Grazza Posted December 26, 2009 Share Posted December 26, 2009 (I thought it was 15th anniversary, but it was actually 1993!) On the night of Christmas Day 1993, I slotted the Landstalker cartridge into my lovely Megadrive. Last night (Christmas Day 2009), I began playing my downloaded Wii version! My first impression was that the music and atmosphere are still brilliant and full of charm. You enter the strange island through a cave with a warning on the wall. There's something I love about this - the idea that you are going into a mysterious land, and you may not be welcome. I did the first two dungeons, and I must say, the gameplay holds up amazingly. I had read some reviews of the Wii version saying that the isometric viewpoint doesn't hold up well because a) it's hard to control with a d-pad and b) it can be confusing knowing which way to jump; however, I really do not find this to be the case. I used to play Landstalker with a Megadrive joystick, which was fine, but it controls better than ever with a GameCube pad. Secondly, the isometric viewpoint is not problematic if you watch which way the platforms move. I'm loving it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Epic fail Posted December 26, 2009 Share Posted December 26, 2009 I didnt know this was avalible on wii now its a must have for me I wish i still had the original now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grazza Posted December 26, 2009 Author Share Posted December 26, 2009 (edited) I didnt know this was avalible on wii now its a must have for me I wish i still had the original now Yeah, but look on the bright side. It's just as charming on the Wii, controls just as well (even better, I think) and even has the inner artwork from the manual. Feels like having a Mega Drive again. Edited December 26, 2009 by Grazza Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patch Posted December 27, 2009 Share Posted December 27, 2009 Yes! Go for it! I think I'm the only one on these boards to finish it on the VC - and post about it - and I enjoyed every minute of it. The 'difficult' isometric viewpoint is not any more difficult than it was when it was first released. And there are very few places where it's not obvious where the platforms are. I can only think of one place where repeated trial-and-error jumps were necessary. I'd love to hear of your progress. Here is the thread I used from ages ago (I'm the thread hijacking master): Olde Landstalker thread Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grazza Posted December 27, 2009 Author Share Posted December 27, 2009 I'd love to hear of your progress. Here is the thread I used from ages ago (I'm the thread hijacking master): Olde Landstalker thread Oops, I knew I should have used the "Check if this has already been posted" option. You'll get me into trouble with darksnowman! To answer your question in that thread, I too remember reading in a magazine that Madame Yard's Ballet School was "exactly what you thought it was". Having a dirty mind, I thought it was a brothel, but you may be right about the burlesque. I'll tell you if Dita Von Teese pops up (out)! I got to Mercator last night, and the dungeons have been longer and more complex than I remembered. One thing I really like is the bosses are various types of knight/swordsmen. I'm so used to the dramatic, environment-specific bosses of Zelda, it makes a nice change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patch Posted December 27, 2009 Share Posted December 27, 2009 Haha! Reading back, I think most of that thread was me and dsm talking about streets of rage, so maybe this should be the exclusive Landstalker thread from now on. I honestly have no idea about Madame Yard's Ballet School now. One thing is certain - it's rooted as one of my funniest gaming memories. The dungeons are something special aren't they? There's nothing there that hasn't been done before, but it's done so vibrantly and with such a clever mix of puzzles and action that they're instantly enjoyable from start to finish. I was always sorry when it was over. Mercator is a good milestone to get to. You'll be finished in no time. Unlike me and DQ8... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darksnowman Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 I was thinking of maybe doing a merger or something until I had a read through the other Landstalker thread. Patch and I sure did hijack it! Haha- even the Dark Tower was playing a part! I guess if we can keep the chitter chatter geared towards Landstalker then there's no harm starting afresh with this thread. How do you guys reckon Landstalker would be for someone who's never played it before? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grazza Posted December 28, 2009 Author Share Posted December 28, 2009 (edited) I only had time to do the puzzles in Mercator last night, but I flew through them! How do you guys reckon Landstalker would be for someone who's never played it before? Awesome! Especially if you've got an analogue stick to play it with. Seriously, I'm constantly surprised how well the graphics and music hold up. Not only that, the controls feel totally fluid and responsive. The isometric perspective seems to have helped its ageing very well, as it sort of feels like a 3D game, with all the detail of a 2D game. I find it better than A Link to the Past (and I played and loved both at the time). In fact, I'd say it's probably the best game of the 16-bit era! Edited December 28, 2009 by Grazza rewording Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patch Posted December 29, 2009 Share Posted December 29, 2009 Are you playing with the analogue stick Grazza? I tried that for a short while and found it too hard. So I went back to the slightly less hard control method (D-pad). Maybe the analogue control is superior if you take the time to get used to it. For a first timer, using the D-pad is the thing most likely to put you off playing it IMO. Even when I got to the end of the game, I found myself occasionally aiming to walk in one direction whilst actually moving in another. The game is an action puzzler with an overworld, villages and dungeons in the spirit of Zelda. It starts off quite slowly, with the feeling that you'll be killing those damn bubble enemies forever, but quickly gathers speed after the first couple of hours. There are some fiendish puzzles and head-scratching moments and I'm with Grazza about the visual style and music. They're definitely two of the game's strong points - it still looks and sounds good by today's standards. It's one of my favourite Megadrive games and probably in my top five of that era. I reccommend it to anyone who enjoys Zelda dungeons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grazza Posted December 30, 2009 Author Share Posted December 30, 2009 Are you playing with the analogue stick Grazza? Yes, I don't think I've even tried the d-pad. I'm really surprised you're not keen on it, as it seemed to work perfectly from the first moment to me (official Nintendo GameCube pad, for the record). That said, I always used to play the Megadrive game with an actual joystick, so maybe that's why I'm used to it. I didn't play it last night, but I've done the Tower of Mir. Wow, that was harder than I remembered! Although a lot of it is mind over matter - you just need to keep calm, because the puzzles are easier than they seem and there aren't a lot of keys to find. That said, some of the timed gates are incredibly hard. I don't remember that either. It's one of my favourite Megadrive games and probably in my top five of that era. Sounds like a good topic actually... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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