Introduction
Konami continues its GB Collection series with this second volume of colorized games from the early 1990's--Parodius, Block Game, Track & Field, Frogger--all compiled into a single cartridge. The Konami GB Collection series isn't released in the U.S.A.,
but is available in Europe and elsewhere.
Gameplay
Parodius - Gamers
who remember this 1992 title will know it as a parody of the classic sidescrolling shooter, Gradius, hence the
name Parodius (Parody + Gradius = Parodius). Like Gradius, your objective is to guide a flying object through increasing
levels of danger from shooting and flying enemies. This time around you get a choice of 4 flying things: aside
from the classic Vic Viper from Gradius, you also get the Twin Bee spacecraft, as well as a flying Octopus and
a flying penguin named Pentarou.
Wait a minute--a flying octopus? A flying penguin? This sure ain't your ordinary shooter, as a bizarre bunch of
cute but deadly enemies make sure you don't survive, from jumping fish, hypodermic needles and lots more, to bosses
like a cat-headed ship and giant dancing women near the end of a level.
Of course, you're not exactly lacking in defense. Like Gradius, you start out with simple enough weapons, but when
you occasionally destroy an enemy they leave power-ups; touch these and your weapons arsenal grows, from bomber
missiles to double firepower to little escort ships that fire whenever you do.
Successfully combining these power-ups will turn your cute little ship into a destructive force capable of handling
the toughest barrage of enemy fire, and there's another device that destroys every enemy on screen to help you
out, plus an elusive little bell that gives you extra points if you manage to catch it. One hit makes you lose
all your power-ups though, so you have to maneuver carefully.
Block Game - At first,
Block Game appears to be a Tetris-variant where wave after wave of blocks fall from the top and you've got to clear
them all before they hit the ground. Well, fall they do here, but getting rid of them uses a different approach--you
shoot them with more blocks.
You control a ship that only moves from left to right; as the blocks fall, you shoot blocks that attaches to them,
altering their shape. Once they become a full square or rectangle, they all disappear. When blocks of the same
shape are stacked and the bottom block disappears, it can also start a chain reaction that makes all the blocks
on top disappear, and occasionally also provide you with power-ups that can have a variety of effects, like make
you shoot faster or destroy all blocks shown onscreen.
Track & Field
- Originally ported to the Game Boy in 1992 from the hit arcade game, Track & Field lets you compete in five
events: 100M Dash, Long Jump, 110M Hurdles, Javelin Throw, and Triple Jump. You can compete in them one at a time
or go for the entire competition in one sitting.
Frogger - One of the
all-time arcade classics that's probably been ported to lots of gaming systems throughout the years, not to mention
the hundreds of clones and knockoffs. You basically guide several frogs through a busy highway, taking care to
avoid speeding cars and trucks that will turn it into roadkill.
Once you successfully cross the road, you have to make your way to any of five river homes on the top side, by
hopping from floating logs or on the backs of swimming turtles. It all sounds easy enough, but danger lurks everywhere--if
any turtle manages to dive underwater while you're on it, you die (which doesn't make sense as frogs can swim by
the way). If you stay on a log too long and it exits the side of the screen, you die as well.
There's a timer bar at the bottom of the screen that slowly shrinks away; once it's all gone and you haven't made
it safely home, you die. In later levels, the cars get faster, more dangers appear like snakes and alligators to
hinder your progress, and the time limit gets a lot shorter. There are also bonuses to catch, like female frogs
and flies that appear in your home.
Controls, Graphics, Sound
Parodius - Direction
pad to move the ship, either button B to shoot and A to activate power-ups--you can reverse their order in the
config screen. You can also set the trigger speed, select the stage to begin, choose from easy, normal or difficult
settings and whether to set the power-ups to automatically activate or done manually. Sadly, unlike Gradius, there
isn't an option to give yourself up to 99 lives.
The graphics are delightfully cartoony, filled with detail and smooth animation; my only gripe is that they could've
used a darker background as in the SNES version, as the lighter background here somewhat makes the sprites hard
to see. Sound effects are very good and the music is excellent, with hyperkinetic renditions of familiar classical
tunes that perfectly suit the chaos of each level.
Block Game - Use the
direction pad to move your ship from left to right, Up to advance the block scrolling, and Button A to fire. The
graphics can't get much simpler than this, but the colors used are plain awful and garish. You can change the shape
of your ship before you start, but it really doesn't make a difference which one you choose.
Sound and effects are adequate for this title but as you play longer the music tends to hammer in your head so
it's advisable to lower the volume a bit while playing.
Track & Field
- This one has seemingly simple controls, but it's the way you actually control it that makes it irritating--you
have to pound mercilessly on the A + B buttons in order to gain speed in all the events, and in some of them you
have to press the direction pad to jump or throw the javelin at the same time you're mashing the two buttons. It's
very awkward, and the Game Boy console just isn't suited for this kind of control.
Graphics are okay, but the way the audience responds after each event looks like there's some defect in the screen
display. Sound is so-so, and the applause by the spectators sounds like it's raining. The music is okay but sounds
like it belongs more in the 1980's Flashdance era than in a sports game.
Frogger - Extremely
simple and responsive controls; just use the direction pad to move your frog, nothing else. Colors are good but
they could've used brighter colors; it's difficult to see your frog or enemy snakes in some areas. Sound and music
are done in classic arcade mode, which is very good.
Other Comments
The best reason to buy this cart is the excellent port of Parodius, from its whimsical but deadly
levels with lots of bonuses and powerups, to its frenetic music, this game will keep you enthralled until you can't
take anymore. And even though it gets repetitive later on, Frogger is one of those classic games that every retrogamer needs to have in their collection.
Block Game is a surprise;
it looks dull but it's actually addictive the first few levels, and the addition of bonuses and power-ups gives
some variety to the game. Track & Field is okay provided you get the hang of the button-pounding during game play, and there's always
that need to go faster and higher the next time you try it out.
Overall, this is a much better cart than Vol. 1 of the series, as virtually all the games here are playable and
will sustain enough interest to warrant playing for some considerable amount of time. Like the first volume, this
one's perfect for long trips or waiting times, and getting all four of these games on one cart is certainly a good
buy. |
