Little Samson
Encyclopedia
Little Samson is a game developed by Takeru and published by Taito
for the Nintendo Entertainment System
. Taito released the game at the height of the platform genre
's success, hoping to finally achieve a solid hit on the system with a proven formula, the same way Hudson Soft
had done with their Adventure Island
series and Capcom
with their Mega Man
and Disney licensed titles. However, the game did not sell well upon release and is today completely unknown to most gamers. It was notable for having highly detailed graphics for an 8-bit game, seen in the game's menacing boss characters (which contrasted heavily with the more childlike sprites of the protagonists).
Little Samson - Samson, for whom the game is named, is the young human protagonist. He is a small, quick character who attacks enemies by throwing bells. He is able to jump higher and further than most characters and has the ability to climb on the walls and ceiling.
Kikira The Dragon - Kikira is the second hero. As a dragon, she has the ability to fly for brief periods of time, making her a valuable character in many jumping oriented stages. She attacks by spitting fire, which travels in a J shaped arc. The player can increase the strength of her flame by holding down the B button for longer periods of time (If Kikira is green, then the fireball will be small; if purple it will be medium-sized; if pink, it will be large).
Gamm The Golem
- Gamm is the third hero. Big and bulky, he is the slowest of all the characters but his punch is stronger than any of the other character's attacks. His size is both a benefit (he takes the least damage from enemy attacks, no damage from spikes, and starts with more health than the other characters) and a hindrance (his jumping ability is severely stunted). He is also the only character who can attack in all four cardinal directions.
K.O. The Mouse - K.O. is the fourth hero. He has the least health of any character, but is very quick and a great jumper, and is small enough to traverse some narrow passages that are otherwise inaccessible. Just like Samson he has the ability to climb on the walls and ceiling. He is unique in that he attacks by placing bombs.
From here, the strengths of individual characters must be utilized to get through a variety of courses. Several bosses await the heroes, and it's up to the player's strategy to choose which hero(es) will fight the boss. A few levels have branching exits, taking the player to different levels, although each one ends up taking the player to stages marked by skulls on the map. Here, the player fights one of the four wizards that serve as the dark prince's right-hand men, each of which becomes a larger boss when defeated (green becomes a Cyclops
, blue becomes a magic-wielding knight
, red becomes a giant Dragon
, and the yellow becomes what appears to be the Grim Reaper).
Eventually, the player reaches what appears to be the dark prince's castle, and faces a golden wizard-knight at the end (which transforms into a demonic skull). If the game is played on Easy, this is the final level. If played on Normal, the dark prince's true stronghold--a castle resting on a giant, green skull, arises, and the game continues for a few more levels, ending with a confrontation with the dark prince himself. In the end, through the utilization of all four characters, the kingdom is saved.
Little Samson is fairly unique in that although there is an established storyline, there is not a single line of dialogue (spoken or written) in the entire game. All story development is shown through pantomimed animated cutscenes. This approach was also used in the Mega Drive Sonic The Hedgehog series, generally in the final stages of the game but more frequently in Sonic The Hedgehog 3
which was released after Little Samson.
The two choices of game play the player may choose (easy, normal) dictates the level of difficulty. If the player chooses normal mode, several changes will occur in comparison to if the player chooses easy. Characters will have a limit to how much their health meter may extend (about half of their maximum in easy mode). Levels will also sport more enemies in normal mode, and should the player die playing with either the dragon, golem, or mouse, that character will no longer be selectable until the player beats the level. Little Samson on the other hand will always be playable, and because of which, he alone can complete almost all the levels alone (exceptions being the introductory levels and the very last level).
A unique feature of the game is that the player may switch characters at any point during the level. Each character has their own health gauge, but they all share the same “lives” (if the character which the player is using dies than they lost a life and all heroes' health gauges are restored). This unique setup makes the game's stages much more easy to complete than many other similar games and allows for unique strategies when facing the game's boss characters, which the player must face at the end of many stages. When confronted the boss' health is displayed in a similar fashion to the player's but on the right side of the screen. There are two kinds of boss battles; regular bosses, and the dark prince's 4 henchmen. Normal boss battles consist of one fight against a creature Samson and co. encounter along the way. A henchman boss battle, however, consists of two phases; their cloaked form, and the boss' true form (typically a large monster). After defeating the boss the player is shown their password.
Taito Corporation
The is a Japanese publisher of video game software and arcade hardware wholly owned by publisher Square Enix. Taito has their headquarters in the Shinjuku Bunka Quint Building in Yoyogi, Shibuya, Tokyo, sharing the facility with its parent company....
for the Nintendo Entertainment System
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
. Taito released the game at the height of the platform genre
Platform game
A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...
's success, hoping to finally achieve a solid hit on the system with a proven formula, the same way Hudson Soft
Hudson Soft
, formally known as , is a majority-owned subsidiary of Konami Corporation is a Japanese electronic entertainment publisher headquartered in the Midtown Tower in Tokyo Midtown, Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, with an additional office in the Hudson Building in Sapporo. It was founded on May 18, 1973...
had done with their Adventure Island
Adventure Island (video game)
Hudson's Adventure Island, also known simply as Adventure Island and released in Japan as , is a side-scrolling platform game produced by Hudson Soft that was first released in Japan for the Family Computer and MSX on September 12, 1986...
series and Capcom
Capcom
is a Japanese developer and publisher of video games, known for creating multi-million-selling franchises such as Devil May Cry, Chaos Legion, Street Fighter, Mega Man and Resident Evil. Capcom developed and published Bionic Commando, Lost Planet and Dark Void too, but they are less known. Its...
with their Mega Man
Mega Man
Mega Man is a video game franchise from Capcom, starring the eponymous character Mega Man, or one of his many counterparts. The series is well-known and comprises well over fifty releases, easily making it Capcom's most prolific franchise. As of December 31, 2010, the series has sold approximately...
and Disney licensed titles. However, the game did not sell well upon release and is today completely unknown to most gamers. It was notable for having highly detailed graphics for an 8-bit game, seen in the game's menacing boss characters (which contrasted heavily with the more childlike sprites of the protagonists).
Characters
Throughout the game the player operates one of four characters, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. The first four stages are each dedicated to a specific character, but upon their completion the player can swap characters at any time for the remainder of the game, and often must do so in order to complete the level. The four characters are as follows:Little Samson - Samson, for whom the game is named, is the young human protagonist. He is a small, quick character who attacks enemies by throwing bells. He is able to jump higher and further than most characters and has the ability to climb on the walls and ceiling.
Kikira The Dragon - Kikira is the second hero. As a dragon, she has the ability to fly for brief periods of time, making her a valuable character in many jumping oriented stages. She attacks by spitting fire, which travels in a J shaped arc. The player can increase the strength of her flame by holding down the B button for longer periods of time (If Kikira is green, then the fireball will be small; if purple it will be medium-sized; if pink, it will be large).
Gamm The Golem
Golem
In Jewish folklore, a golem is an animated anthropomorphic being, created entirely from inanimate matter. The word was used to mean an amorphous, unformed material in Psalms and medieval writing....
- Gamm is the third hero. Big and bulky, he is the slowest of all the characters but his punch is stronger than any of the other character's attacks. His size is both a benefit (he takes the least damage from enemy attacks, no damage from spikes, and starts with more health than the other characters) and a hindrance (his jumping ability is severely stunted). He is also the only character who can attack in all four cardinal directions.
K.O. The Mouse - K.O. is the fourth hero. He has the least health of any character, but is very quick and a great jumper, and is small enough to traverse some narrow passages that are otherwise inaccessible. Just like Samson he has the ability to climb on the walls and ceiling. He is unique in that he attacks by placing bombs.
Story
The game begins simply enough - a dark prince is freed from his seal by a thunderstorm, and begins to try and take over the world. The kingdom is in peril, and the King orders that the four heroes receive a summon. Four pigeons fly off to meet these heroes, and each reads the summon. From here, the player must navigate all four of these players through an introductory course (all fairly simple).From here, the strengths of individual characters must be utilized to get through a variety of courses. Several bosses await the heroes, and it's up to the player's strategy to choose which hero(es) will fight the boss. A few levels have branching exits, taking the player to different levels, although each one ends up taking the player to stages marked by skulls on the map. Here, the player fights one of the four wizards that serve as the dark prince's right-hand men, each of which becomes a larger boss when defeated (green becomes a Cyclops
Cyclops
A cyclops , in Greek mythology and later Roman mythology, was a member of a primordial race of giants, each with a single eye in the middle of his forehead...
, blue becomes a magic-wielding knight
Knight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
, red becomes a giant Dragon
Dragon
A dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...
, and the yellow becomes what appears to be the Grim Reaper).
Eventually, the player reaches what appears to be the dark prince's castle, and faces a golden wizard-knight at the end (which transforms into a demonic skull). If the game is played on Easy, this is the final level. If played on Normal, the dark prince's true stronghold--a castle resting on a giant, green skull, arises, and the game continues for a few more levels, ending with a confrontation with the dark prince himself. In the end, through the utilization of all four characters, the kingdom is saved.
Little Samson is fairly unique in that although there is an established storyline, there is not a single line of dialogue (spoken or written) in the entire game. All story development is shown through pantomimed animated cutscenes. This approach was also used in the Mega Drive Sonic The Hedgehog series, generally in the final stages of the game but more frequently in Sonic The Hedgehog 3
Sonic the Hedgehog 3
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is a 1994 platform video game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis. It was developed in the United States by members of Sonic Team working at Sega Technical Institute, and was published by Sega, debuting worldwide in the first half of 1994...
which was released after Little Samson.
Gameplay
The game's setup is highly reminiscent of the Mega Man series. The player jumps with the A button and attacks, usually in the form of a projectile, with the B button. The characters health is shown by a series of bars, stacked vertically, to the left side of the screen. Throughout the stages the characters must defeat enemies and avoid pits, all the while collecting standard powerups including one ups, energy replenishing hearts, and spheres which increase the capacity of the character's health meter.The two choices of game play the player may choose (easy, normal) dictates the level of difficulty. If the player chooses normal mode, several changes will occur in comparison to if the player chooses easy. Characters will have a limit to how much their health meter may extend (about half of their maximum in easy mode). Levels will also sport more enemies in normal mode, and should the player die playing with either the dragon, golem, or mouse, that character will no longer be selectable until the player beats the level. Little Samson on the other hand will always be playable, and because of which, he alone can complete almost all the levels alone (exceptions being the introductory levels and the very last level).
A unique feature of the game is that the player may switch characters at any point during the level. Each character has their own health gauge, but they all share the same “lives” (if the character which the player is using dies than they lost a life and all heroes' health gauges are restored). This unique setup makes the game's stages much more easy to complete than many other similar games and allows for unique strategies when facing the game's boss characters, which the player must face at the end of many stages. When confronted the boss' health is displayed in a similar fashion to the player's but on the right side of the screen. There are two kinds of boss battles; regular bosses, and the dark prince's 4 henchmen. Normal boss battles consist of one fight against a creature Samson and co. encounter along the way. A henchman boss battle, however, consists of two phases; their cloaked form, and the boss' true form (typically a large monster). After defeating the boss the player is shown their password.