games of a more recent vintage that present their worlds on a deeper level, perhaps this is for the best.

The battles themselves so far have been pretty great, though. My favorite so far was the one where my characters had to abandon ship, and after washing up on a beach, find themselves under attack. They lost all their weapons and items when this happened, so they had to search the beach to find some sticks to use to beat the battle. I doubt a scenario like this would come up later in the game, but I thought it was pretty neat - in fact, there isn't anything like it in Shining Force I or II. It also highlights something I wish would have been implemented into the American version of II - the ability to search treasure chests and the ground - when applicable - during battle (Shining Force II had a few battles with chests in them, but they were only accessible in the Japanese and European versions, for what reason I do not know). This changes the strategy of battles, because the player will want to go out of their way to obtain items from chests rather than just go beat the boss. There was one battle, though, which had a treasure chest that I had to send a character way out of their way to go get that was just a stupid Medical Herb that pissed me off, but that has only happened once so far, thankfully.

I'm in Chapter 2 of the first part of the game, and I have no idea what that means in terms of how much of the game I have completed. I'm sure I'll blog more about the game, though, as I'm having a blast identifying the references to Shining Force I and II (sadly, most of them are to the first game, although we'll see how long that holds true as I go on).

Super Mario Sunshine: How Does It Hold Up Today?

Super Mario Sunshine is a bit of an odd game.

Released for the Gamecube in late 2002, the game is the second 3D Mario platformer. There was a lot of hype before release; there hadn't been a 3D Mario since 1996's Super Mario 64, which was (and still is) considered one of the best video games of all time.

Nintendo had to differentiate Sunshine from 64, though, and not just aesthetically (which we'll get to later). They didn't want the game to simply be "Mario 64 2." The game also came (somewhat) early in the Gamecube's life - having only been out a year, Nintendo still had the opportunity to sell the system to people who couldn't decide between it and the Xbox or the Playstation 2. But how to innovate on Mario 64's design? Mario already had a great moveset in that game, and it would be difficult to just add more varied jumps to the mix.

Enter FLUDD. An acronym for "Flash Liquidizer Ultra Dousing Device," Mario wore this contraption on his back. Using the R button, Mario could use the various functions of the machine. It could spray water in whatever direction Mario was facing, whether standing still or not. By pressing X, Mario could switch to the Hover Nozzle, which allows him to hover in midair for a bit while holding R. Later in the game, Mario can find the Rocket Nozzle and Turbo Nozzle, which let him jump incredibly high in the air and run very fast respectively. By utilizing most of his jumping skills from Mario 64 (Mario cannot use the long jump or the backflip in Super Mario Sunshine) and FLUDD, Mario must find Shine Sprites (which work the same as stars from Mario 64) scattered throughout Isle Delfino.

One of the other things Nintendo put in the game that Mario 64 didn't have is the ability to ride Yoshi. Yoshi can use his tongue to eat fruit and enemies, and can also spit "Juice" to eliminate certain barriers. The "Juice" mechanic is the oddest thing in the game, as it looks like Yoshi is vomiting liquid all over the place while he makes a gargling sound. Yoshi himself is fairly limited in utility; other than breaking the aforementioned barriers with his "Juice," he prevents Mario from using FLUDD while riding him and cannot jump very high nor float very far. He is used fairly little in Super Mario Sunshine.

The game looks fantastic, though, even to this day. Thanks to the ability to output in widescreen and Progressive Scan mode (a rarity for games at all in 2002, and even rarer for Nintendo even up to this day), the game still looks clean and has pretty good art. Some of the character designs can be poor(the Pianta and the Noki just seem like blobs), but most of the enemies and bosses are detailed and cute, which fit the aesthetic.

The difficulty, however, wildly varies throughout the game. The game isn't usually too bad, but there are definitely difficulty spikes. Early on, the player is likely to encounter a "Secret," which is a special stage where Mario must get to the end of some tricky platforming without the aid of FLUDD. These areas, while usually fun, highlight the odd physics Super Mario Sunshine has when Mario isn't using FLUDD. He controls a bit slippery, and has a tendency to fall off ledges when landing from jumps. Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine's sequels, the Mario Galaxy games, don't suffer from this at all. Without FLUDD and the moves Mario has in Mario 64 and the Galaxy games, specifically the long jump and backflip, make navigating without FLUDD sometimes more difficult than need be.

There is one Shine in particular, though, that I died on nearly thirty times today. That is "The Goopy Inferno" in Pianta Village and it is easily the most difficult Shine to get in the game. Mario does not have use of FLUDD until he can get to the center of the level. There really isn't a good way to get through it; I believe you are supposed to use the fences underneath the level to navigate your way to the center to rescue the Mayor of the town, but it is almost impossible to get to him. Look at this video and watch how that guy does it. Doesn't seem like it's the way to beat the level, does it? There are other ways, but they are all exceedingly difficult. If Mario touches any of the orange glop, he is damaged, and the player loses control of him until he hopefully lands on non-gloppy ground (he will continue to take damage until he does so).

There is also the matter of the Blue Coins. When Mario collects ten of them, he can turn them in for a Shine Sprite in the hub level. There are 240 Blue Coins in the game, meaning a fifth of the game's Shines are bought using these coins. To complete the game one hundred percent, the player has to collect every coin. There are upsides and downsides to this. The Blue Coins are typically hidden well, and are satisfying to collect (the game saves every time you collect one), but when trying to complete the game, they become pretty tedious. Finding every single last one gets old, and will likely be the last couple shines a player gets in a given playthrough.

The Blue Coins seem to exist because Super Mario Sunshine has much fewer levels than any of the 3D Mario platformers (including it's sequels). The levels included are larger, of course, but less diverse. Most of them take place on beaches or outside in some capacity. They are relatively well-designed, though. Because there are fewer levels, Nintendo probably wanted there to be 120 Shines to collect so people wouldn't complain that Sunshine was "shorter than Mario 64," although that's a bit of a guess.

The game is worth playing, though. It gets some retroactive hate these days, but many people consider it to be "hardcore 3D Mario" in that it certainly isn't easy to beat. Mario 64 and the Galaxy games are better overall, but last place in a near perfect series is nothing to turn your nose up at.