Sofia [ソフィア] Game Sample - NS
32The Nintendo Switch is one of the best Nintendo consoles in recent memory in my opinion, but not for the reasons some may think. While I still think it's fairly gimmicky (having been somewhat alienated by both the "Wii" and the "Wii U") and it has an awful interface and eShop from a technical standpoint (arguably worse than either the Wii or Wii U), it's the most accessible for those who put in the time to address its eccentricities. Its unique combination of console and handheld sensibilities make it an attractive option for those who want to game at home or on the go. It's a brilliant platform for old school titles, particularly for Shmup enthusiasts with its myriad ports of 2D shooters (at least the ones that are optimized well enough). In a roundabout twist of fate, it's less censored than its console competitors with more mature or perverse games and, in another shocking twist, is fairly easy to import games for. It also has a robust Indie marketplace compared to past Nintendo consoles (for better or worse) and while it is lacking in terms of Nintendo's OWN representation (meaning larger libraries of older titles from prior digital store fronts, particularly those from Nintendo themselves), it has some gems and exclusives buried within the casserole of nonsense.
As such, we have one title today: "Sofia". What is Sofia? An old-school side-scrolling adventure / platformer in one of the most traditional senses, but there's a little more here than appears at first glance. Anybody remember "Regista"? Probably not, but if you were a keen viewer of this channel, you might remember them from the reboot of YMCAT's 1988 game, "The Demon Crystal", that we posted a while back. Regista was first founded in 2004 by Takumi Nakazawa who used to work for KID (Kindle Imagine Develop) from 1998 - 2004 working on mostly adult games but got his first three solo breaks with the release of PS2's "Life Like an Hour", "I/O" and "Myself ; Yourself". He eventually left to join "Too Kyo Games" who have put out works such as "Akudama Drive", "Tribe Nine", "World's End Club" and "AI: The Somnium Files - nirvanA Initiative". Sofia NS in and of itself is a reboot of another YMCAT release (from 1987 for the MSX and Sharp X1) as Regista collaborated with YMCAT on some of their catalogue, rebooting or remaking several of their games (with new works).
Well, calling this a reboot is a bit misleading as it was also known as "Sofia 2" earlier in development, but YMCAT preferred to keep things simple and start from scratch and it's kinda amazing that they are still around today. That said, the game has massively updated audio / video flourishes while maintaining much of the simplicity of the original. The plot is simply about a girl named Sofia who is travelling when she encounters a mysterious crystal and curiosity gets the best of her; she touches it and gets swept into a parallel world. Now she has to find the crystal and figure out how to utilize it safely to return home. The game is similar to the original as tight jumping and exploring are the meat and potatoes of the experience, but this reboot has many differences as well.
In the original, the player generally persisted on a single life with no continues (unless you found a secret near the beginning of the game) with a heart gauge that also sorta acted as a counter / hunger meter like "Wonder Boy" or "Adventure Island" and explored various screens for keys and secrets. The reboot expands on this with larger, more labyrinthine environments spread out over numerous stages with a variety of checkpoints to better balance the difficulty. The game also adds a second sub-system from the heart gauge with the candle gauge -- as the player moves around or gets hurt by enemies, they lose hearts (which can be restored or depleted by various items), but the candle gauge activates when underground and determines the brightness level. Neither are fatal on their own when depleted, but an empty candle gauge will greatly reduce the light underground and a single hit with an empty heart gauge will take a life. Falling in water, lava, etc., will automatically take a life.
The player has limited means of defending themselves in both games, but Sofia can kick a ball around in this game with various physics to topple enemies. There are also new "local characters" that can be found on levels who tell you about YMCAT and different tidbits about Japan, oddly enough. The original had multiple endings based on different feats while the reboot has different gradings for fully exploring and its own secrets. While a little pricey and light on options, it can be deemed one of the eShop's hidden gems.
This is a video showing some levels. You can get it at:
https://store-jp.nintendo.com/list/software/70010000040390.html
Enjoy.
- ADDITION -
Like Us On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thegamingsanctuary/
Follow Us On Twitter: https://twitter.com/GS_Vyse_and_Bel
Visit Us At: http://www.gamingsanctuary.com