Random Game I've Never Heard Of #15

Banana (1986)
By: Victor Musical Industries Genre: Puzzle Players: 1 Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: Nintendo NES First Day Score: 2,170 (yes, I'm crap at puzzle games)
Also Available For: Nothing

Selecting the next game to review for this series of posts isn't usually a very complicated matter - just look at lists and see if any names stand out! For some reason, I've always enjoyed games that feature fruits and vegetables. They usually take the form of collectibles for bonus points but here was a game that was actually named after a fruit! The reason for this is unclear but it made it stand out to me in any case. A quick perusal revealed that it was a pretty early release for Nintendo's sprightly Famicom and never made it out of Japan for some reason, which goes some way to explaining why I hadn't heard of it. I also soon learned that it was a puzzle game starring a nameless mole, who for review purposes we'll call Gronk, and it's his job to rescue a nameless female mole, who we'll call Fleeple. She must be a bit of an airhead too, as she apparently gets re-kidnapped (or lost, or whatever is going on) prior to every single stage of the game! C'mon Gronk, sooner or later you've just got to accept that anyone who takes such bad care of themselves perhaps doesn't deserve to get repeatedly rescued.

Maybe she doesn't even want to be rescued, but that is nonetheless an objective of the game, the other being to collect all the fruits that appear on each stage. These are rarely bananas which lends further confusion to the relevance of title. There are a startlingly numerous 105 stages in total and at first it seems as though they will all be a single screen in size, though from stage 46 onwards they are a little wider. Regardless of their size, they are all more or less the same in style and can be a lot trickier than you might at first imagine. Each of them will feature: dirt, boulders, fruits, an exit door, and of course Fleeple who is extra-recognisable as she appears to be wearing a red dress and has blue hair for some reason. Virtually all of them will also feature ladders, and many will have some areas of open space too. All of these things are the size of a single tile and are arranged in varying numbers and in very specific ways to make each stage which consist of grids of either 14x11 or 20x11 tiles each.

The trickiness I mentioned earlier is mainly down to two things: first, as Gronk moves around he is able to dig through the dirt (which is green for some reason) left, right or down one tile at a time, but he can't move up; second, when he digs directly underneath a boulder it falls down, Boulder Dash-stylee. Surprisingly however, unlike First Star Software's classic, these falling boulders will not kill Gronk or Fleeple, but they can trap him or them in an inescapable position, as can empty space which he will fall into if he digs directly above it. This obviously means stages need to be scrutinised and planned out before making any moves. Fortunately, there is no time limit, and even if there was, you can just pause the game and plan away. Mistakes will still be common though, and even if you don't trap Gronk, you still might leave yourself unable to reach one or several fruits. Luckily, if such a scenario unfolds, you can suicide (start over at the cost of a life) by pressing the A and B buttons together, which is also likely to be the only times you use the buttons since Gronk can't jump or shoot anything.

The only potential lifeline for Gronk and Fleeple (who is apparently his daughter-in-law for some reason) are those titular bananas which do, as it turns out, have a function here. Most stages features only one type of fruit to collect (which aren't always fruits, as can be seen from the hamburgers, above), but now and then a solitary banana can be found which bestows upon Gronk either a bomb, a ladder segment, a rope, or a rock, which can all be stockpiled and used as and when needed by pressing select. If you find yourself stuck, see if one of these handy items can rescue your life before it is squandered by committing the most grievous of acts. That's about all there is to the game though. There are no collectibles besides the mandatory food items, no enemies, no bosses, no bonus rounds; just stage after stage of differently-positioned rocks and ladders and stuff with fruits sprinkled around them. Placing the emphasis solely on the puzzliness of the stages isn't necessarily a bad thing though, is it?

I suppose that depends on how you feel about puzzle games, but if you like them, the stages here will be most enjoyable. There is usually a set route you'll need to work out which includes doing some 'prep' work such as digging beneath boulders to open a passage you'll need later or something, and some stages can take a lot of thought as well as trial and error to figure out. There are no passwords or game save but you can select any stage (in increments of five) from the title screen so if you get stuck you can get straight back to the same point next time (roughly). There is even a level designer/editor in case you get through all the existing stages. It's a great little game overall. The graphics are simple and repetitive but work well and have some cute animations, and the music is also simple, with only one tune which is accompanied by 'walking music' like Dig Dug. It's the stage design that will keep you coming back though - there are a lot of them, they're challenging, and it's always satisfying to solve one. It's far from the Famicom's flashiest game but you'd be bananas (chortle!) to dismiss it.

RKS Score: 8/10

Gameplay Video: here's a video of the whole game being played by one of the talented fellows at Nenriki Gaming Channel (check out their great channel here). Oh, and don't watch if you want to avoid spoilers!