Little Nemo: The Dream Master - Retro Playthrough - August 2015

[singlebanana]

Congrats Russ!

[singlebanana]

How's everyone doing?  Sorry for the slacking off..... Week 2 checkpoint is up!

[shaggy]

Man, I wish I could find my game.  I loved this game as a kid and remember beating it.

[russlyman]

Ok let's get everyone pumped. I have talked to Fleach about this and we will be running a contest the last week. One lucky winner shall take home this custom Little Nemo NES Controller made by me.
[img width=700 height=525]http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/08/11/d789729da64a26c757dafd73d33a6f9f.jpg[/img]
[img width=700 height=525]http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/08/11/a307af143335f6bc0bd9ab248be2cce6.jpg[/img]
[img width=700 height=525]http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/08/11/1c1a8946689af23b562219b6c09ee85c.jpg[/img]

So get hyped and play some more of this great little gem


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[Schlibby]

Interesting.

And cool controller

[singlebanana]

Are cool kids, AKA hosts, eligible??  That's a sweet stick there russlyman!

[russlyman]

yeah I would say anyone who is participating is eligible to win. Def  thanks. Trying to whip out a bunch more controllers for Retro World Exp as well

[singlebanana]

yeah I would say anyone who is participating is eligible to win. Def  thanks. Trying to whip out a bunch more controllers for Retro World Exp as well

I am interested to hear about this contest sir. And looking forward to possibly purchasing one of your controllers upon my visit.

[Shadow Kisuragi]

Hmm... I may need to actually play now.

[shaggy]

Russ is only doing this because he knows I can't find my game. 

[Ikariniku]

This may disqualify me from Russlyman's contest, but I played through a chunk of Little Nemo with my trusty Game Genie to get a peak at the later levels I'm pretty sure I'll never see on my own.

Even cheating, the platforming challenges in Little Nemo are no joke.  Instant kill spikes and bottomless pits are everywhere.  The autoscrollers, House of Toys and Cloud Ruins, are especially harsh in this regard.  Even ignoring damage from enemies, these levels will put you through your paces.

During Cloud Ruin, I managed to die enough and take enough damage to make my Game Genie codes "wear off", ending my run through the game.  While this has happened to me before (taking unavoidable damage and deaths tends to undo the changes Game Genie codes make to the game), I was somewhat bemused that I couldn't even clear the game while cheating.

And it's a shame.  Little Nemo is a great-looking and great-sounding game.  It's just as hard as diamond to play through.  The tunes will be in my mp3 player long after I've stopped putting the cart in my NES.

[JerryGreenwood]

I can see that a lot of people here like this game, so I'll speak once and then I'll shut my big trap so I don't offend too many people.

I have never played Little Nemo until 2 weeks ago and I honestly think Little Nemo is a bad video game. This is coming from someone who is usually a cheerleader for games on these playthroughs. Good graphics, good controls, and good concept, but horrible design and execution. And for Capcom standards, a very weak effort in sound. I don't know why this game rubs me the wrong way, but I find playing it to be a chore.

I will beat it and then I will donate it to RFgen for Xmas or whatever, because I don't want it in my house anymore.

[Ikariniku]

I can see that a lot of people here like this game, so I'll speak once and then I'll shut my big trap so I don't offend too many people.

I have never played Little Nemo until 2 weeks ago and I honestly think Little Nemo is a bad video game. This is coming from someone who is usually a cheerleader for games on these playthroughs. Good graphics, good controls, and good concept, but horrible design and execution. And for Capcom standards, a very weak effort in sound. I don't know why this game rubs me the wrong way, but I find playing it to be a chore.

I will beat it and then I will donate it to RFgen for Xmas or whatever, because I don't want it in my house anymore.

I agree!  (Though I do like the tunes in this game.)  Playing this game is such a chore, and I don't see myself playing it once this month is over. 

What separates Little Nemo from enjoyably hard/frustrating games (Mega Man, for example) is that you never feel equal to the challenge.  Your jump as Nemo is only just high enough to clear enemies.  Your candy range is laughable, and its hit box is maddeningly small.  Meanwhile, enemies endlessly spawn at a rate that would make Ninja Gaiden blush.  Scrolling the screen improperly can result in Nemo being swarmed by an unavoidable wall of enemies that hunt Nemo down like he did something unspeakable to their families.

Drinking game idea: Take a drink every time one of your animal "friends" darts into you, damaging you, as you try to get within candy range.  You'll be knackered before you give up halfway through the second stage.

[singlebanana]

I can see that a lot of people here like this game, so I'll speak once and then I'll shut my big trap so I don't offend too many people.

I have never played Little Nemo until 2 weeks ago and I honestly think Little Nemo is a bad video game. This is coming from someone who is usually a cheerleader for games on these playthroughs. Good graphics, good controls, and good concept, but horrible design and execution. And for Capcom standards, a very weak effort in sound. I don't know why this game rubs me the wrong way, but I find playing it to be a chore.

I will beat it and then I will donate it to RFgen for Xmas or whatever, because I don't want it in my house anymore.

I don't think anyone gets offended by criticism if it is warranted, and in this case, I think there are some choices that the developers made that would have made the game much better had they gone another route.  However, I think you're overstating it when you call Little Nemo a "bad video game."  In looking at it relative to the other licensed games released on the system, I'd say that it's better than about 2/3 of them, which is pretty good.

Ikariniku brings up some great points about the candy range, hit box, and jumping, but I see these qualities as things imposed by the game that "I" have to master to in turn master the game. Just a few weeks ago, I played Nosferatu on the SNES. For reference for those who have not played it, it is like Prince of Persia. The movement in the game isn't quite as fluid as I am use to in most games, but once I learned all of the multiple attacks, the jump back move, and a few others, I found myself getting better at it and enjoying it.

In the same way, Little Nemo asks you to take these "limitations" and do with them what you must in order to conquer the game. Yes, the game is challenging and hard to beat, like many games of it's era, but if one takes the time to master it, it's pretty fun.  Probably not the easiest game for a monthly playthrough for those who have never spent time with it, but still a worthy title in my library. 

Again, I think a lot of the problem is brand bias and what we normally expect out of a Capcom platformer, and Nemo is very atypical of most of their NES titles.  If I had to rate the game on a scale of excellent to bad, I'd say it's an above average game. Music is pretty good, it has an outstanding and original concept, and it's challenging. It's a game with a kid, but not a kid's game.

[JerryGreenwood]

@Ikariniku - You're right, the music is better than I thought. Much better. I just had high expectations since it was Capcom, but there are a few tracks that I really like...

@Banana - You're right too...

The problems that I had with this game were for 2 reasons; I have no nostalgia attachment to this game and it took me a while to fully understand what the game was about. I wasn't playing it properly. I was trying to play it like a Mega Man or Ninja Gaiden game...running around, jumping without care, throwing candies all over the place. That's not how to play, it's not an action game. It's the quintessential platformer. It requires patience, well timed and spaced jumps, and standing in the right place at the right time. Banana, you mentioned Nosferatu and Prince of Persia. Nemo is more like those games. I thought the difficulty was extremely cheap, and maybe it is, but once you learn what to expect and understand the hitboxes, it's not that bad.

Now, I'd like to retract my dislike for this game. I actually think it's pretty good.

[img width=640 height=480]http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a420/JerryGreenwood/2015-08-14%2018.51.07_zpsctbqzjxu.jpg[/img]
Here's me near the end with 9+ lives

[img width=640 height=480]http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a420/JerryGreenwood/2015-08-14%2019.40.18_zpsdczyyi8t.jpg[/img]
Here's the ending, no continues used  and I'll add this  because it's new to me.