Goof Troop (SNES)
This week we go back a few generations to the puzzle game Goof Troop on Super Nintendo. So strap on the thinking caps and let's check it out.
It's a very simple and easy control scheme, one that's quick to get used to as soon as you start the game. So let's see how it works in the game itself.
The game starts with you choosing to play as either Goofy or Max. Both characters play almost exactly the same, except Goofy is slower but deals more damage to enemies, while Max is faster but deals less damage.
Once you're dropped in to the first level, you're completely on your own. Each level is made up of a number of screens, and you must either determine the proper place to use a certain item, or solve various puzzles to obtain keys which gain you access to further areas in the level. At the end of every level, you are faced with a boss, and once defeated you can move on to the next level. All in all, there are five levels in the game, taking places in various areas of the island until you make it to the pirate ship to save Pete and PJ.
Along the way, you can pick up a number of items to help you in your quest. These include a hookshot (can be used to pick up items from a distance or over gaps, create rope bridges between two hooks, or stun enemies and knock them back), a bell (used to lure enemies to a particular spot on the screen), a candle (gives you a bigger viewing area in dark areas in the game), a shovel, (dig in specific areas to find hidden items), and boards (used to fix gaps in bridges and walkways so you can cross). Other things you can pick up are keys (generally after solving a puzzle), pieces of fruit which gain you hit points, and pink or blue crystals. The pink crystals will gain Goofy/Max an extra life, while the blue ones give you extra continues.
Fighting the enemies is done with the items you can pick up and throw, as well as the hookshot. While the hookshot can't defeat them itself, it can stun them and knock them back a short distance which, if done repeatedly, can be used to push them backwards into water or pits. You can take damage from the enemies in a few different ways. One is by walking into them or them into you. Some enemies carry swords that they can throw for a short distance, while others can kick different items at you, and if you're in the path of either of these you will be damaged.
Now, if you have picked up any fruit and have any heart pieces next to your life counter, getting hit will only cause you to lose all your heart pieces. But if you have none, you are killed and lose a life, starting you back at the entrance for the screen you died on. If you pick up enough fruit to give you six heart pieces, you can gain an extra life. Losing all your lives will bring you to a screen where you can use one of your continues, and if you have none of these you're forced to use a password to restart the level over completely.
Every level leads up to a boss fight. These enemies will take multiple hits to defeat, and involve some strategy to do so. After defeating the boss, you are brought to a screen which gives you the password for the next level before you are brought to the level itself.
Overall, Goof Troop is a pretty great play, but lets see what kind of challenge it brings.
The puzzles start off pretty easy, but progress in difficulty with the game. The majority of the puzzles involve moving heavy blocks onto switches to either unlock a gate or stop an object from moving or shooting fire at you. The blocks begin in a set place, and you must use the unmovable items on the screen to line up the blocks to the proper switch. Later puzzles will incorporate enemies into the screen forcing you to solve the puzzle while simultaneously avoiding the enemies, and hoping they don't kick one of the blocks into a corner and get it stuck, making the puzzle unsolvable.
The enemies are one the easiest part of the game. If you're in 1-player and choose to play as Goofy, they all go down with just one hit, so as long as you can reach something to throw at them, you're all set. The enemies who can throw or kick things are little bit tougher. The things they throw/kick can not be hit aside with the hookshot, so you have to be able to get out of the path before it gets to you. Luckily, the projectile weapons continue in a straight line and don't follow you when you move.
Naturally, the bosses are a bit tougher than the generic enemies. They take multiple hits, and do a fair share of moving and throwing things at you. This is where Max tends to be the better character as he can move faster and make it easier to dodge things. The boss stages start off with a small amount of items for you to pick up and hurl at the bosses, but you are not provided with enough to destroy them outright. Instead, you can use the B button on items that the boss throws at you to catch them and throw them back, so the timing on this is crucial.
Finally, the levels themselves are a moderate difficulty in the game. You don't get a map, so you must wander from screen to screen finding your way, picking up the items and figuring out the right place to use them. Most paths are open, but some are walled off and require you to defeat all enemies on the screen before you can continue. Along the way, there are some island inhabitants that you can talk to, but it's mostly just dialogue that doesn't provide any assistance in your quest.
In the end, Goof Troop is about as difficult as your typical dungeon crawling game. It starts off at an easy pace and increases as you progress. So, let's take a look at the good and bad sides of this game.
- Password system. While Goof Troop isn't a very long game, having the ability to put it down and come back to it later on is a good bonus (and one that's missed in a lot of games from the same time). You turn the game on, put in the password, and start at the beginning of whichever level you left off on. It's also a nice touch if there's a specific level you'd prefer to replay, you can do it without being forced to play the game in it's entirety.
- Resident Evil. You read that correctly. The creator of Goof Troop is the same one who would go on to create the original Resident Evil game. A lot of the puzzle elements you find in Goof Troop went on to be big staples of the Resident Evil series, with running around to collect items, using those items in the world, and solving puzzles to obtain keys. It's not something you'd know of this game at a first glance, but it's a pretty cool factoid about it.
- Too short. Goof Troop can be beaten in just a few hours, and as soon as you're done with it, you are left wanting much, much more. It's a common issue in older generation games, but in this case it's almost heart breaking to have such an amazing game come to such a short and quick end.
The Story
Setting out for a day of fishing on Spoonerville Island, Goofy and his son Max are on their boat when they see a big pirate ship with Pete and PJ on it as hostages. They try to catch up with the ship but are unable to before it reaches the island. The land their boat next to the pirate ship and set off on the island to try and find the pirate hideout and save their friends.The Controls
Goof Troops controls are very minimal, using only a handful of buttons on the controller. The D-pad controls your character's movement. The Y button let's you pick up and use items. B lets you pick up or push objects in the world. Any of the four A/B/X/Y buttons can be used to talk to certain people in the game. And lastly, the L and R shoulder buttons are only used in 1-player mode, allowing you to switch between the two items you can carry (as in 2-player, you can only carry one item per player).It's a very simple and easy control scheme, one that's quick to get used to as soon as you start the game. So let's see how it works in the game itself.
The Gameplay
Goof Troop plays as a dungeon crawler in it's majority, with a heavy amount of puzzles throughout. There is some combat, but it isn't direct between you and the enemies, it's done with the various objects you can pick up and throw at the people you come across.The game starts with you choosing to play as either Goofy or Max. Both characters play almost exactly the same, except Goofy is slower but deals more damage to enemies, while Max is faster but deals less damage.
Once you're dropped in to the first level, you're completely on your own. Each level is made up of a number of screens, and you must either determine the proper place to use a certain item, or solve various puzzles to obtain keys which gain you access to further areas in the level. At the end of every level, you are faced with a boss, and once defeated you can move on to the next level. All in all, there are five levels in the game, taking places in various areas of the island until you make it to the pirate ship to save Pete and PJ.
Along the way, you can pick up a number of items to help you in your quest. These include a hookshot (can be used to pick up items from a distance or over gaps, create rope bridges between two hooks, or stun enemies and knock them back), a bell (used to lure enemies to a particular spot on the screen), a candle (gives you a bigger viewing area in dark areas in the game), a shovel, (dig in specific areas to find hidden items), and boards (used to fix gaps in bridges and walkways so you can cross). Other things you can pick up are keys (generally after solving a puzzle), pieces of fruit which gain you hit points, and pink or blue crystals. The pink crystals will gain Goofy/Max an extra life, while the blue ones give you extra continues.
Fighting the enemies is done with the items you can pick up and throw, as well as the hookshot. While the hookshot can't defeat them itself, it can stun them and knock them back a short distance which, if done repeatedly, can be used to push them backwards into water or pits. You can take damage from the enemies in a few different ways. One is by walking into them or them into you. Some enemies carry swords that they can throw for a short distance, while others can kick different items at you, and if you're in the path of either of these you will be damaged.
Now, if you have picked up any fruit and have any heart pieces next to your life counter, getting hit will only cause you to lose all your heart pieces. But if you have none, you are killed and lose a life, starting you back at the entrance for the screen you died on. If you pick up enough fruit to give you six heart pieces, you can gain an extra life. Losing all your lives will bring you to a screen where you can use one of your continues, and if you have none of these you're forced to use a password to restart the level over completely.
Every level leads up to a boss fight. These enemies will take multiple hits to defeat, and involve some strategy to do so. After defeating the boss, you are brought to a screen which gives you the password for the next level before you are brought to the level itself.
Overall, Goof Troop is a pretty great play, but lets see what kind of challenge it brings.
The Challenge (or lack thereof?)
As a dungeon crawler style game, there is a decent level of challenge that comes with the game automatically. So let's break it down between the puzzles, the enemies, the bosses, and the levels themselves.The puzzles start off pretty easy, but progress in difficulty with the game. The majority of the puzzles involve moving heavy blocks onto switches to either unlock a gate or stop an object from moving or shooting fire at you. The blocks begin in a set place, and you must use the unmovable items on the screen to line up the blocks to the proper switch. Later puzzles will incorporate enemies into the screen forcing you to solve the puzzle while simultaneously avoiding the enemies, and hoping they don't kick one of the blocks into a corner and get it stuck, making the puzzle unsolvable.
The enemies are one the easiest part of the game. If you're in 1-player and choose to play as Goofy, they all go down with just one hit, so as long as you can reach something to throw at them, you're all set. The enemies who can throw or kick things are little bit tougher. The things they throw/kick can not be hit aside with the hookshot, so you have to be able to get out of the path before it gets to you. Luckily, the projectile weapons continue in a straight line and don't follow you when you move.
Naturally, the bosses are a bit tougher than the generic enemies. They take multiple hits, and do a fair share of moving and throwing things at you. This is where Max tends to be the better character as he can move faster and make it easier to dodge things. The boss stages start off with a small amount of items for you to pick up and hurl at the bosses, but you are not provided with enough to destroy them outright. Instead, you can use the B button on items that the boss throws at you to catch them and throw them back, so the timing on this is crucial.
Finally, the levels themselves are a moderate difficulty in the game. You don't get a map, so you must wander from screen to screen finding your way, picking up the items and figuring out the right place to use them. Most paths are open, but some are walled off and require you to defeat all enemies on the screen before you can continue. Along the way, there are some island inhabitants that you can talk to, but it's mostly just dialogue that doesn't provide any assistance in your quest.
In the end, Goof Troop is about as difficult as your typical dungeon crawling game. It starts off at an easy pace and increases as you progress. So, let's take a look at the good and bad sides of this game.
PROS
- Goofy crew. For anyone who was a fan of the Goof Troop cartoon and movies, will for sure love this game. Getting to play as two of the main characters from the series in a game centered on them is a huge pro for this one.- Password system. While Goof Troop isn't a very long game, having the ability to put it down and come back to it later on is a good bonus (and one that's missed in a lot of games from the same time). You turn the game on, put in the password, and start at the beginning of whichever level you left off on. It's also a nice touch if there's a specific level you'd prefer to replay, you can do it without being forced to play the game in it's entirety.
- Resident Evil. You read that correctly. The creator of Goof Troop is the same one who would go on to create the original Resident Evil game. A lot of the puzzle elements you find in Goof Troop went on to be big staples of the Resident Evil series, with running around to collect items, using those items in the world, and solving puzzles to obtain keys. It's not something you'd know of this game at a first glance, but it's a pretty cool factoid about it.
CONS
- No sound. There's music on all of the stages, which is a great touch. But the characters themselves don't make any sound effects. It isn't a terrible loss, but when you have iconic sounds like Goofy's laugh, "Gawrsh!", and his scream when falling, it's a pretty big miss.- Too short. Goof Troop can be beaten in just a few hours, and as soon as you're done with it, you are left wanting much, much more. It's a common issue in older generation games, but in this case it's almost heart breaking to have such an amazing game come to such a short and quick end.
