Sunsoft is Back! Retro Game Selection (Switch) Review

It’s a great time to be a retro gamer. Between services like Nintendo Switch Online, dedicated devices such as the Evercade, and the deluge of retro collections we’ve gotten over the last decade or so, it’s never been easier to get into the hobby without paying exorbitant second hand fees or taking a trip across the seven seas. That being the case, I always judge retro collections with a slightly different set of criteria. First of all, the actual presentation of the package, including emulation quality, is a big deal. Second, I always like to see what sort of extras or quality of life additions might have been added that make this particular collection a better way to play the games. Third, I need to look at the games themselves. Are they still worth playing 30 to 40 years later? I have a soft spot for a lot of retro titles, but I would say only a small percentage of 8-bit titles hold up for younger gamers that lack my nostalgia goggles. Finally, the overall value of the collection comes into question. Does it have the proper bang for your buck? This is the Criteria that I’m going to review Sunsoft is Back! Retro Game Selection. I was excited to dive into this collection, which includes three titles: Firework Thrower Kantaro’s 53 Stations of the Tokaido, The Wing of Madoola, and Ripple Island. I’m a long time NES fan that has played the majority of that platform’s library, but these games are all new to me, probably because this is their first time being localized in English. So, do these titles stand the test of time? Or are they retro relics that are best forgotten?

Presentation and Extras

Sunsoft is Back! Retro Game Selection features a clean UI and it’s very easy to just boot it up and get into the games. That’s always a plus with these sorts of collections. When you start the title and hit the plus button you get to your game selection menu. The games are presented on fully 3D renders of the Famicon cartridges for each game. This is a neat addition, and turning the cartridges around was a fun experience, even if it doesn’t add much value in the long run. The emulation for each title seems flawless, but that should be expected for 8-bit titles such as these.

I’m happy to report that games allow you to choose a variety of aspect ratios, filters, borders, and even a “palette option”. The palette lets you play the game with options that include the green on green of classic Game Boy, simple black and white, or even a Virtual Boy style set of red hues. These are all as silly as they sound. It’s cool to mess around with them and I appreciate that they exist, but the truth is that I kept to the vanilla palette option (the original Famicom colors) 99% of the time.

Sunsoft also added a save slot and “rewind” function. I know some retro gaming purists aren’t the biggest fan of additions like these, but I personally think they’re welcome additions to older, punishing titles such as these. And hey, they’re only optional.

The collection also includes a gallery mode that lets you see promotional art for the games, and there are some nice pieces. You can also open and inspect the instruction booklets for the titles, but, unfortunately, they are only in Japanese. While I understand that it wouldn’t be easy to localize the books, it is a shame that they’re not available in any other language as they both lay out the story for these titles as well as explain mechanics and items. This is especially important for The Wing of Madoola as that game has you collect many magic items. If I hadn’t looked up their functions online my experience would have been much poorer, and the options to find out their use through the manual would have been nice.

The Games

So, as mentioned, Sunsoft is Back! Retro Game Selection consists of three titles, all translated into English for the first time. These titles all came out between 1986 and 1987, making them earlier era NES games. Games from these years tend to be less content rich then later titles that were made with newer chips and cart sizes, and these titles really do feel of that age. I wouldn’t say any of the titles are bad, but I also wouldn’t put any of them into the upper echelon on NES/Famicom titles. Here’s a few thoughts I have on the games, from my least to my most favorite.

Firework Thrower Kantaro’s 53 Stations of the Tokaido – This game is probably the most straightforward of the three in the collection. You play as Kantaro, a firework maker, and you must traverse levels from left to right, engaging with enemies and NPCs along the way. Kantaro can both throw fireworks and place them on the ground, and this along with a basic jump assist him in traversing 53 stations from Kyoto back to Edo so he can reunite with his girlfriend Momoko. The controls on this game are decent enough, and the game’s challenge is manageable even with a few cheap enemy types (I will admit I used the rewind once or twice when I jumped straight into a falcon, for instance), and its a pleasant enough platformer. There’s just nothing special about it, really, and truth be told there are a large number of NES platformers I would rather play. The sound track is also probably the weakest of the three titles, with a few tracks in particular that I learned to actively dislike. So, not a bad game, and worth checking out if you’re a fan of 8-bit platformers, but not something I think I would actively recommend. 2.5 out of 5.

Ripple Island – Now, this is a game that I enjoyed mostly as a novelty. There aren’t too many great point and click adventure games on the Famicom, and this is a simple but enjoyable one. Ripple Island is a peaceful land where animals and humans coexist, and can apparently communicate. You play as Kyle, a heroic name if I ever heard one, and you set out to stop Emperor Groaker from reigning havoc on the land. You do this by talking to NPCs, collecting items, using said items, and solving puzzles along the way. You know, standard point and click adventures stuff. The menu system is a bit clunky, but it works well enough. I think the fact that every scene in the game is navigated with a simple up, down, left, right button helps immensely. Now, the title does have quite a few instances of obtuse game design as well, where you can’t figure something out but it was just that you spoke to someone in the wrong order or pushed a tree instead of pulling one. Having a guide handy then, wouldn’t be a bad idea. That and the so so controls give it a 3 out of 5

The Wing of Madoola – This is my favorite title, handsdown, but it has its issue. It is described as an action RPG, and I’ve seen some people describe it as a Metroidvania, but it’s honestly mostly a straight forward action title. You play as Lucia, who must battle the forces of evil to recover the sacred Wing of Madoola. At least that’s what I think the game is about as the untranslated instruction manual contains the story. What makes this game unique, and a bit of an RPG, is how Lucia must explore each stage to find doors that lead to special upgrades as well as magic spells. This does lead to a weird difficult curve where the first few levels are pretty difficult before you get some simple upgrades such as enough boots to make you fast and a basic sword that is able to do real damage to enemies. The enemies also respawn at a ridiculous rate making running the only viable option for a good stretch of the game. Once you start getting items that speed you up, make you jump faster, and allow you to do things like shoot fireballs or summon protective shields the game improves markedly. Sure, it’s hard, but the controls become fun and your magic abilities add a lot to the until then stale combat. Also, if you plan on playing this game, here’s some advice: you can hit start and select (plus and minus on the Switch) to enter a stage select on the title screen when you die. You keep all collected power ups this way, and can even enter previous stages if you missed a power up, although you would have to work your way back to the current stage you were on in that case. It’s not a perfect game, the enemy spawn in particular is frustrating, but its worth playing. Oh, it also has the best soundtrack of the three in my opinion. A solid 3.5 out of 5.

Verdict

Sunsoft is Back! Retro Game Selection does an excellent job at packaging three classic retro titles. They’re made to be accessible, and it includes all the essential features I want in a collection like this. The games themselves are not exactly must play experiences, but they’re decent even if they are very much of their time. $10.00 does not seem like a bad price for a collection like this, so it’s a recommendation as long as you know what sort of experience you are getting into. 3.5/5