I've never cared about stories when it came to action games, if it's
good then great, if it's non-existant then no big deal, sometimes I'll
take the time to hear it, but most of the time I'll just skip to the
main part of the game, the action, that's what I'm playing it for.
Anyway, here's a summary of the story: Zap is your guardian dog, he
was once the keeper of the Cystal Palace, and Farron, the main character
(the one you'll be controlling), was once a prince in this mighty
kingdom (not sure what kingdom this is), oh well. Well a long time ago,
Zaras, of the Infernal Plateau, conquered the Crystal Palace and
declared himself king, the prince was just a baby then. After he took
over, Zap and Farron were the only two survivors, when Zap escaped, he
sealed the powers of the crystals, and now that the prince is older, he
is ready to release their powers and defeat Zaras. Not a bad story,
different than the usual, but anyway, lets get started with the actual
gameplay.

Starting off:

Before you begin your quest, you choose 1 of 3 crystals: the Life
Crystal-it will increase your maximum health; the Spirit Crystal-this
will increase your weapondry, allowing you to use the fire scroll power
from the start and never lose it; the Flight Crystal-increases your jump
abilities, allowing you to jump higher at all times, customize your
character according to your game playing needs.

Graphics: 9/10

The game has 5 stages: stage 1-Mountains, stage 2-Sky Palace, stage
3-Ghost Caves, stage 4-Fire Cavern, and stage 5-Palace of Darkness (the
Crystal Palace). Graphics are intricately detailed and set the mood for
the Japanese theme well, from the backgrounds and enemies, to the silly
humor, and the huge samurai bosses. Even the lion-dog statues that
decoratively border your status and item bar are a nice touch. Overall,
graphics are great and well drawn, colors are appropriate and pleasant.
Draw-back, flicker and slowdown occur when there is too much on
screen, or too large, as in the case of some bosses.

Music: 9.5/10

First thing I noticed when the first level started, was the kickin'
soundtrack. The music is reminicent of ancient Japanese tunes, all of
the tunes are very catchy right from the start, each being appropriate
for the stage you're playing.
The first stage takes place on a mountain, the music has a lot of
energy and beat to it, makes you excited to begin playing. The second
stage is a palace, the music has a fast paced rythm that will have you
humming along to it. The third stage has a slow hauntingly eerie feel to
it, very appropriate for these lonely ghost filled caves. The fourth
stage, fire caverns, has a feeling of danger and ergency. And the final
stage, Palace of Darkness, kind of feels like a combination of all the
previous level musics, good beat, fast paced, energetic, but also has a
forboding danger to it.
Boss music is almost always awesome in most games, no exception
here, makes you feel like you're fighting something powerful and
dangerous. Music for the final boss is a variant of the stage you fight
him on, but slower, sounds kind of creepy. Ending music makes you feel
like you've accomplished something, as with most games, you kind of know
ending music when you here it. There are some sillier tunes, such as
when you visit a shop to buy items, or listen to the news, which has
it's own silly soundtrack. Death music is death music, hopefully you
won't hear this too often.
This game has some my favorite videogame soundtracks of all time,
very catchy, and so memorable.

Control: 7.5/10

Farron has good mid-air jump control and has a quick overhead sword
chop that's very effective when standing or jumping. But if you slash
with your sword while jumping, you'll also drop quicker, be careful when
attacking while jumping over pits, or you may fall short of a safe
landing. He can also stab while squatting. Overall, Farron's control is
good.
Now the odd part of the controls. To select to use an item in your
inventory, while playing, hold down on the control pad, then press the
jump button 'A', to make an arrow appear under Zap, press it again to
make it move to the next item; your sword, firepower if you have it,
then the dog whistle if you have it, release the buttons to make your
choice. If Zap is already on screen with you, use the whistle's power by
holding up for a moment, once selected. An unorthodox way to select
items to use, but it works once you get used to it.

Zap (your trusty companion):

You can summon your dog ally to aid you in battle, being a loyal
companion, he'll follow you and attack enemies when they appear.
Normally he'll walk along with you, but when an enemy approaches, he'll
charge toward it with a purpose and leap into action, pouncing on his
prey. If he is threatened by an enemy that he can't handle by himself,
he'll bark at it, but will still try to take it down anyway. You can
also use him like a stepping stone, hop on your pups backs to reach
higher places, but be careful, he doesn't sit still for long, he's
really hyper. If you buy a whistle, while your dog is with you, blow
the whistle to get fido excited, he'll run circles around you, then at
your command, launch himself across the screen like a missile,
destroying anything in his way. But just as you can be harmed, so can
Zap, so take care of him, if you don't want to lose him, pack him away
'til you can find some chow for him.

Shopping:

Collect the coins that enemies leave behind, use these to purchase
items in the shops you'll come across in each stage. In the shops you
can purchase: Herbs-restores some health: Super Herbs-more expensive,
but restores all of your health: Figure-1up; Potion-extends your health
maximum; Zap Chow-for your dog, keeps his coat healthy and shiny, and
restore some of his health; Dog Whistle-to keep the mutt in line; Fire
Scroll-gives you the power to shoot fire; Jumping Shoes-increases your
jumping abilities; Double Death-a duel spiral weapon; Nuker-a rolling,
semi-homing weapon; Fuego-works well against the fire demon; and the
Boomerang Annialator-a self returning fireball. The shopkeeper will also
ask you if you want to know how to use any of the weapons that you have
purchased, a welcome help. She will also occasionally ask if you want ot
hear the news, even changing her outfit for the occasion, just one of
those silly little things in the game.

About Firepower:

Firepower has limited usage, this includes the Fire Scroll (unless
you have the Spirit Crystal), the Double Death, Nuker, Fuego, and
Boomerang Annialator, if you run out, but find a fire scroll icon along
the way, the weapon you had will be given back to you, but if you die,
you'll lose it completely and have to buy another one. The good thing is
that you can switch between your katana and fire power at any time, so
long as the fire power is available to use at the time.
There are some other things that you can get along the path of the
stages. One icon will allow you to shoot blades from your swordtip,
another will make you invincible, a fire wheel will restore you weapon
to you, jump shoes will increase your jump height, all of these are
temporary effects.

Overall Challenge: Medium-Hard

As with almost any game, practice will make the game easier. There
are some difficult jumps, especially in the fire cavern, that stage is
like hell, consisting of platforms elevated over a vast firey pit,
fireballs everywhere, the risk of falling at any point. Bosses can be
kind of tough, the second stage boss is a huge samurai that jumps about,
shoots semi-homing fireballs, and uses strong gusts of wind to make it
difficult to avoid him. The final 2 bosses aren't going to be any
easier, if you can find your way through the maze, yes the final stage
has multiple paths, and many of them will lead you back.

Overall: 8/10

The gameplay is rather good, this was one of my earlier NES games
back when the NES was still officially supported, I enjoyed it the
moment I started playing, and still to this day.

Review Written by: Megan Joanne Roberts
(HermitCrab)