NES - Conveyance? (Part 1)

While wandering the halls of Youtube again, I re-watched Egoraptor's Sequelitis in regards to Mega Man and Mega Man X, which also touched upon the poor conveyance that Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde had in "what the hell is going on". And on that same train of thought, I realized that the advent of roms and emulators have exacerbated that same problem of conveyance.

Granted, the Internet has since fixed "poor conveyance" like a boss. Even Pumpkinhead.

But lets say for the sake of the hypothetical, you're a kid pre-Internet craze, and you buy or trade a game off one of your friends or from a garage sale. Its just the cartridge, straight up. You pop it in your NES console, not knowing squat about anything. The obvious disadvantage has existed since the days of Atari:

What the fuck IS all this?

Yeah. Almost always, the issue is the visuals. Not always controls, since its four directions and four buttons; I'm sure even a hyperactive kid can figure out "jump", "shoot" and "run" for Super Mario. But visuals usually pertained to power ups, hazards, and enemies...however, if you lacked a game booklet, you wouldn't know who or what something is.. Some games got around that; Ghosts and Goblins had clear indications. Knight statues gave you points, weapons were weapons. There weren't obvious traps except the wizard that popped up. But even then, most games made clear indications that "he's a bad guy" or "you shouldn't pick that up". See Super Mario Bros. : The Lost Levels for their "poison mushroom".

X-men for the NES, on the other hand...had a power down that wasn't clear in the slightest, froze you, and didn't tell you squat why. Nothing on screen told you, and that's....fine. It was the NES, I say its the console not catering to you due to its limitations at the time.

But you want to know what the freakiest thing is?

LJN...I have to say. Their games may suck, but take ONE look at their booklet. Just...its AMAZING.

All booklets I post here are from Digital Press Library.

Go ahead, load that image up. Its credit where credit is due. I'm giving credit to LJN. I'm playing devil's advocate and you CAN'T STOP ME. 

Okay credit over.

The game is terrible, but the "conveyance" of the NES years? It was typically in the booklets. Good or bad games, both had the same thing going. Legend of Zelda is virtually a game guide that avoids spoiling the "secrets", like destructible walls and movable rocks. But items, weapons, enemies, plot? All in there, same as LJN's Uncanny X-Men. Granted, Legend of Zelda has better mechanics, graphics, sound and overall execution...but if we're going by the booklet, LJN put forth everything you needed to know, right down to the awkward style of their power-ups.

To properly convey Uncanny X-men: "Its a shitty game with a pretty book."

It's unbelievably hilarious to me. Bad games have good conveyance outside of them. Deadly Towers? It alludes to the parallel zones, and their entrances being invisible. Dirty Harry? Bosses are described, and hints that people will help you (though jumping and eating to chili dogs to "talk" to them might've been helpful to know). Milon's Secret Castle tells you to shoot to find hidden objects. Predator is an ugly-looking game, but it tells you about its power-ups, "big mode", and how the game works. Winter Games? It tells you how to do tricks and stunts by holding down certain directions for certain tricks.

Even...I can't believe I'm saying this. Even Action 52. Action 52 had the..."decency"... to cover each of the 52 games, even though its simply the controls and the plot in a sentence or two...translated six times over.

You now know the plot of these shitty games in SIX LANGUAGES. 312 different ways!

Though, to counteract this, its really kind of funny they ask $2 a pop for game guides per game. Hey I just dropped $200 on this, you really ought to give me the manual. Could you imagine an Action 52 Deluxe Edition? For only $300, you get a complete game manual to all these games! And a cheap-o Cheetahmen action figure I suppose, just to entice the kiddies.

Now why did I bother writing this article? It can be viewed as an addendum to my Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde defense; the booklet held the answers, though not all of the ones you may ask for Dr. Jekyll's side of the game. But the lightning, most of the enemies overall...it was in the booklet. And really, that's the other way to view it. It's been the first and last line of conveyance for players since the start, and has continued to be within new games. 

In the best of games? In the booklet. In the shittiest of games? In the booklet.

Though good conveyance doesn't FIX a bad game per se...

All the conveyance in the world ain't saving this game.

Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde (NES) - How Good Design Goes Bad

Wait. Go back and re-read that title.

Y'do so?

Good.

Now put down the pitchfork. And the chainsaw.

He likes something that the AVGN called shit! GET HIM!

Actually, the AVGN is right. Again, go back and re-read that. Whether or not James himself was aware of it, the AVGN is right on both fronts (here's a Refresher in case you need it). The booklet itself affirms this.

The game was designed like this. It seriously was. Dr. Jekyll, being non-confrontational but constantly annoyed, being pushed to the edges of human patience, eventually transforming into Hyde, who tears the world around him a new one. Hence, why Dr. Jekyll is frustrating to play as if you treat it like any other 2D platformer or adventure game.

He's only human. He has to abide by the law, take the rude shoves and childish slingshots in stride, the accidents that would ruin his clothes (it IS his wedding day), avoid the murderous intent of some (the mad bomber)...it is intentionally designed to be frustrating. Really, think of it as the most rudimentary form of survival horror.

Okay, maybe not THAT rudimentary...

Its also why Hyde is much more like a game, since he's allowed the freedom to do whatever he wants. No more rules of society, unbound evil allowed to rampage and tear (inner) demons a new one. He's catharsis for what you put up with on a day to day basis, and when you play him, you feel better than when you play as Jekyll. But alas, all good evil things come to an end... and you must become good to maintain societal norms, calmed down from the annoyances of the everyday nonsense.

And perhaps that's why the good ending is the way it is. You have to maintain a constant balance between venting and tolerating. Venting too much evil, and undeniably society will strike you down (like lightning, electric chair style). Tolerating too much, and the subconscious is just waiting to snap. You have to have the catharsis to maintain your good nature, without letting it interfere with your life.

The last level is the only time Hyde can surpass Jekyll, taking to the rooftops. Symbolic of a different path, the fork in the road that one takes when marriage is looming a few blocks ahead, the penultimate capstone in your life...everything changes. Responsibilities are added. Children are added to the mix. You become something new, and if you have any past baggage hounding you, chances are it'll ruin your marriage at the end of it all.

And chances are you'll wind up indecisive and meandering, with meaningless relationships. Hey, lets make a game out of that idea! Forget Symbolism, lets go with Dualism!

Forgive the pun, but sometimes...you gotta face your inner demons head on.

The most epic of final bosses. A face.

If I'm being disgustingly honest, I like this game. I'm the kind of person who likes a challenge, and Dr. Jekyll is, at its core, fundamentally solid. Its just the design that would put most people off. Nobody wants to be a human with no means to defend himself, forcibly having to avoid common annoyances like the plague. They feel like they SHOULD have the option to use the cane on everything, or have a machine gun with infinite ammo, or a sword to cut away the enemies that lay before them. Games are supposed to be "fun" like that.

I SHOULD BE ABLE TO THROW FIRE AND GO DOWN PIPES TO SKIP LEVELS.

But Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde doesn't cater to you. Its like the Demon's Souls of its time, letting you figure out the best way to navigate through all the obstacles given your limitations. That can put a lot of people off, especially children who were expecting a game where they played a scary monster who threw around psycho waves.

Again, at its core, I don't feel like Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde for the NES is flawed. There are games that are much more flawed at their core: nearly anything related to LJN, for example. I respect the gamble that they took; honestly, who would make a game out of such an idea? Its not like Frankenstein or Dracula where you're, by default, a monster. This is a human and a monster in constant struggle for dominance, and they played with the idea. I respect that kind of innovation, especially for an NES game.

Its not perfect. But its not a "shitty fuckin' game".