Retro Corner: StarTropics (NES) Review · 6:46pm Jun 18th, 2022
A new edition of Retro Corner Reviews is up, and we check out what is considered a one off series called StarTropics for the NES. Summer has started as some will prepare for the beaches and pools while others look forward to their BBQs outdoors. We start the Summer off with StarTropics, one of Nintendo’s lesser known games—You can also add that to the list containing EarthBound, F-Zero, Mach Rider and Balloon Fight. It was released under the radar in December 1990 due to the combination of Super Mario Bros 3 and other bigger titles. There are many reasons this game never took off since once 1990 was over people were hyped for the Super NES. Of course by that point most rented the game but it is possible they had a “meh” attitude after their experience. It wasn’t Mario, Zelda or any other big release on the NES so in their minds why would anyone care when most were saving for the Super NES. The gamers I’m talking about are casuals and not us dedicated crowd who would at least rent this at Blockbuster for a weekend. It’s funny how Nintendo continued to support the NES alongside the Super NES. Then again, it’s a good thing they did because plenty of gems came out between 1991 through 1994.
StarTropics falls under the action/adventure or dungeon romper (to those who play Zelda Classic) based on the game’s mechanics. Today most don’t appreciate clones like they used to, and it should come off as a form of flattery then an insult. However, ST isn’t the usual adventure game as its level design is structured differently from Zelda—Sometimes a studio needs to do things different from the usual. Take Mario and Donkey Kong and even though they are from the same genre however, these series do not play the exact way. The theme is about an American teenager named Mike Jones who visits his uncle Dr. Steven Jones at his lab on C-Island within the South Seas. However, when he arrives at the island’s local village where his uncle’s lab is stationed, he finds him missing. It turns out aliens led by Zoda have kidnapped his uncle and now Mike has to brave the challenges of the South Seas to save him. Does StarTropics hold up after more than three decades especially against Nintendo’s elite series?
