After 36 Years, I finally beat Hydlide

[Razzie.P]

3 games tormented my during my childhood as games I really loved, but for some damn reason, simply couldn’t beat.   Impossible Mission (Atari 7800 – not my fault, I learned as an adult) Milon’s Secret Castle, and Hydlide

I came back to Hydlide this weekend to give it another shot, and finally finished it.  And the “missing piece” that’s held me up all these years was kind of stupid.   You have to kill 2 enemies using a certain magic.  BUT... you have to kill them both with one shot when they align horizontally in a small, not at all convenient area.  

No hint alluded to that in the game or manual, far as I can tell.  No reason for anyone to ever think “maybe this is what I gotta do…”  But oh well, after that, they turn into a missing fairy and fly you to the endgame.  Nice, easy, and quick.

 

Oh well… not really a good game at all and definitely has some design issues, but I love it all the same and will likely pop in the cart once or twice per year for a quick play through now that I can finish it easily.

 

 

I’m thinking of working through the rest of the series.  Hopefully they won’t take as long.
 

[roots.genoa]

That's the legacy of Tower of Druaga I'm afraid... And Milon's Secret Castle follows exactly the same "logic" of secrets that kids were supposed to trade back in the days. We can still see this in games like Pokémon, Monster Hunter, and Dark Souls, even though the Internet made it way easier (and developers don't have to make games last longer with "tricks" anymore).

[Wayler]

I applaud your dedication towards this horrible horrible game. I can't believe they made it into a series and across multiple generations. 

[+GoldLeader]

 Great Job Razzie P! 

 

As a fan of Deadly Towers, ...I know what it's like to love a game everyone hates.  And to get that thousand yard stare or be asked "WaitAMinute!  Are You Nuts?"

 

And IMO games shouldn't have these ridiculous crazy secrets, (necessary to solve them), but hey maybe that's what kept people buying Nintendo Power, and calling their Tip Line.

 

Funny thing about Hydlide.

 

 

I still remember my parents saying, "Hey we just got a membership at a new store called 'Sam's Club', where they supposedly have all these great deals, ya wanna go check it out?"

 

"Sure", I replied in a 'It's Sunday, what else do I got going on?' sort of way...

 

Once at Sam's Club I saw they carried Nintendo Game!  Yeah, ONE GAME.  A whole stack of brand new Hydlide cartridges (NIB) for $12 a pop.  So I snagged one.  I thought maybe I'd luck out and it would be as good as Deadly Towers or even Zelda or maybe play like Dragon Warrior or something.  At any rate,  the price was right.

 

Once home I popped it in and promptly couldn't make heads or tails of it.  I may have tried it twice at most.  I don't remember what ever happened to that game.  Presumably, I traded it in at a game store or pawn shop or something...(Rare behavior for me back then).

 

Strangely, upon reading this, I dug out some of the NES collection, (and also realized I have the NES collection a bit scattered instead of all in one place, like it should be), and looked for Hydlide,  just to see if it was one I reacquired later...Nope!

[roots.genoa]

Well, whether we like it or not, Hydlide is considered the first action-RPG ever, so it's quite an important video game.

[Tanooki]

I've never tried it, seen some videos, and maybe if you know where to go it doesn't suck?  I don't quite get the hate but I get people do like to dump on it, a lot.  The problem is sometimes I question if it's more sheeple than fact.  Take for instance something like Silent Service.   You'll see a good mix of people being utter garbage towards it, or they like it.  I got into a habit of trying to stop the hate on that because over and over again some comments why it sucked overlapped, and not just because it was a PC port dumbed down, but because supposedly it couldn't do certain things or other stuff didn't make sense.  Why I don't remember but I liked the idea of it back in the day, and I either was gifted it (likely) or bought it but I've always had the game, still do, manual too.  The repeated admission I'd find largely centered around owning the game only, and being too thick to look up a faq or check for a typed/scanned manual of the game.  The game works, but partially with one controller, two are required.  Those who tend to go back, knowing to use both and having read up, find it enjoyable.

 

Sometimes I think Hydlide may fall into that realm of game that's B-C decent, but gets a fat F for failing because people just don't approach it right or get it, maybe not reading the manual or finding some concepts in a guide to have it click.  I'm guilty of it kind of, never tried it, just passively viewed it but I never really took an interest to care but I don't also take the effort to condemn it either.

[Austin]

I have a soft spot for NES Hydlide. It's janky and ancient, but when I figured out what to do it turned into being kinda fun for me. It's not like I go back to it regularly, but I enjoyed learning it a few years back. I've heard Super Hydlide on the Genesis is much better and actually sort of solid. Virtual Hydlide for Saturn on the other hand.. ugh. 🤮

  

12 hours ago, roots.genoa said:

Well, whether we like it or not, Hydlide is considered the first action-RPG ever, so it's quite an important video game.

The other thing about the original computer Hydlide is it came out in 1984, where it was much more impressive. There wasn't quite anything like it when it released, so yeah, it was actually an important release. By the time we got it in the States on the NES (1989), The Legend of Zelda had already been out for years and made it look completely obsolete.

[+Gemintronic]

I'd recommend trying Y's for the Sega Master System over Super Hydlide.  The gameplay is nicer.  Plus, the additional systems in Super Hydlide only frustrate.

[Austin]

I mean, if we're going to go there, I'd suggest the Turbo Grafx CD version of Ys 1.

[Razzie.P]

5 hours ago, Austin said:

I have a soft spot for NES Hydlide. It's janky and ancient, but when I figured out what to do it turned into being kinda fun for me. It's not like I go back to it regularly, but I enjoyed learning it a few years back. I've heard Super Hydlide on the Genesis is much better and actually sort of solid. Virtual Hydlide for Saturn on the other hand.. ugh. 🤮

  

The other thing about the original computer Hydlide is it came out in 1984, where it was much more impressive. There wasn't quite anything like it when it released, so yeah, it was actually an important release. By the time we got it in the States on the NES (1989), The Legend of Zelda had already been out for years and made it look completely obsolete.

I'm pretty excited to check out Super Hydlide, and I actually own Virtual Hydlide for Saturn, but never played it.  I'm sure I just picked it up because of the name, given my love for the NES version.  First though, I gotta see if I can figure out the English Translation patch for Part 2 on the MSX or something...

 

 

5 hours ago, Gemintronic said:

I'd recommend trying Y's for the Sega Master System over Super Hydlide.  The gameplay is nicer.  Plus, the additional systems in Super Hydlide only frustrate.

Well, I love Ys.  The whole franchise.  The only one that's been a bit of a letdown to me was the most recent, part IX.  

 

 

3 hours ago, Austin said:

I mean, if we're going to go there, I'd suggest the Turbo Grafx CD version of Ys 1.

That's where my Y's love started back when it was a pack in with my Turbo Duo, but now... I'd suggest Ys I & II Chronicles+ on PC  😁

[Steven Pendleton]

Yeah, the original 1984 version of Hydlide is one of the most important and influential games ever; even Kojima has said that the game was awesome. I have been meaning to try the MSX version ever since I got my MSX2+, but I haven't gotten around to it, partially because MSX controllers are ridiculously expensive for some reason, but also because the down key on my MSX2+ doesn't work too well and I have no idea how to fix it, so I'm kind of stuck either way as of right now.

[Tanooki]

Is the NES version actually worth trying, and if so, I guess minimally the manual is required to make some sense of not just getting destroyed by its quirks?

[Razzie.P]

On 9/24/2022 at 5:05 PM, Tanooki said:

Is the NES version actually worth trying, and if so, I guess minimally the manual is required to make some sense of not just getting destroyed by its quirks?

Trying to put my bias aside, I'd still yes "yes, it's worth a shot."  And yeah, I'd read over the manual, specifically the item descriptions and such.  I don't think it'll help with that "puzzle" that had me stumped for so long, but you'll still get some important, not-at-all-vague clues such as this ---

 

 

 

Yep.  Here's a scan of the manual, if interested.

 

http://www.neshq.com/games/h/hydlide/hydlide-man02.pdf

 

 

 

[Razzie.P]

On 9/24/2022 at 2:13 AM, Steven Pendleton said:

Yeah, the original 1984 version of Hydlide is one of the most important and influential games ever; even Kojima has said that the game was awesome. I have been meaning to try the MSX version ever since I got my MSX2+, but I haven't gotten around to it, partially because MSX controllers are ridiculously expensive for some reason, but also because the down key on my MSX2+ doesn't work too well and I have no idea how to fix it, so I'm kind of stuck either way as of right now.

I finished the MSX version yesterday, and played through the MSX2 version today.  If you have the option, play the MSX2 version.   Since there's no magic in there (a key difference from the NES version) the part that always had me stumped is a bit different, and had me stumped all over again.  🤣

 

 

I found an English version of part 2, so hope to start that one this week. 

 

 

[StanJr]

How do you overcome the "actively lose HP as you just walk around" aspect of the game?  That's what always killed it for me...

[Razzie.P]

7 hours ago, StanJr said:

How do you overcome the "actively lose HP as you just walk around" aspect of the game?  That's what always killed it for me...

You don’t lose health in all areas, so for me, it’s just pacing.  Other's may have better ideas and strategies, but when I lose some health, I’ll find a safe spot of green and just rest/ wait a bit for it to regain.  You also find a ring in the game that helps with that a lot.  But yeah, it was never a deal breaker for me, but I can see how that’s a bit of a downer having to wait to heal.

 

Funny though, when I played the very first Halo back on Xbox when it was the new, shiny, hottest thing – my co-op buddy and I would always have to step away from firefights and wait to let our shields/health/whatever recharge, and I remember commenting that they must have ripped that off from Hydlide  😁
 

[Austin]

Yeah, you just wait and heal. It’s time consuming the farther you level up (bigger health bar), but at least you can do it. This game would be impossible without regenerating health. 🤣

[StanJr]

fair enough.  I really liked the look and everything else about the game, but the health drain was a deal breaker.  I guess I had no idea you regenerated in the grass or if I did it wasn't enough to restore my interest.  But you've convinced me to give it another look.  I wonder if I even own a copy...

[Razzie.P]

I recently finished part 2 and that one was something.  It added some really basic “morality” type of stuff that was probably great and ahead of its time, but just really just served to make the whole game feel needlessly grindy.

Oddly though, even though it felt like a chore and brought the whole thing down a notch, I’m 100% certain that I would have loved it as a kid, because I would have been convinced it made it seem “more real, serious, and immersive”

 

 

Also, I had to cheat a bit via walkthroughs because it just seemed a bit too cryptic at times.

 

Looking forward to checking out part 3 and then Virtual Hydlide, even though I’ve always heard it’s a stinker.