That snow field, ugh. It would have made me quit if I wasn’t playing the game to review it. I was excited for the movement not being grid based on this one, even though the entire game design was still grid-based. I found jumping over water and pits really tough here. Also that low health beep... I still kinda like it though, probably just because I like the first so much.
@@rorz999 The weirder part is that he's praising the controls as better. Yeah, they're more traditional, but the grid system was really good (not to mention unique) once you got the hang of it and I think fans of the series much prefer it.
Jon Smith I beat the first game and I’m currently in chapter 4 of the second game and I might just quit. The jumping is erratic and unpredictable but some of the platformjng requires this ultra precise movement. It’s a decent game
@@JonSmith-hk1bqHow many games have had sequels that, upon "fixing" what made the original unique and confirming it to the average, have lost much of their appeal? Pikmin 4 is a recent example.
Wow, didn't expect to see my request pop up so quickly (I'm Halaster on patreon). I'm glad you enjoyed the game! I agree that the time travel elements are the main hook of the game, there's some super cool stuff in there. But yeah, the platforming can be tricky (and awkward) at times, and the difficulty can get pretty crazy. I'm surprised you didn't mention that one boss in the sewers with the sinking platforms, or show it. That one is hell, hah! Great video, and great content as always!
It's one I'd been playing off and on the past couple years anyway, I just kept getting sick of that stupid overworld structure, I had plenty of notes written already, it was just a matter of fleshing it out into a review and recording footage
Star Tropics makes my heart soar, and I am so sad it is such an underrated game, to this day. I would LOVE to see Mike Jones as a fighter in Smash Ultimate.
I just downloaded both games onto my phone's emulator. I never wouldve remembered the name of it without you. Been trying to remember it for many years. I found the first game at a yard sale in 98 at the age of 6 for the price of 3 packs of candy cigarettes and 2 warheads: $1.000. I loved it. Months later i got part 2 from a neighbor kid when i traded 5 pokemon cards for it. Common cards, at that Time passed, my nes and games were lost to time. Been trying to remember it for years.. but couldnt . Now i have them both back. Thank you, snes drunk!
When the intro scene with Mike used to scare me. Just a brick wall with a blue sky behind it. I thought something was going to come from behind the corner of the brick wall...
I remember having to mail the NIntendo Power game counselors to find out the code from the letter on the first game. When I was a kid I probably had close to 100 NES games and never kept any of the boxes and manuals usually were lost or thrown away 🤦🏻♂️ Boy I wish I still had the games and took better care of everything LOL! This video was a great reminder that I have to play the second StarTropics 👍🏻 Shame they never continued the series, could’ve made for a great N64 game.
OG Star Tropics is my favorite NES game. I still pine for the Super Star Tropics that never was. Would have loved to see where these developers took Mike Jones on the SNES hardware.
I am so late on watching this video.....but that Mike Jones reference, solid GOLD Keep up the great work, you have been a key cog in my retro game buying/enjoyment
I never had the first StarTropics game, but I grew up with Zoda's Revenge, Astyanax, and a few others. Most of the NES games I had growing up were obscure/lesser known titles. The only main stream titles I played were Double Dragon II, Super Mario Bros, and MegaMan 5.
I had a fun time with it when I used to play it on my NES way back in the day. Occasionally fire it up on emulator now and then when I want some simple dungeon crawling. The boss gauntlet at the end isn't too bad, you just gotta collect as many medicine bottles at the end, and try to remember that your fully upgraded psychic shot is way better than your sword, and anytime you take enough damage to downgrade your psychic shot, you should immediately use a medicine bottle to re-upgrade it. The fully upgraded psychic shot travels the entire screen distance which lets you shoot from much further away and it trivializes the first several bosses so you shouldn't even be getting hit the first several of them. Otherwise, IMO, the only hard levels are the Wild West Mines (those gold guys are just annoying and the final boss you REALLY need the invincibility item for because how fast he can kill you) and that Transylvania Area (because it's confusing and it's like an iron-man sort of dungeon crawl). Otherwise... it's really not that hard in terms of difficulty. Other than a few tricky jumps. What really helps to remember is that your character will pause at the edge of a ledge which helps you time jumps to make sure you jump the full distance and not fall short on a jump. Walk up to the edge, wait for the pause, hit the jump button and you're guaranteed to make the jump assuming you were jumping to and from the right spot. If you fall, you were trying to jump something that's not possible, or you jumped at a bit of the wrong angle, or you mis-timed it (with those ledges that appear and disappear like in the London Sewers). All in all, it's one of the better games of the NES library, and one of the few that wasn't nigh-impossible to get to the end of.
I'll try for a great rest of my day. I had an appointment set up for 9:30 at a place 45 minutes from where I live, only to look on the website and find they open at 10.
Ahh, this is so right. I played through ST1 but recently tried ST2 and gave up after, as you put it well, the E.T. for Nintendo experience. I'll give it another chance. Thanks SNES Drunk!
The late release date was the reason I missed it: I was well into the SNES by then, which is a shame since the first game is on my top five NES games list. Thanks for the review, SNES Drunk!
This is my wife's favourite game of all time! She grew up playing it as a kid and it wasn't until we met that I told her about Startopics! Immediately she had to play through the original, but definitely did't like the whole grid mechanics. Still; pretty cool considering the only other games she really likes are Bomberman, Professor Layton, and Puyo Pop style games.
I just bought this game and waiting for it to come in the mail. Startropics was definitely surprised me with how good it is other than the last stage that was pretty frustrating
This was a good game! I had it as a kid and I remember lending it to a friend of mine for his copy of Final Fantasy. Well, he actually lent my game to someone else and I never got it back so I kept Final Fantasy and later eventually bought Startropics II again! Good times!
I had no problem with StarTropics' movement system at all. It was just very very precise, which, the longer you play, the more you'll learn to appreciate. All the enemies' movements have to work within the same system, which makes combat fairly intuitive. Also, the movement mechanics in II make it really easy to cheese enemies and traps, there's a bunch of stuff you can just bypass because of it. I personally feel like they just didn't test it all that well.
Exactly. I always tell people that StarTropics is more of a strategy game than the straight-up action game. Once you get the hang of how you move and how enemies move, it's not as hard as you'd think. As for ST2, the free movement and being able to attack diagonally makes the game much easier overall, even if the platforming can be tricky at times.
Always a fan of the star tropics games. Played them back when they were new. Game has the charm of the original and the time travel has a similar vibe to Secret of Evermore; another time traveling usa marketed release from japan. 2 issues I had with second: 1). Biggest issue is no invulnerability frames when hit, unlike the first game. While learning and navigating dungeons it creates overwhelming moments that lost a life. And each death reset weapons and impacted health. Exploration became a grind. 2). with the free movement lining up jumps incredibly finicky. And with disappearing and reappearing platform jumps that rushed some. Also I vaguely recall height being hard to trust as could never be sure I’d get enough distance off that taller platform.
Loved your Mike Jones (WHO?) & Dr. J references! (Chappelle voice) The Black Delegation officially drafts you... But we're giving back Kanye! I wonder, are there any fan-made versions of Star Tropics 1 & 2? #TeamSNESdrunk
Dragon Quest / Warrior 2 had a similar problem with the map in the final area. Pitfalls everywhere. But it also had a lot of one shot enemies and no save spots. The end of DQ2 on the NES had a lot of issues.
hope Drunk can read this , please kind sir, magic of scheherazade , it is a great game, can u please make a video of it ? and please, if possible , sword master ? thank u :)
StarTropics is my favorite game of all time. I remember a friend of mine telling me about a sequel which he read about in "Club Nintendo Extra". I tried to find but with no luck (pre-internet days). Years later I found out the game never got a PAL-release, hence I couldn't find it. When I started collecting I managed to get a complete copy of Zoda's Revenge pretty quickly. At first I was kind of a disappointed with it but I appreciate the game more now. Still the original is the better game IMO.
"The original's controls may be a putoff" And believe it or not, die-hard fans of the first one wrote off the second game for exactly the same reasons you suggest the second game for!
I'd rather deal with underwhelming Mercy Invincibility than garbage evasion ability. The former still has issues that has me wonder why competitive games want to have it so damn much, but at least being able to avoid being hit in the first place keeps things interesting.
Feel like I'm the only one who couldn't stand the beginning of the second game. Fall in a hole every 2 steps and throw some crappy rocks. Funny how continuously snesdrunk missed while mentioning freedom of controls 2:37
Star Tropics 1 is one of my top ten favorite NES games. Star Tropics 2 is good, but it was released so late in the NES life that no one played it. It's not as good as 1 in my opinion, but it's fun. It should've been on the SNES, not the NES.
Startropics 1 and 2 was a huge part of my childhood. I can still remember the music. Hearing it in this video is such a trip.
Changing direction of his jump in mid air!? Are you sure he's not related to that Dr. J?
Respect for the "Who?" Reference
Mike Jones!
Who?
Mike Jones!
It's a rap reference
I about died.
@Joe Blow He's Mike Jones
@@yaktaur Who?
I had to check what year this was posted after he did it
That snow field, ugh. It would have made me quit if I wasn’t playing the game to review it. I was excited for the movement not being grid based on this one, even though the entire game design was still grid-based. I found jumping over water and pits really tough here. Also that low health beep...
I still kinda like it though, probably just because I like the first so much.
Love your channel
The second startropics is okay but I thought the jumping led to a lot of cheap deaths
Hi Pam❤
The "Mike Jones" reference. Absolutely perfect. I tip my hat to you my good sir
I never knew there was a sequel until I watch this video, hopefully, this series would return at any point.
I actually still have this gem in the original box and book. Good review.
So sad this series wasn't continued.
yeah pretty sad it never got a another game.
Yup, a SNES sequel would've really played to the system's strengths.
I think you’re the only person I’ve ever seen who gives a positive review to Star tropics 2...
@@rorz999 The weirder part is that he's praising the controls as better. Yeah, they're more traditional, but the grid system was really good (not to mention unique) once you got the hang of it and I think fans of the series much prefer it.
Jon Smith I beat the first game and I’m currently in chapter 4 of the second game and I might just quit. The jumping is erratic and unpredictable but some of the platformjng requires this ultra precise movement.
It’s a decent game
The story of the 2nd game is really bad....
I like both. The sprite art in 2 is top notch.
@@JonSmith-hk1bqHow many games have had sequels that, upon "fixing" what made the original unique and confirming it to the average, have lost much of their appeal? Pikmin 4 is a recent example.
In before they say it: Mike Jones for Smash. Lol. Jokes aside, I really need to play these games. I love a hidden gem or two
Actually, I did vote Mike Jones for Smash.
I voted for him in the ballot too. Devs must of been confused as to who that is.
Startropics is one of the few obscure franchises that doesn't have a single reference in Smash Ultimate strangely enough.
@@Entropic_Alloy I think the Japanese resent it to be honest.
@@Fuggettabouttitt Why would they?
Wow, didn't expect to see my request pop up so quickly (I'm Halaster on patreon). I'm glad you enjoyed the game! I agree that the time travel elements are the main hook of the game, there's some super cool stuff in there. But yeah, the platforming can be tricky (and awkward) at times, and the difficulty can get pretty crazy. I'm surprised you didn't mention that one boss in the sewers with the sinking platforms, or show it. That one is hell, hah!
Great video, and great content as always!
It's one I'd been playing off and on the past couple years anyway, I just kept getting sick of that stupid overworld structure, I had plenty of notes written already, it was just a matter of fleshing it out into a review and recording footage
Yo as soon as this dude said "Who" I lost my shit. You're a good guy snesdrunk
Star Tropics makes my heart soar, and I am so sad it is such an underrated game, to this day. I would LOVE to see Mike Jones as a fighter in Smash Ultimate.
You wouldn't like it this much if it weren't underrated, though. And after reading these comments I don't think we can even say it is anymore.
ok?
My mom introduced me to video games with this series. Thanks for covering it.
was NOT expecting that Mike Jones bit. Love it and this channel
That Mike Jones reference took me out 😂. Man, I'm feeling old tho
I just downloaded both games onto my phone's emulator.
I never wouldve remembered the name of it without you.
Been trying to remember it for many years.
I found the first game at a yard sale in 98 at the age of 6 for the price of 3 packs of candy cigarettes and 2 warheads: $1.000. I loved it. Months later i got part 2 from a neighbor kid when i traded 5 pokemon cards for it. Common cards, at that
Time passed, my nes and games were lost to time.
Been trying to remember it for years.. but couldnt .
Now i have them both back.
Thank you, snes drunk!
Although this was a pretty solid title, a 1994 release may have had something to do with it never coming back in the future.
1:12 = automatic thumbs up!
I loved both StarTropics games. I wish Nintendo would do one last game to complete a trilogy.
Reminds me of terranigma a bjt. Meeting influential historical figures. Traveling to areas that correspond to real world location. Solid game
When the intro scene with Mike used to scare me. Just a brick wall with a blue sky behind it. I thought something was going to come from behind the corner of the brick wall...
Thank you for always making my mornings awesome SNES Durnk
Have a great rest of you're day.
I remember having to mail the NIntendo Power game counselors to find out the code from the letter on the first game. When I was a kid I probably had close to 100 NES games and never kept any of the boxes and manuals usually were lost or thrown away 🤦🏻♂️ Boy I wish I still had the games and took better care of everything LOL! This video was a great reminder that I have to play the second StarTropics 👍🏻 Shame they never continued the series, could’ve made for a great N64 game.
I bought this game in 1998 for $4.00 from a Kay Bee Toys bargain bin during an Academic Bowl trip. Best deal EVER.
OG Star Tropics is my favorite NES game. I still pine for the Super Star Tropics that never was. Would have loved to see where these developers took Mike Jones on the SNES hardware.
What an awesome channel! No work today, I'm binging
Still got my copy. Love this game.
I am so late on watching this video.....but that Mike Jones reference, solid GOLD
Keep up the great work, you have been a key cog in my retro game buying/enjoyment
I never had the first StarTropics game, but I grew up with Zoda's Revenge, Astyanax, and a few others. Most of the NES games I had growing up were obscure/lesser known titles. The only main stream titles I played were Double Dragon II, Super Mario Bros, and MegaMan 5.
The last level was cool how they brought back the old music from the first star tropics
I had a fun time with it when I used to play it on my NES way back in the day. Occasionally fire it up on emulator now and then when I want some simple dungeon crawling. The boss gauntlet at the end isn't too bad, you just gotta collect as many medicine bottles at the end, and try to remember that your fully upgraded psychic shot is way better than your sword, and anytime you take enough damage to downgrade your psychic shot, you should immediately use a medicine bottle to re-upgrade it. The fully upgraded psychic shot travels the entire screen distance which lets you shoot from much further away and it trivializes the first several bosses so you shouldn't even be getting hit the first several of them. Otherwise, IMO, the only hard levels are the Wild West Mines (those gold guys are just annoying and the final boss you REALLY need the invincibility item for because how fast he can kill you) and that Transylvania Area (because it's confusing and it's like an iron-man sort of dungeon crawl). Otherwise... it's really not that hard in terms of difficulty. Other than a few tricky jumps.
What really helps to remember is that your character will pause at the edge of a ledge which helps you time jumps to make sure you jump the full distance and not fall short on a jump. Walk up to the edge, wait for the pause, hit the jump button and you're guaranteed to make the jump assuming you were jumping to and from the right spot. If you fall, you were trying to jump something that's not possible, or you jumped at a bit of the wrong angle, or you mis-timed it (with those ledges that appear and disappear like in the London Sewers).
All in all, it's one of the better games of the NES library, and one of the few that wasn't nigh-impossible to get to the end of.
I'll try for a great rest of my day. I had an appointment set up for 9:30 at a place 45 minutes from where I live, only to look on the website and find they open at 10.
I played a bit of the first star tropics on my NES mini and enjoyed it. Cheers for another great vid mate 👌
Ahh, this is so right. I played through ST1 but recently tried ST2 and gave up after, as you put it well, the E.T. for Nintendo experience. I'll give it another chance. Thanks SNES Drunk!
Creeper mode here but 9 year old me would've found that 8 bit image of Cleopatra pretty hot.
She's a knockout!
Oh man. The Star Tropics games were some of my favorites as a kid.
Thanks SNES Drunk. I love both Startropics games (Yes, more 1 than 2) and this was a great way to start my day.
Great timing and ty! Ive been getting into NES games more lately and ive been looking at this one.
Thanks for the review. I was kinda on the fence but I'm definitely picking this one up.
Before watching the video: "Yes, it is!"
Mark as Spoiler.
For anyone who plays NES games, it's obvious...
Man...seeing this brings back so many memories. I use to play the hell out of this game as a kid. This game series and Guardian Legends need reboots.
For a second I thought you meant gauntlet legends
The late release date was the reason I missed it: I was well into the SNES by then, which is a shame since the first game is on my top five NES games list.
Thanks for the review, SNES Drunk!
I was so happy we got StarTropic's II. It was like a long forgotten dream coming true.
I woke up to star tropics theme as my alarm signal today, I might just need to strat playing zodas revenge because I never played it in the 90's.
Just replayed the original on my Switch. Good shit, bro.
This is my wife's favourite game of all time! She grew up playing it as a kid and it wasn't until we met that I told her about Startopics! Immediately she had to play through the original, but definitely did't like the whole grid mechanics. Still; pretty cool considering the only other games she really likes are Bomberman, Professor Layton, and Puyo Pop style games.
I just bought this game and waiting for it to come in the mail. Startropics was definitely surprised me with how good it is other than the last stage that was pretty frustrating
I almost spit out my coffee at the Mike Jones reference. Damn it, that was perfection!
I still prefer the first one moreover, but this sequel isn't bad; it's hard if you dont know your way through that damn hedge maze though.
automatic thumbs up for the Mike Jones joke
This was a good game! I had it as a kid and I remember lending it to a friend of mine for his copy of Final Fantasy. Well, he actually lent my game to someone else and I never got it back so I kept Final Fantasy and later eventually bought Startropics II again! Good times!
That Mike Jones jumpshot scared the shit out of me. Well done.
That "Mike Jones" reference was hilarious 😂😂😂
Another great video Drunk. How many intro's do you have? LOL. I never played the star tropics games but look fun. Keep up the good work.
I've been meaning to pick up a copy of this for many, many years, but still haven't for some reason. Great review!
I had no problem with StarTropics' movement system at all. It was just very very precise, which, the longer you play, the more you'll learn to appreciate. All the enemies' movements have to work within the same system, which makes combat fairly intuitive. Also, the movement mechanics in II make it really easy to cheese enemies and traps, there's a bunch of stuff you can just bypass because of it. I personally feel like they just didn't test it all that well.
Exactly. I always tell people that StarTropics is more of a strategy game than the straight-up action game.
Once you get the hang of how you move and how enemies move, it's not as hard as you'd think.
As for ST2, the free movement and being able to attack diagonally makes the game much easier overall, even if the platforming can be tricky at times.
StarTropics controls are the entire appeal of the game. It's like kids who complained you couldn't jump in Bionic Commando.
Always a fan of the star tropics games. Played them back when they were new. Game has the charm of the original and the time travel has a similar vibe to Secret of Evermore; another time traveling usa marketed release from japan.
2 issues I had with second:
1). Biggest issue is no invulnerability frames when hit, unlike the first game. While learning and navigating dungeons it creates overwhelming moments that lost a life. And each death reset weapons and impacted health. Exploration became a grind.
2). with the free movement lining up jumps incredibly finicky. And with disappearing and reappearing platform jumps that rushed some. Also I vaguely recall height being hard to trust as could never be sure I’d get enough distance off that taller platform.
About #2?
th-cam.com/video/km1R36VtQEk/w-d-xo.html
The developers provide a moment of practice with the free movement in the Chapter 2 dungeon.
This game was so major for me when I was a kid
Played this for the first time in years when I found it on the switch virtual console thingy. Still love this game
Loved your Mike Jones (WHO?) & Dr. J references! (Chappelle voice) The Black Delegation officially drafts you... But we're giving back Kanye!
I wonder, are there any fan-made versions of Star Tropics 1 & 2?
#TeamSNESdrunk
The fluid animation on the slimes at 2:39 stand out to me for some reason. Maybe I'm crazy, but that seems pretty damn smooth for NES.
Oh snap! I forgot all about this game. One of my favorite NES games as a kid.
That music at the end sounded exactly like the music from Spelunker.
Watches video, has great rest of day. Thanks, SNES Drunk!
I never played Star Tropics and Star Tropics 2 but I’ll play those games soon.
Not everyone gets a video game made after themselves. I feel special. And too.....there is actually a Dr. Jones in my family😂
But nobody calls you mike tho Mr. Michael
Yeah....this is true😂😂
Total length of video: 325 secs.
Total length of "SNES Drunk": 3 secs.
.92% of the video was spent listening to "SNES Drunk."
Those are rookie numbers, we need better percentages
For a second there I thought you were going a completely different way and say something like "Half-Life 3 confirmed!" :D
Very thank
That mike jones “ whoooo “ lmao
mike jones!..
Good to see Tetris blocks getting some love.
I beat both these games as a kid on the original NES console without hacks. Wish they would continue the series and Mica was my fantasy as a kid.
He scared the hell out of me when the said, "Who!?", before showing the picture of, Mike Jones.
Looks better than the 1st one so I'd say it's worth playing. It's on my list of games to collect.
Awesome video. I remember seeing commercials for this game and going wow they still make nes games. Have you done Crystalis?
Yes th-cam.com/video/7Eqhaa4CmPc/w-d-xo.html
Dragon Quest / Warrior 2 had a similar problem with the map in the final area. Pitfalls everywhere. But it also had a lot of one shot enemies and no save spots. The end of DQ2 on the NES had a lot of issues.
hope Drunk can read this , please kind sir, magic of scheherazade , it is a great game, can u please make a video of it ? and please, if possible , sword master ? thank u :)
Mike Jones and Dr.J, saving the inner city 👍
I used to have this one. It took me so long to get out of the Egypt stage
That mike jones joke definitely showed your age 🤣🤣😂😂
StarTropics is my favorite game of all time.
I remember a friend of mine telling me about a sequel which he read about in "Club Nintendo Extra". I tried to find but with no luck (pre-internet days). Years later I found out the game never got a PAL-release, hence I couldn't find it. When I started collecting I managed to get a complete copy of Zoda's Revenge pretty quickly. At first I was kind of a disappointed with it but I appreciate the game more now. Still the original is the better game IMO.
Great references! I own this, havent gotten to it yet. Loved #1
Lol at the Mike jones thing.. That made my day
It's sad that Nintendo forgot about this series. The crossover wiki lamentably lists only one way references -- made BY the StarTropics games.
You should do a video on all the Bomberman games on snes and/or a video on imported puzzle games.
"The original's controls may be a putoff" And believe it or not, die-hard fans of the first one wrote off the second game for exactly the same reasons you suggest the second game for!
Agreed
I'd rather deal with underwhelming Mercy Invincibility than garbage evasion ability. The former still has issues that has me wonder why competitive games want to have it so damn much, but at least being able to avoid being hit in the first place keeps things interesting.
Feel like I'm the only one who couldn't stand the beginning of the second game. Fall in a hole every 2 steps and throw some crappy rocks. Funny how continuously snesdrunk missed while mentioning freedom of controls 2:37
Startropics 2 was a good game, but the original Startropics was just so damn good. Definitely play it.
I play both every year, so yes!
Short answer, before pressing play. YES!!!
LMAO a mike Jones reference for #throwbackthursday
You my boy SNESDrunk!!!
1:14 good one
I haven't even finished the video but the short answer is, Yes. Yes it is.
Star Tropics 1 is one of my top ten favorite NES games. Star Tropics 2 is good, but it was released so late in the NES life that no one played it. It's not as good as 1 in my opinion, but it's fun. It should've been on the SNES, not the NES.
I have both games for NES and still play them! The game doesn't remind me as much as Zelda as it does Lolo/Eggerland, if you remember that game.
Wish they'd put it on the switch. That's how I really got to play StarTropics
StarTropics needs a remaster... I’d buy it !
This game really looks awesome.
Been waiting on this one for 2 years lol
Hey! Love your reviews! 😎
Yo that mike Jones joke hit so hard 😂 I say the same shit every time
Pretty good graphics for an NES game. You can tell cartridge sizes got a lot larger so late into the NES life cycle.