I'll just add my one or two cents here.
The Genesis was filled with excellent sidescrolling platformers, the likes of which were never found on the Turbo: Shinobi 3, Sonic the Hedgehog, Rolling Thunder 2, and so on and so forth, and I played most of them "back in the day". I also played a lot of Turbo games "back in the day", like Legendary Axe, but those were kind of lame. Anyways, on Christmas of 1991, I received a gift: it was a game that I had heard was excellent from magazine reviews but, from the screenshots, I really hadn't been impressed.
Little did I realize the power of the cartridge I held in my hands. Way more power than I had ever found with a tiny, little chip.
It would be easy at this point to simply spill out fond memories of Annet, Earnest Evans, and all the other characters from El Viento (you've probably already guessed as much, but that's the game I referred to up above),, but I asked myself a question the other day. "Is this game really that good? Or am I simply feeling the effects of nostalgia?"
To answer that question, I not only went back and played El Viento again, but also all those other (still great) Genesis games to prove to myself that Annet and company could still pass muster. I certainly am nostalgic but I have no doubt whatsoever that this really is a genuinely great game. As a sidenote, I also played a bunch of Turbo games, and promptly regretted it.
El Viento's story begins in the late 1920s after the Empire State Building has been constructed. When you first begin the game, an extremely stylish cutscene (this game is overflowing with a sense of style on the level of the best Turbo CDs) introduces you to the purpose of this landmark and the characters involved in its construction. The Empire State Building is not simply a tourist attraction, but rather a tower from which to summon Hastur, the evil god of wind!
The introduction not only establishes the main character (a 17-year-old Peruvian priestess named Annet, who you control) but also the main villains: her Peruvian half-sister Restiana, who (like Annet) carries Hastur's blood within her, and the villainous cultist high priest Henry. The music from the introduction keeps blazing during the title screen, keeping the adrenaline running up until that eventual tap of the START button.
Although the opening music is anything but subtle, the initial graphics when you first begin are strikingly faded (although still beautiful in that Genesis way) and the buildings in the background are somewhat simplistic. Fortunately, 1920s hoodlums (with guns, all respectable gangsters need firepower) provide an immediate distraction. As you intuitively move Annet left and right on the screen, jump, and hurl boomerangs (Annet's primary weapon) at fedora-clad baddies, a realization sinks in: the animation quality is amazing, far surpassing Bravoman on the Turbo! Ribbons fly up into the air from Annet's clothing; individual strands of hair flutter in the wind; arms rise into the air as she falls to the ground. When you change the direction of a jump in mid-air (movement is very versatile in this game), Annet spins around in such glorious hand-drawn splendour that I often found myself moving and jumping just to admire her beauty.
I did that during Road Rash, too. I would actually crane my neck to see over hills. I wish the Turbo had racing games as good as Road Rash.
The approach to visuals in El Viento is quite subtle and extremely clever. The faded colors establish a 1920s feel (without being overly faded, like, oh, Steel Empire, one of the few bad Genesis games). As mentioned before, the characters are very well-animated (and actually in a fairly high resolution), making it not only useful but beautiful to hurl magical fireballs to blow stuff up.
"AAAAAAA!!! What the hell was that pixellated mess?? Wait... that was kind of cool!"
When it comes to realism versus style, Wolf Team not only threw realism out the window, they set it ablaze in a glorious cloud of red and orange. As Annet throws boomerangs, fireballs, shooting stars, bursts of wind, or whatever at enemies, some of her foes (motorcycles, barrels of alchohol, dwarven pirates... dwarven pirates??) will EXPLODE in a giant pixellated cloud of red, yellow, and orange that makes Silent Debuggers' enemy deaths look like pathetic jokes by comparison. This isn't pixellated like other 16-bit explosions (and I mean true 16-bit, not fake TurboGrafx 16-bit) --- this is hyper-ultra-mega-pixellated! (For the superlative-impaired, "The explosions are over the top.") The contrast is shocking since most of the graphics are fairly high-resolution. It's an ingenious (and once again, stylish!) method for bringing attention and excitement to the gameplay via graphics. We're not just talking about graphics for eyecandy here: this is masterful use of graphics to enhance your excitement and to increase your desire to blow stuff up!
Of particular note is the fourth level. While Annet rides a dolphin across the sea, birdmen drop bombs from above (which cause huge pixellated blue splashes). As you knock off the birdmen, they explode in clouds of red. Between the red and blue, the screen simply spills over with vibrance and insanity!
Better than the graphics (yet much easier to describe since it's just flat-out awesome) is the music. It's composed by Motoi Sakuraba (Shining Force 3, Tales of Phantasia, Star Ocean) and matches the storyline of the game perfectly. I wish the Turbo had games composed by Motoi Sakuraba. The music is filled with bells, chimes, and the clicks of Spanish castanets, an instrument that could not be replicated by the TurboGrafx sound chip. Nearly every single level's music is memorable, and it is always speeding along in an adrenaline-pumping frenzy. Just listening to much of the music on its own gives the impression of frenetic, yet mysterious, adventure (which makes sense, since Annet races through temples and buildings all across the country, trying to stop Henry in time...) The music for the final level (and final boss) is particularly memorable, which helps build excitement for...
...one genuinely moving, and amazing, ending. The story in El Viento is advanced through cutscenes after each level, introducing not only Annet, Restiana, and Henry, but Earnest Evans (explorer extraordinaire who rescued Annet from the cult two years ago), Zigfried (former enemy, who turned friend during the 'incident' two years prior), and Vincente DeMarco, the mob boss (Earnest's rival, yet unlike many "stock" villains, Vincente actually cares for Annet). All of this leads up to a final battle that you absolutely must win: not for the fate of the world, but for a much more personal reason (spoilers with-held!). The only bad thing about the story is that it certainly ends, but will leave you begging for a sequel (which you will never ever find, unless you own the hard-to-find Japanese MegaCD system).
In case you're still not convinced, check out this screenshot:
When I think Great Gaming Moments, I think "the El Viento octopus".
You're probably staring at that screenshot right now and thinking this must be some kind of joke, like when someone pretends to like Shaq Fu, Insector-X, or Blazing Lazers. Trust me — this is no joke. Part of this Great Gaming Moment's magic is how you're riding on Ecco's back through the mercilessly parallaxed ocean, dodging highly resolute hang-gliding mafia men, and then suddenly this ENORMOUS PIXELLATED BEAST slathers itself across your screen like mayonnaise across the Mona Lisa. It's so blatantly ridiculous. It's like the El Viento octopus doesn't realize how wrong its own existence is in such a gorgeously-animated adventure. It's unexpected, it's wacky... and it's cool! El Viento is a lot of things — unpredictably awesome is one of them. Maybe that's why it became a cult classic in both North and South America. That's right — even the hardcore Brazilian contingent digs El Viento.
Super cute heroine Annet Maya was born in the deepest darkest jungles of Peru (that's why she's got that sexy dark skin), but she spends her time in El Viento searching four of the 48 states (it's 1928, after all) for the evil priest Henry. Two years prior, the godly awesome treasure hunter Earnest Evans — star of his own unforgettable action game — rescued Annet from Henry's bloodthirsty cult and brought her to New York City to live as normal a life as a superheroic grave robber can offer. I wish the Turbo had games with animation techniques as creative as those employed in Earnest Evans.
Earnest, a classic example of "the accidental superhero", wasn't actually trying to rescue anyone. He was just trying to stop mob boss Vincente DeMarco from stealing and selling ancient Peruvian artifacts. Earnest just happened to stumble across Annet, naked and uncomfortably tied to a cold stone altar, along the way. Then he adopted her, because that's what noble treasure hunters do (unless they're noble hentai treasure hunters). Unfortunately, Earnest's kindness made Annet a target; now she's just another way for Vincente DeMarco to take revenge against his do-gooder rival!
* Special side note: I wish Feed Sluster, hero of PCE Super CD Fiend Hunter, was even half as cool as Earnest Evans.
Anyways, back to El Viento. Annet won't go down easily, for the creative minds at Wolf Team -- minds far more creative than the people who created tripe like Ghost Manor -- have given Annet a refreshing degree of flexibility and speed.
Look! Annet runs like a girl! That's part of why she's so adorable. Whether its the way her body recoils with each boomerang throw or how she supports herself with one arm when she crouches, Annet embodies hand-drawn feminine grace. And these aren't simple two or three-frame animations: when Annet leaps into the air to avoid gangsters' bullets, she lets her bare arms fly loose, ribbons from her hair and waist flowing with the wind as her skirt lifts ever so slightly in the breeze. After falling back to the ground, Annet's slender legs buckle to absorb the impact. That microscopic attention to detail is part of El Viento's genius, and that's one reason why Annet's been giving lovesick gamers a cruel jones for over 15 years.
Our perky heroine's got more than pretty looks; she controls smoothly, too. Annet's surprising agility helps when mobster-packed cars try to run her down, or when racist white slum tenants drop flowerpots, chairs, and ANGRY TEDDY BEARS on her head. Gardyloo! You never know what treasure they'll trash next; one bum accidentally drops an occasional healing salve between the hammers and vases. It takes real genius to have a game where villains drop ANGRY TEDDY BEARS on your head, but still be able to take it seriously. I wish the Turbo had games like that.
After Annet takes down pretty much every hoodlum in New York City, mob boss DeMarco fights Earnest's adopted daughter fair and square, one on one... kind of. When Annet walks through a door in the city — just another door, like all the others — she finds herself in a small, empty room.
La, la, la.
...then Vincente Demarco busts through the wall IN A FRIGGIN' TANK, sending chunks of brick and debris flying through the air! That might seem brutally unfair, but the battle's not quite as imbalanced as it sounds. DeMarco thought he was picking on a helpless little girl, but he's taken on a nimble little sorceress!
Throughout the game, Annet learns five different magics, from a simple fireball to the ultimate Hadouken. By holding the magic button down, Annet gathers her spirit energy in her best imitation of Ryu — but unlike Ryu, she can run and even jump with this big crackling ball of fury cradled in her arms, just waiting to unleash a triple burst of pixellated power. And by "pixellated", what I really mean is that when Annet hurls this glob of gas at an enemy — let's pick something small and unimposing like a vampire bat — the winged little freak EXPLODES in a giant chunky cloud of red, yellow, and orange. This isn't pixellated due to age, this is pixellated due to artistic intent. It's reminiscent of the Atari 2600, and it's a striking contrast to see high-resolution Aryan bikers and dwarven pirates (dwarven pirates?!) burst into gushing puffs of flame.
Early on, these massive explosions are uncommon. However, "uncommon" is way better than "nonexistent", which is what you'll find in pathetic action games like Keith Courage. By the end of the game, EVERYTHING Annet attacks explodes into a bubbly mess! It's a cool way to further escalate an already exciting game's intensity. It really provides a STRONG VISCERAL IMPACT whenever Annet kills an enemy.
Gorgeous cinematic sequences cap off each level, adding intrigue to the intensity. To Annet's credit, she doesn't spend these scenes delivering long, brooding speeches about her tortured past or whining about the tainted blood flowing through her veins. This is the life she's chosen, and she deals with everything in her own innocent way. Annet's out to protect everyone she meets, even her twisted sister Restiana — a beautiful blonde sorceress, born from Hastur's blood.
What Annet knows — a sad truth she knows better than anyone — is that the fate of Hastur's daughters is to die. They serve only as a sacrificial vessel from which the dark god is violently reborn. Annet wants to protect her sister from this fate.
But that's not what Restiana thinks. Restiana thinks she's going to inherit untold power, and the dark priest Henry is always there to whisper fork-tongued lies in her ear. There's only one way for Annet and Restiana to settle their differences. Trial by combat — the victor is deemed correct in the eyes of the world!
As a side note, the Genesis outsold the TurboGrafx by millions. Therefore, the Genesis is deemed correct in the eyes of the world.
Anyways, back to the game.... Sister versus sister. Wolf Team's games are filled with some pretentious and overbearing themes, often delivered with an elephant's grace (can anyone forget shooter Sol-Deace's "CLASH OF OIL AND BLOOD"?). It's no accident that El Viento reflects many of the same ideas. The difference is that El Viento conveys its message in an endearing, subtle manner — through action instead of through ham-fisted poetry. Annet's a single source of light born from darkness, but the game doesn't have to spell that out in bold print across the screen to get the idea across. She's simply a determined young girl who knows the difference between right and wrong. Annet sets out to put an end to the cult and their blackhearted ways because that's what heroes do.
It'll be a tough fight. Restiana's placed some of the craziest traps ever imagined in Annet's way, but it's this variety that keeps the game fresh and fun from start to end. Before Annet reaches her power-hungry sister, she'll have to jump on trampolines and leap over fire-spitting totem poles, or perhaps ride rolling boulders across spike-laden pits. With its crazy mix of enemies and obstacles, El Viento never settles into a dull routine!
When Annet finally faces her half-sister, the physical contrast speaks volumes. Annet's appearance is simple but elegant; she's a dark-skinned, small-chested girl whose wardrobe focuses attention to her midriff. Restiana aims for the obvious glamor points: long blonde hair, heavy blue eyeshadow, and a chest that's practically popping out of its silk restraints. It's a battle of innocence against vanity — and Restiana's pride won't let her listen to Annet's advice. Such drama! I wish Samurai Ghost had this much drama.
Whether it's German millionaire Zigfried acting as knowing mentor or Annet barely containing her puppy love for Earnest, the colorful cast keeps El Viento's story exciting. Through underground pubs (the bartenders mix a dangerous cocktail) and atop gigantic war zeppelins, Annet has to keep fighting. Annet tries to use her magic to save people, but can she save anyone? Or is her power just another tool for murder? After a return encounter with Vincente DeMarco, the conspicuously scarred mob boss puts Annet's ideals to the test. He'll give up his ambitions... but only if she can prove herself. Annet says she wants to protect people? Then she's got to protect the person she loves most — she has to rescue Earnest Evans from a beautiful but ominous temple hidden deep inside the Grand Canyon.
Cue one of Motoi Sakuraba's most enchanting melodies. As with the game's action, you never know what surprises the music holds — after the thrilling stereophonic boss encounter against DeMarco's latest freak contraption, the next level breaks into a soft, almost flutish piece as Annet explores a temple of such elegance that the previous level's flagrant explosions and absurd boss are soon forgotten. I wish Legendary Axe's temple level had music that good. By the end of the game, you'll be treated to a fast-paced reprise of the title theme, an intricate industrial montage, and one fantastic final boss track.
From one level to the next, you never know what to expect — one-eyed monsters ripped from Lovecraft's yarns, endless chains of explosives to detonate, old friends reunited, and honorable villains to win over with pure-hearted innocence. El Viento's crowning achievement is in convincing you that it's not predictable and then sucker-punching you in the heart with a sadistically predictable finish.
Not only did El Viento surprise me, but it cruelly forced me to care.
I don't really care about Impossamole.
