So I've wanted to write this and play this game again for a long long time. Life got crazy, hence my absence from the site, and while I'm not necessarily back in some full force, it's damn time in my life to get some rest and visit Nemo in his dreamland. So here that goes. I remember playing this a ton as a child. I've had the NES game since I can remember though I have no recollection of how I came to have it in the first place. Still, it's always had a special place in my heart despite me never really getting that far. I've heard this game is very hard, so lets see if that's the case. Lets play a classic! Little Nemo Dream Master!
From the moment I booted it up, that wonderful music graced my ears. I am such a fan of the music from this game. In fact, you should be checking out the Mega Ran & K Murdoch song, Dream Master as well as the The Adventures of Duane and BrandO song Little Nemo. They are both awesome songs that sample this classic tune. The title screen is classic and colorful and well designed. This game already is starting off right. Time to dive in.
Dream 1: Mushroom Forest
A weird looking frog man greets me in his purple suit and shoes. They call him Flip and he feels like he should help me figure this world out. Yep, this is an NES game alright, as if the purple hair sprite didn't help give it away. The art of the game looks pretty great. Just detailed enough. Though, it's not overbearing.
I avoid an easy snail and then find the frog. The infamous frog. The character I remember most about this game. I throw him some candy which makes him nap, and thus I jump into his body! His sleepy mouth is open as my head sticks out and I control his muscles and nerves. Who the hell thought of this game concept? Then again, it is the dream land after all... I now remember what made this game so challenging, initially anyway... the respawning enemies. Wow that's frustrating already. Still, I found a mole and in a weird moment of instinct, I went way left and found a secret area... with a purple lizard... just dying for me to throw candy at.
Like any good salamander, it climbs walls. Too bad the damn thing doesn't stop on enemies though. I died trying to kill the respawned version. How frustrating. Then again, when I restarted I died again when I jumped on a tiny frog. I think perhaps I can't kill these baddies unless I'm in that frog skin. By the end of a challenging level, dodging tiny frogs and pissy flying ants and such, I finally made it to a door with six key holes. Thank God! I had six keys. I was worried for a second there.
Then that amazing little tune plays, the same one Mega Ran initially samples in their song. A cutscene plays. A nice touch.
Dream 2: Flower Garden
The sound of running footsteps... a leap... and SLAM into the bed! Nemo is ready for action again. Time for another weird purple character. This is the extent of my memory of the game I think. I remember this world but not very well. The music is less familiar also. One thing I gotta give to this game is the nice water mechanics. It's like using the Frog Suit in Super Mario Bros. 3 except you have a natural buoyancy. That's surprising. Oooh! I remember the Gorilla. I'm so gonna pwn this world. He is like a mix of the salamander with his climbing but also he punches like Donkey Kong. This dude is the honey badger of the Dream Land and he don't care! However one thing he does care about are these ridiculous spores that hone in on you and your awkwardly moving monkey ass. With the respawning feature, you have to essentially take the hit to get to the salamander again. Damn. Plus they KEEP COMING which makes it nearly impossible to avoid taking tons of hits while nabbing that salamander. Damn. There's a reason as a child I didn't make it that far.
Luckily the continue takes you to the last level you were at. Phew. Finally I nabbed that lizard! After some careful platforming I made it to the bee. Now I went left because the cave goes left... I traversed some tricky spike pathway... and in a dick move... nothing was there. Nice. Nemo you dope. Oh also, as to be expected, the bee will drown. Son of a! I kept drudging through and eventually I made it to another door, with six keys in tow. Yeah... this game is a challenge indeed. But I'm looking forward to sinking my teeth further into it.
Well good luck with that. I played the game a ton as a kid and found it hard but not unbeatable. Now I can pretty much blow through it, though I do die a few times mostly out of being sloppy.
ReplyDeleteOf course the game's music is fantastic. Of course you'd be hard pressed to find a Capcom NES game that didn't have at least good music.