Super Empire Strikes Back – Author Carlo Carrasco

Retro Gaming Ads Blast – Part 3

February 24, 2024January 31, 2024carlocarrasco

Welcome back readers, fellow geeks and electronic gaming fans!

In this edition of the Retro Gaming Ads Blast (RGAB) series, we will examine print ads from the 1980s and 1990s that caught my attention and I will explain why they are worth look back at.

For the newcomers reading this, Retro Gaming Ads Blast (RGAB) looks back at the many print ads of games (console, arcade, computer and handheld) that were published in comic books, magazines, flyers and newspapers long before smartphones, social media, the worldwide web and streaming became popular. To put things in perspective, people back in the 1980s and 1990s were more trusting of print media for game details and images.

With those details laid down, here is the newest batch of retro gaming print ads for you to see and enjoy…

1. Japanese print ad of Super Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

*Do you know any Star Wars fan who is aware of the error in this Japanese print ad of Super Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back?*

Back in 1993, the sequel Super Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back was released on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) in the West and on the Super Famicom in Japan. Having played all three Super Star Wars game, I can say that this sequel was a huge improvement over its predecessor technically and also with gameplay (read my retro review by clicking here).

Like its predecessor, the game was released in Japan by JVC Musical Industries and in the above Japanese market print ad, the marketing team wisely used the game’s official artwork to give gamers a clear view of the concept derived from the 1980 movie plus a few screenshots showing gameplay. What I find hilarious to read is the line (highlighted in red and all capitalized no less): MAY THE FORCE WITH YOU. Clearly someone from the Japanese marketing team who prepared that line lacked English proficiency or might not have watched the movies dubbed in English. In the 1977 movie, Han Solo said to Luke, “May the Force be with you.”

2. Spider-Man (Atari 2600) print ad

*This is an entertaining way to promote a video game based on a comic book icon.*

We are back again with the Parker Brothers company and their promotion of the Spider-Man video game for the Atari 2600 which I myself played long ago. Unlike before, the print ad this time was mainly about the Spider-Man game and somehow Parker Brothers coordinated with Marvel Comics to make a comic book-inspired ad. In the above print ad, Spider-Man was shown playing the game about him with an Atari 2600 controller and console, and the Green Goblin taunts him as he plays. This type of ad is a stroke of genius because it shows the Marvel Comics’ icon as a player and the gameplay was emphasized accurately. Even if viewers are not too fond of video games, they can still find themselves interested in reading the literary adventures of Spider-Man.

3. Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Treasure of Tarmin print ad

Apart from emphasizing the fantasy concept of the Dungeons & Dragons franchise, this print ad’s hand-drawn art was strong enough to spark viewers’ curiosity and make them interested in the game or even in the Intellivision console.

Here is a print ad I saw many times while reading comic books in 1983. The game at hand is Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Treasure of Tarmin released on the Intellivision, and it is the sequel to Cloudy Mountain. Like the ad of its predecessor, the above print ad relied heavily on the spectacle of fantasy (and even a bit of horror) by having hand-drawn art as the eye candy promoting Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Treasure of Tarmin. If you look closely, only one screenshot from the game was shown and it was enough to tell gamers that the new game has a completely different visual presentation from that of Cloudy Mountain. Considering the primitive nature of computer graphics and game design of the era, having detailed comic book-inspired artwork was effective to grab viewers’ attention with the intention to make them interested in buying the game. In today’s age of computer graphics and social media, this type of ad for video games is rare to see.

4. G.I. Joe: Cobra Strike print ad

*The G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero franchise’s early entry into video games.*

Going back to Parker Brothers, the company developed and published the first-ever licensed game of the G.I. Joe franchise – G.I. Joe: Cobra Strike for the Atari 2600. In promoting the game, a 2-page ad was released with comic book-style art work (featuring Cobra Commander and Duke representing different sides) dominating the space, with descriptive text and a hand-drawn illustration of the gameplay (read: not a real screenshot) as well as the game box flling the remaining space. In my personal experience, I saw this ad before I even got to watch an episode of the popular G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero animated TV series, and before I got to read an issue the related comic book series (which started before the TV series). Looking back at the above print ad, I can still remember the time when I was puzzled by the two characters simply because I was not yet familiar with them. Take note that the video game and the ad were released at a time when the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero started rising quickly in popularity on toys, comic books and animation.

5. Alien 3 (SNES) print ad

*This print ad appeared in several comic books I read in 1993.*

Way back in 1992, I had one of the most depressing cinema viewing experiences with Alien 3 which had a very troublesome production and lacked a solid foundation behind its creativity. Then in the summer of 1993, print ads of the video game Alien 3 for Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) appeared in several comic books I read at the time. The above print ad was actually entertaining to look at. For one thing, the ad makers used three wide layers of screenshots from the game depicting different areas. Then I noticed the details which showed there were more aliens for gamers to encounter (versus only one in the movie) and the playable lead character Ellen Ripley was armed with guns (versus no guns in the movie) being able to fight the monsters. Not only that, the ad makers knew the specific details from the Alien film franchise which is reflected in the ad referencing the Face-hugger aliens, the acid from the creatures and, of course, the alien eggs. To this day, there are old-time gamers who found the Alien 3 SNES game more entertaining than the movie.

+++++

Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below, share this article to others and also please consider making a donation to support my publishing. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me with a private message. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me on Twitter at @HavenorFantasy as well as on Tumblr at https://carlocarrasco.tumblr.com/ and on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/authorcarlocarrasco

A Look Back at Secret of the Stars (SNES)

August 24, 2021August 22, 2021carlocarrasco

Disclaimer: This is my original work with details sourced from playing Secret of the Stars and doing personal research. Anyone who wants to use this article, in part or in whole, needs to secure first my permission and agree to cite me as the source and author. Let it be known that any unauthorized use of this article will constrain the author to pursue the remedies under R.A. No. 8293, the Revised Penal Code, and/or all applicable legal actions under the laws of the Philippines.

Welcome back, video game enthusiasts, fans of Japanese role-playing games (RPGs), 1990s arts and culture enthusiasts, fellow geeks and video game collectors!

If you were already a gamer who enjoyed playing games at home with the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES or Super NES) back in 1995, chances are you heard about the buzz about the hot RPGs that were released for the console at the time. Square released Chrono Trigger (which is now a classic) and Secret of Evermore while Capcom released Breath of Fire II.

That same year, Tecmo (the company best known for Dead or Alive video games) tried to score well with RPG enthusiasts and other SNES-owning gamers of North America by releasing Secret of the Stars which itself turned out to be the English-language version of the Japanese role-playing game (JRPG) Aqutallion.

This RPG caught my attention when I read about it in gaming magazines. After completing Final Fantasy II (actual title Final Fantasy IV) and Final Fantasy III (AKA Final Fantasy VI) on the SNES in 1994, there was a period several months when I was not able to play another RPG and had to settle with other types of games (note: I had a lot of fun with Super Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back and Super Star Wars: Return of the Jedi). In the 4^th quarter of 1995, I finally obtained a copy of the Tecmo-published RPG.

With those details laid down, here is a look back at Secret of the Stars (or Tecmo Secret of the Stars as presented on the game cover).

Early story

The story begins with a young lad named Ray who gets oriented with some people at the house of Mrs. Sonya. By merely asking a question, she reminds him about his personal search for a crest which once belonged to his father. Sonya also revealed that their island has been hit by several earthquakes which caused many wild animals to arrive.

Ray travels to the nearby town talking with the locals who gradually update him about what has been happening. Someone reveals to him that a journeyman arrived and talks about something called Kustera and Aquatallion.

Ray meets with the journeyman named David who is a native of Kustera. After reminding Ray that his father was the great Aqutallion, he emphasized that an evil being called Homncruse is a major threat to everyone and must be stopped. He tells Ray that he must seek out the crest of the stars to become an Aqutallion warrior and be able to defeat Homncruse.

Ray gets urged to go to the mountain to find the crest…

Quality

*Imagine yourself arriving in this town for the first time. Which place should you visit?*

To put things straight, Secret of the Stars has the basic elements of turn-based role-playing that involves the heavy use of menus for item management, fighting, defense, item use and others. The most unique game design feature here is the ability to switch between parties as the game goes on but what is clear is that the party involving Ray is the default party.

On the creative side of things, the concept about Ray being the chosen one to protect his people, lead a group composed of individuals to not only fight evil beings or monsters and achieve goals on quests (read: this includes going through personal trials at different sites in order to receive additional powers) and take on Homncruse and his evil agents has always been generic and the overall game design reflects that as well. Being the protagonist, Ray is clearly the most developed character but the same cannot be said about Tina, Cody, Leona and Dan who are all uninteresting.

The production values of this game are clearly sub-par and the weak Japanese-to-English translation is only the tip of the iceberg. With the exception of the monster and enemy designs, Secret of the Stars looks like an 8-bit game and really stood out among 16-bit RPGs of its time when it comes to field of inferiority and primitiveness. The level designs lack creativity and the location background art lacked variety. When it comes to the story, its concept was interesting at first but there really is not much depth to it nor are the characters worth caring about.

What really defined this game is its slow-pacing in terms of interactivity. Adding even more to the sluggishness of the game are the slow movements of your character (representing your party) on-screen and the rather high rate of random battles. There is also a lot of grinding (defeat enemies in lots of repetitive battles to gain experience points to level up) required and the sad thing is the level-up is not very rewarding especially when you take into consideration the many enemies or monsters who are often strong with high hit points each.

The sluggishness and tedium are so bad, Secret of the Stars really turned out to be more of a chore than an actual fun game to play. It is so bad, the game’s unique feature of allowing players to control the 2^nd party (Kusterans) became even more tedious and pointless to do. It is so bad, you will care less about the story of Ray, and you will prefer to ignore the other characters even more. It’s so bad, you won’t care anymore about Ray’s quest and the danger Homncruse has on the people.

Conclusion

*Do you know someone named or codenamed Badbad?*

Secret of the Stars was a bad RPG for its time and clearly it was a waste of money. On my experience, I ended up being very disappointed not only because of the game’s quality but also because of an absence of fun and the fact that my time playing it became a big waste. For me personally, this JRPG was definitely the worse SNES experience of 1995. It seems like the game developers made this game to literally torture gamers.

Overall, Tecmo’s Secret of the Stars should be avoided!

+++++

Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below and also please consider sharing this article to others. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me as well. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me at HavenorFantasy@twitter.com

A Look Back at Super Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

January 21, 2020May 2, 2025carlocarrasco

In this age of photo-realistic 3D graphics in video gaming, I sure miss the days when 2D gaming and highly detailed pixel art were the standard. I’m referring to the so-called 16-bit era of the Super NES/SNES (Super Nintendo Entertainment System) back in the 1990s.

In 1991, Super Star Wars was released on the Super NES and it became a big hit with the gamers, the critics and fans. That game was heralded as one of the best video game adaptations of movies.

Naturally, a follow-up to that game was released in 1993 – Super Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.

That being said, here is my retro gaming review of Super Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.

*The experience of using a Rebel speeder to bring down an AT-AT walker with the cable remains awesome.*

Developed by Sculptured Software and LucasArts and published in America by JVC, this game is based on The Empire Strikes Back which today has been considered to be the greatest Star Wars movie ever. Of course, in order to make a cohesive video game adaptation out of the classic movie, a lot of liberties were taken when it comes to following the story. This was inevitable as the game developers needed a lot of creative freedom to make a cohesive video game.

Early story (and some notable differences from the movie)

Super Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back begins with Luke Skywalker riding a Tauntaun. Unlike the movie, Luke (controlled by players) visits some places of the wasteland of Hoth, notably caverns and hills fighting several forms of wild life (including wampa beasts), and even some probe droids.

Unlike the movie, Luke does not get rescued by Han Solo in the wilderness. Instead he defeats a giant-sized probe droid and a giant-sized wampa beast (as in-game bosses) and make his way back to Echo Base to rejoin the rebels. Upon returning at the base, he finds it filled with Imperial troopers and their machines (where are Luke’s fellow rebels?) and fights his way through to fly a rebel speeder (note: without the movie co-pilot Dak) and proceed in the Battle of Hoth.

*Luke jumping into a snow speeder without a co-pilot.*

Back at Echo Base, Han Solo (player-controlled) has to make his way through a wave of Imperial enemies and machines to meet Princess Leia, secure her and ride away on the Millennium Falcon. The Falcon (player-controlled) enters the asteroid field being attacked gradually by over twenty TIE Fighters. Once all of them have been eliminated, the Falcon jumps into light speed (which contradicts the movie).

Gameplay

Super Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back is composed mostly of 2D, side-scrolling action sequences in which players control their characters moving from left to right in order to make the game progress. The sequences are filled with lots of action-packed moments mainly due to the MANY enemies challenging the players plus sequences of shooting, jumping and using special weapons (note: the thermal detonator was awesome to use). When it comes to filling up the health meter of your character, defeating enemies result random releases of hearts (symbolizing health) which you need to pick up. Key side-scrolling segments of the game will have players facing off with in-game bosses or enemies that are large, intimidating and have their own health meters for players to reduce to zero.

As typical with most 2D side-scrolling games of the era, this game is really tough and will take gamers some patience and perseverance to complete.

What really stood out in this game are the makeshift 3D segments (made possible by Mode 7) which were pretty extensive and really interactive. The Battle of Hoth in Mode 7 was pretty engaging as players get to fly a rebel speeder over a snowy field complete with lots of Imperial enemies (including the AT-ST walkers and the AT-AT walkers) and each of them is composed of multiple 2D sprites making them look 3D as the speeder moves around. Apart from simply shooting, the interactive sequence of tagging an AT-AT walker with a cable, flying around it and wrapping it with the cable, and then watching it fall to the ground really is an awesome gaming experience which really showed how hard the game developers pushed 2D visuals and pixel art.

*A Mode 7 sequence late in the game had players using an X-Wing fighter.*

*The Battle of Hoth was a great and lengthy use of Mode 7.*

Apart from the Battle of Hoth, there was also another Mode 7 sequence involving the X-Wing Fighter approaching Cloud City. That particular sequence was noticeably shorter and did not have a standout action sequence as it was limited to the X-Wing Fighter simply shooting Bespin fighters. Another non-2D segment was the Millenium Falcon’s flight through the asteroid field which was done with the cockpit view (first-person view exactly) in which you move a cursor for targeting and moving the ship to. This segment was pretty tough because players were not only required to eliminate more than 20 TIE Fighters but also avoid incoming asteroids and maintaining the Falcon’s energy shields (which serves as a health meter)

Going back to the 2D side-scrolling segments, the use of the lightsaber by Luke remains a lot of fun to do. Not only could he slash bad guys, he could use the lightsaber defensively protecting himself from incoming energy blasts (which get deflected by the lightsaber). On the offense, Luke can jump into the air and spin with the lightsaber turned on making him an aerial slasher over the bad guys.

In keeping with the theme of the movie showing Luke Skywalker learning to be a Jedi, the Dagobah segment in the game has Luke gaining varied Force powers and he also has a separate Force energy meter. The Force powers can be used in subsequent segments of the game and they are quite useful when Luke encounters Darth Vader as the final boss in Cloud City.

The fights with Darth Vader were nicely designed. With creative freedom, the game developers expanded on Darth Vader’s use of the Force to move several pieces of debris and machines towards Luke who has to defend himself from all sides. Fighting Darth Vader with the lightsaber was tricky and for the most part, I had Luke slashing on villain with just enough space between them and many times I had Luke use the lightsaber on him while jumping and spinning in the air. Defeating Vader was a requirement to complete the game.

*Very nice artwork made for the storytelling cut scenes.*

Finally, like in Super Star Wars, players can also play as Han Solo (special attack: grenade throw) and Chewbacca (special attack: offensive spin) but only in specific segments of the game supposedly to keep in line with its story.

Conclusion

Even by today’s standards, Super Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back is still a high-quality video game that is a lot of fun to play with even though it is tough (a password system is used for in-game progress so that gamers can come back to continue) all throughout. Gameplay aside, the presentation of visuals and audio is also very solid. The sprites for the in-game characters, enemies, machines and animal were detailed to look at while the background art were immersive (like in the movies, Cloud City, Hoth and Dagobah had their distinctive visuals). The Super NES audio chip was greatly used on recreating 16-bit sound from the movies, especially John Williams’ movie scores and lightsaber sound effects.

Take note that this game was released in 1993 which is significant in the sense that people had moved on since the release of the movie Return of the Jedi (1983) and the Star Wars prequel trilogy did not begin until 1999 with Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. This game was released at a time when 2D gaming was still in strong demand and most gamers did not expect that 3D polygonal graphics would reshape video gaming eventually. In retrospect, the polygon-focused gaming consoles Sega Saturn and the original Sony PlayStation launched in late 1994 or more than a year after Super Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.

*The inevitable battle between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader.*

I myself had lots of fond memories playing this game back in the mid-1990s. I simply endured the many challenges of it and ultimately had a lot of enjoyment completing it. I even replayed the game from the start even though I knew how the game presented the ending and key story elements of the movie. I also got to replay The Empire Strikes Back on home video around the time I played this game.

Believe it or not, Super Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back was the first of the Super Star Wars trilogy on the Super NES that I actually played. After completing it, I borrowed the Super Star Wars cartridge from a friend and later bought a copy of Super Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. I completed those two other games and I can clearly say that Super Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back remains the best in game design, the best in terms of fun factor and the most memorable of them all.

If you love Star Wars and you want the best 16-bit era video game (note: you’ll need a working Super NES console or Nintendo’s Virtual Console for any Super Star Wars game) experience of it, Super Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back is highly recommended.

Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below and also please consider sharing this article to others. Also my fantasy book The World of Havenor is still available in paperback and e-book format. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me as well. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me at HavenorFantasy@twitter.com

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