NintendoComplete
| Pictionary (NES) Playthrough - NintendoComplete @NintendoComplete | Updated October 2024, 3 hours ago.
🔇 TAP TO UNMUTE
Pictionary (NES) Playthrough - NintendoComplete @NintendoComplete
![Ys IV: Mask of the Sun (SNES) Playthrough [English]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/q7-3NVjT2EU/hqdefault.jpg "Ys IV: Mask of the Sun (SNES) Playthrough [English]
A playthrough of Tonkin Houses 1993 action-RPG for the Super Famicom, Ys IV: Mask of the Sun.
Since the game was only released in Japanese, I played the game with a fan translation patch applied. You can find the patch at https://www.romhacking.net/translations/498/
Ys IV came about at a rough time in Falcoms history. Most of the companys creative staff, including the creators of the Ys series, left in search of greener pastures as work was wrapping up on Ys III. Without the manpower or talent in place to create the game themselves, Falcom offered the job to two companies - Tonkin House (publisher of Ys III on the Super Famicom) and Hudson (co-developer and publisher of Ys I-III on the PC Engine) - and provided both with a rough design document and a soundtrack.
In hopes of beating Hudson to the punch and snapping up sales, Ys IV: Mask of the Sun was rushed out the door in November 1993, landing a full month ahead of Ys IV: Dawn of Ys for the PC Engine (https://youtu.be/UOdseUvKsT0).
Ys IV is a direct sequel to Ys II, in terms of both story and gameplay. After saving the land of Esteria, Adol Christin is once again feeling the itch for adventure. Conveniently enough, he finds a plea for help stuffed inside a glass bottle that has washed up on the beach and immediately books himself passage on a ship to Celceta.
Ditching the side-scrolling platforming action of Ys III, Ys IV brings back the top-down, bump-combat driven system from the first two games. Instead of rings, magic spells are now tied to Adols swords, but the mechanics are otherwise all quite familiar.
The SNES game was created by Advance Communication (the same people responsible for the NES ports of Ys I-III and the SNES version of Ys III), and it shows. The quality of their Ys ports had been steadily improving with each new release, but when they took on the task of creating a new game from scratch, it seems as though they bit off more than they could chew.
It looks, sounds, and plays enough like an Ys game to get the job done, but its not terribly convincing, and it never approaches the quality of Falcoms own work. The controls are overly rigid, the enemies erratic behavior patterns are difficult to read, the level design relies too much on giant mazes to pad things out, the game provides little in the way of direction, and the plot is a string of ridiculous contrivances. (How does being struck by lightning suddenly teleport Adol to an enemy hideout?) The problems grow increasingly obvious as things progress, and its clear that the game was taken out of the oven before it was ready.
As a random one-off, Mask of the Sun would be an enjoyable but heavily flawed and ultimately forgettable game. However, as a numbered entry in the Ys series, it simply isnt good enough.
I liked Mask of the Sun in spite of its issues, but would I recommend it? No way. Not when Dawn of Ys exists.
No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
NintendoComplete (http://www.nintendocomplete.com/) punches you in the face with in-depth reviews, screenshot archives, and music from classic 8-bit NES games!")
![Legend of Mana (PlayStation) Playthrough [1 of 2]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/qHHOPJVixp8/hqdefault.jpg "Legend of Mana (PlayStation) Playthrough [1 of 2]
A playthrough of Squares 2000 action-RPG for the Sony PlayStation, Legend of Mana.
This is the first part of a two-part video. You can find part two here: https://youtu.be/TmR64mcAMtY
I complete all sixty-eight story events over the course of this playthrough, and I unlock the secret stuff thats made available when you have save data from other Square games (Chocobo Racing, Saga Frontier 2, and Final Fantasy VIII) on the memory card.
Legend of Mana was the first spin-off in the Mana (Seiken Densetsu) series. It was also the first Mana game to see a stateside release since 1993 when Secret of Mana (https://youtu.be/dSwf9DJz_dA) hit the SNES. I remember there being a fair amount of hype surrounding its launch in the summer of 2000 - I was certainly excited for it - but I also remember it drawing a lot of raised eyebrows from the gaming press.
At first glance, Legend of Mana could be mistaken as a traditionally-styled entry in the mainline series. Just like Secret/Trials of Mana, its a 2D action-RPG with storybook-like visuals, experience-based leveling systems for weapons and magic, and it supports drop-in co-op play.
But once you dig beneath the surface, youre met with something thats far more exotic and experimental in nature. You can build the world however you like with artifacts that you find, and instead an overarching story, the game plays out over a loosely connected, semi-linear series of chapter-like events. You are free to decide the path youll take through the game, and the decisions you make dictate which events youll see in any given playthrough.
The games underlying mechanics also mark a huge departure from the series roots. The sheer complexity and depth of some of its systems is absolutely staggering. You could sink dozens of hours into experimenting with equipment crafting, robot building, pet raising, and vegetable planting, only to find that what youve seen so far is just the tip of the iceberg.
My dad bought this for me when it first came out. At first, I loved it, but the more I played, the more I felt like I had no idea what I was doing. I really tried to understand it - I even had the strategy guide - but the game doesnt explain itself well at all. It overwhelmed me, and I eventually gave up. It was years before I went back to it, and once Id given up on trying to understand everything, I came to like it a lot. Legend of Mana is a game with a lot of meat on the bone, but a lot of it feels like complexity for complexitys sake. You can ignore most of those systems and still enjoy the game just fine.
(Many of the people involved in this game had previously worked on the Saga games, and boy, does it show!)
But the rest of the game is excellent. The writing is good, the combat system flows nicely, the graphics are top notch, and the Yoko Shimomura soundtrack is a masterpiece. (Ever notice how much it sounds like her work from Super Mario RPG? The Domina town theme has always reminded me of SMRPGs forest maze tune, right down to the samples.)
If youre the type who loves (or loves to avoid) obsessing over small the stuff, Legend of Mana could make for a good time.
And for everyone else, therere a few genuinely funny dick jokes peppered throughout. Thats something, right?
No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
NintendoComplete (http://www.nintendocomplete.com/) punches you in the face with in-depth reviews, screenshot archives, and music from classic 8-bit NES games!")
![Dragon Quest I (SNES) Playthrough [English]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/qUWFKwDJb4Y/hqdefault.jpg "Dragon Quest I (SNES) Playthrough [English]
A playthrough of Dragon Quest I as it appears in Enixs 1993 compilation for the Super Famicom, Dragon Quest I & II.
Since this version of the game was only released in Japan, I used a fan-made translation patch in this video. You can find the patch at https://www.romhacking.net/translations/6127/
Dragon Quest I & II, released between DQ5 and 6, packages together 16-bit remakes of two NES JRPG classics, Dragon Quest 1 (https://youtu.be/J392i9NKvvo) and Dragon Quest 2 (https://youtu.be/onNy0JlNgi4), for the Super Famicom.
The core game remains much the same as the originals, but this version brings with it many quality-of-life improvements (many of which were also seen in the Game Boy version: https://youtu.be/4AsOkrDBcgk) over the 8-bit original. The graphics have been competely overhauled, the music has been fleshed out with orchestra-style instrumentation, the menu system has been streamlined, and the difficulty has been rebalanced to cut down on the amount of time spent grinding for gold and experience. The game can be completed in half the time that it takes on the NES.
Its a classy update for one of the Famicoms biggest hits, and its well worth checking out if the original release is a bit too old-school for your tastes.
No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
NintendoComplete (http://www.nintendocomplete.com/) punches you in the face with in-depth reviews, screenshot archives, and music from classic 8-bit NES games!")
