The Wonder Years 05.01.08: Week 53 - Equinox
Posted by Owain J. Brimfield on 05.01.2008
Time for the summer solstice.
Welcome to the column where all gamers of a certain age come to wallow in 16-bit nostalgia. I'm your host, Owain J. Brimfield, and I'll be discussing some of the hidden gems and instant classics of gaming's golden era. Some of these games may crop up on the Wii's Virtual Console or Xbox Live Arcade at some point, some may be consigned to the annals of history. Either way, they're worth tracking down if you missed them first time round, or replaying if you were lucky enough to catch them. Let's take a trip to:
EQUINOX
(Software Creations, Super NES, 1993)
Continuing our run these past few weeks of looking at games that flew under the radar somewhat on their initial release, we follow up with Equinox on the SNES. A sequel to the Faimcom's Solstice: The Quest for the Staff of Demnos *cough*, an isometric dungeon-based adventure that ripped off borrowed heavily from the Rare (then known as Ultimate Play the Game) title Knight Lore. I think it's pretty safe to say that the isometric perspective has pretty much gone the way of the dodo and the Tab Clear when it comes to games; although you might still see the odd game employing it (usually ball-based puzzlers of the Marble Madness ilk), it seems that these days it's pretty much regarded as the preserve of retro fantasy adventures and nothing else. An unfair judgment? Well, no, it's actually pretty accurate, but that doesn't preclude the perspective from having been used effectively back in the day.
And so we come to Equinox, a title that I thought looked pretty damn exciting when I was reading reviews in Nintendo magazines way back in '93 [in fact I think I may well still have some of them in a box in the attic... mental note to do some rummaging later] but I can't recall ever having been mentioned since. Yeah, it's one of "those" games, although hopefully some fans will come out of the woodwork on reading this. The story goes that Shadax, protagonist of the original Solstice, has been captured by his maverick apprentice Sonia, and only his son Glendaal has the strength of character and magical talents to man up and go rescue his old pa. Why the son of a beardy English wizard should be an Arabian elf is never really explained, but story and exposition isn't really Equinox's strong suit - while the game certainly grasps some of the hallmarks of an RPG, it's really much more of a stripped down arcade adventure.
The gameplay itself, accordingly, is relatively simple. Glendaal is plonked down into an overworld, which is in fact probably more accurately labeled a hub as it features none of the usual overworld staples like towns or NPCs (there are a few random monsters, but they're few and far between). Instead, it's more of a means of accessing the game's eight dungeons which are where the meat of the title lies. Beginning with yer usual fantasy game clichés, Glendaal works his way through a smattering of typical environments from dungeons to forest castles, before about halfway through the game suddenly gets a small injection of originality and we find ourselves wandering around underwater castles, ghost ships and abandoned laboratories. Each dungeon takes the form of a series of interlinked, linear rooms, each of which has a set puzzle or bad guy that must be bested before the next can be opened. It's an old fashioned formula, sure, but one that's employed with head-scratching perplexity at times, and with the final dungeon (Sonia's ice fortress) containing, I believe, 107 rooms, there's a lot of game for your money. Well, not that you can really buy Equinox with real money any more, but we'll get to that in a bit.
Glendaal himself, despite being nicely drawn and silkily animated, is pretty limited in his abilities, which are pretty much restricted to jumping, pushing blocks and throwing shuriken and the (and this is a rather obvious criticism) horribly limited number of enemies he encounters. Luckily the boss design makes up for that latter aspect somewhat, which is understandable given that each dungeon revolves around collecting a series of twelve orbs that are used to summon the chief monster-face. Despite everything thus far having seemed pretty standard, though, the game actually does feel surprisingly fresh to play. A large part of this is, no doubt, the gorgeously over-saturated and primary-colored graphics, which are so vivid in places that you may well start seeing spots in your eyes. In a good way, of course. The score, too, removes things a further layer from the typical, as rather than the rousing adventurous themes you'd expect, Equinox is in fact soundtracked almost entirely by lengthy ambient pieces, which creates a rather startling mood at times. Mind you, once you're hit in the face by one of the dungeons' occasional vicious, vicious puzzles you won't have much time to think about that.
As I mentioned earlier, I really don't remember ever having seen Equinox mentioned again after my brief enthusiasm for the title in the mid 90s. Anybody? Software Creations actually went out of business a year or two after the game's release, which is pretty surprising given the number of solid titles the company put out (more of which will undoubtedly be covered in future editions of "The Wonder Years" - Rock N' Roll Racing, anyone? Thought so.), so god knows who even owns the rights to the title. In an ideal world, it would probably be classed as abandonware and then some lovely, kindly developer could pick it up and remix it as a Wii-ware title. Yeah, I'm stretching here, but why not. Equinox is a solid arcade-flavored title that won't set anyone's world on fire, but would surely do well as a downloadable release for the less-casual gamer (if such a thing even exists any more), even if it is fifteen years out of date.
Equinox trivia
Nintendo themselves animated the motion of the lead character Glendaal on behalf of Software Creations. That's what you get with a development company whose name was apparently chosen by a seven-year-old.
Composer Tim Follin also scored the disappointing Ecco: Defender of the Future on the Dreamcast, which is quite a variety of work in just two titles.
Allegedly the second boss, rock monster Sung-Sung, had its design patterned after Richard Nixon:
Nixon
Sung-Sung
The Videosphere
Let's take a look at this week's video highlight. While I don't tend to like spoiling game endings, I figured since anyone who hasn't played Equinox by now probably isn't going to get the chance, so why not post a video showing the game's ending sequence? For anyone who spent the time to get past the godforsaken final dungeon with its hundred rooms or however many, it'll no doubt be a satisfying experience.
Reactions and interactions
Seems like a couple of my fellow 411 Games staff were intrigued by Another World last week...
Posted by: Mark Salmela
"This is a retro title that I never actually played or heard of until just a couple months ago when a friend showed it to me. I like the idea but I grew bored of it quickly. Thankfully your video showed me how to pick up the gun, as that's where we gave up."
Glad I could be of assistance, Salms. It's certainly not a game for everyone, but I'd urge you to give it another chance as it could well be a 'grower'.
Posted by: Ramon Aranda
"I may have to delve into this game when I get the chance. Lots of titles that never got their due out there."
Hey, that's what I'm here for. Bringing 16-bit classics into the limelight one game at a time! That, and drunkenly heckling fat kids in the street until they run away or fall over. I can't decide which outcome is more amusing.
General indulgences
Every week in this section I'll endeavor to provide you, the faithful readers, with a fascinating insight into the various forms of entertainment currently dominating my spare time.
This week, I have been mostly enjoying:
Final Fight, the SNES original which isn't anywhere near as good as I remember it. I bet I was thinking of one of the sequels.
Jumper, a "copy" of which my housemate "acquired" the other day. It's a decent if short action/SF flick, but I do question why Doug Liman apparently chose to produce the film with unrelenting Turkish subtitles. What?
How to Look Good Naked, a surreal British TV show in which a marauding, camp Asian chap by the name of Gok Wan accosts fat women and squeezes their wobbly bits for the purposes of making them feel good about themselves. Queer in many senses of the word.
and tax returns. Yep, it's that time of year when I have to spend several hours hunched at my desk trying to figure out whether "Net ITIP Earnings" is the same as "Employee Contributions Payable". And does the tax office really care about the 59 pence I earned in interest on my bank account? The answer, if you speak fluent bureaucratese, is yes.
And finally…
As always, reader feedback and suggestions are welcome, I respond to everything so just drop me a line or leave a comment. You can also check out my science fiction column "The Flux Capacitor" over at 411 Movies. Next week in "The Wonder Years" - a teaming of some the greatest ass-kickers the 8-bit generation ever knew. Until then - keep it real, keep it retro.
