Neutopia

Developer: Hudson     Publisher: NEC     Released: 1990     Genre: Action RPG

One cannot deny the influence that the Legend of Zelda has had throughout gaming in its many incarnation.  From its puzzle design and structure the series has constantly pioneered features that would become staples in every game thereafter.  So it makes sense that when NEC entered the market they would create their own Zelda clone, much like Bonk followed Mario.  Neutopia is incredibly shameless in its aping of Zelda.  But at least it is a good game in spite of it.  Adventure games were few on the Turbo Grafx-16 and this is one of the better ones.

The story serves as filler to give you a reason to explore the world.  The evil magician Dirth has kidnapped the princess Aurora and stolen the eight medallions that connected the world of Neutopia.  A young man named Jazeta steps up to find the eight medallions and ultimately save the princess.  That is about all the back story you will get.  The world is filled with NPCs that give you a little more insight but mostly give you hints to propel you onward.

Once the game starts the comparison to Zelda is completely unavoidable.  The structure is near identical to the first Legend of Zelda.  You can use your sword in one hand and an item in the other.  Most of the items function similarly as well.  The rainbow drop functions like the ladder and moonbeam moss is your candle.  There are even bombs to destroy walls!  That being said there are a few cool items as well.  The ring can transform stronger enemies into weaker ones while the wings of Ra will teleport you back to the last save point.  The best is the Flame rod.  This cool item is the most important in the game as it can burn parts of the environment to reveal secrets.  Most of these are fluff but still cool nonetheless. It also continually evolves as your life bar increases, eventually becoming better than your sword.

Rather than one massive overworld Neutopia is divided into four sub-worlds with two dungeons (or crypts as they are called) each.  Each is massive with shops, items, and hidden areas abounds.  Aside from being large it also offers some much needed visual variety.  The crypts follow the same format as a Zelda dungeon.  Crystal balls reveal the overall map, a key is needed to unlock the boss room and bombs are used to blow up walls.  The crypts differ from Zelda in that the boss room is the only one that uses a key.  All other rooms require you to clear all enemies or destroy a wall.  It makes them surprisingly nonlinear, especially as there are only two key items necessary for progression. Those are found in the overworld, making the crypts simpler than its direct inspiration.  That isn’t always a good thing either.

While the crypts may share the look of Zelda they lack its ingenuity in terms of puzzles and design.  The crypts are fairly bland for a number of reasons.  The puzzles are as basic as they come, as they always revolve around clearing enemies and pushing a block.  There are very few items that make them interesting. The rainbow drop functions like the ladder and moonbeam moss is your candle.  Since you will spend the majority of the game in these the repetition gets old fast.  It is not so much that the game needed to mimic Zelda even further in this regard but if you do something different at least make it interesting.

While Zelda has its moments of difficulty it armed you with the tools to survive.  Neutopia is surprisingly difficult in comparison.  The game is incredibly stingy with life restoring cherries; over the course of an hour long play session you might see two at most.  This means mistakes are costly with little recourse to bounce back.  You can carry two bottles of vitality but they go fast.  Buying more is expensive too; there is a reason the game showers you with coins.  Boss battles are challenging because they aren’t intuitive which ruins what should be stand out moments in the game.  It should not come as a surprise when you die frequently or use the wings to warp back to a safe point.  Casual gamers beware.

In Closing

Neutopia does not have an original bone in its body.  But that is okay because at the end of the day it is a solid adventure.  Neutopia is blatant in cloning its inspiration but that also makes it a good game on a rainy afternoon.