"Door Door" - NES/Famicom

Oh hey, it's our first Enix game! You know, Enix, from before they became the unholy beast, Square Enix? Well, they published the game-- Wikipedia lists them as the developer, but if you go to Enix's page, the developer is listed as Chunsoft. What's up with that?

Well, Chunsoft (now Spike Chunsoft as of 2019) was founded by a former Enix employee, Koichi Nakamura (who's nickname among friends was Chun, incidentally). Most of Chunsoft's games were published by Enix during this era, and so there's some small cause for confusion there.

Door Door was designed by Nakamura (then just in high-school) for an Enix programming competition in 1983, and they liked it so much they bought the rights to the game to produce it for the NEC PC-6001 (which I almost started a review series for on this blog, but decided not to... yet).

Chunsoft would go on to be responsible for some bigger titles on the Famicom (Dragon Quest looms ominously in the distance) but for right now, this is literally it. Welcome to the birth of a company, baby. Or at least, the port of a game that led to the birth of a company.

Let's play it.

That's a snazzy bowtie, Mr. Squid.

----- Playthrough -----

The basic premise of Door Door is that you're running around on the screen with monsters that chase you in various patterns. For instance, the snail-type character (the orange one) will chase you pretty much directly, while the purple squid will take more roundabout paths to try and get in-front of you. The blue slime will pretty much take every ladder he comes to-- etc.

Chun, the protagonist, can jump over the enemies, but he can't shoot or otherwise defend himself in anyway, he can only run-- except that he can also divert the enemies permanently off the stage by holding a door for them until they walk through it, and then shutting it on them. Presumably none of them have doorknob-capable hands.

Right this way, sir.

I actually didn't even realize that you could jump until I had already played the game several times to death and was reading the Wiki again where it explicitly states that Chun can jump. You literally just press the A or B button, and apparently I didn't even hit them to see what they did. Shame on me. The game is moderately easier once you realize you can jump over the monsters, but to be honest it's still pretty difficult.

[Very external screaming]

Usually the levels are cleverly designed in some way that makes it difficult to get an enemy going in the correct direction to go in a specific door-- because you only open them from the sides that have handles. You'll also get extra points for having multiple enemies go in one door before you shut it, but you only have a couple seconds before they come rushing back out, and the door has to be entirely closed or they'll still slip out through the little crack. Trying to herd multiple monsters onto one path can be tough and dangerous, but running out of doors to use is also a real threat.

One door, one kill.

By the way, it's in your benefit to close a door on the last couple of monsters simultaneously, because when there's only one monster left, he'll speed up significantly-- and if you're not ready to take him out in the next couple of seconds, he'll almost certainly catch you and kill you.

To be honest, there's not much else to say. I played the game for a little while, but the difficulty is pretty high (in my opinion-- but I've never been good at these "chasing" type games, Pac-Man for instance.).

Supposedly the last level in the game is designed in such a way that making even a singular mistake renders the level unwinnable, so apparently in general the difficulty is pretty high. Good luck, if you decide to take it on more seriously than I did.

----- Review -----

How long did I play?
20 minutes or so.

How much did I beat?
7 levels.

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Intuitive Design: 

How easy is it to intuitively understand the game?

The first level in the game essentially forces you to accidentally open the door and let the monster in, and then an arrow pops up informing you to close the door on it right afterwards. This is a classic example of intuitive design-- funneling the player into discovering how to play the game entirely on their own. This is what we call a good tutorial (looking at you, modern video-games).

Gameplay / Difficulty: 

How rewarding does playing the game feel?

Honestly, considering I only beat 7 stages, I don't feel that qualified to remark on the difficulty, but I will anyway because I have no shame:

Herding several monsters into one door really makes you feel like a smarty-pants when you manage to do it, but those moments seem to be rare. In general, successfully performing what's required in the level takes some thought and feels rewarding when you pull it off.

The game in general seems pretty tough to me for what it is, but it's more of a mental toughness (it's really basically a puzzle game, honestly), than a need for dexterity, though mastering the controls certainly won't hurt your chances.

Depth: 

How deep/long is the game?

Considering the lack of checkpoints, I bet 50 stages of this will keep you entertained for a long time if you're persistent enough to keep starting over again and again. On the plus side, I imagine playing a few attempts a day, even if you're beating 20-30 stages and getting stuck, will still probably only take about 10-20 minutes.

But you'll never be speedrunning it because the game runs at about 10 FPS.

Sound / Graphics: 

How's the sound? How are the graphics?

The graphics are fine if not particularly impressive. Color-on-black-background makes its eight-hundredth triumphant return on the Famicom. The monsters are pretty cute though. I really like the little snake (pictured above).

I like the little ditties in the game, especially the game over one. It makes it slightly more fun to lose the game, and that's what games really need, especially when you're terrible like me.

Personal Chord: 

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

Maybe a little. The aesthetic is appealing but since I only enjoy the game a little, it's difficult for me to really say it strikes a personal chord.

Should You Play: 

Is there a reason to even bother with this one?

This one feels a little up in the air. If you like these kinds of platforming puzzle games, this seems like an easy win for you. There are other more impressive (aesthetically and technically) games that are like this (chase games, like Burgertime), though. I'd have to say for me personally it's not a necessary title, but I could see this one going either way for different kinds of people.

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