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Alright, so I've been looking for a famicom game which I once saw an article about on a random website. It is supposedly similar to Little Nemo: The Dream Master in that you could play as (or transform into?) different characters. It was a Japan-only release.
Unfortunately, that's about all I can remember that I'm sure about.

Other vague memories which are likely incorrect:
- one of the characters is a guy in (orange?) armor whose face can't be seen under the helmet he's wearing
- the game's difficulty is even higher than that of Little Nemo


I've combed through various lists of famicom platformers to no avail, although that brought many other interesting games to my attention which I've never heard of. At this point I'm not even sure the game exists at all or if it just appeared in one of my dreams - yes, I dream in pixelized 2D every once in a while.
Perhaps it is Little Samson after all, even though that wasn't a famicom-only game.


Anyway, thought I'd ask here before I go insane looking through the entire list of famicom games.

miau wrote: At this point I'm not even sure the game exists at all or if it just appeared in one of my dreams - yes, I dream in pixelized 2D every once in a while.

Sorry can't help you with the game, but I'm just glad to see I'm not the only one here to dream in pixelized 2D. Sometimes gives me ideas for my own games - not often enough tough. I once dreamed about a whole game, which had a cool secret alternate path.

By your explanation, it seems to be Seirei Densetsu Lickle, or the english version called Little Samson. You cannot transform but you have to change between character which is a guy in armor (orange),



a mouse, a dragon or some other guy. This is the only famicom game that I can think of that you can transform. I will see if I can find anything else. In Cocoron, you could maybe create a character in armor but it doesn't match your explanation and I didn't play enough to confirms the details.

Wai Wai World is another platformer game where you can change between multitudes of Konami characters in real-time while adventuring. I can think of one or two who might appear to have an "orange helmet", but they're easily identifiable as chars other Konami games.

It's not Cocoron, is it?

Banshaku wrote:By your explanation, it seems to be Seirei Densetsu Lickle, or the english version called Little Samson. You cannot transform but you have to change between character which is a guy in armor (orange)

Hmm yeah, seems there aren't many famicom games like that. So I think it was either released for another 8-bit console or, more likely, it's indeed Little Samson. Are there any groundbreaking differences between the Japanese and US version?

Dwedit wrote:It's not Cocoron, is it?

That's another possibility. I just took a closer look at it. Head #5 combined with body sprite #1 comes pretty close to my memorized image of the character. However, the article didn't mention anything about being able to "build" your own hero which seems to be an essential feature of this game, but that might be just my memory. Will need to play it more thoroughly to find out.

Bregalad wrote:Sorry can't help you with the game, but I'm just glad to see I'm not the only one here to dream in pixelized 2D. Sometimes gives me ideas for my own games - not often enough tough. I once dreamed about a whole game, which had a cool secret alternate path.

Doesn't happen very often to me, but it's usually fun when it does and yes, very inspiring sometimes. I also usually get the best ideas right before falling asleep or after waking up when the dreams' presence is still strong. That's why there are always a pen and a notepad lying next to my bed.

Dwedit wrote:It's not Cocoron, is it?

Man, I had never seen this game, it's pretty cool! I though I'd never see this level of player customization in a NES game. In fact there are other innovative things about this game that I haven't seen anywhere else, even in modern games.

It's a bit hard though. The enemies are not as dumb as in most games, and they have different forms of attacking you. I'll try to play it on my NES, but I think it will be hard without savestates. I think I can manage the levels, but the bosses are really tough!

I always loved Seirei Densetsu Lickle, I think it has some of the best graphics the NES has ever seen. And it's pretty fun too.

I'd love if guys kept listing similar platformers! =)

I think it should go back in the thread with Celius but since Tokumaru asked some titles I will just add a few here.

Games that will be better than Lickle or original as Cocoron will be hard to find but if you want to try something new that is not as great as those 2 but are interesting to try you could check:

Famicom
- Bananan Ouji no Dai Bouken (Takara) Promising simple platformer that I didn't have time to play yet. Want to play someday (once I find the cart)
- Bio Senshi Dan - Increaser tono Tatakai (Jaleco) there is an english prototype if my memory is good
- Cosmo Police - Galivan (??) Not great graphically but it seems to have potential if you can understand what you have to do.. Will figure out someday
- Cross Fire (Deko) start good but ends up not so great and very repetitive that you will laugh at how much they re-used assets and level design
- Hi no Tori - Houou Hen - Gaou no Bouken (Konami) Not a great game per se but if you like Konami you have to give it a try.
- Holy Diver (Item) Prepare to cry and lament at how hard that game is. Save states required.
- Magic John (Jaleco) You may have played totally rad. The game was ok but once you see the japanese version.. You will see why they changed the character.. He look so... hmmm.. I won't say more
- Mitsume ga Tooru (Tomy) Nice platformer with good graphics and technically interesting. This is in the same spot as Licke for gameplay.
- Star war (Namco): Completely different from the american version. Worth a try.
- Wai wai word 1 and 2 (Konami): Worth a try. First one may not fit your taste since technically it's not that impressive.
- Youkai club (Jaleco) Not an impressive game but there some part could be interesting if you give it a chance.

FDS
- Arumana no kiseki (Konami) think Indiana Jones and you may like it

Nes:
- Dragon fighter (Natsume) Nice action platformer
- Kick master (Taito) Nice action platformer. Never came out in japan.
- Sword Master (Athena) Ok action platformer
- Vice: project doom (American sammy) nice action platformer
- Xexyz (Hudson soft) Interesting platformer. The original story and some silly parts were removed from the original (Kame no Ongaeshi - Urashima Densetsu)

That should keep you busy for a while

I guess I have heard of most of these games (even if only the name!), but it's probably time to sit down and play them! Thanks for the list! =)

They're not all great game in that list but it good to always try average game, be objective and see what is good in it. You never know, you can always find new ideas from those ignored or not well known games.

I've just looked at Vice: Project Doom for the first time. Man, this game uses a lot of timing tricks to pull off neat graphical effects. The graphics are all well designed besides, and the cutscenes have a great look to them.

Does anyone know about a Japanese Playstation 2D hack and slash with bitmapped graphics? Any lead on PS games with traditional 2D design would be great.

strat wrote:Does anyone know about a Japanese Playstation 2D hack and slash with bitmapped graphics? Any lead on PS games with traditional 2D design would be great.

Castlevania Symphony of the Night

Gunner's Heaven

Then go for Banpresto's Panzer Bandit. Never came out in the US. It's very similar in game play to one game that was popular on the saturn but I forgot the name at the moment.

edit:

Found the name. Similar to Guardian Heroes on the saturn.