The Trolls in Crazyland (NES) Playthrough - NintendoComplete
177A playthrough of ASC's 1993 license-based platformer for the NES game, The Trolls in Crazyland.
A heavily modified adaptation of the Japanese game ドキ!ドキ!遊園地-クレージランド大作戦 (Doki! Doki! Yuuenchi! Kureejirando Daisakusen), The Trolls in Crazyland is an interesting localization that attempted to piggyback off of the success of the Norfin Troll toy line. It's a strangely compelling game despite how the main character's graphics have been seemingly designed to repel any interest in it whatsoever. Those trolls are even uglier in the game than their dolls were!
In terms of NES games with strange licenses, this one reminds me a lot of Yo! Noid. They both play fairly similarly, and both games' English releases were reskinned versions of Japanese games that had been changed to reflect the a western license property. The Trolls in Crazyland was released in PAL territories only. Though the game received a preview in Nintendo Power, the NTSC English version (which was to be released by NTVIC under the name Crazyland! The Ride Of Your Life!) was cancelled before release.
This recording is of the PAL version. Make sure to watch at it the 720p50 quality setting!
The gameplay is fairly standard - you run through each stage killing enemies with a basic projectile attack, though unlike any other game I recall playing, your weapon's power and range are inversely proportional to your health: the weapon is upgraded everytime you take damage. It's an interesting way to balance risk with reward, and it provides a unique way to play the game if you're someone that likes playing their game on the knife's edge. The game isn't terribly hard though, so even if you choose to live dangerously, you won't often be in danger of getting wiped out by an unexpected enemy.
The graphics and sound are pretty solid for an NES game of it's time. Everything is bright and colorful and the game moves along smoothly with little image breakup or slowdown, though the odd perspective can make it tricky to land jumps at times. The bosses really steal the show here, though. They're huge, often filling at least half the screen, and they're well detailed and often pretty creepy looking. The sound is catchy, bouncy, and fun, though it bears mentioning that the English version's sound lacks a lot of the digital instrument samples (most notably the orchestra hits) that are in the Japanese game.
Overall, I really liked The Trolls in Crazyland. Even with the bizarre and somewhat offputting license attached to it, it's a solid NES platformer that's light-hearted and fun.
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No cheats were used in the recording of this video.
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