| Graphics: |  5 |
| SFX: |  4 |
| Music: | 5 |
| Gameplay: | 4 |
| Challenge: | 5 |
| Replay: | 5 |
| Overall: | 5 |
| Genre: | Platformer |
| Reading ability: | Not Required |
| Company: | Hudson Soft |
Background:
Many people will remember Milon's Secret Castle on the NES. I never played it back in the day, but I do remember the name. Well, the game was a real turd. No continues (unless you use a cheat code), flawed gameplay, frustrating has hell, and impossible to complete without a subscription to Nintendo Power magazine and a severe case of obsessive/compulsive disorder. Fortunately, Hudson made this beautiful sequel on the Super Famicom, and it is a jewel of a game that was never released in America.
The Game:
Unlike its prequel, DoReMi Fantasy: Milon's Exciting Adventure is a straightforward platformer. As it has been described in reviews elsewhere, the gameplay is a mixture of Super Mario Brothers and Sonic the Hedgehog. You can jump on enemies Mario-style by pressing B, but this only stuns them momentarily. To properly dispatch them, you must press Y which makes Milon blow a bubble. The enemy is trapped in the bubble, and touching them will send the bubble flying off-screen. If they knock into another baddie, they will go flying away too. Pressing and holding Y will charge a super attack, in which upon release Milon will launch several bubbles in different directions. The comparison to Sonic the Hedgehog does not come from the game's speed, but rather from the springboards that will send Milon busting through blocks and walls. In the sweets world, champagne corks launch Milon into the air at 45 degrees to bust through blocks.
Each of the stages are destinations connected together by traveling through an overhead map between levels, just like Super Mario World. Once completed, these stages can be revisited. Bonuses can be discovered in these areas once new abilities are obtained, such as the extra 1UP underwater that can be taken once the ability to swim underwater is obtained. The learning curve is gradual, so the game starts out rather easy and progressively becomes more difficult.
Score is not kept, and there is no time limit, so feel free to explore the game and find the bonus mini-games. Health is measured by the color of Milon's clothing. Green clothes represent full health, blue is middle, and red indicates that you're one step away from death. You collect music notes throughout the game, just like the coins in Super Mario Brothers, and every 100th note will give you a 1UP.
Different powerups can be found along the way, such as giving you temporary invincibility, bowling balls which knock into multiple baddies along the way, the ability to rapid-fire your bubbles, or slowly float down from a jump by holding the B button. The chewing gum item will allow you to blow a bubble to save you from dying from a pitfall--the bubble will lift you up to the top of the screen! Other items will allow you to swim underwater and such.
Graphics:
The rendered animation that starts the game is phenomenal. This alone is worth taking a look at. I'm not very technical, but I have noticed that Super Famicom games generally do not feature rendered animations that are more typical of PC Engine CD or Sega CD games, or even the Megadrive/Genesis for that matter. The majority of modern-day games opt for FMV animation sequences, but I just don't see it as a labor of love as the rendered animations in 16-bit video games. Perhaps it's the processor speed limitations, or the amount of ROM memory required to store these animation frames, but usually you just don't see the same quality of rendered animation on the SFC as on other consoles. Quite a lot of SFC animated intros are made of still images or what appear to be paper cutouts moving around, and maybe throw in some Mode 7 graphics capabilities to somehow impress the player. DoReMi Fantasy, however, proves that the SFC is capable of decent rendered animation.
The in-game graphics are very crisp and detailed. Very cute and charming. There's not a lot of parallax scrolling or anything spectacular like that, but the presentation is very sharp and well animated. There are small details to notice, like how the faces on the tree stumps turn grumpy when you stand on them. When Milon falls to far below, his eyes jump out of their sockets in that cartoony delayed moment right before the law of gravity kicks in. Also you'll notice how Milon jumps: when he reaches the height of his jump, he does this cute little flip in the air.
Music/Sound:
Music is exceptional as well. It is very charming and well-synthesized, and on several levels the music is very atmospheric and ambient, as though the composer was highly influenced by Brian Eno or somebody similar.
Challenge and replay:
The learning curve is gradual, but the challenge is great. The more I played, the more enamored I became with the game.
The Good:
There is much to love with DoReMi Fantasy. It is a beautiful platformer with plenty of charm.
The Bad:
I don't have many complaints, although one odd thing with the gameplay is that sometimes when I trap a badguy in a bubble right in front of me, I can still take damage even though I trap him in a bubble.
Overall:
This is an exceptional platformer, and I only wish I knew about this game back in 2000 when I'd moved to Japan. This game fetches a high price these days, so expect to pay big money for this game, unless you somehow luck out and find it for cheap.
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