Edits to VC Version of StarTropics
Jan. 12So, StarTropics hit the Virtual Console this week and there was much rejoicing (and cursing). I hope you all wallow in the glory of Dr. J and wish we got more video game NPCs like him. Maybe this'll let people forget the stench of StarTropics II and we'll see something new done with the franchise.
Nintendo makes a big deal about not wanting to alter the VC titles very much (well, that's why we don't get netplay, anyway), so it's interesting when something shows up with new features, like Pokemon Snap. The VC version of StarTropics doesn't really have new features, but it does have some interesting changes and... well, I guess "additions" would be the term.
Check behind the cut to see a complete rundown of the new stuff, with screencaps!
No YoYos, Only Stars
This is the most basic change and one you see very early in the game. All references to "Yoyo" have been replaced with the word "Star". The word on this change is that it has to do with the fact that "Yoyo" is a term under trademark in Canada, so the change would've been necessary to clear the game for full North American release.
How to Read Dr. J's Letter
This is actually pretty clever. To read Dr. J's letter, go to the Story section of the game's "Manual". Yes, that thing you never look at when you play a Virtual Console game.
As you can see, you need to click on a hypertext link to read the letter.
To "dip" the virtual document in water, you need to click on the bucket beneath the letter's text.
You get a dipping animation...
... and then the hint you need to progress through the game! (warning omg spoilerz)
As you can see in the comments, one reader pointed out that the message you see after using the "water" animation in the VC version of StarTropics isn't the same as the text of the physical letter you dipped in water. Here's the letter's original post-water text.
Mike,
I found some strange ciphers in my last voyage. Since then, someone has been watching me! I put a tiny transmitter in my shoe.
Its frequency is 747 MHz.
Perhaps I worry too much, but better to be safe than sorry.
Dack (11)
Dave Rudden (1)
KouAidou (10)
Comments
Yoyo is trademarked in Canada? Weird. I'm glad to see how the letter dipping was handled, though I'm a little disappointed that Nintendo didn't include the whole message. I dipped the letter from my copy of the game and transcriped it:
"Mike
I found some strange ciphers in my last voyage. Since then, someone has been watching me! I put a tiny transmitter in my shoe.
Its frequency is 747 MHz
Perhaps I worry too much, but better to be safe than sorry."
Now that you mention Startropics 2, I wonder if Nintendo will run into trouble rereleasing that game again, with the whole "Tetrad" plot. (Possibly one of the dumbest ideas for a "cameo" in history.) It had its own share of problems, but for the most part I still liked Part 2.
Hm, that's interesting! I'll amend this post to include your information about the changed text when the water appears. Like many others, I played StarTropics without ever having the damned letter.
It'd be great if I could find someone with an original box copy to take a picture of the original letter after it gets dipped in water, but I sorta doubt it...
StarTropics 2 is just... eh. It's like ToeJam & Earl 2. It misses enough of the original's essential charm that I can't play it without feeling depressed.
Man I love ToeJam & Earl 2. I kinda like when sequels are way different than the original, because man I can't remember to this day the differences between Earthworm Jim 1 and 2, and I'm not sure that I would have liked a carbon-copy sequel to TJ & E. Instead, I've got 2 really great games with the same characters! Of course, I'm one of those odd ducks who consider Zelda 2: The Adventures of Link to be among the best in the entire series. I guess I'm just CRAZY like that.
I still don't like Final Fantasy 2 (proper) though.
The problem with genre-hopping sequels is when the game the characters were originally in is more innovative than the sequel game. Zelda was a whole new paradigm in NES gaming; Zelda 2 was a very good entry in the "cruelly difficult platformer" genre, which the NES had scads of already.
Likewise, all I recall about ToeJam & Earl 2 is that it reminded me way too much of playing Earthworm Jim, which struck me as badly overrated (if very successful) at the time. It also hit during a huge glut if 16-bit "character" platformers trying to cash in on the same phenomena. The original ToeJam & Earl is a gameplay paradigm that's never quite been duplicated, and to be honest, I can admit that I'm not sure Sega should've even tried. That said, I know that once you put ToeJam & Earl in a platformer, I stop caring about them.
Personal quirk, I suppose. I get more attached to gameplay concepts than characters, for the most part.
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