If you ever read a list of the top 10 platform games on the SNES you will more likely than not see favourites such as Super Mario World and Yoshi's Island hogging the top spots with DK County following closely behind. Sadly, DoReMi Fantasy would rarely feature in such a list despite a modest loyal following in the gaming community. Perhaps the only reason why Hudson's mysterious platformer isn't more appreciated is simply because it never got released outside Japan, which is a crying shame as it easily rivals Nintendo's first party efforts for the platforming genre crown on the SNES.
The storyline is your typical damsel in distress routine. Milon must battle his way through various levels and encounter fiendish bosses in order to save his friend Aris the fairy and restore peace to the land. There are cutscenes in-between levels that unveil more of the plot, which is a nice touch adding depth to the proceedings.
For a 16-bit game the graphics in DoReMi stand out from the crowd. The characters, enemies and bosses have a great level of detail and the animations are faultless and smooth. The icing on the cake however is the backgrounds, which really impress with their soft pastel colours bringing the foreground to life in contrast. There are numerous little touches along the way that reinforce the love and care to detail that the developers put into creating DoReMi.
The in-game music is used in an interesting way for a cutesy platformer such as this. You might expect the musical score to be repeated on a loop until you eventually hear it in your sleep. Not so with DoReMi; instead Hudson tried out the innovative approach of fading out the music in favour of mood-altering sound effects such as the noise of the wind in certain stages on the game. This adds an extra layer of depth when combined with all the other neat touches and it works really well in building the in-game atmosphere...[follow link for rest of review]
oprainfall writes: "I have a nephew who is about 2 and a half. Now, I’m pretty sure he’s not ready for video games (at least nothing outside of being Tails in Sonic 2) but I know that he will get into playing games at some point.
After listening to Episode 15 of the Downpour Podcast and hearing the backstories for Jonathan, Jared and Randy, I started thinking back to when my brother and I were little and we would play video games. We were basically raised on Wolfenstein and Doom – you know, normal kid-friendly games of the 90s. While my brother and I turned out fine, I get the feeling he and his wife don’t want their son to play that when he’s 5.
So, with that in mind, I got to thinking about what games would be perfect for him to get into. It would have to be something that is not only fun but easy to get into and fairly kid-friendly. And with that in mind, I was able to come up with 10 games that I feel would be great for his first foray into gaming."
I think if I ever wanted a son (don't think I could in this economy) I would rather download classic games that got me into gaming. Most of the stuff now isn't as interesting as it was back then, least when he's played on games like Super Mario Bros, Sonic, Streets of Rage, Toe Jam and Earl, Zelda, FF6-9, Metal Gear Solid, Crash, Spyro and so on....once he makes his way up to Uncharted, Halo, Gears, Mass Effect, Assassins Creed etc he'll see the difference and evolution in gaming that I did and maybe appreciate it more
If you get what I mean
Unless you keep him hidden from the world without friends and other kids, it's unlikely he's going to be impressed by old school games. From what i've seen watching all my little cousins and my niece grow, they started playing games on the phones and such at like 1. By the time they were 3 or 4 they were able to play with controllers and at 6 they knew about the latest games.
One of my cousins at 6, has enough access to video game knowledge through the internet, TV, his friends, and his older cousins that he cried for his dad to get halo 4. I literally saw him go from barely being able to shoot in halo 3 to finishing Reach and getting halo 4 in a matter of months.
And it's almost impossible to control what games they're exposed to because they're bound to see some new game somewhere, and once they do, all older games are shit to them.
They won't care about evolution or anything until their old enough to go back and consciously try classic games. That's what i've noticed anyway.
Considering that Nintendo has pretty much reduced Virtual Console's release rate to zero, pickings are somewhat slim for great VC games on Wii. However, even if you've already bought every Zelda game, and every good Hudson shooter, there are still quite a few that you may have missed.
These games were either obscure titles from small publishers, or import games that never left Japan. HCW has counted at least 6 games that you really should play for all three Nintendo consoles, and a few honorable mentions.
From N-Europe (on DoReMi Fantasy): "As you run and jump about the levels with pixel perfect precision and encapsulate enemies using your brilliant bubble blower it becomes crystal clear that this is a platform title like no other. From the colourful characters and cutscenes, brilliant bosses, wonderful worlds and a stash of secrets to boot this is a truly magical and memorable experience from start to finish; and now it can be yours for the pittance of a price it costs."
