In a parallel universe we’re eagerly anticipating the next Startropics while we ponder what happened to that old NES series called Zelda

[AztecComplex]

Let me explain:

I'm currently playing through Startropics for the very first time thanks to it being included in the Nintendo Online app and what in the name of all that is holy is this game?????? Why did it eluded me and, apparently, millions of others who skipped this amazing game? WHY IS IT THIS GOOD?

Save for a select few, most NES games tend to age like milk under the sun and are almost unplayable unless there's some severe nostalgia to them. I argue both NES Zeldas fit the latter category. They're incredibly hard, obtuse, unfair, and frustrating.

Why oh why did Zelda thrive when it was putting out inferior products while Startropics was so ignored despite being a much better game?

There's a parallel dimension where we played Startropics Breath of the Wild or some shit while Zelda got the shorter end of the stick.

Seriously, this is probably my favorite NES game that I never played. By that I mean it's not better than many I did discover back then but out of all the NES games I discovered decades later this might just be the best hidden gem that no one played.

So unfair.

 

[Velocity:Design:Comfort]

These are the thread titles I come here for

 

[JB2448]

That universe doesn't exist. It was never even released in Japan, and Genyo Takeda doesn't have the software clout Miyamoto does.

 

[Freezasaurus]

I loved StarTropics when I was a kid.

 

[Deleted member 25712]

1) Zelda came first, 2) your criticisms aren't widely held (except for Zelda 2 being unfair and obtuse at times).

 

[signal]

Send me into the "zelda lost" dimension so I can play this ;_;

 

[perfectchaos007]

Loved Startropics as a kid, but I always got stuck when I had to put in the password in the submarine and it was the early 90's so I didn't have the internet to find out how to progress in the game

 

[duckroll]

I just checked all the possible alternate realities and this one definitely does not exist. Lol.

 

[Fireatwill]

What if I told you there is a Startropics 2

And a fan made Startropics 3?

 

[Deleted member 17210]

I totally disagree with most NES games aging badly. But like was said, Zelda came out way before Star Tropics so that helped it get more attention. Star Tropics may be better than Zelda 1 in some ways but it wasn't as groundbreaking for its time. EGM even heavily criticized Star Tropics for a lack of originality. Also, I don't think Star Tropics is that hidden of a gem; it wasn't very obscure back then.

 

[AztecComplex]

What if I told you there is a Startropics 2

And a fan made Startropics 3?

Click to shrink...

From everything I've seen and read Startropics II is inferior to the original. And Nintendo never gave the sequel a chance by making it NES exclusive years into the SNES lifespan and no one cared by then.

Jesus, to think by 1994 we were playing FFVI and Donkey Kong Country while Nintendo was still releasing games exclusive to the NES. That's crazy.

 

[AztecComplex]

These are the thread titles I come here for

Click to shrink...

Thank you. I have my moments.

 

[AztecComplex]

Loved Startropics as a kid, but I always got stuck when I had to put in the password in the submarine and it was the early 90's so I didn't have the internet to find out how to progress in the game

Click to shrink...

What password? I've put in a couple and I'm only a couple hours in. The one that makes the submarine dip underwater to reach other areas?

I totally disagree with most NES games aging badly. But like was said, Zelda came out way before Star Tropics so that helped it get more attention. Star Tropics may be better than Zelda 1 in some ways but it wasn't as groundbreaking for its time. EGM even heavily criticized Star Tropics for a lack of originality. Also, I don't think Star Tropics is that hidden of a gem; it wasn't very obscure back then.

Click to shrink...

Some games, especially back then, we're never appreciated in their own time, maybe that's the case with EGM here?

You know what other game was definitely not appreciated in its time and got lambasted on magazine reviews and bombed commercially? Freaking Earthbound!!!

 

[Psxphile]

In another parallel universe Squaresoft became second-party to Nintendo and were the ones tasked with making a time-traveling sequel to the original StarTropics for the Super Famicom:

 

[Deleted member 419]

If Cadence of Hyrule does well, then I think it'd be great if Nintendo tapped notable indie devs to revive some of these dormant older IPs. A new Startropics by, say, Heart Machine (Hyper Light Drifter) would be cool.

 

[perfectchaos007]

What password? I've put in a couple and I'm only a couple hours in. The one that makes the submarine dip underwater to reach other areas?

Some games, especially back then, we're never appreciated in their own time, maybe that's the case with EGM here?

You know what other game was definitely not appreciated in its time and got lambasted on magazine reviews and bombed commercially? Freaking Earthbound!!!

Click to shrink...

Yes. I didn't have the manual growing up

 

[PKrockin]

I want to see Sakurai reimagine StarTropics like he did for Kid Icarus. Sadly his talent is chained up working on iterative Smash Bros. games and DLC. Oh well, maybe in late 2020 after 8 straight years of working on Smash he'll get a chance... assuming the 5 DLC fighters are all that's planned...

1) Zelda came first, 2) your criticisms aren't widely held (except for Zelda 2 being unfair and obtuse at times).

Click to shrink...

Zelda 1 is the obtuse one, not 2.

 

[deftones r cool]

Jesus, to think by 1994 we were playing FFVI and Donkey Kong Country while Nintendo was still releasing games exclusive to the NES. That's crazy.

Click to shrink...

Speak for yourself. I didn't get my NES until 1994. First games were SMB3, Kirby's Adventure, Battletoads & Double Dragon, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Top-loader and everything.

*reminisces blissfully*

But yeah, StarTropics is dope. Hope you have a manual handy though.

 

[deftones r cool]

If this game is on Switch's online service:

Did Nintendo just not expect people to get to the part w the letter or...?

 

[Messofanego]

This is definitely an AI-generated thread title and OP.

https://www.resetera.com/threads/i-...s-and-it-created-hot-gaming-shitposts.112167/

 

[smisk]

I've been playing this too! It's a lot of fun and holds up shockingly well for an NES game. Kinda seems like a more structured version of Zelda, apparently it only came out in the US so I assume it was specifically designed to be a little more accessible.

 

[PKrockin]

If this game is on Switch's online service:

Did Nintendo just not expect people to get to the part w the letter or...?

Click to shrink...

In the Wii U Virtual Console version, a video of the letter being dipped into water was added to the digital manual. Beats me what they were thinking with this release.

The code you get is 747 in case anyone in here playing the game gets to that point and is utterly confused.

 

[Mbolibombo]

Star Tropics is definately the best Zelda-like experience on the NES. Second one is not as good though, I still secretly wish for a new game in the series though..

 

[SolVanderlyn]

That universe doesn't exist. It was never even released in Japan, and Genyo Takeda doesn't have the software clout Miyamoto does.

Click to shrink...

But in a parallel universe it could just as easily been released in Japan

 

[KtotheRoc]

Any universe where StarTropics became a major Nintendo IP is one I would like to visit, lol.

(The password is 747.)

 

[RedDevil]

You mean in the parallel universe where StarTropics was released in Japan and the first Zelda wasn't a game to showcase the Famicom Disk System?

 

[AztecComplex]

Yes. I didn't have the manual growing up

Click to shrink...

But you don't need a manual? The game tells you to use B to submerge. I didn't check the internet nor do I have the manual either. You sure we're talking about the same part of the game?

 

[Gearkeeper 8A]

Startropics took things from zelda, if zelda didn't became a successfull series then startropics wouldn't exist

 

[AztecComplex]

Speak for yourself. I didn't get my NES until 1994. First games were SMB3, Kirby's Adventure, Battletoads & Double Dragon, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Top-loader and everything.

*reminisces blissfully*

But yeah, StarTropics is dope. Hope you have a manual handy though.

Click to shrink...

What? Was that a brand new store bought NES or a hand me down/used one? Who was buying brand new NES consoles in 1994? That was the absolute last year the console got new games out, a full 3 years after the snes had come out and 2 before the N64!

 

[AztecComplex]

You mean in the parallel universe where StarTropics was released in Japan and the first Zelda wasn't a game to showcase the Famicom Disk System?

Click to shrink...

Just a universe where people talk more about the game that was better and Zelda on NES is a bad game. Startropics isn't.

 

[Deleted member 21003]

In an infinite number of time lines somehow this is one that never occurrs.

 

[Iztok]

What? Was that a brand new store bought NES or a hand me down/used one? Who was buying brand new NES consoles in 1994? That was the absolute last year the console got new games out, a full 3 years after the snes had come out and 2 before the N64!

Click to shrink...

Not every market is the same.
They're still manufacturing new Master Systems in Brazil (at least they were a couple of years ago).

 

[Psxphile]

But you don't need a manual? The game tells you to use B to submerge. I didn't check the internet nor do I have the manual either. You sure we're talking about the same part of the game?

Click to shrink...

It has nothing to do with the submerge function, in Chapter 4 you'll be tasked to input a frequency when speaking to Nav-Com to continue on to Chapter 5. This three-digit number is never once told to the player in-game (well, not *before* it's needed).

 

[skeezx]

i loved the first one as a kid. just seemed to come out of nowhere, a no frills adventure game. i have the second one but no recollection of ever playing it for some reason

probably never turned into an IP mainstay because it was developed to appeal to westerners, which is kind of moot. not like nintendo stuff has much issues catching on in the west.

 

[Deleted member 17210]

apparently it only came out in the US

Click to shrink...

It came out in Canada the same time as the US but the European version wasn't until 1992.

 

[Deleted member 51539]

Alas, we don't live in a quality universe.

 

[Deleted member 24540]

A Link to the Past is when Zelda took shape and there is arguably no better video game out there.

Guess I need to play this StarTropics game then

 

[BocoDragon]

StarTropics was thrown into a weird memory hole because its creators are in Japan but the game was never released in Japan.

There's no nostalgic pressure from the home market to do something with it and so it's generally forgotten by the only people who could ever do anything with it.

 

[deftones r cool]

What? Was that a brand new store bought NES or a hand me down/used one? Who was buying brand new NES consoles in 1994? That was the absolute last year the console got new games out, a full 3 years after the snes had come out and 2 before the N64!

Click to shrink...

The toploader didnt come out until Oct 1993. I was born Feb 91. I can only assume my dad got it xmas 94 for me. It was def brand new. I remember the boxes.

Unless my dad bought a 2 year old a video game console lol

 

[Crushed]

I tried playing StarTropics in earnest for the first time in years the other day and came away with the exact opposite conclusion. The whole game feels sloppy, inconsistent, and hacked together.

 

[BocoDragon]

The toploader didnt come out until Oct 1993. I was born Feb 91. I can only assume my dad got it xmas 94 for me. It was def brand new. I remember the boxes.

Unless my dad bought a 2 year old a video game console lol

Click to shrink...

I remember still seeing new in box NES consoles in stores until 1995/1996. Front loaders, even!

I bought an NES front loader new in box in 1995 at Electronics Boutique and I know because the seller gave me a free sample CD-ROM for Batman Forever haha.

And I saw NES top loaders for sale in KayBee toys in 1996 on a family vacation.

 

[TheDinoman]

It's so weird how this game was never released in Japan. Even Punch-Out!! got that, even though it's terribly unpopular there.

It's sad how it never gets any major references in Smash Bros. whatsoever as a result. I think it was mentioned in the Chronicles thing back in Brawl (remember that?) but that was it.

 

[AztecComplex]

I tried playing StarTropics in earnest for the first time in years the other day and came away with the exact opposite conclusion. The whole game feels sloppy, inconsistent, and hacked together.

Click to shrink...

Have you played any of the NES Zeldas lately? If you have no nostalgia for them it's easy for ppl to feel that but for those classic games. They've aged terribly, are obtuse, extremely difficult, disorienting, unfair, etc.

 

[BocoDragon]

Have you played any of the NES Zeldas lately? If you have no nostalgia for them it's easy for ppl to feel that but for those classic games. They've aged terribly, are obtuse, extremely difficult, disorienting, unfair, etc.

Click to shrink...

I agree. I actually think StarTropics was a step forward from Zelda 1 and 2 in terms of having clearer goals, more forgiving mechanics, etc. Of course it should be since it's 3-4 years after the Zeldas. It's a step towards Nintendo's SNES era where they really made things easier to play.

 

[Crushed]

Have you played any of the NES Zeldas lately? If you have no nostalgia for them it's easy for ppl to feel that but for those classic games. They've aged terribly, are obtuse, extremely difficult, disorienting, unfair, etc.

Click to shrink...

Yes, and I'm actually not even a big fan of the NES Zeldas. They still feel like cohesive games, whereas StarTropics 1 feels like an uninspired knockoff with better graphics and dramatically worse dungeon and overworld design.

 

[AztecComplex]

Yes, and I'm actually not even a big fan of the NES Zeldas. They still feel like cohesive games, whereas StarTropics 1 feels like an uninspired knockoff with better graphics and dramatically worse dungeon and overworld design.

Click to shrink...

Worse dungeon design? Are you sure you're not confusing Zelda on NES vs Link to the Past? The dungeon designs on either Zeldas were difficult, grindy, and easy to get lost in (especially in Zelda II) and I'd never call them good, inspired or interesting (unless a dungeon map in the shape of a nazi swaztika is interesting for you).

I can't comment on Startropics' overworld since I've seen so little of it but I've gone through two Startropics dungeons and they're already better than any in either NES Zelda.

 

[BocoDragon]

It's so weird how this game was never released in Japan. Even Punch-Out!! got that, even though it's terribly unpopular there.

It's sad how it never gets any major references in Smash Bros. whatsoever as a result. I think it was mentioned in the Chronicles thing back in Brawl (remember that?) but that was it.

Click to shrink...

I guess the game was conceived of purely as "game that isn't for us, purely intended for an alien market" and it never broke out of that distinction. But as you say, that's how Punch-Out!! was conceived of too, and it eventually came out in Japan.

 

[Crushed]

Worse dungeon design? Are you sure you're not confusing Zelda on NES vs Link to the Past? The dungeon designs on either Zeldas were difficult, grindy, and easy to get lost in (especially in Zelda II) and I'd never call them good, inspired or interesting (unless a dungeon map in the shape of a nazi swaztika is interesting for you).

I can't comment on Startropics' overworld since I've seen so little of it but I've gone through two Startropics dungeons and they're already better than any in either NES Zelda.

Click to shrink...

Uh yes, because you actually need to know the layouts of the dungeons. Again, I'm not even a fan of the NES Zelda games and thought the series really found its footing with LttP and LA, but StarTropics dungeons are a mindless linear slog where most of the non-linearity is dead end rooms as "gotchas," or even rooms where you die instantly when you walk in as a "gotcha" or have their own version of the Zelda 1 "kill everything in the room or guess which block to push to open" except it's way slower due to the fact that you're hopping on every switch, and there's way more of it, and there's no permanent item upgrades in dungeons, and there's bosses that are tediously long unless you use a special item that has no indication of what it is. Also in Zelda, you exit out into an overworld and figure out where to go instead of the game linearly thrusting you into the next island and then making you solve a bad puzzle where you get an item that gets used up 2 seconds later.

 

[Deleted member 17210]

Have you played any of the NES Zeldas lately? If you have no nostalgia for them it's easy for ppl to feel that but for those classic games. They've aged terribly, are obtuse, extremely difficult, disorienting, unfair, etc.

Click to shrink...

Some of us like games to be challenging and not hold our hands every step of the way. That type of overwhelming design isn't for everyone but I don't think it's the same as aging terribly. I don't really like the leveling system in Zelda II but that was an issue I had with it back when it came out, too.

 

[BassForever]

Startropics is a bad game made with some of the worst design philosophy's of the nes era. It's only claim to fame was the water puzzle which predates mgs package puzzle by several years.