Startropics

This is another of my favorite games video games of all time and favorite in the action RPG. The game is also another entry in the "under the radar "series as this game despite being a hit at the time, unfortunately as time went on it became forgotten and unlike the palm trees, this game never grew to become the next big franchise for "Nintendo" and even the Action RPG genre.

Which is a real shame because there really could have been more adventures for the series, like maybe the next ones could have been seeing our main hero hopping from planet to planet or even different realities like with Marvel Comics "Multiverse", to stop the current alien threat. Heck, could even go dark with the game series, where the alien threat is one from the realm of Lovecraftian cosmic horror an ancient force of evil returning to our realm. I don't know but as I said there really was potential, oh well.

The game is pretty much you can say "The Legend of Zelda" doing "Indiana Jones" sort of. I like that this game takes the familiar action RPG format but takes the less than traveled route. Instead of being in some long-ago age of fantasy or fantasy world, here they put this in the realm of pulp adventure. Which is cool as it's also fantasy but in a different way where it's one step in reality but one step away; I personally always loved pulp adventure because it felt accessible and showed that possibilities are endless.

There are even a lot of the common action RPG fantasy tropes that are made out or done different like the fact that instead of saving a princess you're saving a family member. That's not exactly anything special but it's something different anyway, at least it's someone that actually has genuine connection with your character instead of some person your character has no real relationship with. The castles/dungeon's you explore are caves and ancient ruin temples. Your overworld is basically made of a series of island and instead of dragons, demons, any other fantasy threat you familiar with you fight off aliens.

I think all these things really make the game cool, really make the game feel like a new different experience and a break from the all too familiar. I really love the fact your fighting aliens being a sci-fi and all; also at the time aliens and the sci-fi genre in the RPG genre wasn't really common place at the time. There were other RPG games that featured sci-fi but not that many from the "Mother/Earthbound" series in Japan, "Phantasy Star" series, and another game for the NES "Crystals" (all stories for another time).

I like the aliens there all uniquely designed and good variety along with the bosses and the main villain Zoda, whom was obviously inspired by Lovecraft's Dagon as he's this giant amphibian monster. This character is obviously who Ganon is in the Zelda franchise, as he's the head honcho to beat. Music is solid, I wouldn't say anything too memorable but there fun and slightly catchy tunes that fit the game right and just sing out island hopping pulp adventure.

The gameplay is solid and expected like with any other action RPG. You have the overworld exploration, finding clues to get from one place to another, dungeon crawling, some puzzles in places. But of course, the action is solid which is like the kind from "Zelda" but there is one unique twist to it.

Your armed with a yo yo, which is kind of cool as it's a non cleche weapon and a weapon I don't see much except in the video game "Yo Noid" (another under the radar gem and game I review) and the anime series "Gatchaman" (story for another time). How the heck a yo yo can be a deadly weapon is anyone's guess, is it like Captain America's shield made of Vibranium or something? It doesn't really matter it's a video game and pulp adventures you just roll with it.

But I like as you get further in RPG fashion your character not just increases in lives but also weapon strength as you gain other kinds of weapons further down the line which make you almost unstoppable.

One thing that makes the game unique and was unique with the action RPG subgenre at the time is that the game is also a bit of a platform action game as it has a little of that element with the jumping and the square alinement. This might seam a little strange at first but you get use to it and feels natural, the game really makes good use of this platform action format and you learn to use it to your advantage. From solving puzzles, combat, and simply getting from point A to B.

Startropics is a vintage classic worth traveling to.

Rating: 4 stars.