In search of GOTY for 1985

Yeah yeah yeah, 1985, NES launch, OMG Super Mario Bros!!!!! OMG OMG OMG, Nintendo has single-handedly saved the vidya game industry! Miyamoto IS MY GOD!!!! YAAAAAAAAWN

This is so me as I'm typing this. Yeah, I'm a fucking dog. PLOT TWIST!

Meanwhile, the FC has entered a second full year of its lineup and I can't help but reaffirm my suspicion that yeah, I'm not really into platformers. I remember my sister talking about playing a game at a friend's house involving mushrooms, stomping on turtles, etc. and I was like, "Dude, did YOU eat a mushroom?" (Paraphrasing as my knowledge of psychedelic drugs at the time was limited)

I played this as a kid decades ago and thought it was as dumb as I do today

I did eventually play Super Mario Bros at some friend's house but I don't remember being particularly impressed. However, given the historical significance, it IS the obvious choice for GOTY so let's see if there's anything else in 1985 that could top it. Given that the Master System's 1985 launch lineup of sports games is not exactly GOTY material, we'll have to dive into the PC MASTER RACE.

King's Quest II

I tried the 2010 VGA remake which is completely different from the original. This game deserves bonus kudos points just based on the fact AGD interactive offers a remake for free with permission from Sierra. Still, while King's Quest was my GOTY for 1984 based on its revolutionary graphics, and even though the remake is great, the original sequel didn't add too much from the first game.

It's not 1984 anymore, not good enough for GOTY. Sorry grandma.

In the first game, you become King of Daventry by finding some shit around the kingdom. In the sequel, you get horny, so you set out to find a woman. I'm paraphrasing but that's essentially the plot of the game. The VGA remake adds a bunch of additional plot and is worth a playthrough but the original is not what I would call GOTY.

Tenshitachi no Gogo （天使たちの午後）

Readers of this blog know I would never dare to sully myself with eroge but due to my self-proclaimed title of Japanese game historian and archivist, I feel I have to mention Tenshitachi no Gogo, supposedly a pioneer in the bishōjo/galge genre. According to random guy on internet, Jast was originally in some sort of computer equipment business so they were the first to scan high quality art into umm... ascii porn using fancy (for the 80s) scanning equipment.

You may have heard of Jast USA, and if you have not, I do not suggest googling them at work. Sadly, the original Jast that the USA brand was associated with is no longer with us, which is kinda ironic given that Jast USA is happily chugging along to this day.

Praying for the arrest of the local serial rapist?

Of course, if I were to play this game, I would opt for the PC98 master race remake in the Tenshitachi no Gogo collection. However, since I did NOT touch this filth, I have no idea that you play pretty much a serial rapist. Not exactly the most subtle and touching love story. Simpler times... I GUESS? Anyways, the collection doesn't come out till a decade later so why am I putting this screenshot here? (clicks, clicks, click$$$$$!)

PC98 Master race don't wear pants cause static

Karuizawa Yukai Annai（軽井沢誘拐案内）

So for GOTY of 1985, I'm going to have to go for Karuizawa Yukai Annai (at least for now). While I didn't give it a very high score, there's really not much in contention that I could find for this year, perhaps due to the NES hype. Well, except for Ultima IV, which I have yet to play so this GOTY position is certainly tentative depending on how much I enjoy Ultima.

Plus, I gave King's Quest GOTY for the previous year even though Hokkaido blah blah had a far better story so I feel as the last entry in the series before we lose the creator to mainstream DQ, this game and the series as a whole deserve 1985's GOTY.
It's pervy lighthearted fun, and is an overall interesting title both for its gameplay and its place in gaming history. On top of that, nobody talks about it so GOTY it is. YAY!! (Yeah, nobody cares, I know.)

Other games I tried

WILL The Death Trap II
The only Square developed offering in 1985 (Thexder was just licensed and not made by Square I guess). While the title screen looked good, it was a step backwards in many ways to the first Death Trap and extremely short.

Games I plan to try later

エルドラド伝奇

ザ・スクリーマー

ドルアーガの塔
コズミックソルジャー

Ring Quest

マカダム

Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar

Xanadu

英雄ヤマトタケル

セイバー

地球戦士ライーザ

ハイドライドII

ルパン三世 -カリオストロの城-

Karuizawa Yukai Annai（軽井沢誘拐案内）

Though light on narrative, the ending of Hokkaidou rensa satsujin blah blah definitely left an impression on me and will probably go down as the best adventure game of 1984. Though it did not make GOTY simply due to the genre defining technical achievement of King's Quest, so far, it was definitely the game I enjoyed most from that year.

So of course, I had to check out the 3rd entry in Horii Yuji's Mysteries trilogy: Karuizawa Yukai Annai. At least this time, the title is far easier to memorize and it is a very curious title: Karuizawa kidnap guide. Never have I seen the word "kidnap" paired with "guide" before. I hope it doesn't trigger some FBI search alert... oops, I guess writing about the FBI doesn't help me here. Anyways, since there is no PC98 Master race remake, I will delve into the original PC88 version. Oh wait, there's a phone app remake? Let's see...

OMG, I just literally barfed RIGHT in my mouth just now

Wow, Square, you've somehow managed to make a game from 1985 look WORSE on a phone with probably about 1000x better hardware. That's... quite an achievement. BRAVO! Ok anyways, let's get on to the OG PC88 Master race.

So this is a heart breaking mystery murder adventure like the last game right??

In the last game, you played as a detective investigating a series of murders by ordering around your slightly perverted detective underling. Right off the bat, I have a feeling Kuruizawa Yukai Annai is going for a slightly different tone.

Man, I can't wait to solve a thrilling mystery!

But I can't quite put my finger on just what feels different about this game.

So is this a game where I need an emergency ESC in case my mom walks in?

This time around, you play as a regular Joe Blow vacationing with your girlfriend at a cabin in you guessed it: Karuizawa (OMG PLOT TWIST!). After you get frisky with your GF (that's always a good way to start a game), she worries that her younger sister Nagisa hasn't returned from an errand to buy some soy sauce. The police doesn't seem interested and thinks she just went off wandering somewhere and will be back soon. So you and your GF decide to take matters into your own hands and set off to find her.

I'm still trying to figure out what feels different about this game...

The controls are very smooth in this game. You can do everything from the 8-directional keypad and Yuji added a map this time. This works better with the narrative that you're roaming around town, looking for Nagisa-chan.

Was gonna put screenshot of map but still trying to pin down what's different

Thanks to the lack of infinite possibilities of a text input adventure game, I think this game is very doable without a guide. I still used a guide though cause fuck it, I don't have time to wander around aimlessly, looking for Nagisa-chan. However, the big exception are the parts where you have to find shit on the screen. It's like there's exactly one TINY spot which has the item and it's totally invisible. Even knowing the invisible item was there, it took me forever to actually find it. So in short, this game is pretty much impossible without a guide in the later chapters.

The search icon is a heart? Hmm... is the game trying to tell me something?

Finally, we get to the last chapter and funny ol' Yuji decides to put a barebones, crappy RPG in the mix. The only moves that are effective is for Kumiko to blow a kiss, Asami to show her "panti" and you do all the fighting. You have to defeat the guys in the right order and even then, you may need to save and retry if you're not lucky. Needless to say, I wasn't super impressed.

Panti RPG is a good idea but lacking a bit in execution

Score: 2 just make it a freakin' eroge Yuji and stop teasing already out of 5.

As the final 3rd entry in the Yuji's mystery series, I guess I can look at this as his final goodbye to ero as he cleans himself up to make a little known series of games called Dragon Quest. I can see why the previous entry is way more popular as it has a far superior story and human drama. Still, this one was a playful and somewhat funny title and while not the best story, it has some of the best art for it's time and deserves at least a play through.

Fuck it, GOTY. Why the hell not?

Dude, what are you doing with Kumiko?! Nagisa is OBVIOUSLY the way to go!

Bye pervert Yuji, we'll miss you.

This picture included with game is the clue to the final puzzle before the RPG bit

Scale
0 - Awful
1 - Bad and not worth your time
2 - Has some flaws but still enjoyable
3 - An average enjoyable experience
4 - A great game
5 - Masterpiece of a caliber only found very rarely

WILL The Death Trap II（ウィル デス・トラップII）

I ended up playing through the first Death Trap not only because it was Square's first game but I was also intruiged by the title screen of the sequel: WILL™ - THE DEATH TRAP II -. (Did they really trademark that shit and if so for what??)

Title screen even has music that doesn't sound like shit!!

As it turns out, I don't even know why this is a sequel except the protaganist "Benson" has the same name from the first entry. But unlike a jungle with tarzen bikinis, there's laser guns, robots, and androids in this one. I don't really understand the setting at all as dates referenced in newspapers and stuff are in 1978. I dunno and don't really care either really.

Apparently there's some island in 1978 that has a gravity chamber...

The game started out promising enough. They fixed the the mess of a map in the previous entry by helpfully showing which direction you were facing. The map is a lot smaller too so now you can actually tell when you can't go a certain direction because of like a freaking wall.

I started Square's second game with the intention of trying not to use a guide. That didn't exactly pan out because I'm new school and totally impatient. However, unlike the first game, I think this game is very doable without cheating. The only really tricky part was going back to pick up the ring and maybe throwing a bottle of alcohol at the robot.

In the end, Death Trap II started out as a worthy sequel with intro music, some cool sound effects that became super annoying right away, and a decent map. However, I dunno if they started running out of money or what but it's like maybe a quarter of the length of the first one. There's no branching paths like the first Death Trap and with a guide, you can probably beat it in under 15 minutes.

Hi, I'm Aisha. Hope you didn't pay money for this game. TEE HEE

While an interesting setting and concept directed once again by Sakaguchi, the short length of the game and the rather uninteresting story makes this one nothing more than a curious footnote in gaming history. (My literary writing community college classes are paying off!!) Yes, I got suckered in by the title screen just like the poor Japanese fools in the day similar to Zarth but at least I didn't pay an arm and a leg.

Score: 1 FINALLY I can play Alpha. Hope I have enough tissues!!! out of 5

Scale
0 - Awful
1 - Bad and not worth your time
2 - Has some flaws but still enjoyable
3 - An average enjoyable experience
4 - A great game
5 - Masterpiece of a caliber only found very rarely