Atlantis no Nazo

Atlantis no Nazo features 100 levels called "zones" of pure horizontally scrolling platform gameplay. The levels are astonishingly diverse, but are also the main problem of the game, because they are not strictly linear. Often levels have more than one exit which gives you access to different zones. That in itself is not bad, but many of the really useful exits are hidden. Sometimes you have to reveal them by using a bomb at the right spot, sometimes you have jump in the right hole or even have to suicide bomb yourself at the right spot, resulting you to fall down the screen and wondrously skip over 40 zones.. Without the secret exits it is unlikely to see the last zone because the game is incredibly difficult. Controls are ok, but sometimes some more control while jumping would make some scenes easier. Activision wanted to bring the game to the US under the title "Super Pitfall 2", but the US release was eventually cancelled.


teran01 # 2009-05-31 19:57:15

A platformer touted by Sunsoft to "surpass Super Mario". However, the developers were actually trying to out do Pac-Land for number and diversity of levels. Both of which it does in numbers of zones (levels) at 101. However, 3 zones are only accessible via cheating. Also the player is able to scroll the level left and right.
The goal is to proceed through exits and warps in no particularly coherent order besides one that leads to the final zone. Each level has a timer that will kill the player if it reaches 0. The player throws dynamite to light up dark areas, destroy enemies, and open sealed exits. Dynamite will also bounce of of walkable surfaces (useful to find walkable surfaces in a totally dark room). Explosions can kill the player, open doors, find hidden doors, and drop a player into hidden warps.
Shoe powerup allows walking on clouds.
Light-bulb powerup causes explosions to light up dark areas.
Clock powerup freezes the timer.
Microphone powerup allows the player to speak into the Famicom microphone and freeze enemies.
Star powerup results in invulnerability to explosions and enemies.

Warps go forward and backwards. Many warps are incredibly obscure. Several require it be hit directly by dynamite to be visible. Several require the player to be caught in the explosion of their dynamite and fall off the screen into the warp.

The game has many quirks.
In dark zones, the all terrain is effectively invisible unless the player has a light-bulb powerup.
Notably there is two BLACK HOLE levels. If the play enters one, they apparently cannot leave and will eventually lose all lives to the timer. Unless they have gotten then infinite lives mode, in which case they will fall forever.
Zones 55 and 84 are not connected to any other zones and cannot be accessed via normal play. Zone 59's entrance is inaccessible.
Zones 57 and 94 flash an epilepsy inducing pattern and were not included in later ports and emulated collections.
Upon reaching the intended conclusion of the game. The protagonist is not shown rescuing the girl, rather the game continues from zone 6 with a harder playthrough. After concluding the harder play-through, it returns the protagonist to zone 6 indefinitely.

zerothis # 2011-05-24 17:33:08

hardware: NES Classic,

display: raster