Every single sound felt like it was there for a reason. I was initially worried that the sound of combat would take me away from the epic score but was pleasantly surprised when the sounds of explosions and swords clashing only heightened the experience. It’s an album I will be going back to often this year. Salvinsky has created an exciting assortment of songs that help shape this world while also being great on their own.
It’s difficult not to compare the score to the one we hear in the TV show Stranger Things. The use of synthesizers helped add emotional weight to The Creator’s flashbacks while also intensifying nearly every enemy encounter. The soundtrack, composed by Salvinsky, was my favorite part of my experience. I first heard the theme for Narita Boy a week ago when I booted it up, and it’s been stuck in my head since. The Priest’s flashing blue beam was a bit too much for me. The rest of the adventure was glorious eye-candy coated in delicious nostalgia. Fortunately, there were only a few times when I found it to be too much. Perhaps if I were playing on my TV with more distance between myself and the screen, it would have been less of an issue. The game uses many strobing light effects, to a point where I found myself closing my eyes or looking away.
There were certain points, though, where I thought the flashing neon was a bit much. It can shift from a neon-drenched city to a minimalist black and white flashback without breaking a sweat.
Studio Koba has created a stunning world to look at. That’s when I felt the most overwhelmed by the number of characters and effects happening on the screen.
There were certain spots where you must face waves of monsters, though. When I thought I had mastered taking one down, a new opponent would come my way, so I never felt too safe. Narita Boy also has an impressive range of adversaries to fight. You may lose your first couple of battles against a new foe, but I never felt like the game was unapologetically brutal. Familiar techniques like the shoulder bash and downward thrust eventually helped alleviate some of my issues with the platforming.Įnemies are both well-designed and fun to fight. As you advance through, you will unlock new skills and abilities, each one creating more possibilities while fighting and exploring. You begin with the Techno-Sword, the only weapon capable of defeating HIM and his minions. The action of Narita Boy makes up for the platforming, though. I was also disappointed that when I finally had the initiative to go back and look for lost collectibles, most areas had become blocked off after defeating their boss. When I eventually discovered that item, the idea of aimlessly searching for that room again seemed too daunting. I had moments during my playthrough when I stumbled upon a room that required me to come back with a certain item. Despite being an adventure game with some necessary backtracking, Narita Boy never provides a map for the player.
While I eventually understood how to control our protagonist, finding out where to go next remained an issue. Fortunately, the load times and checkpoint system were decent enough never to leave me truly frustrated. This led to me constantly underestimating my jumping ability and falling into the pits between platforms. Our hero is a bit floatier than other platforming characters like Mario or Donkey Kong. The first hour proved to be the most challenging for me as I had difficulty adapting to the character’s physics. Gameplay – Cartridge FeverĪs the opening scene fades away, we finally get a chance to control our hero. I loved going from area to area and meeting these unique characters. These characters struggle with morals, religion, and everything else humans naturally face. I stumbled upon a crying bartender who was too worried about his lost brother to do anything else, for example. But these characters have a surprising amount of depth and emotions. Both feature non-human NPC’s like robots, or in this case, programs. The characters in Narita Boy reminded me of those in Nier: Automata while I was playing it. While the overarching narrative was good, I was the most intrigued by the smaller stories lurking within The Digital Kingdom. Unfortunately, I figured out the ending about halfway through, but that didn’t hinder my experience and fascination with this world. I found the main narrative to be both wild and enjoyable. The Creator has lost his memory and now sits in his office confused.ĭiscovering the lost memories of Lionel Pearl is incredibly rewarding.