"My biggest setback was never knowing if my thinking was wrong or if I just couldn't figure out the exact finicky way that the game wanted me to do something." Welcome to every adventure game ever made.
@@hungrygoriya do u play it like how u would have played it back in the day? Like without save states. It looks like you captured the footage directly from a real NES. And yeah my family only own a handful of games and mainly rent. I feel a lot of today’s retro gamers are more so collecting where they get a huge library of games and full rom collections but they seem to only sample retro games and don’t fully play it all the way like you do.
@@DemiGodX I don't play with save states because I'm always on original hardware! I don't think there's anything wrong with save states but playing it without is just a side effect of how I'm choosing to play my games. And I think you're right. Lots of people have beautiful collections and might not sit down to finish what they start. The giantness of a backlog can feel pretty overwhelming. I got around that by starting up my livestreams and having an audience to be accountable to so I could finish my games. It has really helped!
@@braydenb1581 Yeah! I've seen a lot of those posts that show the old composite/RF signal feed from a CRT with that effect you're talking about, and then they show it all cleaned up with sharper signals. It's not the same!
@@hungrygoriya it really isn't. I got into NES Maker, making a game for the nes, and the art I'd make in aseprite looked so odd bring so pixel perfect but once active on screen it didn't look half bad. I mean, I am no artist so it sort of sucked anyways but looked better lol
I just noticed that some of the music to this game is also featured in Ys: Vanished Omens. That is because Infocom is a division of Falcon, and the same composer of the Ys series (Takahoto Abe) wrote the music to Tombs and Treasure. The sample that you used in 9:10-9:28 is "The Temple of Sol" from Ys. I guess, the track is like an "Easter Egg" for fans of the series?
Falcom actually developed this game for PC originally -- Infocom just did the NES/Famicom port. So yeah, this is a legit Falcom classic. It was originally titled Asteka II: Templo del Sol, and was a contemporary of Ys (and, as the title implies, a sequel to a much earlier Falcom game called Asteka!).
I love how you capture direct nes composite footage instead of using a modified NES/emulator/FPGA. Almost all other channels go with the latter method, leaving me wondering how certain visual effects would've truly looked like when displayed as intended.
Hey thanks... the NES is pretty sacred to me since it was a childhood console of mine, and I'm really fond of the fuzzy footage from it. Everything else I usually upscale or run at a higher quality with RGB, but I haven't brought myself around to getting the NES modded yet. I don't think I ever will.
“Glued down to the table in his office” is likely how I’m going to find my work office this fall after two years of quarantine 😂😂😂. Thank you again for the detailed review and I love the scene cuts to the NES, the mini CRTs, and the game itself.
I don't doubt the level of sticky books and dust that'll be in so many workspaces come quarantine's end! And thank you... The twin CRTs were my spouse's idea. I hoped the NES would take me a few tries to get the game to start but the console was in a good mood and turned on the first time every try... Just my luck!
1986-'87 was this short NES period where companies were trying these really weird 1st person adventure hybrids: Dr Chaos, Goonies 2, and this. Sword of Hope might be your jam if you haven't already played it. It was for the Gameboy and was basically Shadowgate with RPG combat.
I like these little mash-ups. I'll have to give Dr. Chaos and Goonies II a try sometime. I've yet to play either of them. Sword of Hope's been in my collection for a while and I'm still trying to find the sequel. It's way out of reach price-wise at this point, but maybe I'll get lucky someday. Thanks for the suggestions!
@@hungrygoriya Having just played it myself (being interested in Shining Force's origins), I'm interested to see it. It's a surprisingly friendly game for its genre and era. At least for someone like me that rarely plays old first person RPGs.
So, this game kind of plays like Star Tropics, in that the instruction manual and map that come with the game are necessary to helping people figure out how to play it. That means that Tombs and Treasure probably won't be on Nintendo Switch Online, because none of the NES (and SNES) games in the libraries come with digital versions of the manuals. I wish that Nintendo had thought about that before rereleasing classic and obscure games to the public.
Yeah I'd say the instructions are essential. The game does a good job of hinting at you about what to try and where to go next, but the professor's notes in the manual are impossible to play without in my opinion unless you just want to try everything with everything. You can read the notebook in the laboratory at the beginning of the game, but once you leave you can't get back in... it's not very nice!
Love the way it all looks. gives me that Deja Vu feel for sure, but I feel like you have to hug every wall of every area in the overworld. Those animations of the monsters looks great though! Definitely another one for the list!
I discover so many fascinating games through your videos and streams that I otherwise would never have even heard of. I’m adding this to my endless list of games to try out. Thanks for doing what you do and doing it so well!
@@hungrygoriya I'm not ashamed to peek at a walkthru for NES games these days. I didn't know games were designed to sell copies of Nintendo Power back then. :)
I am SO glad you covered this game. I used to check it out all the time from my local game store, but never finished it before I had to return the game. It was such an interesting game.
I loved games that actually had a point to the manuals and other things included in the games it made it actually feel like you had to put the work in to discover stuff. Obviously they tended to get lost when they were resold or damaged which makes the original experience not accessible. I can see why this isn't still a thing and with larger storage capacities it became unneeded but was definitely a much more interactive way of getting through games back then.
Yeah I love all those extra sources that used to come with games. My Zelda map is so worn by now it's barely hanging on because I used it so much as a kid and still do every time I play. They were not suggested reading materials but necessary ones!
Interestingly, in Japan this game had a prequel on one of the PCs, PC88 (it's called Asteka in Japan; Asteka II is this game, T&T). It was basically a typical adventure game, albeit one in which you type in all the commands. I've only found some screenshots online, with my rather mediocre Japanese, but there's a longplay on YT too it seems. Darn foreign languages. :p Didn't look particularly impressive though, Tombs and Treasures seemed more interesting. A similar game is Cleopatra no Mahou (it's fan-translated) by Square for Famicom Disk System; adventure elements + very simple RPG stuff. Shame T&T wasn't better, there are very few RPGs/adventure games with this theme (Libros de Chilam Balam is an interesting Wild West JRPG with a similar theme, sadly without a translation). Also, agreed that the ending is really abrupt. Wish there was more to it.
I had read about Asteka but couldn't find much on it just like you... it's a shame it wasn't made accessible to English-speakers. Tombs & Treasure was interesting enough but it was a bumpy ride, especially with how often I ended up dead-ended. I can think of at least 4 or 5 instances where you could end up in trouble and I hit most of them playing this through for the first time. And thanks for the info about some other games to check out. I hope they get translated some day!
I finished this game over 2 rentals back in the day and really enjoyed it for its time, given how few games like it we NES owners had access to. It was originally a very early Japanese 8-bit pc adventure game (1986), and the NES version is actually a pretty big improvement on it. The reason the XP system feels so procedural is because it was just wedged into the game for the NES port, it wasn't originally there nor were most of the story elements (hence so much of that being in the instructions). I have the Saturn remake, one of these days I need to dive into it.
Yeah I've heard that the NES version essentially added the other characters and the battles to the gameplay, which would've probably made it the definitive version to play at the time, or now for that matter. I saw some screenshots of the Saturn version and it looks really promising. I hope you enjoy it if you decide to play it!
@@hungrygoriya I hope I do too - though I've read it's based on the original and doesn't include the Famicom additions. It's on the Falcom Classics collection on Saturn and while most of them look & sound decent, they haven't all aged very very at all...
@@philmason9653 I just got really excited because I have a Falcom Classics disc for Saturn but it only has Ys, Dragon Slayer and Xanadu! It would've been funny if I'd had the upgraded version of this game all along, haha!
@@hungrygoriya Ah, yeah, it's on volume 2, which has Ys II & Tombs & Treasure. It can be gotten pretty easily for about $30 from Japanese online retailers like suruga-ya if you want to complete the set though.
Thanks! I had really high hopes for this game to be a little more well-rounded in the RPG department, but it was still fun for what it was after I figured out where all the sticking points were.
I haven't played Ultima 3 yet... I own that one and Quest of the Avatar for NES. I loved Avatar on the Master System and I'm really interested to try the NES version sometime as well. There are tons of great NES RPGs to try out... I hope you continue to enjoy exploring the library!
Great job, as always! You deserve more followers, subscribers, views and likes! You always manage to find some interesting old games to show. Your dedication on playing and making the videos is commendable! Keep up the good work!
This might be one of the prettiest games for the NES that I have seen. I thought that I had played most of the library of games for this system, but you keep finding more of them that I have missed. I'm kind of glad that I missed out on this one, though. I hate it when games randomly break because you didn't complete the quest in a specific order or collect a specific item, and then suddenly it becomes impossible to beat. Just the mention of Sierra sends a shiver down my spine. I would be flinging my controller across the room and cursing at the computer screen if I tried this one.
Given that I softlocked myself for the literal last step that you take before completing the game, the controller flinging was nearly a reality for me.
I called Nintendo Hotline for help with one of the puzzles in this, and the person who helped me said that - even having the solution in front of them - they didn't know how anyone would solve it without help, 'cause it involved preparing for something you wouldn't encounter 'til some time later. This is probably one of the Soft Locks you refer to :)
Thank you so much for doing this review. I thought I was the only one who knew about this game, lol. I remember renting this game at Blockbuster a bunch of times, but I never finished it until I came back to it on emulator many many years later.
Someone kindly added it to my list of things to play a while back and it had been on my mind since then. I'm glad I finally made my way through it as well! I can imagine it would've been hard to get through it on a rental schedule. You get stuck too much!
Not visible doors, I hate when games does that, there is no pleasure in walking on a screen just waiting for something to happen. You still remain the only channel I know wich talk about manuals, it's so nice. Going more and more close to 10K, I can only wish you to achieve that.
I can't really talk about the game without the manual usually... they are so important for games from this era! And yeah, it was tough to figure out where you could explore at first but looking at the map really helped since it pointed at the major sites to duck into. And thanks! I'm always really humbled by how many people have subscribed and how many come back to watch and comment on the videos I'm making. I appreciate your kind words :)
That's true, but so many retro channel don't talk about them, sometines they mention it, but it's not so often, at least for the ones I follow of course. I love original manuals, it's sad that we don't have them anymore. The map is useful indeed but you still have to search the screen. You're welcome :)
It's not a super long one once you get going... I think I spent about 9ish hours streaming it, and that's also counting talking to chat and wandering aimlessly without the map for part of it. Once I smartened up and looked up the map online, things started flying. Good luck if you get around to it soon!
@@hungrygoriya thank you so much!!! I was thinking maybe you can't see the entrances to the temples and such because they are hidden on purpose by the ancients. Even to our protagonist if you can imagine them hunting for the secret entrance to the places as we guide them over each tomb pixel by pixel searching for a way in. Pretty cool actually the tombs don't have doors.
For a moment, I really wanted this game to live up to it's potential. Then I remembered it's potential was realized in many of the best JRPGs of the PS1 and Saturn. The stories, the character interaction, the light adventure elements + traditional combat system + exploring beautiful scenery... And none of them softlocked me the way this game did, back in the day. Still, is it wrong that I wish I could spend time with an impatient and insulting archeologist rather than "The chosen one and their manatory love interest(s)"? I'd rather get to know someone with standards and an actual passion in life, rather than be flattered for an entire 50 hour run time.
I'm so sorry this game hurt you. I agree though... interesting characters and a good story are usually what I appreciate most about a game. This particular one had pretty much none of that.
I like that your analyses include ways that these games could have been better; it'd be neat if some programmer went back and tweaked these games with your critiques and made them more accessible for a contemporary audience of gamers to enjoy. I like the idea of breathing new life into old games and potentially bring about experiences that are truer to their creators' vision than what came out in the original product.
This is a very nice sentiment! I'd love to see someone poll people online to see what could change about a well-loved game to improve it and then do it. I have absolutely no skills in that department and no idea what something like that would take, but I think it's a neat idea for sure.
@@hungrygoriya No, I only had a couple of hours to play, and when I got to the thing where I needed a magnet, that seemed like a good place to pause. Kind of thinking I'm gonna come back to it this week if I can, while it's still fresh though. Might play it on my EverDrive instead so I can use save states though, because those passwords are ridiculous.
@@ecmyersvids The passwords are just part of the fun though! And that's pretty much where I stopped my first stream as well. I hope you will finish it! It's definitely worth it!
Awesome video!!! I'll probably use your video as a sort of walkthrough when I eventually decide to delve into this one. It intrigues me as it's similar in some ways to Shadowgate, Deja Vu and Uninvited, all of which I played when they were released on the NES. This one definitely seems a bit rougher, though! Speaking of softlocks, beware of Wild Arms for the PS1. There's an item that's necessary to progress, and the game allows you to sell it. I thought it was useless and sold it, softlocking the game. When I realized it was needed to go on, I tried to get it back but to no avail. I haven't found anyone on the internet complaining about this, so I might be wrong, but I spent hours trying to get that thing again and just couldn't.
I tried to present things without too much context to not spoil much of the game, so hopefully you still have some surprises left for when you do play through. I haven't played Shadowgate, Deja Vu or Uninvited yet, but I hear they're excellent. This one's okay but from what I hear about those other three, it doesn't quite live up to that standard. I hope you like it! And oh NO! Why do games let you sell important things?! I will keep an eye out when I finally do get around to it because I seem to be a magnet for these situations. Thanks for the warning!
Definitely a clunky game with some obtuse puzzles and frustrating menus, but it still has so much charm. I am glad you checked this game out and got to hear this haunting soundtrack.
Yet again, thank you so much for suggesting it to me! It is full of charm and I really did enjoy my time with it despite some of the troubles I encountered. I haven't played anything quite like it and I'm sure I never will. It's pretty unique!
Did you go out of your way to go into a temple to find a pendant that made you weaker? =P JK. Awesome review goriya. Well structured and edited. So happy I stumbled upon your channel.
I remember hoping for something along the lines of a mashup between Quest For Glory, Pretty much any early dungeon crawler, and Indiana Jones when I got this. It wasn't nearly as good as I hoped but I still had fun beating it with dad.
What wonderful memories those must be! I played some games with my mom as a kid and I really appreciated that time together. But you're right... Tombs and Treasure is so much simpler. It's pretty unique! I wonder if there's anything else quite like it out there.
Glad you finally had a chance to play this, but sorry it didn't quite live up to expectations. ;) I remember it being a much less frustrating game than it seemed from your review, and I also remember really liking the ending, but it's been DECADES since I played it through to the end, so I'm not sure what I'd think nowadays. I do have a lot of patience for these old games, and a certain appreciation for tonal shifts in stories... but then, based on your other reviews, you do too, so that suggests this game is just a lot more convoluted than I remember it being! You probably know this already, but this is actually a Falcom game, albeit a greatly expanded one. It originally was released on a number of PC platforms in Japan as Asteka II: Templo del Sol, though that version... was much more straightforward than this one. Basically no dialogue, and I don't even think the girl or guide were part of the story at all. And there were no battles -- everything was open to you from the start. I've tried playing that version on my MSX, and honestly... I found it kind of boring! It all just felt very... empty. For all the misfires it may have had, I would say the NES version is the definitive way to play this game -- the story and dialogue may have been trite and had a huge tonal shift, but it gave you a greater sense of purpose, and the three-character system helped deliver some fairly well-written (and shockingly well-translated, for the time) banter that gave the party a bit more characterization and personality. The battle system may not have been even remotely deep, but it was evidently added as a way of gating you from exploring areas you weren't meant to visit yet too early in the game, which apparently made the original game a lot more overwhelming in terms of inventory management and puzzle-solving, often leaving you with too many options and no real clue where to go or what to do next. And the interface... well, they had a lot to work with from the original game, and they tried their damnedest to include ALL of the options in this NES port, which was... ambitious, if nothing else! ;) So yeah. Tombs & Treasure may not be perfect, but it feels like a lot of love and attention went into this version, both from the developer's side and from the localization side. This was clearly a passion project, and I've always felt it was a bit of a shame it fell into such obscurity here -- especially considering it's Falcom! And one of only three Falcom games ever released in English on the NES, all of which you've now played (the other two being Faxanadu and Legacy of the Wizard). An odd choice for localization, but one that I'm glad was made, and a game I'm really glad to have grown up with.
This is a really great perspective as always... I'm happy to have played it despite the struggle at times, but the struggle might also just very well be a "me" thing. I tend to walk into traps in games with open arms, so maybe you're remembering the game the way it should be remembered, haha I also appreciate the background information here as well... I knew it was Falcom and that soundtrack really shone. Not surprising! I think I would've loved to grow up with this one too honestly. I did have King's Quest V for NES at least, though it's quite a different can of worms.
The isometric background and top-down character sprites remind me a lot of Fourside in Earthbound xD This looks like another one where the instruction manual is absolutely *imperative* to the game's overall design. This may sound odd, but this totally seems like it would make a cool anime OVA series, with its mystery and unique setting!
Yepppp I agree about Fourside! I hadn't made that connect... good eye there! And yep, if you examine the notebook at the beginning, you only get snippets of the manual writings in the laboratory where you start the game. And when you leave, you're never allowed back inside again!!! How ridiculous eh? You really do need the manual to have a fighting chance at making sense of some of the puzzles. I agree with you about a series or something else around this story or these characters... it's really like nothing else I've experienced in a video game so far.
@@HybridAngelZero Totally! It had such a strange ending and I would've loved to see the story continue. I don't want to say too much of course but knowing where things go and seeing it all just come to a close was unfortunate. The ending screen even says, "See you in another game" that never happened :(
I used to rent this one (with no manual tho). By trial and error I deduced the order of the places to explore (if the battle against the demon guarding the ruin was winnable, that's the right place). I had to use a guide after I got stuck, because I never thought of washing the sun necklace (despite that being clearly hinted at the start of the game)
@@hungrygoriya a couple of times . One of them being the same end of game soft lock you mentioned. I won't mention the specific way here as to not give spoilers. I do wish they would remake this game in the same way the creator of Shadowgate remade that classic about 10 years ago. I think it would do great in a modern set up.
This one was neat for me, as someone who's spent time at Chichen Itza, but it REALLY could've used more time in the oven. I think my biggest gripe with it was the goofy leveling system that not only made very little sense, but also didn't usually even tell you that you'd leveled up, and even having done so wasn't always a guarantee that you'd win the next fight, if the RNG decided it didn't like you.
I had this one as a kid; I don’t remember how we got it (maybe a garage sale my mom went to) but I didn’t have an instruction manual and got stuck before I could get too far.
Ah geeze, yeah... I can't imagine you'd get too far without the notes. Have you ever thought about trying it again now that the manual's available online? It's fun despite all the potential for trouble here and there.
fun fact: The title theme (which you used to close out the video) also appears in early versions of Ys, including the Sega Master System version of the game. I'm 100% sure why they reused it, but it is a great song.
@@hungrygoriya I didn't notice it until recently, because for a long time I never saw the title screen for Tombs and Treasures, lol. If I remember right the opening text comes up before the title screen, and I'd usually start right into it after that.
I tried to play this one a few years back. Got stuck and gave up very quickly. It doesn't help that it's really hard to find entrances on the overworld.
I had to restart a few times and load passwords quite a bit. I think I got softlocked four times apart from not knowing I could go into the Court of Columns. Once you figure out where the sticking points are and what not to do though, it's a really short game.
I swear you are one of T h o se youtubers who just NEED more subs. Your channel has a lot of your potential and your definitely somewhere on my top 10 for youtubers I’d love to see grow bigger. Love your vids.
I'm in the UK so the Master System was the console of choice here back in the day. As such, I'm really unfamiliar with a lot of NES games, so thanks for highlighting all these little gems I've never heard of. I do get sick of hearing about Castlevania and Mega Man!
Hey my pleasure! I've been playing through lots of games I've been wanting to review lately, but I checked and this game didn't have much out there on it in terms of reviews or analyses so it seemed like a good one to prioritize. Thanks for watching!
In Eastern Europe we mostly had Famiclones, Master System is pretty much completely unknown (I've never seen it anywhere myself), so we had quite a few neat Japanese exclusives to play as well; Genesis and PS1 came later. Getsu Fuuma Den by Konami was one of my favourites back in the day, alongside Mitsume Ga Tooru (Natsume). Japan also got a significant number of RPGs/adventure games (mostly murder mystery Portopia clones) and "weird" games, such as horse racing betting games, a car manufacturing/business game etc. Tons of weird stuff, but there are some hidden gems too (Guardian Legend... Zelda-like + shoot 'em up). Overall, I really liked it back in the day, in addition to the good old C64/Amiga/DOS games. :)
You are now my go-to for pixel art judging since you are quickly becoming a masterful pixel artist! And you're welcome. It might be a good speedrun game though... it's quite quick if you know where to go!
Yeah I agree... I'm not a big fan of those big dead ends in games, and reloading from passwords was also a huge pain! Now that I know what not to do, I think I'd like playing this a lot more.
@@hungrygoriya I wish we had more games like this (and the ICOM games like Shadowgate) on the NES. They were some of the best in my opinion. Tombs and Treasures falls short a bit, but I think they were on the right track... if they had have had a chance to release a few more games like it, they probably would have been amazing.
I have this one, but haven't spent much time with it over the decades. To make it worse, I've had the Saturn remake for near 20 years as well, and have yet to try it... maybe next vacation.
Those passwords XD I feel privileged to have been there for some of the soft lock antics. It's a shame about how major some of the flaws are because there's some promising stuff in there otherwise. What a curious game.
You know, I normally appreciate a long-winded password that tracks your exact progress in a longer game like Rambo or Faxanadu, but here it just felt like overkill. And yeah, those softlock antics follow me into most games I pick up. If it can be softlocked, I'll find a way! Thanks for hanging out in the streams!
I finally played Nightshade and loved it, so I find this intriguing. I’m not sure why I waited this long to try point-and-click adventures on NES. The first 20 seconds of this video sounded like Star Tropics or Mother. If it doesn’t end with aliens, I’ll be deeply disappointed. That soft-locking, though-Not a fan.
How did you manage with the fights in Nightshade? I watched a friend stream it and it looked pretty tough to get the hang of. I loved the rest of that game though and can't wait to play it myself sometime. I won't tell you about the ending but I hope you like it if you play it! Watch out for those missteps in the puzzles. Once you know, you know at least and you won't make the same mistake twice.
@@hungrygoriya Most of the fights aren’t bad. Ninjas always pop up behind you, so I’d trick them into a corner and beat them up. The Anubis hit hard, but I got into the swing of their weakness (explained in-game). The others are slightly less predictable, but they go down pretty fast. (The attack while crouching is the best for almost everything, btw). That final boss, though. I saved my first aid kit for him and still was about to die. I was playing it on NES Online and didn’t feel like playing much longer, so I used the rewind feature to dodge a few attacks. I could’ve beaten him, but not without another game over.
I like the concept of this game - adventure style in the vein of point and click based off of history with turned based combat and some puzzles. It also seems like perhaps a good entry to speed running though that in and of itself makes me wonder why there are passwords. Don't get me wrong since I am not sure how long this game is (and despite that it seems like it takes the sting out of soft locks not to mention the option for passwords over nothing is better than not) The 90s had bizarrely games that were made hard to not beat in a rental and games that were quick to replay and master so it felt like you got replay value but this doesn't seem like a Megaman 2 in that regard. I got thinking about Maniac Mansion with this review - it's a little cryptic but the fun is in learning how to do things correctly and chart new courses. Is that fair? Maybe this game was trying to do that too but it's seems like it failed to and not only that it seems completely linear and doesn't have the same humor/charm. I also feel weird about games that require to some extent game manuals. It can be fine but also in a way feels like a crutch with game design. PS I liked your B-Roll, it's satisfying to watch someone plug in and turn on an NES game
You know, it's a short game overall, but I wonder if the passwords were there for the dead ends. It did take me about 8 hours to play through without any help on stream so I can see that being a long day for someone playing for the first time. Knowing how to do everything, I bet you could play in under an hour. I can definitely see some parallels to how Maniac Mansion works. T&T's definitely lacking in humour though. And you know what's funny? In that moment in the B-roll I was hoping for the NES to not start on the first try, and every take it did... what luck! It turned out okay anyway though!
OMG I remember this game. I don't know if you came across it Goriya but there was a weird invisible wall maze outside one of the pyramids, there was no ryhme or reason for it and I walked around for almost an hour to figure it out. I remember walking off the bottom of the screen to another screen and kinda being inside the jungle, it was a trip. You never knew if the path leads to a pyramid, a dead end or an item, it was so baffling. The girl character reminded me of Bulma from Dragon Ball so her being rude didnt bug me hah. Anyhow, I liked the game back then but I have a fascination for people who would even want to go back to this NES - SMS era, I lived it and have no desire to go back lol.
Oh really? I don't know if I came across that part actually... I tried shoving myself into all of the places I could but I might've missed that part! And I'm totally obsessed with 8-bit generation games. I grew up with NES and only had a few games to play, so I'm excited to branch out and play so many more greats!
I've noticed you seem to have manuals for the vast majority of your NES games - or at least the vast majority of the ones you've made videos of. If it's the latter, that would be telling. The classic NES experience for many of us was picking up games from the "pre-owned" section at the local video rental store (or Funcoland once that became a thing), or just renting the games, almost exclusively sans manual. You can see how this would've been a problem. For action games, shooters, etc., you could usually figure things out eventually. But this is the reason why so many amazing adventure and RPG games - Legacy of the Wizard is a perfect example, and you've found another here - failed to get the attention they deserved. The games were almost unplayable without the manual explaining what various items do, or explaining arcane game mechanics, or displaying a map that pointed out locations of interest that might otherwise look like background scenery, as with Tombs & Treasure. T&T was in the rental category for me - finding it in the games aisle at Blockbuster made my nerdy little 10-year-old heart skip a beat - and I vaguely remember enjoying it to a point, but with a clear understanding that I was missing out on things. Of course, there was little incentive for Nintendo and other devs to address this. They made nothing off of the second-hand market and little off of the rental market. Thank ye gods for when storage space became less of an issue and in-game tutorials, maps and item/skill explanations started becoming a thing.
Unfortunately I don't have a lot of manuals. I rely on the kindness of those that have scanned and uploaded copies to the internet. Many of them are available if you look around for them! And it's funny you mention that because I got a couple of games back in the day from stores without their manuals, and I struggled with some of them as well. The manual does a lot to enhance the experience, and I vastly prefer it compared to newer games that tutorialize you to death.
Hey now. At least Clash at Demonhead isn't completely obtuse. The characters in-game tell you were to go at all times in that game. You're right though the ending to that game does suck. Great review as always.
I definitely meant just the ending part about Clash at Demonhead... I got there, mashed a bunch of buttons in a panic and got the bad ending. Sooooo yes. The way this one ends is similar in the "what the hell just happened" kinda way! I really liked Clash at Demonhead except for the ending.
@@hungrygoriya The "good" ending may as well be the bad. its a few lines of text to wrap things up and is done. That reminds me that I need to replay that game. Its wonderful. Also mashing is a good strategy. That ending puzzle is terrible. Cheers.
Yeah totally... like if you lost a battle you knew you had more to do before you could continue. It's a clever system but not what I was expecting for turn-based battling!
The combination of the art, the music, and the fact that in the end... (SPOILERS) ... you basically go missing, much like the previous guy, leaving the mystery of Chichen Itza looming as silently and dreadfully large as before (even though you and your girlfriend are ostensibly having a happy-ish ending in another time), gives the game a very haunted and unfulfilling aura in retrospect for me. It's gotta be intentional. I sure couldn't forget playing this game and the experience of it. I just hate those epic animes with plots & endings where the struggles, dramas and loves of the protagonists are doomed to be lost beyond remembrance to the world!! Happy endings that are more sad than happy!! Boo!! Don't hurt me with my happiness!!
I can't agree with you more. I was a little miffed at how this one ended just because of that... you're only deepening the mystery, and someone else is bound to come looking for you and meet the same fate. No resolution here, only more turmoil and sadness for more people with missing loved ones.
I know I ended up softlocking after the final boss once because I didn't have something for the incense and had to go back to an earlier password to get it... is that what you mean?
It's such a disappointment to hear that the combat in this isn't great I love adventure games. I've always wanted to have some higher level mechanics in those types of games and the only one I seem to have come across that even remotely fit the bill was The Sword of Hope so it's pretty disappointing this one doesn't fit that niche. Still, it sounds like a decent adventure game and worth checking out.
You will likely enjoy your time with T&T if you can put up with things being very surface level on most fronts. It's fun for what it is but it really does lack quite a bit of depth like other games likely provide. Sword of Hope! I have had that on my list of things to play for a long time now. I've been trying to find a copy of the sequel for ages to no avail. I'm glad to hear it's fun!
There's a few more, if you don't mind fan-translations: Maharaja (by Sunsoft), Cleopatra no Mahou (Square), The Sword of Hope II, Kujaku Ou 1 and 2 - those are the ones for retro consoles I can think of right now. There are tons more for the PC, such as Lands of Lore, The Legend of Kyrandia, Stonekeep, Anvil of Dawn etc. Depends on the style you like most.
Hey thanks for checking out the channel! I appreciate it! I don't speak Spanish at all, but I laughed out loud at El Slug as well. Whoever chose that name is funny and I'd like to meet them!
....I take it from your video that the girl is going to be the type that follows the main character and lectures them every time something goes wrong, like in 90% of cartoon shows I watched. I.e. Misty from Pokemon, or Linka from Captain Planet?
@@hungrygoriya I never had the chance to. Haha. He would never let me rent it more than the two times I had the chance to grab it. I am glad I can live vicariously through you. Great Channel btw. Really like re-living my childhood through you.
1:22 Awwwwwrgh, it annoys me in that special way that those two TVs are juuuuust perfectly not the same size. This game is such a mixed bag. On one hand, the music is hauntingly beautiful at times and the scenery can really feel wonderful. On the other, there's the promise of an RPG system that's really just a gating mechanism pretending to be an RPG system. On the other other hand, THEM SOFTLOCKS THO! - Joined the magnet-bar and the bowl at the total start of the game? Got a compass out of it? This was what you were supposed to do? FUCK NO, IDIOT. You won't ever be able to get the key behind the panther statue way later on, WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? - Speaking of which, did you forget to take the key before blowing the horn? Because there's no fixing things now. - Hey, did you take that stick that was holding the gears in that one area? Because while you need that thing, you also need to do something in the room the gears are keeping opened. And there's no way to open it anymore. - Stuck in the maze? Boy, I hope you got that one passage opened in the other place because you're going to end up in a room with 4 exits, exactly none of which are now opened. - Then there's that one room some bad guy traps you in. Only there's no way out if you don't have the item you need. - Oh yeah, and that one room with the lever in THERE'S A WINDOWS VERSION? Hang on, wtf? Okay, I have to track this one down... :o brb.
It's because one of them is missing its little feet! It bugs me too! And yeppppp... I read through your list here, and while I didn't run into all of these issues personally, I could easily see making those "errors" in a first playthrough and not realizing what I did wrong until it was far too late. Ugh!
I suppose I didn't like the idea that they left a world of people wondering and worrying for them. And based on what happened in the Mayan times, I didn't think it was much of a treat to go back and live in that period... just my two cents of course. It was definitely a unique ending.
This game looks extremely cryptic and confusing. There's something magical about it, but also very horrible. It's like Goonies 2 NES. It belongs in the deepest depths of NES hell.
I couldn't find much on the remakes, but I hope they get translated as well. I think I read Saturn and Windows though, so yeah... that'll probably be a lot prettier to look at. Hopefully they fixed up the interface a bit! Good luck if you get around to it eventually.
Globe-making sounds fun honestly... And honestly, it had some rough edges but I still had fun with it. I just won't go around recommending it to everyone... I'm sure there are better experiences in the point and click adventure genre on the system.
@@hungrygoriya you make it sound as though there are some things you recommend to everyone 😅 hi florist, try playing this! 😁 I cannot think of too many games where a world can be mapped, except for perhaps final fantasy, but even then, is all you see the world... You know now I want to try it too😅 Hope you have a nice week miss
"My biggest setback was never knowing if my thinking was wrong or if I just couldn't figure out the exact finicky way that the game wanted me to do something."
Welcome to every adventure game ever made.
Yepppp! I've played plenty from this genre throughout life, but this one felt a little more frustrating than usual, especially with all the softlocks.
You are the absolute best at finding hidden NES gems. I would've loved to have been your friend back in day!
I wish I had many of these games growing up. I only played the same small stack for most of my life, and unfortunately this game wasn't one of them.
@@hungrygoriya do u play it like how u would have played it back in the day? Like without save states. It looks like you captured the footage directly from a real NES.
And yeah my family only own a handful of games and mainly rent. I feel a lot of today’s retro gamers are more so collecting where they get a huge library of games and full rom collections but they seem to only sample retro games and don’t fully play it all the way like you do.
@@DemiGodX I don't play with save states because I'm always on original hardware! I don't think there's anything wrong with save states but playing it without is just a side effect of how I'm choosing to play my games.
And I think you're right. Lots of people have beautiful collections and might not sit down to finish what they start. The giantness of a backlog can feel pretty overwhelming. I got around that by starting up my livestreams and having an audience to be accountable to so I could finish my games. It has really helped!
This old art blows me away. The time and effort and talent to make some of these nes games with the limitations is inspiring
Right? I think pixel art is so beautiful. You can do so much with so little if you know what you're doing!
@@hungrygoriya it blows my mind, honestly and the way the pixels are sort of blurry which rounds them off or gives that illusion, is pretty sweet
@@braydenb1581 Yeah! I've seen a lot of those posts that show the old composite/RF signal feed from a CRT with that effect you're talking about, and then they show it all cleaned up with sharper signals. It's not the same!
@@hungrygoriya it really isn't. I got into NES Maker, making a game for the nes, and the art I'd make in aseprite looked so odd bring so pixel perfect but once active on screen it didn't look half bad.
I mean, I am no artist so it sort of sucked anyways but looked better lol
@@braydenb1581 I seriously doubt it sucked!
I just noticed that some of the music to this game is also featured in Ys: Vanished Omens. That is because Infocom is a division of Falcon, and the same composer of the Ys series (Takahoto Abe) wrote the music to Tombs and Treasure. The sample that you used in 9:10-9:28 is "The Temple of Sol" from Ys. I guess, the track is like an "Easter Egg" for fans of the series?
You know, I thought that one sounded familiar and couldn't place it! That's it! That's the title screen music for Tombs & Treasure.
Falcom actually developed this game for PC originally -- Infocom just did the NES/Famicom port. So yeah, this is a legit Falcom classic. It was originally titled Asteka II: Templo del Sol, and was a contemporary of Ys (and, as the title implies, a sequel to a much earlier Falcom game called Asteka!).
I like the way you structure your reviews, don’t ever change that
That's very nice of you to say. Thank you! I try to just find a thread to run with so no two are alike.
I love how you capture direct nes composite footage instead of using a modified NES/emulator/FPGA. Almost all other channels go with the latter method, leaving me wondering how certain visual effects would've truly looked like when displayed as intended.
Hey thanks... the NES is pretty sacred to me since it was a childhood console of mine, and I'm really fond of the fuzzy footage from it. Everything else I usually upscale or run at a higher quality with RGB, but I haven't brought myself around to getting the NES modded yet. I don't think I ever will.
“Glued down to the table in his office” is likely how I’m going to find my work office this fall after two years of quarantine 😂😂😂. Thank you again for the detailed review and I love the scene cuts to the NES, the mini CRTs, and the game itself.
I don't doubt the level of sticky books and dust that'll be in so many workspaces come quarantine's end! And thank you... The twin CRTs were my spouse's idea. I hoped the NES would take me a few tries to get the game to start but the console was in a good mood and turned on the first time every try... Just my luck!
1986-'87 was this short NES period where companies were trying these really weird 1st person adventure hybrids: Dr Chaos, Goonies 2, and this.
Sword of Hope might be your jam if you haven't already played it. It was for the Gameboy and was basically Shadowgate with RPG combat.
I like these little mash-ups. I'll have to give Dr. Chaos and Goonies II a try sometime. I've yet to play either of them. Sword of Hope's been in my collection for a while and I'm still trying to find the sequel. It's way out of reach price-wise at this point, but maybe I'll get lucky someday. Thanks for the suggestions!
Shinning in the Darkness was my favorite back in the 90's!
I just played through that one recently and have been working on a review for it... hopefully I'll get that out in the coming weeks!
@@hungrygoriya Having just played it myself (being interested in Shining Force's origins), I'm interested to see it. It's a surprisingly friendly game for its genre and era. At least for someone like me that rarely plays old first person RPGs.
So, this game kind of plays like Star Tropics, in that the instruction manual and map that come with the game are necessary to helping people figure out how to play it. That means that Tombs and Treasure probably won't be on Nintendo Switch Online, because none of the NES (and SNES) games in the libraries come with digital versions of the manuals. I wish that Nintendo had thought about that before rereleasing classic and obscure games to the public.
Yeah I'd say the instructions are essential. The game does a good job of hinting at you about what to try and where to go next, but the professor's notes in the manual are impossible to play without in my opinion unless you just want to try everything with everything. You can read the notebook in the laboratory at the beginning of the game, but once you leave you can't get back in... it's not very nice!
Love the way it all looks. gives me that Deja Vu feel for sure, but I feel like you have to hug every wall of every area in the overworld. Those animations of the monsters looks great though! Definitely another one for the list!
The list keeps getting longer and longer...
@@hungrygoriya You just know too many good games! Who could stop you at this point!?
I discover so many fascinating games through your videos and streams that I otherwise would never have even heard of. I’m adding this to my endless list of games to try out. Thanks for doing what you do and doing it so well!
Thanks very much for your continued support and kindness. Having people like you that come back to see what I've been up to really make it worth it.
How on earth did I miss this one. Gonna give it a go next weekend.
Enjoy it! I hope you don't run into too many troubles along the way!
@@hungrygoriya I'm not ashamed to peek at a walkthru for NES games these days. I didn't know games were designed to sell copies of Nintendo Power back then. :)
I am SO glad you covered this game. I used to check it out all the time from my local game store, but never finished it before I had to return the game. It was such an interesting game.
It was really great to piece together. Do you think you'll ever finish it?
I loved games that actually had a point to the manuals and other things included in the games it made it actually feel like you had to put the work in to discover stuff. Obviously they tended to get lost when they were resold or damaged which makes the original experience not accessible. I can see why this isn't still a thing and with larger storage capacities it became unneeded but was definitely a much more interactive way of getting through games back then.
Yeah I love all those extra sources that used to come with games. My Zelda map is so worn by now it's barely hanging on because I used it so much as a kid and still do every time I play. They were not suggested reading materials but necessary ones!
Interestingly, in Japan this game had a prequel on one of the PCs, PC88 (it's called Asteka in Japan; Asteka II is this game, T&T). It was basically a typical adventure game, albeit one in which you type in all the commands. I've only found some screenshots online, with my rather mediocre Japanese, but there's a longplay on YT too it seems. Darn foreign languages. :p Didn't look particularly impressive though, Tombs and Treasures seemed more interesting. A similar game is Cleopatra no Mahou (it's fan-translated) by Square for Famicom Disk System; adventure elements + very simple RPG stuff. Shame T&T wasn't better, there are very few RPGs/adventure games with this theme (Libros de Chilam Balam is an interesting Wild West JRPG with a similar theme, sadly without a translation). Also, agreed that the ending is really abrupt. Wish there was more to it.
great info! I'm always looking for games with pre-columbian themes/aesthetics and didn't know about Asteca or Libros de Chilam Balam
I had read about Asteka but couldn't find much on it just like you... it's a shame it wasn't made accessible to English-speakers. Tombs & Treasure was interesting enough but it was a bumpy ride, especially with how often I ended up dead-ended. I can think of at least 4 or 5 instances where you could end up in trouble and I hit most of them playing this through for the first time.
And thanks for the info about some other games to check out. I hope they get translated some day!
I finished this game over 2 rentals back in the day and really enjoyed it for its time, given how few games like it we NES owners had access to. It was originally a very early Japanese 8-bit pc adventure game (1986), and the NES version is actually a pretty big improvement on it. The reason the XP system feels so procedural is because it was just wedged into the game for the NES port, it wasn't originally there nor were most of the story elements (hence so much of that being in the instructions). I have the Saturn remake, one of these days I need to dive into it.
Yeah I've heard that the NES version essentially added the other characters and the battles to the gameplay, which would've probably made it the definitive version to play at the time, or now for that matter. I saw some screenshots of the Saturn version and it looks really promising. I hope you enjoy it if you decide to play it!
@@hungrygoriya I hope I do too - though I've read it's based on the original and doesn't include the Famicom additions. It's on the Falcom Classics collection on Saturn and while most of them look & sound decent, they haven't all aged very very at all...
@@philmason9653 I just got really excited because I have a Falcom Classics disc for Saturn but it only has Ys, Dragon Slayer and Xanadu! It would've been funny if I'd had the upgraded version of this game all along, haha!
@@hungrygoriya Ah, yeah, it's on volume 2, which has Ys II & Tombs & Treasure. It can be gotten pretty easily for about $30 from Japanese online retailers like suruga-ya if you want to complete the set though.
@@philmason9653 Right on! I might look into that just for fun. Thanks!
Love it when I see a new HG video in my feed!! You always find these fun, quirky games I've never heard of. Great stuff, as usual! 😁
Glad you stopped by. Thanks!
Nice review! There are so many of these weird kind-of-but-not-really-RPGs on the NES. It's always interesting to look at them.
Thanks! I had really high hopes for this game to be a little more well-rounded in the RPG department, but it was still fun for what it was after I figured out where all the sticking points were.
Recently got ultima 3 for my NES. These old rpgs have been a ton of fun. Love your channel, keep up the great work!
I haven't played Ultima 3 yet... I own that one and Quest of the Avatar for NES. I loved Avatar on the Master System and I'm really interested to try the NES version sometime as well. There are tons of great NES RPGs to try out... I hope you continue to enjoy exploring the library!
it's always a good day when I get fed a video from a hungry goriya
What's a hungry dirito?
Great job, as always! You deserve more followers, subscribers, views and likes! You always manage to find some interesting old games to show. Your dedication on playing and making the videos is commendable! Keep up the good work!
Too kind :) Thanks very much!
This might be one of the prettiest games for the NES that I have seen. I thought that I had played most of the library of games for this system, but you keep finding more of them that I have missed. I'm kind of glad that I missed out on this one, though. I hate it when games randomly break because you didn't complete the quest in a specific order or collect a specific item, and then suddenly it becomes impossible to beat. Just the mention of Sierra sends a shiver down my spine. I would be flinging my controller across the room and cursing at the computer screen if I tried this one.
Given that I softlocked myself for the literal last step that you take before completing the game, the controller flinging was nearly a reality for me.
This game was seriously impressive for its time. Damned shame i didnt find it till decades later.
Better late than never!
I called Nintendo Hotline for help with one of the puzzles in this, and the person who helped me said that - even having the solution in front of them - they didn't know how anyone would solve it without help, 'cause it involved preparing for something you wouldn't encounter 'til some time later. This is probably one of the Soft Locks you refer to :)
I think the way you would've had to solve it is by starting the game over. That's what I had to do... :(
Great vid. Surprised you’ve not got more subs. Keep going. You’ve got the talent
That's very kind of you! Thanks so much :)
Thank you so much for doing this review. I thought I was the only one who knew about this game, lol. I remember renting this game at Blockbuster a bunch of times, but I never finished it until I came back to it on emulator many many years later.
Someone kindly added it to my list of things to play a while back and it had been on my mind since then. I'm glad I finally made my way through it as well! I can imagine it would've been hard to get through it on a rental schedule. You get stuck too much!
GREAT video. Thank you for posting this video. Your videos are a great resource and enjoyable to watch.
Glad you like them!
@@hungrygoriya Keep up the excellent work.
I like this game even though some of the puzzles are impossible to figure out without a guide. I enjoy your videos!
There were a few mean parts I ran into where I got a bit stuck, definitely. And thank you very much!
Nice work! Soft locks are bad news. Also I hadn't known the manual would be that cool and informative! Shouldn't have just got it loose lol.
I unfortunately don't have the manual either, but thankfully people keep uploading those resources to the internet!
Not visible doors, I hate when games does that, there is no pleasure in walking on a screen just waiting for something to happen.
You still remain the only channel I know wich talk about manuals, it's so nice. Going more and more close to 10K, I can only wish you to achieve that.
I can't really talk about the game without the manual usually... they are so important for games from this era! And yeah, it was tough to figure out where you could explore at first but looking at the map really helped since it pointed at the major sites to duck into.
And thanks! I'm always really humbled by how many people have subscribed and how many come back to watch and comment on the videos I'm making. I appreciate your kind words :)
That's true, but so many retro channel don't talk about them, sometines they mention it, but it's not so often, at least for the ones I follow of course. I love original manuals, it's sad that we don't have them anymore.
The map is useful indeed but you still have to search the screen.
You're welcome :)
I've dabbled into this game here and there but havent seriously taken it on. I definitely want to play through this sometime.
It's not a super long one once you get going... I think I spent about 9ish hours streaming it, and that's also counting talking to chat and wandering aimlessly without the map for part of it. Once I smartened up and looked up the map online, things started flying. Good luck if you get around to it soon!
@@hungrygoriya thank you so much!!! I was thinking maybe you can't see the entrances to the temples and such because they are hidden on purpose by the ancients. Even to our protagonist if you can imagine them hunting for the secret entrance to the places as we guide them over each tomb pixel by pixel searching for a way in. Pretty cool actually the tombs don't have doors.
@@highscores8593 That would be a neat plot twist, haha
For a moment, I really wanted this game to live up to it's potential.
Then I remembered it's potential was realized in many of the best JRPGs of the PS1 and Saturn. The stories, the character interaction, the light adventure elements + traditional combat system + exploring beautiful scenery...
And none of them softlocked me the way this game did, back in the day.
Still, is it wrong that I wish I could spend time with an impatient and insulting archeologist rather than "The chosen one and their manatory love interest(s)"? I'd rather get to know someone with standards and an actual passion in life, rather than be flattered for an entire 50 hour run time.
I'm so sorry this game hurt you. I agree though... interesting characters and a good story are usually what I appreciate most about a game. This particular one had pretty much none of that.
I like that your analyses include ways that these games could have been better; it'd be neat if some programmer went back and tweaked these games with your critiques and made them more accessible for a contemporary audience of gamers to enjoy. I like the idea of breathing new life into old games and potentially bring about experiences that are truer to their creators' vision than what came out in the original product.
This is a very nice sentiment! I'd love to see someone poll people online to see what could change about a well-loved game to improve it and then do it. I have absolutely no skills in that department and no idea what something like that would take, but I think it's a neat idea for sure.
Music in the game is relaxing. Graphics wise looks like it belongs to the Sega Master System.
“I don’t want to tell you how it ends. But I can tell you I didn’t like it” lol
I have to be honest! :D
To be fair, she doesn't want to spoil anything, so yeah that's how I would have taken it.
Oh. WOW. That's a core memory unlocked.
I wish I'd gotten to play this as a kid.
I just embarked on this adventure for the first time, and I share your joys and frustrations. Really unexpectedly cool game though.
Right? It kinda just comes out of nowhere with all the atmosphere. Did you end up finishing it?
@@hungrygoriya No, I only had a couple of hours to play, and when I got to the thing where I needed a magnet, that seemed like a good place to pause. Kind of thinking I'm gonna come back to it this week if I can, while it's still fresh though. Might play it on my EverDrive instead so I can use save states though, because those passwords are ridiculous.
@@ecmyersvids The passwords are just part of the fun though! And that's pretty much where I stopped my first stream as well. I hope you will finish it! It's definitely worth it!
Awesome video!!! I'll probably use your video as a sort of walkthrough when I eventually decide to delve into this one. It intrigues me as it's similar in some ways to Shadowgate, Deja Vu and Uninvited, all of which I played when they were released on the NES. This one definitely seems a bit rougher, though!
Speaking of softlocks, beware of Wild Arms for the PS1. There's an item that's necessary to progress, and the game allows you to sell it. I thought it was useless and sold it, softlocking the game. When I realized it was needed to go on, I tried to get it back but to no avail. I haven't found anyone on the internet complaining about this, so I might be wrong, but I spent hours trying to get that thing again and just couldn't.
I tried to present things without too much context to not spoil much of the game, so hopefully you still have some surprises left for when you do play through. I haven't played Shadowgate, Deja Vu or Uninvited yet, but I hear they're excellent. This one's okay but from what I hear about those other three, it doesn't quite live up to that standard. I hope you like it!
And oh NO! Why do games let you sell important things?! I will keep an eye out when I finally do get around to it because I seem to be a magnet for these situations. Thanks for the warning!
Definitely a clunky game with some obtuse puzzles and frustrating menus, but it still has so much charm. I am glad you checked this game out and got to hear this haunting soundtrack.
Yet again, thank you so much for suggesting it to me! It is full of charm and I really did enjoy my time with it despite some of the troubles I encountered. I haven't played anything quite like it and I'm sure I never will. It's pretty unique!
@@hungrygoriya I felt the same about it when I played, yeah.. overall, a cool experience.
Oh man, this would have driven me nuts. Glad I got to see your review instead. Fantastic work.
Thanks! It's worth a playthrough but I'm sure there are better things to check out.
Did you go out of your way to go into a temple to find a pendant that made you weaker? =P JK. Awesome review goriya. Well structured and edited. So happy I stumbled upon your channel.
You know how it goes... if I could have, I would have!
And thanks very much for checking out the channel here. I appreciate it :)
I remember hoping for something along the lines of a mashup between Quest For Glory, Pretty much any early dungeon crawler, and Indiana Jones when I got this. It wasn't nearly as good as I hoped but I still had fun beating it with dad.
What wonderful memories those must be! I played some games with my mom as a kid and I really appreciated that time together. But you're right... Tombs and Treasure is so much simpler. It's pretty unique! I wonder if there's anything else quite like it out there.
I was just playing Shining The Holy Ark and for some reason I remembered you. I came here just to comment that you should play it.
I've been looking for a copy for a long while now. If I can ever find it for a good price, you bet it's going on the list!
Glad you finally had a chance to play this, but sorry it didn't quite live up to expectations. ;) I remember it being a much less frustrating game than it seemed from your review, and I also remember really liking the ending, but it's been DECADES since I played it through to the end, so I'm not sure what I'd think nowadays. I do have a lot of patience for these old games, and a certain appreciation for tonal shifts in stories... but then, based on your other reviews, you do too, so that suggests this game is just a lot more convoluted than I remember it being!
You probably know this already, but this is actually a Falcom game, albeit a greatly expanded one. It originally was released on a number of PC platforms in Japan as Asteka II: Templo del Sol, though that version... was much more straightforward than this one. Basically no dialogue, and I don't even think the girl or guide were part of the story at all. And there were no battles -- everything was open to you from the start. I've tried playing that version on my MSX, and honestly... I found it kind of boring! It all just felt very... empty.
For all the misfires it may have had, I would say the NES version is the definitive way to play this game -- the story and dialogue may have been trite and had a huge tonal shift, but it gave you a greater sense of purpose, and the three-character system helped deliver some fairly well-written (and shockingly well-translated, for the time) banter that gave the party a bit more characterization and personality. The battle system may not have been even remotely deep, but it was evidently added as a way of gating you from exploring areas you weren't meant to visit yet too early in the game, which apparently made the original game a lot more overwhelming in terms of inventory management and puzzle-solving, often leaving you with too many options and no real clue where to go or what to do next. And the interface... well, they had a lot to work with from the original game, and they tried their damnedest to include ALL of the options in this NES port, which was... ambitious, if nothing else! ;)
So yeah. Tombs & Treasure may not be perfect, but it feels like a lot of love and attention went into this version, both from the developer's side and from the localization side. This was clearly a passion project, and I've always felt it was a bit of a shame it fell into such obscurity here -- especially considering it's Falcom! And one of only three Falcom games ever released in English on the NES, all of which you've now played (the other two being Faxanadu and Legacy of the Wizard). An odd choice for localization, but one that I'm glad was made, and a game I'm really glad to have grown up with.
This is a really great perspective as always... I'm happy to have played it despite the struggle at times, but the struggle might also just very well be a "me" thing. I tend to walk into traps in games with open arms, so maybe you're remembering the game the way it should be remembered, haha
I also appreciate the background information here as well... I knew it was Falcom and that soundtrack really shone. Not surprising! I think I would've loved to grow up with this one too honestly. I did have King's Quest V for NES at least, though it's quite a different can of worms.
Wonderful video. This brought back memories.
Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it.
The isometric background and top-down character sprites remind me a lot of Fourside in Earthbound xD
This looks like another one where the instruction manual is absolutely *imperative* to the game's overall design.
This may sound odd, but this totally seems like it would make a cool anime OVA series, with its mystery and unique setting!
Yepppp I agree about Fourside! I hadn't made that connect... good eye there!
And yep, if you examine the notebook at the beginning, you only get snippets of the manual writings in the laboratory where you start the game. And when you leave, you're never allowed back inside again!!! How ridiculous eh? You really do need the manual to have a fighting chance at making sense of some of the puzzles.
I agree with you about a series or something else around this story or these characters... it's really like nothing else I've experienced in a video game so far.
@@hungrygoriya It feels, at least from your review, that if it had gotten a sequel or two, it could have been a unique RPG series
@@HybridAngelZero Totally! It had such a strange ending and I would've loved to see the story continue. I don't want to say too much of course but knowing where things go and seeing it all just come to a close was unfortunate. The ending screen even says, "See you in another game" that never happened :(
@@hungrygoriya That is just heartbreaking when you see something like that in an old game, knowing it never got a follow-up :(
I used to rent this one (with no manual tho). By trial and error I deduced the order of the places to explore (if the battle against the demon guarding the ruin was winnable, that's the right place). I had to use a guide after I got stuck, because I never thought of washing the sun necklace (despite that being clearly hinted at the start of the game)
It's a really fun game to figure out! I'm glad you enjoyed your time with it even without the manual for help!
I remember playing this when I was young. I took quite some time figuring this one out one summer.
It's a very fun mystery to figure out. Did you softlock anywhere?
@@hungrygoriya a couple of times . One of them being the same end of game soft lock you mentioned. I won't mention the specific way here as to not give spoilers. I do wish they would remake this game in the same way the creator of Shadowgate remade that classic about 10 years ago. I think it would do great in a modern set up.
@@anime-mun That would be great! I'm sure a lot of people would appreciate being able to experience this game.
I got this as a kid from game exchange with no manual. It was in playable for me at that age like that
I bet it was pretty troublesome without the manual. Did you ever come back to it and try to finish it?
This one was neat for me, as someone who's spent time at Chichen Itza, but it REALLY could've used more time in the oven. I think my biggest gripe with it was the goofy leveling system that not only made very little sense, but also didn't usually even tell you that you'd leveled up, and even having done so wasn't always a guarantee that you'd win the next fight, if the RNG decided it didn't like you.
Yeah, the RPG elements in this game was something I was looking forward to. I just made sure to save often and it wasn't so bad I guess.
I had this one as a kid; I don’t remember how we got it (maybe a garage sale my mom went to) but I didn’t have an instruction manual and got stuck before I could get too far.
Ah geeze, yeah... I can't imagine you'd get too far without the notes. Have you ever thought about trying it again now that the manual's available online? It's fun despite all the potential for trouble here and there.
fun fact: The title theme (which you used to close out the video) also appears in early versions of Ys, including the Sega Master System version of the game. I'm 100% sure why they reused it, but it is a great song.
I think I read that when I was looking into this game. It's a great tune! I knew it sounded familiar when I played through!
@@hungrygoriya I didn't notice it until recently, because for a long time I never saw the title screen for Tombs and Treasures, lol. If I remember right the opening text comes up before the title screen, and I'd usually start right into it after that.
I tried to play this one a few years back. Got stuck and gave up very quickly.
It doesn't help that it's really hard to find entrances on the overworld.
I had to restart a few times and load passwords quite a bit. I think I got softlocked four times apart from not knowing I could go into the Court of Columns. Once you figure out where the sticking points are and what not to do though, it's a really short game.
Oowee can’t wait to get off work, sit back and enjoy. One of my top UA-cam delights. 🖖🏻
Thanks for checking this out!
I swear you are one of T h o se youtubers who just NEED more subs. Your channel has a lot of your potential and your definitely somewhere on my top 10 for youtubers I’d love to see grow bigger. Love your vids.
That's awfully kind of you. Thanks so much!
I'm in the UK so the Master System was the console of choice here back in the day. As such, I'm really unfamiliar with a lot of NES games, so thanks for highlighting all these little gems I've never heard of.
I do get sick of hearing about Castlevania and Mega Man!
Hey my pleasure! I've been playing through lots of games I've been wanting to review lately, but I checked and this game didn't have much out there on it in terms of reviews or analyses so it seemed like a good one to prioritize. Thanks for watching!
In Eastern Europe we mostly had Famiclones, Master System is pretty much completely unknown (I've never seen it anywhere myself), so we had quite a few neat Japanese exclusives to play as well; Genesis and PS1 came later. Getsu Fuuma Den by Konami was one of my favourites back in the day, alongside Mitsume Ga Tooru (Natsume). Japan also got a significant number of RPGs/adventure games (mostly murder mystery Portopia clones) and "weird" games, such as horse racing betting games, a car manufacturing/business game etc. Tons of weird stuff, but there are some hidden gems too (Guardian Legend... Zelda-like + shoot 'em up). Overall, I really liked it back in the day, in addition to the good old C64/Amiga/DOS games. :)
Excellent video! I agree that the pixel art has some great moments. But thank you for playing it so I dont have to ;)
You are now my go-to for pixel art judging since you are quickly becoming a masterful pixel artist!
And you're welcome. It might be a good speedrun game though... it's quite quick if you know where to go!
This is such a great game. Just found out about it a few years ago. The no-win situation you can end up in kinda sucks, though.
Yeah I agree... I'm not a big fan of those big dead ends in games, and reloading from passwords was also a huge pain! Now that I know what not to do, I think I'd like playing this a lot more.
@@hungrygoriya I wish we had more games like this (and the ICOM games like Shadowgate) on the NES. They were some of the best in my opinion. Tombs and Treasures falls short a bit, but I think they were on the right track... if they had have had a chance to release a few more games like it, they probably would have been amazing.
Love that you have 2 small professional monitors for the game.
My husband's a lover of CRTs so we have all kinds and sizes of them!
I absolutely adored this game back in the day! That said, I never did finish it. 🤔 Great review!
I wonder if you got stuck in all the story pitfalls like I did! And thank you for watching!
I have this one, but haven't spent much time with it over the decades. To make it worse, I've had the Saturn remake for near 20 years as well, and have yet to try it... maybe next vacation.
Better late than never!
Those passwords XD I feel privileged to have been there for some of the soft lock antics. It's a shame about how major some of the flaws are because there's some promising stuff in there otherwise. What a curious game.
You know, I normally appreciate a long-winded password that tracks your exact progress in a longer game like Rambo or Faxanadu, but here it just felt like overkill.
And yeah, those softlock antics follow me into most games I pick up. If it can be softlocked, I'll find a way! Thanks for hanging out in the streams!
That Diary looks alot like Pitfall Harry's journal.
I wonder if Pitfall Harry is also Professor Imes...
Sounds similar to a lot of the strengths and weaknesses of Princess Tomato.
Definitely! I'd say this one's slightly meaner just because of the softlocking problems, but it was still a fun time.
yet another game i have to look up. thank you so much.
keep up the good work.
Too kind! Thank you and good luck on this adventure. It's incredibly charming!
The last song we hear in the video reminds me of Protoman's tune from Megaman. There's just a couple sets of notes that remind me of it.
I can hear that too!
That password character set on most CRT monitors is pretty much impossible to get.
I finally played Nightshade and loved it, so I find this intriguing. I’m not sure why I waited this long to try point-and-click adventures on NES.
The first 20 seconds of this video sounded like Star Tropics or Mother. If it doesn’t end with aliens, I’ll be deeply disappointed.
That soft-locking, though-Not a fan.
How did you manage with the fights in Nightshade? I watched a friend stream it and it looked pretty tough to get the hang of. I loved the rest of that game though and can't wait to play it myself sometime.
I won't tell you about the ending but I hope you like it if you play it! Watch out for those missteps in the puzzles. Once you know, you know at least and you won't make the same mistake twice.
@@hungrygoriya Most of the fights aren’t bad. Ninjas always pop up behind you, so I’d trick them into a corner and beat them up. The Anubis hit hard, but I got into the swing of their weakness (explained in-game). The others are slightly less predictable, but they go down pretty fast. (The attack while crouching is the best for almost everything, btw).
That final boss, though. I saved my first aid kit for him and still was about to die. I was playing it on NES Online and didn’t feel like playing much longer, so I used the rewind feature to dodge a few attacks. I could’ve beaten him, but not without another game over.
The music is phenomenal.
Absolutely! I love the soundtrack for this game!
I never knew there were so many RPGs on the NES.
There are so many! I'm still playing through the list.
I like the concept of this game - adventure style in the vein of point and click based off of history with turned based combat and some puzzles. It also seems like perhaps a good entry to speed running though that in and of itself makes me wonder why there are passwords. Don't get me wrong since I am not sure how long this game is (and despite that it seems like it takes the sting out of soft locks not to mention the option for passwords over nothing is better than not) The 90s had bizarrely games that were made hard to not beat in a rental and games that were quick to replay and master so it felt like you got replay value but this doesn't seem like a Megaman 2 in that regard. I got thinking about Maniac Mansion with this review - it's a little cryptic but the fun is in learning how to do things correctly and chart new courses. Is that fair? Maybe this game was trying to do that too but it's seems like it failed to and not only that it seems completely linear and doesn't have the same humor/charm. I also feel weird about games that require to some extent game manuals. It can be fine but also in a way feels like a crutch with game design.
PS I liked your B-Roll, it's satisfying to watch someone plug in and turn on an NES game
You know, it's a short game overall, but I wonder if the passwords were there for the dead ends. It did take me about 8 hours to play through without any help on stream so I can see that being a long day for someone playing for the first time. Knowing how to do everything, I bet you could play in under an hour. I can definitely see some parallels to how Maniac Mansion works. T&T's definitely lacking in humour though.
And you know what's funny? In that moment in the B-roll I was hoping for the NES to not start on the first try, and every take it did... what luck! It turned out okay anyway though!
I rented this and could not remember the name of it later. Thanks
What a happy coincidence!
@@hungrygoriya I see now that there would never have been a way for a young me to figure this out a s beat it without help
"It's El Slug!"
I laughed at that... so funny!
OMG I remember this game. I don't know if you came across it Goriya but there was a weird invisible wall maze outside one of the pyramids, there was no ryhme or reason for it and I walked around for almost an hour to figure it out. I remember walking off the bottom of the screen to another screen and kinda being inside the jungle, it was a trip. You never knew if the path leads to a pyramid, a dead end or an item, it was so baffling. The girl character reminded me of Bulma from Dragon Ball so her being rude didnt bug me hah.
Anyhow, I liked the game back then but I have a fascination for people who would even want to go back to this NES - SMS era, I lived it and have no desire to go back lol.
Oh really? I don't know if I came across that part actually... I tried shoving myself into all of the places I could but I might've missed that part!
And I'm totally obsessed with 8-bit generation games. I grew up with NES and only had a few games to play, so I'm excited to branch out and play so many more greats!
great video
I've noticed you seem to have manuals for the vast majority of your NES games - or at least the vast majority of the ones you've made videos of. If it's the latter, that would be telling.
The classic NES experience for many of us was picking up games from the "pre-owned" section at the local video rental store (or Funcoland once that became a thing), or just renting the games, almost exclusively sans manual. You can see how this would've been a problem.
For action games, shooters, etc., you could usually figure things out eventually. But this is the reason why so many amazing adventure and RPG games - Legacy of the Wizard is a perfect example, and you've found another here - failed to get the attention they deserved. The games were almost unplayable without the manual explaining what various items do, or explaining arcane game mechanics, or displaying a map that pointed out locations of interest that might otherwise look like background scenery, as with Tombs & Treasure. T&T was in the rental category for me - finding it in the games aisle at Blockbuster made my nerdy little 10-year-old heart skip a beat - and I vaguely remember enjoying it to a point, but with a clear understanding that I was missing out on things.
Of course, there was little incentive for Nintendo and other devs to address this. They made nothing off of the second-hand market and little off of the rental market. Thank ye gods for when storage space became less of an issue and in-game tutorials, maps and item/skill explanations started becoming a thing.
Unfortunately I don't have a lot of manuals. I rely on the kindness of those that have scanned and uploaded copies to the internet. Many of them are available if you look around for them! And it's funny you mention that because I got a couple of games back in the day from stores without their manuals, and I struggled with some of them as well. The manual does a lot to enhance the experience, and I vastly prefer it compared to newer games that tutorialize you to death.
Hey now. At least Clash at Demonhead isn't completely obtuse. The characters in-game tell you were to go at all times in that game. You're right though the ending to that game does suck.
Great review as always.
I definitely meant just the ending part about Clash at Demonhead... I got there, mashed a bunch of buttons in a panic and got the bad ending. Sooooo yes. The way this one ends is similar in the "what the hell just happened" kinda way! I really liked Clash at Demonhead except for the ending.
@@hungrygoriya The "good" ending may as well be the bad. its a few lines of text to wrap things up and is done. That reminds me that I need to replay that game. Its wonderful. Also mashing is a good strategy. That ending puzzle is terrible.
Cheers.
The battles were just shoehorned in to let you know you are on the right track or have done enough. The original Azteca II did not have them
Yeah totally... like if you lost a battle you knew you had more to do before you could continue. It's a clever system but not what I was expecting for turn-based battling!
Wow I remember this
Wow, I'd never heard of this one before! Seems a bit obtuse, but overall really neat!
Yeah, some parts are a bit frustrating because of how specific they need you to be with the puzzles, but the music and setting were pretty unique.
The combination of the art, the music, and the fact that in the end... (SPOILERS) ... you basically go missing, much like the previous guy, leaving the mystery of Chichen Itza looming as silently and dreadfully large as before (even though you and your girlfriend are ostensibly having a happy-ish ending in another time), gives the game a very haunted and unfulfilling aura in retrospect for me. It's gotta be intentional. I sure couldn't forget playing this game and the experience of it.
I just hate those epic animes with plots & endings where the struggles, dramas and loves of the protagonists are doomed to be lost beyond remembrance to the world!! Happy endings that are more sad than happy!! Boo!! Don't hurt me with my happiness!!
I can't agree with you more. I was a little miffed at how this one ended just because of that... you're only deepening the mystery, and someone else is bound to come looking for you and meet the same fate. No resolution here, only more turmoil and sadness for more people with missing loved ones.
Hi I'm wondering after defeating the final boss you knew that you missed an important item....
I know I ended up softlocking after the final boss once because I didn't have something for the incense and had to go back to an earlier password to get it... is that what you mean?
Back when games had a backbone
This was definitely a tough one, but very fun to figure out. I really enjoyed it!
UA-cam didn't tell me this video was out even with the bell.
Glad you made it here regardless!
Civ4 players lovingly call it "Chicken Pizza"
I've only played a little Civilization, but I would've happily gone with Chicken Pizza had I known I'd be in good company!
@@hungrygoriya It's a Wonder of the World you can build in a city. I think the name just stemmed from someone unable to pronounce it and it stuck.
This game looks like it had a lot of potential. Too bad it wasn't put together as well as it deserved.
The dead ends and soft locking were pretty frustrating!
💚
It's such a disappointment to hear that the combat in this isn't great I love adventure games. I've always wanted to have some higher level mechanics in those types of games and the only one I seem to have come across that even remotely fit the bill was The Sword of Hope so it's pretty disappointing this one doesn't fit that niche. Still, it sounds like a decent adventure game and worth checking out.
You will likely enjoy your time with T&T if you can put up with things being very surface level on most fronts. It's fun for what it is but it really does lack quite a bit of depth like other games likely provide.
Sword of Hope! I have had that on my list of things to play for a long time now. I've been trying to find a copy of the sequel for ages to no avail. I'm glad to hear it's fun!
There's a few more, if you don't mind fan-translations: Maharaja (by Sunsoft), Cleopatra no Mahou (Square), The Sword of Hope II, Kujaku Ou 1 and 2 - those are the ones for retro consoles I can think of right now. There are tons more for the PC, such as Lands of Lore, The Legend of Kyrandia, Stonekeep, Anvil of Dawn etc. Depends on the style you like most.
Yes more content 😎😎
This game seems pretty hard... Greetings from Mexico ^^ I'm loving all your videos
EDIT: hahaha "El" Slug hahaha can't stop laughing xD
Hey thanks for checking out the channel! I appreciate it!
I don't speak Spanish at all, but I laughed out loud at El Slug as well. Whoever chose that name is funny and I'd like to meet them!
It's "El Slug"!! 😂😂🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️
I laughed out loud! Just sticking "el" in front of things... haha
Dual-wielding TVs
Apparently!
....I take it from your video that the girl is going to be the type that follows the main character and lectures them every time something goes wrong, like in 90% of cartoon shows I watched. I.e. Misty from Pokemon, or Linka from Captain Planet?
Not really... I think she just chimes in when you do silly stuff. Other characters might also chime in but I didn't experience that personally.
I loved this game. My bro hated it. Haha. I could never get very far at all.
Once I figured out a few of this game's quirks, it was pretty fun. I agree!
@@hungrygoriya I never had the chance to. Haha. He would never let me rent it more than the two times I had the chance to grab it. I am glad I can live vicariously through you.
Great Channel btw. Really like re-living my childhood through you.
@@Jamie-nx2cg Oh no! I'm sorry you didn't have that opportunity. Maybe some day eh?
And thanks for coming along for the adventure with me!
1:22 Awwwwwrgh, it annoys me in that special way that those two TVs are juuuuust perfectly not the same size.
This game is such a mixed bag. On one hand, the music is hauntingly beautiful at times and the scenery can really feel wonderful. On the other, there's the promise of an RPG system that's really just a gating mechanism pretending to be an RPG system. On the other other hand, THEM SOFTLOCKS THO!
- Joined the magnet-bar and the bowl at the total start of the game? Got a compass out of it? This was what you were supposed to do? FUCK NO, IDIOT. You won't ever be able to get the key behind the panther statue way later on, WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?
- Speaking of which, did you forget to take the key before blowing the horn? Because there's no fixing things now.
- Hey, did you take that stick that was holding the gears in that one area? Because while you need that thing, you also need to do something in the room the gears are keeping opened. And there's no way to open it anymore.
- Stuck in the maze? Boy, I hope you got that one passage opened in the other place because you're going to end up in a room with 4 exits, exactly none of which are now opened.
- Then there's that one room some bad guy traps you in. Only there's no way out if you don't have the item you need.
- Oh yeah, and that one room with the lever in THERE'S A WINDOWS VERSION? Hang on, wtf? Okay, I have to track this one down... :o
brb.
It's because one of them is missing its little feet! It bugs me too!
And yeppppp... I read through your list here, and while I didn't run into all of these issues personally, I could easily see making those "errors" in a first playthrough and not realizing what I did wrong until it was far too late. Ugh!
hrm. i thought the ending was intriguing.
I suppose I didn't like the idea that they left a world of people wondering and worrying for them. And based on what happened in the Mayan times, I didn't think it was much of a treat to go back and live in that period... just my two cents of course. It was definitely a unique ending.
This game looks extremely cryptic and confusing. There's something magical about it, but also very horrible. It's like Goonies 2 NES. It belongs in the deepest depths of NES hell.
I don't think it's a bad game at all. A little cruel with some of its dead ends but certainly not hell-worthy to me. I haven't played Goonies 2 yet.
Maybe one day one or both of the remakes will get a translation from the japanese. This one is a bit too dated for me.
I couldn't find much on the remakes, but I hope they get translated as well. I think I read Saturn and Windows though, so yeah... that'll probably be a lot prettier to look at. Hopefully they fixed up the interface a bit! Good luck if you get around to it eventually.
Oh, you and your map making! 😂 You'll be doing globes next
Way to go on still getting tne minutes out of a game you did not like!
Globe-making sounds fun honestly...
And honestly, it had some rough edges but I still had fun with it. I just won't go around recommending it to everyone... I'm sure there are better experiences in the point and click adventure genre on the system.
@@hungrygoriya you make it sound as though there are some things you recommend to everyone 😅 hi florist, try playing this! 😁
I cannot think of too many games where a world can be mapped, except for perhaps final fantasy, but even then, is all you see the world... You know now I want to try it too😅
Hope you have a nice week miss