Jeremy Parish

Metroidvania Works #22: A Boy and His Blob & Crystalis (Patreon)

Published:

2023-07-26 12:44:25

Imported:

2024-04

Tags:

a boy and his blob crystalis david crane metroidvania nes works snk

Content

Good morrow, friends. I hope the morning finds you well. If not, perhaps this video will turn the tides of fortune in your favor?

Anyway, penultimate episode of Metroidvania Works (the first decade) here, touching on two games that don't really belong under the metroidvania header. Ain't that always the case? We're still in the building blocks era—and the featured game this episode comes from one of the guys who invented some of the essential building blocks of the exploratory platformer format: One David Crane. This adventure doesn't precisely move the needle and has a lot of egregious design issues, but give its pedigree it absolutely deserves a mention.

More significant, I would say, is Crystalis from SNK. I really feel like this adventure codified the "action RPG" format as we know it today—unless you're one of those of those tragic DOS kids who missed out on the golden 16-bit age of console action RPGs and define the genre as "Diablo"—so despite its occasional grindy bits and some annoying weapon-swap requirements, it's a pretty big moment for the development of action-driven games with meaty RPG components.

Files

Mallow marred: A Boy and His Blob & Crystalis | Metroidvania Works 22

The U.S. didn't produce a lot of works in the metroidvania vein prior to the indie game era, and David Crane seems to have been the one American designer who dared fly close to that particular sun. A Boy and His Blob follows on the heels of Pitfall! and Pitfall II, but arrives after half a decade of Japanese designers exploring the exploratory platformer space. Crane ultimately went a different direction with this creation, focusing more on the puzzle-solving aspect than on pure exploration or character-building—a valid approach, but imperfectly realized in this case. More satisfying is SNK's rare sally into the action-RPG format with Crystalis, a game that moves even further into the RPG side of things than Willow did. Heck, it even introduces Final Fantasy-like elemental affinities into the mix. With its focus on character skill development and elemental weapon upgrades, Crystalis pushes its genre in a more complex direction and introduces ideas that would eventually find their way into exploratory platformers, too. Production notes: Video Works is funded via Patreon (http://www.patreon.com/gamespite) — support the show and get access to every episode up to two weeks in advance of its YouTube debut! Plus, exclusive podcasts, eBooks, and more! Why watch when you can read? Check out the massive hardcover print editions of NES Works, Super NES Works, and Virtual Boy works, available now at Limited Run Games (https://limitedrungames.com/collections/books)! Look forward to SG-1000 Works: Segaiden Vol. I in August and Metroidvania: The First Decade in 2024. NES footage captured from Analogue Nt Mini. Video upscaled to 720 with xRGB Mini Framemeister.