Beaten: Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion (One)

 When I worked in fine dining, we used to host these elaborate seven-course "wine dinners" where a winemaker would come in with cases of their stuff to show off, each bottle paired with a dinner course designed by the chef to accentuate the offering. There was a structure to the courses, with, if I recall correctly, the fifth course being an "intermezzo". This course was not paired with a wine and was meant to be a "palate cleanser" after four other flavorful courses, and to clear the taste buds for the courses ahead. It would usually be a nice sorbet dish with a cool garnish.

After some of those heavier action games I needed a videogame intermezzo, so there I am looking at Xbox Gamepass and I see a title called Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion, which is one of the best titles I have seen since Communist Mutants From Space for the (Supercharger) Atari 2600. Sometimes a title just grabs you, so I looked at the game's description and screenshots and decided to try it out.

Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion plays in the top-down Adventure style, similar to the first Legend of Zelda, and the story features a cute vegetable character that loses his home due to, yep, tax evasion, and then goes on a quest to not only get his home back but to end the corrupt rule of Mayor Onion. NPCs are other fruits and veggies that usually need something and help move the story along.

Is there high social commentary here? Maybe, but it's lighthearted and our little anarchist turnip is so cute that it's okay if the message is not beating you over the head. It's an absolute delight ripping up every document you find, and also very funny. The combat works and the quest plays out quickly.

So let this article be sort of an intermezzo as well,  before I write up the next game I beat. Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion is a funny, quick and relatively easy adventure and I highly recommend it. There you go, palate cleansed.

Beaten: Light Crusader (Genesis)

 After playing Dust: An Elysian Tail, a 2D side-scrolling hack-and-slash that was definitely not my usual genre to play, I decided to take on another classic type of game that I never got into back in the day due to their inherent difficulty and clunkiness. That was the isometric view action-platformer, where the character on screen moves northwest, northeast, southeast, and southwest, rather than the normal north, east, south and west compass directions.

The arcade classics Qbert, Congo Bongo, and Crystal Castles all had this viewpoint and their share of difficulties in learning how to make the character go in the direction you want and jump the direction you want, with Crystal Castles actually using a trakball and having the character run at ludicrous speed, only jumping to avoid contact with the enemies. It was essentially isometric Pac-man ahead of Pac-Mania.

Of course, the trakball worked perfectly in the flawless isometric arcade game Marble Madness.

My first and brief foray into a larger game with this perspective was Fairlight for the Commodore 64, and I remember little of my attempts to play it other than awkward controls. It might be a masterpiece for all I know, I had bought it used and cheap late in my Commodore 64 years and by then had a backlog of games that I was eager to play anyway.

Another one I tried around that time was Solstice for the NES. Briefly. Based on my previous experiences in this type of game, then, I had passed by Light Crusader on my Sega Genesis Mini, until I was feeling like something different.

So I dove into Light Crusader, from the legendary Japanese studio Treasure, with some trepidation. My fear was that I would hit a wall of frustration with some crazy hard jump or enemy that would be really overpowered. I was pleasantly surprised to find little frustration and some really challenging puzzles.

The game starts in a castle that’s in a small town, and you’re quickly tasked with finding out why the townsfolk are disappearing. From there it’s delving under the town into a multi-level dungeon. The action is about what I expected, with the character slashing in an arc that the game usually recognizes as a hit when close to the enemies, but nothing in the control there felt precise. If one is going to play an older game, one must simply work with the controls that are there and learn what works and what doesn't. Light Crusader's combat works.

The game's magic system absolutely shines though. The player picks up charges for each of the four elements - Water, Fire, Earth, and Air - and then casts a spell by using one of those charges. However, combining two, three, or even all four of those elements casts a different spell. So if one just casts Fire, using one fire charge,  they get a fireball that hits one opponent. Casting Fire and Earth together creates a new spell called meteor that sends a fireball bouncing around the room causing much more damage.

I didn't engage the magic system at all in the beginning, but as I accumulated more of the charges, I started to play with it until it became an essential part of the gameplay. I did not have a paper manual with me, so exploring the magic system was as much fun as exploring the dungeons. I know, I could have gone running to the internet to uncover it, but anytime I play through an old game I really try not to let the internet be a tool I use to beat it.

The dungeons themselves are a delight, too. There seems to be a 50/50 mix of puzzle rooms and combat rooms, which was a good balance, as the puzzles were challenging but not unfair. Yes, there were hard isometric jumps and precise timing required in a lot of places, none of which generated frustration. Sometimes, coming back later to a room I had found myself stuck was all I needed to get moving forward.

There is a lot going on in each dungeon level, and they sometimes have a theme, like a Goblin Town and a  Wizard Guild. There are people to rescue (they get out on their own once you free them), a goblin fight arena, and so much more. There are plenty of save points and healing fountains, and the Sega Genesis Mini has the option to save anywhere as well, reducing frustration. 

Loot comes at a fair pace and I rarely returned to the shop in town to restock. Boss battles were pretty epic, too, and full of variety. As you can tell, I enjoyed this classic, and that joy reaffirms my direction of playing old videogames is justified. Light Crusader had as many "wow" moments for me as The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom did this year, and if that's not a great endorsement, I don't know what is.

It's isometric done right. Good job, Treasure!

Beaten: Dust-An Elysian Tail (360)

 Continuing my break from the latest, endless Zelda game over on the Switch, and seeking those Xbox 360 digital games that will be going away next year, I found an interesting and gorgeous game called Dust: An Elysian Tail to try. It's a 2D action-adventure Metroidvania-style game with some minor roleplaying and platforming, it was designed by one dude, and it really is a gem.

The player starts out with amnesia, and quickly finds an enchanted sword which comes with a small companion flying around to help the player out with advice, and thankfully, attack boosts. From there it's fighting the way to town, where other characters offer quests and help the story unfold. There are multiple areas to explore as the player develops their character and abilities.

Playing on normal setting, one will find the challenges tough but fair as well as rewarding enough to keep up with the purchases of new gear and healing items. Some areas are unreachable until the player finds a key item, so backtracking is required, but none of it seems tedious and the world map allows the player to return to explored areas easily.

I am not usually one for hack-and-slash games that light up the screen with effects, numbers, and other such chaos to the point where the action is so obscured that one can only hope they are doing the right thing (I'm looking at you, Dragon Crown for the PS Vita). Dust manages a good balance of all that while not holding back on the glorious and beautiful combat. 

The combat starts out hard, but with patience and thorough exploration the player can easily level and keep up. There are side quests and timed challenges that help fill out the game but never feel tacked-on. Loot comes at a generous pace and shops dot the land in case the player needs a few more things. 

Each screen is a magnificent display of color and design intent, and the fact that the game's creator, Dean Dodrill, created all that by himself is a testament to talent over whatever the hell it is most game companies are doing these days. Dust is not short, but not long either, and most importantly does not overstay its welcome.

The story is also really well done, although it starts out with the amnesia trope. Nonetheless, great points are made about topics like genocide in its telling. It's all done with cute animal characters too, so that juxtaposition stands out well as the player reveals the truth about their lost memories.

Fortunately, this masterpiece has been ported over to other platforms since its 2012 release on XBox Live, so players will be able to enjoy it long after the XBox 360 store closes next year. Everything about Dust: An Elysian Tail works well and the game stands as more proof that even one designer can craft a short epic of action and storytelling far superior to what the big guys normally create. 

Beaten: Arkadian Warriors (360)

 So I needed a break from the endless fun of The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom, and I was looking for something simple, fun, and quick to beat. At the same time, Microsoft announced that the Xbox 360 store was going to close next year. This lead me to a search of XBox 360 digital-only games that were going to go away once the store closes.

Arkadian Warriors was on that list so I checked it out. It was released to the Xbox Live service in December of 2007 and got mediocre reviews, but it was exactly what I was looking for in a game.

It’s a top down dungeon hack and slash with randomly generated dungeons, three classes to play, lots of loot and levelling, and a mere 19 quests start-to-finish. There is a central hub in the form of a small town where the player receives quests, and starting one opens a portal to the randomly generated dungeon level.

Once there, the top-down action starts right away, as nearby monsters attack as soon as they see the player. However, it’s one of those top-down games where you can usually see the enemies sitting there until you get close enough to activate them, allowing the player to strategically and meticulously pick them apart.

Getting kills raises a bar that when filled allows the player to activate a beast mode and transform into a giant, rampaging form for a short period, tearing through enemies quickly. It’s definitely a fun part of the game.

There is loot to get, levels to raise and all that, but no grinding to do. If the player explores each level and kills every monster, they should level accordingly to keep up with the game’s difficulty. 

There is a co-op mode but I didn’t try it. The graphics are crisp but simple and met my expectations for a 2007 game. In spite of all of the reviews, Arkadian Warriors was the exact kind of fun I was looking for at the time I was looking for it. I’d certainly recommend picking it up before the Xbox 360 store closes next year.