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   Company Hudson Soft ESRB Rating E for Everyone Release Date US - August 20, 2007 Controllers Wii Remote Classic Controller Gamecube Controller Wii Points 600  Review by: Corbie Dillard ©2008 Virtual-Turbo |
Okay there's no denying
that Neutopia is about as blatant a rip-off of the original Legend of
Zelda games as you can get. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to take
one look at the screenshots and be able to tell that. But what many
people who haven't played the game don't know is that, while it is very
similar in many aspects to the original Zelda, it's actually a much
better game as well. Think of Neutopia as a better looking, playing,
and sounding version of Zelda with just enough new game play ideas
thrown in to make it interesting.
You take on the role of Jazeta the warrior in Neutopia and your job is to find the 8 stolen medallions and rescue the princess who's been kidnapped by the evil wizard Dirth. Dirth has spread these 8 medallions across the land and in 8 different crypts. Now you'll have to locate these crypts, defeat the crypt boss in each dungeon, and regain control of the medallions before Dirth can use them to cast an eternal winter spell across the land. Thankfully you'll have plenty of help along the way, as the local townsfolk are always more than willing to help you out when you need it. As has been mentioned more than a few times already, the game play in Neutopia is basically identical to the original Zelda title. You walk around in an overhead perspective, carrying your sword and shield. You can attack enemies and pick up special items or gold that they drop off when you defeat them. Your goal in each world is to locate the two crypts and head inside them to fight and defeat the boss of the crypt. Once defeated, you'll be given access to the hidden room containing the stolen medallion. When you've located both medallions in a world, a stairway will be opened to the next world by the old woman in the palace. It's fairly standard and straightforward, as each world gets a little tougher using not only their sheer size, but also the difficulty of the enemies you'll encounter. Luckily your weapons will increase in strength as well. Like Zelda, you'll have access to a Fire Wand later on in the game that can be used to burn up trees and locate hidden passageways. Rocks can also be pushed in both the over world as well as the crypts. It's safe to say, that if you've played any of the 2-D Zelda titles, you'll feel right at home with Neutopia. Neutopia just has a better overall feel than the original Zelda did, and at times navigating the worlds and crypts just feels a little more natural. Neutopia is a solid playing game from top to bottom. Visually Neutopia is fairly solid. It takes the same general look and feel of the original Zelda and cranks up the graphic quality a few notches. The color usage is extremely vibrant and every new area has its own unique look and feel to it. Even the enemies that you'll encounter in all of the areas look very detailed and sharp. The bosses are the high point of the game and basically just build off of what the original Zelda used as far as the pattern-based movements. Their animations are simple, but effective. The game's visual quality does seem to get quite a bit better the further into the game you get, so there's always something to look forward to as you go along. Musically, Neutopia is one of, if not the best TurboGrafx-16 Hucard soundtracks ever made. There isn't a bad musical track in the bunch and even the sound effects are outstanding. It's apparent from the moment you fire this game up that it's going to be a solid musical ride throughout. Further proof that even some games that didn't make use of the TurboCD functions were still quite adequate in the sound department. The opening track is still one of my all-time favorite RPG musical pieces but there are plenty more where that came froom throughout the game. You'll want to crank this one up, trust me. There's a good reason that Neutopia has been on the "Top 10 Most Wanted" list since the site began. Because it's simply one of the best TurboGrafx-16 games ever released. Any RPG or adventure game fan owes it to themselves to pick this game up. Over the years it's become one of my all-time favorite RPGs and I still drag the original out to this very day to play through it from time to time. I think it's safe to say that Neutopia is the best 600 points you'll spend on the Virtual Console and a bargain for a game this good. |
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