The Goonies (1986)

Preliminary: Lollll the secrets in this. That Peace Dude secret was great. Also, I loved getting items like the Rain Coat and Headphones (which I only ever would've found thanks to a guide, never would've found these absurd Nintendo style secrets/extra-helpful-items otherwise). Mind you, stuff like the Flamesuit were incredibly useful so...

Look: 8/10 All the Goonies games have solid HUDs/UIs!! I love when my inventory was full ! Tho most of the levels were nameless caverns (which, after all, does fit the movie, as do most the obstacles, tho not as precisely as the Speccy/C64 Goonies game), the pleasant surprise of One Eyed Willy ship for the last level was great

Sound: 8/10 I lovvvvve the rendition of Goonies R Good Enough by Cyndi Lauper. The more "sinister" dungeon type song that seemingly plays as you get deeper in the levels? or something? that's not so good. Sounds like they were trying to do Mario cave song but sounds like a low health alert sound effect :-p Not awful by any means, but not great either. That Lauper rendition thooooo

Play: 9/10 Okay yea the Rain Coat/Flamesuit etc "secret items" make a huge difference. If I didn't have a guide to wear to find them ("press up at this specific spot," "move back and forth and then press Up in that specific spot" etc. is the type of stuff we're talking here), some of the stages would've been 10x harder. But with those action-adventure style items, the levels were bearable and, indeed, fun. It had a lot of the same features and looks as the MSX version, but decidedly different. Like the MSX one though, I do wish there were some of the modern niceties (which I know were possible for the NES at the time): mid-ladder jumps, jump and grab ladders, etc. And some of the predicaments were ridiculous, like a mouse was marching back and forth at the top of a ladder so I had to take a hit, since the get-off-the-ladder mechanic is slow and clunky, but we aren't talking the irritating tackiness of Ghosts n Goblins here, plus you have a health bar so it's all good. Regardless, as one expects with NES games, tight responsive controls that allowed for some deliciously close dodges and turn-around-real-quick-and-shoot moments reminding me of Elevator Action and other arcade games, albeit clunky dismounting ladders (even when coming off at the bottom of a ladder.... mid-ladder jumps would've solved that just saying..). And if you're gonna have time as an element of the game, things like that should be smooth imo. Plus no mid-jump movements... that's pretty basic. (tho I barely noticed that issue because you quickly learn the precise distance your jumps make and I was jumping to the exact spot to go down ladders etc in no time... which would've made mid-ladder jumps even more fun!! argh! missed opportunity there). Oh, but at least it had mid-jump attacks! Love that!

Feel: 9/10 Oh the NES. I rated the MSX version so highly, but it also was my first foray into the MSX; my first foray into mid-80s games besides Zelda and Castlevania; my push to start this Chronology Project; etc. So it's okay that that one's a bit sillily highly rated (I did move its Play from a 10 to a 9 after a brief replay, but the 10/10 Feel can stay). But what to say about this one? Just because there wasn't a separate entry for the NES version, which is decidedly different from the MSX version, it shouldn't get the same lofty ratings? Well, that's how it goes ha. I played the MSX one at the right time and thus it will keep that Feel as an important game in my life. All that being said, I think had I played this one back then, this would easily have earned those high ratings too. Konami and the NES were on-point in 86. (I did end up giving it the 9 for Play tho really should be an 8 most likely considering some of the missing niceties, but it deserves to be considered on par with the MSX version after the beautiful ending screen I just saw :-p)

Attachment: 9/10 The fact I chose to do Stage 4 instead of using the Secret Warp the guide told me about says a lot. Not that it's a perfect game by any means, but I dunno, these Goonies games were so good! I guess Goonies came out at the right time? Cuz no other movie-based games have been this good so far ha.

Oooo, I love that the Lauper song came back for the final stage (and there was a nice "bonus stage" type song before it); I like the straightforward nature of the last level of just a bunch of enemies and one of the Skull Doors bringing you the girl Goonie to end the game; I love the Secret Sloth lol; .and most of all, I love the ending screen!!!!

Those Activision sunset colors are so good. The pirate ship moving across the sea. Very similar to the other Goonies games' ending, but this one had the best colors imo . Boo that you start back at the beginning just with faster enemies but at least there is an ending at all :-p Plus this truly had action-adventure elements, so I will call it a true ending (e.g., unlike the MSX version, you got stuff like a Backpack which allowed your to carry 2 Bombs, almost like in Zelda!). Great secrets, great platforming, great action-adventure elements, all-around great game! The Goonies games really shine!

Completion: Main Story + Extras Playtime: ~1 hr

Preliminary: Whoaaa this is so different from just a microcomputer platformer. It's a true action-adventure, with multiple playable characters, in straightforward scenes with action-adventure style "puzzles" to solve. Both the 1986 Goonies games are so impressive! (Some say this release was even 1985). The MSX Goonies game is what got me interested in this Chronology Project, and it's fitting that the EU/NA microcomputer game is impressive too!

Look: 7/10 Gave a boost cuz of the ending screens, otherwise very mediocre. Oh I guess some of the settings matching the movie and character sprites were decent, especially the main bad lady. But for the most part, the Look was one of the main barriers to solving puzzles so this really deserves a 6 ...

Sound: -/- No, please god no. And I know C64 can do better than this

Play: 7/10 It was movie time and I was in love with the idea of the game. The graphics weren't all that good (the Speccy version's Sound and Look were even worse...), but the gameplay concept and execution were really good. I mean, tbh, this is a microcomputer game (well... so is MSX... but I dunno, imo MSX2 and on compare to NES while C64 and Speccy just can't compete in smoothness and responsiveness), so like, the controls were a bit goofy (quick to respond, at least), the collision masks weren't perfect, and little niceties you saw in NES MSX and arcade games at this time (like my usual beloved mid-ladder movement) were missing. But it was oddly still really fun, and I wanted to keep playing even tho it was time to log off for the night!

Lots of this era's platformer tropes like bars you hang off of, but a lot of fresh ideas like the ball you use to cross the water (you press the opposite direction you want to go, like you're kicking it along I guess).A lot of the quirks were learnable and they give a decent number of lives so you can gradually learn the screens without too much frustration (tho during Screen 3 I started savestating at the start of a screen just so I wouldn't have to restart the whole game, but it would be doable with more time since it is a relatively short game with a decent number of lives so you could just get a little further each play session)

Feel: 7/10 It's cute how most/all the screens' puzzles and concepts derive somehow from the movie. I especially was in love with the first screen's use of the water jug (a part of the movie I always liked as a kid) and the money printing machine. If only the Look were a bit stronger, so that it was more obvious what the water jug was lol, and if the Sound was better, considering this is a C64 game I know it could be great... but it still had that nice addictive Feel I couldn't deny.

It was really annoying when the bird in Screen 5 wouldn't drop the eggs on the correct side >.> Legit just kept dropping the final egg i needed into the lava. And lol! I got really annoyed when it turned out putting 2 eggs on each other means they become only one... except when at the exit then they stack... Imagine my surprise when I thought I had all I needed but they had combined into one... Dumb

The final screen was one of the more fun ones, not only because it matches the movie well, but also because it was a manageable puzzle with reasonable solution. One annoying caveat though, one of the walls can be walked through and without knowing that (since the others that looked exactly like it couldn't be walked through...) it can be a bit frustrating realizing the small Goonie can get to the sail mast. I liked solving that one though, was a good way to end, plus the great ending screens

Attachment: 7/10 Sadly the 3rd and 4th scenes really started to drag. The puzzles, as they tend to, got more and more complex, which I'm sure some people appreciate but eventually it feels like tedium to me. That planks level... heh I mean it was fun doing it for the first plank and figuring that out. But really? You have to repeat that same tedious process 3 times? Boo, cuz the first 2 screens made me so excited for it to feel action-adventurey with puzzles, not straight-up puzzle tedium.

Upon returning to it a third time (things keep coming up! and despite being relatively short, it feels longer because of the complexity of some of the screens), honestly the fourth screen wasn't that frustrating. It was fun again, trying to be as fast as possible using both characters to set up the fastest solution--could I make it in time? Ahhh just barely. Etc. That music was getting quite annoying though, it's odd to me that 1985/86 C64 games had such good music and now I feel like it's declining into the NES era, even tho the NES gameplay surely is an improvement from the early/mid-80s C64/Speccy gameplay era.

Anyway, in sum: sloppy collision masks, some tedious puzzles, annoying sound, but a lot of cute ideas, a reasonable length, an addictive nature, action-adventure elements, a great beginning. If all the screens were like the first 2 and final 1, this could easily be a 5 star game.

Completion: All 8 unique screens Score 44, 755 Playtime: ~1 hour