Totally Rad Game Sample - NES/FC
0Ahhh... you know, Jaleco has done a lot over the years and has developed some pretty cool or strange games as a whole, but their U.S. branch is known for getting quite a bit of scrutiny due to their various changes or alterations upon game localizations (where they edit/remove things or attempt to make Japanese games more "Americanized"). I've even heard Jaleco USA basically referred to as the VG-based "4Kids" of the 80s and 90s. What do I mean by that? Well, let's just take a look at this pretty decent old NES game by the name of "Totally Rad".
Originally called "Magic John" in Japan, you played as two pre-teen friends named John and Yuu. They're at a circus because John wants to learn great magic from "the super magician", Mister Pon, and everything is going fine for a little while... until John is attacked by surprise and Yuu is kidnapped. While he's still an apprentice magician, he's determined to save his friend and his journey begins. Essentially, the game is the same in Japanese and English, except the characters' names were changed and there was some mostly mild graphic edits. The main characters were changed to two Californian kids named Jake and Allison, and everyone uses the most outlandish 80s "surfer" lingo to the point where it's so bad that it's good. To its credit, I thought the characters in "Totally Rad" looked more detailed than those in the original Magic John, but that's just me. There are also some very slight gameplay differences.
Putting that aside, Totally Rad is a pretty cool game once learned. It's your typical side scrolling action game, but Jake has quite an uncommon degree of moves in his arsenal. Jake has two modes: His standard human form, and his beast forms. In his human form, he has balanced abilities and can even charge up his basic attack like a charged up Mega Buster (its main disadvantage being that charged shots can't be used in air unless he walks off a ledge). Human Jake can also use quite a few spells that attack or support, such as healing, stopping time, becoming invincible, or using several (mostly useless but flashy) elemental spells. Jake's beast forms, of which there are three, consists of a Lion, Bird, and Fish.
The Lion can't attack in air and has very limited range, but is the most powerful entity in Jake's arsenal and is invincible during a jump. The Bird has decent power, good speed, and can fly indefinitely (it has few faults). The Fish is kinda more of an assassin; it has decent manueverability and a fast attack speed. They all have their uses, but you'll likely be using regular Jake or the Bird most often. All of Jake's special powers consume his magic meter, which can't be replenished until you reach new level segments, so you have to use it strategically.
One of the biggest problems with the game is that some levels are pretty cheap and you'll need to know the level beforehand in order to take a stab at them. This wouldn't be so bad if you didn't start levels over from the very beginning; if you get up to a boss with little health and die, you'll start any previous level over again instead of starting on the boss. The game also has "respawning enemy syndrome" where if you stand in a certain spot or go back and forth, enemies keep appearing from the same place over and over again (this can be used to get many extra lives in this game). Everything else isn't such a big deal and the game does look good, play pretty good, and sounds decent. The bosses have amazing detail. This is a video of the first act showcasing many of Jake's abilities. Enjoy.