đ˛ăThe Flintstones: Rescue of Dino and HoppyăăSquiggy Seven: First Impressions #041ă(NES)ăâ â âââă
6Dr. Butler is here and he's dino-napped the Flintstones pets and blown up Gazoo's time machine! What has Fred and his company gotten themselves into this time? Find out soon on Squiggy Seven!
So much to unpack with this intro. First off, what kind of evil mastermind name is "Dr. Butler"? That's not really inspiring the same evil vibes I get from other doctor-villains like Doctor Robotnik and Doctor WIly.
Second, if you need dinosaurs for your new future zoo, why are you stealing the pets of the only ancient family that has a connection with aliens and a time machine? They are literally the only cavepeople in the world that have any chance of defending themselves. You could take random forest dinosaurs, dinosaurs from before the time of man, or the dinosaurs of their neighbors that don't have alien friends and there will be about a 0% chance that anyone makes it to the future to thwart anything.
Anyways, on to the gameplay. The Flintstones: Rescue of Dino and Hoppy is not the best platform I've ever played, but it's not bad either... it's kind of in some gray area where I"m ambivalent about it. The big thing I think that holds it back is the pace. You move a little sluggishly in this game, and it can be a slog to get back to where you left off when you die.
I much prefer a game that has a nice manageable movement speed as the base, but gives the player the ability to run when holding down B or something. That way you get the best of both worlds -- novice players aren't overwhelmed with your Bubsy-esque acceleration, but advanced players that have experience with the levels can get through the game in a more satisfying way. Sluggish movement is the death of fun for many platformers for me, and Flintstones: Dino and Hoppy is no exception.
The combat in this game is a little weird too, but I enjoy it. It's difficult because you have to anticipate your strike a little... you can't just instantly hit the attack button and kill anything in front of you. This is a little frustrating when first playing, but I have a feeling this would get better as you got used to it, and that second of forethought necessary could lead to some challenging levels later on.
Add on the power-bar for charged attacks and you have a decently challenging and complex combat system to mess around with. Most stuff I fought went down in one quick hit anyways, but I think the charge would make stuff like boss fights a little more interesting. If you have to choose between charging Fred's club for the power attack or doing a couple swift hits, you have a more dynamic combat experience, similar to the Mega Man games after they added the chargeable buster in Mega Man 4.
One notable addition is the basketball minigame straight in the center. I don't know if there's more like this, but I had a lot of fun with having the gameplay shaken up a bit. That goes a long way with me, and you don't see it very often on the NES.
Other than that ,here's not too much to say. It's got a decent soundtrack, bright and attractive visuals, and passable gameplay. I'd gladly play my way through this game to the end, but I don't know if I'd choose to do it when given the choice between all the better platformers available on the NES. Like I said -- it sits squarely in this gray area between wrong and right, fun and frustrating, appealing and boring. It just is.
Thanks for stopping by friends, I hope you enjoyed the video. I know there haven't been a lot uploaded lately, but I have a lot of fun making these Squiggy Seven episodes, so it's fun to do it once in a while. I hope you all enjoyed watching as much as I enjoyed playing, and I hope to catch you all in the next episode!
đ Squiggs
---[ Wikipedia Information ]---------------
The gameplay is preceded by a short cutscene which sets the stage. A man from the 30th century named Dr. Butler kidnaps Fred Flintstone's pet Dino and Barney's pet Hoppy. Fred's alien friend, The Great Gazoo, lost parts of his time machine due to Dr. Butler. The Great Gazoo is visible only to Fred and to nobody else (a slight change from the series where Barney, Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm could also see him).
---[ Series Information ]---------------
Squiggy Seven: First Impressions is a series where I blind review random NES games in an effort to learn more about the hidden classics on the system. I have gotten into retro collecting for the NES and I am on the hunt for those games I've never played that I'm missing out on.
#NESReviews #NintendoEntertainmentSystem #NES
You can find the full playlist for Squiggy Seven: First Impressions here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lau1yrQ3oMQ&index=1&list=PLmx77jI3k0GEL5GVglvYHzoo0sdPQMbZo