Let's Review Violinist Of Hameln-- Part 2

This update will include the next two levels from Violinist of Hameln. Let's see...

 
The second level starts out with a puzzle that requires you to either direct Flute into climbing up a ladder at the end of the a short tunnel or just jumping up the ledges with Flute's frog costume. 

The whole first part of the level makes uses of Flute's frog form. The first level was great because escoring Flute required you to clear paths for her, but now that she has her frog costume, she can hop over ledges, and I think the first level dynamic could have been played out a few more levels.

The final part of the second level (I'm starting to think each level has three parts) features a long path with many spike obstacles. The game practically asks you to do the whole part with Flute serving as an ostrich mount. 

 
It's a good level dynamic, and is easily the funnest part of the level and the only part that felt graceful enough for a second level.

Keep Flute happy and collect some stars and you get treated to a nice bonus stage where you can nab some sweet bones like extra lives and musical notes. 

At this point in my review log, I'm not even sure what the notes do yet, but I'm sure it's some music-related.

Low on life, I make use of the village's inn service to heal myself up. It's RPG elements like that that help make the game feel more alive.

The third level is the dreaded Castle Entrance. 

 
Before entering, our two heroes have a little dialogue before walking in the door. 

 
It's not translated that well, so it's hard what to make of it. Seems like typical anime banter.

Not before long, you find Flute's next costume- the robot costume.

 
Unfortunately, it's not sexy in the least, but it allows you to ride Flute across the spiky pits while occasionally jumping on her head to punch obstacles over.

Later in the level, the game introduces the classic “stand on this switch to open the door and I'll walk through and stand on another switch so you can walk through behind me”. 

 
You can get Flute to stay put with the 'X' button. It was at this point while playing when I pondered how hard the game was going to get with the puzzles and action.

Speaking of classic devices, we're introduced to the classic “reviving” enemy in this level. And of course he's a skeleton. Actually, he looks like Dr. Nefarious from the Ratchet And Clank games.

This part of the level might take a retry because some of the puzzles take time to get just right and you have a 99 second time limit. It took me a little while to figure out I was suppose to throw Flute at the stony top of a column blockade. 

 
Oh well. Beside the level's mandatory key pickup you find the Curling Puck costume, however it doesn't serve its use in that level.

Let's Review Violinist Of Hameln-- Part 1

Before we begin, let's do some research on this Violinist Of Hameln manga. Wikipedia says:

Violinist of Hameln (ハーメルンのバイオリン弾き, Hamerun no Baiorin Hiki^?) is a fantasy adventure manga created by Michiaki Watanabe. Its premise is that a group of adventurers are traveling north to the Northern Capital (a.k.a Hameln) to prevent a catastrophe. In this world, music has magical qualities. The manga and the anime are very different. The manga tends toward a lighter, more comedic tone, whereas the anime is darker. The manga eventually takes a darker tone itself though. No official English translations exist to date for the manga or its adaptations. 

 

Now the video game was released on the SNES in 1995. It's a puzzle platformer. When you turn it on, you get a nice Mode 7 graphic of a village and the camera pans down to the Violinist playing in a wood's grove.

Start a new game, and the opening cinematic plays. Some giant lizardmen are attacking a village. Flute, one of the main characters in the game, does her best to stand up to the bullies, but the monsters are unphased. 

Luckily, the Violinist Of Hameln shows up and makes all the monsters start dancing without any clothes on. Flute's impressed!

Each chapter of this game is called a 'movement' after musical terminology, sort of like how each episode of Cowboy Bebop was called a 'session'.

Flute asks the Violinist to save the village. He agrees to, but wants Flute to come along with him. And this is how the greatest platformer mechanic was made, but we'll get into that shortly. You start with 100 Gold so you can buy maybe one or two items to help you out. You can talk to the villagers, but they don't say anything really useful.

The first level is great. Flute's following behind you, but you don't have a use for her yet. Patience now. 

 

She has difficulty following you- she can't jump like the Violinist- so you have to clear paths for her. While Violinist has a traditional life meter, when Flute takes damage, the player's gold decreases. Far better idea than say, give Flute her own life meter and frustrate the player when it depletes and starting the level over.

Now Flute's usefulness comes shortly after picking up an Ostrich Costume and making way to a spiky pit. 

 

Flute has the ability to dress up in animal costumes and exploit the costumes' powers. The ostrich costume allows Flute to walk over spikes and the Violinist can hop on for the ride.

Later on in the level, there's a platform on the top of the screen that can't be reached without stepping on Flute to give the Violinist an extra boost. That's right- the Violinist can use Flute as a stepping stool. But the fun doesn't stop there! You can also pick up and throw Flute for whatever reason need be! To get Flute on top of that platform where Violinist needs a stepping stool, you first must throw Flute up there, then jump on top of her to grab the prize.

In her ostrich costume, you can control which direction Flute walks by turn the Violinist. 

 

 

Near the end of the level, you get a frog costume that serves only to scale the last wall and complete the level.

 

Like the ostrich costume, you can control which direction Flute “hops” with the Violinist.

Up the cliff, walk into the 'Goal' sign to finish the level. 

A great opening level, with excellent music. However, there's a part on the end that requires the player to be very adept in controlling Flute while the Violinist explores the level above. That part felt more like a Level 2 sort of challenge.