"Clu Clu Land" - NES/Famicom

----- Introduction -----

The streak of Nintendo first-party Famicom releases continues!

Clu Clu Land seems to be another take at producing an arcade-addictive title for the home console by Nintendo. In this case, we have a maze-like game (a la Pac-Man) which repeats levels and has a simple goal-- easy to pick up and play, and easy to feed coins into if it were an arcade game. But it's not. You can play it forever for free. Hurray!

An oft-repeated factoid about the game is that the Clu Clu game title is a transliteration of the onomatopoeic words kuru kuru in Japanese, representing the sound/feeling of spinning around in circles. That's precisely what your character will do if you hold onto one of the poles, so it makes plenty of sense.

Akito Nakatsuka makes a return from his composing debut on Devil World to do the music for this game. The development was handled by Nintendo's R&D 1, who have been responsible for most of the first-party Famicom games we've seen so far.

Time to get a clue... clu... land.

----- Playthrough -----

There's only one game mode to play in singleplayer in Clu Clu Land, which is the main game-type. I'm not sure what you were expecting.

The objective in this game is to search every connecting line between two dots on the board for coins that appear when you cross over-top of them. As you reveal more of these patterns, it generally becomes recognizable which coins you're missing if you have basic pattern recognition abilities. If you don't, then you can still go over every space on the board until you find them. It'll just take longer. And be harder.

What is this? A dragon? ... how am I supposed to recognize this?

Little spiky dudes are also roaming around the maze, trying to get in your way and make you touch them, which instantly kills you. I don't really know what's in it for them. Maybe these are their coins and they're just protecting their property (Edit: Wikipedia says that they stole all the treasure from the titular Clu Clu Land and our hero has to get it all back).

Also, there are pits which spawn these spiky guys, and if you go overtop of them while not holding a pole, you'll fall into them like a 4th dimensional sand trap, instantly killing you. Life is dangerous out here for a Clu Clu Guy (Edit: Wikipedia says it's actually a Clu Clu Lady).

"Son of a biiiiiiiii--..."

The game gets pretty tough, pretty quickly. I have completed a loop before, but while writing this review I struggled to complete the fourth stage. There aren't that many before it loops, though. You can pretty much get the lay of the land here within the first stage or two though, given its simplistic nature.

I'm just gonna close with this picture because it creeps me out for some reason.

----- Review -----

Innovation: Yes

Does the game show anything not yet seen on this system/ever before?

Definitely-- the maze game type had already been done a couple times (see the intro), but the whole spinning on the pole thing is a fresh game mechanic that hadn't been tried. I'm not really sure it's been done or copied like this since, either. Clu Clu Land is a pretty unique game.

Spitting Rage: Trampolines

Does the game make you want to tear your own organs out of your body?

The only thing that will really piss you off in this game is the hidden trampolines, especially when you're running from an enemy and one suddenly appears and catapults you back into them before you have time to react. The game is pretty lowkey and fun, but it always surprises and annoys me when this happens.

Intuitive Design: Good

How easy is it to intuitively understand the game?

There's not a lot here by way of controls, and it seems pretty intuitive to me if you were to experiment with the buttons. It takes a bit to get a hang of how you have to hold different directions to use your arms depending on the relative rotation of the character, but it's not bad once you get it.

Satisfying Gameplay: Good

How rewarding does playing the game feel?

I really like spinning on the poles and releasing at just the right time. When you can get a chain going where you correctly grab 3-4 poles in a row in rapid succession because you pressed the right directions, and quickly too, you start to feel like a wizard.

Game Depth: Puddle

How deep/long is the game?

To be honest there's not a lot of content here-- the game loops pretty quick and there's really only flipping over coins and swinging on poles. It's still fun, though. Game depth != fun.

Also, they arranged the coins in a heart in this level. That's more important than game depth.

Sound Design: Good

How's the sound?

I like all the music in this game. Nakatsuka did a good job on his second outing. It's all catchy, and the sounds in general are nice and Nintendo-y.

Graphics: Fine

How's it look?

There's not a ton here, but I think it's used to good effect. There's lot of colors, and a faux 3D effect with the shading on the borders of the level. I think the coins look good. The enemies and your protagonist are all a bit flat looking, but serviceable.

Personal Chord: Yes

Does the game have that undefinable "something" for me?

This is another game with nostalgic appeal, but even with fresh adult eyes I think it's pretty fun. Definite t-shirt game.

Should You Play: Yes!

Is there a reason to even bother with this one?

This is one of the NES classics that's definitely worth at least checking out. It's a unique game with a game loop you won't see anywhere else (to my knowledge). Give it a shot!

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