Treasure Hunter G for SFC

Image: MobyGames

Treasure Hunter G

I'm Blue (and Red), da boo dee da boo die

Genre: rpg - japanese

Publisher: Square

Year: 1996

System: SFC

Gameplay Score: 4

Gameplay Notes:

8 direction movement. Run by holding B. Terrible font in the menus. There are no random encounters, instead you run into enemies similar to Chrono Trigger, however the battles don't take place on the same screen. I'm not sure why that didn't become a standard after Chrono Trigger because it's so much better than the alternative. Battles are played out on a grid like a turn-based strategy game. You move your player which takes up points just like in Fire Emblem or Advance Wars. Once you're close enough to an enemy, you can attack which again uses a certain number of your movement. Tech points. Several late gen RPGs have something similar. I like it. But given the number of battles that you fight in an RPG and how long the battles take because of this movement mechanic, I think it'll get old real quick. Especially if there's a lot of grinding to do. Still, there's a lot of good gameplay here.

Level Design Score: 3

Level Design Notes:

Grinding is necessary but difficult due to the scripted battles never respawning within a dungeon. Once an enemy is dead, they're gone until you leave the dungeon and return. Not the screen - the entire dungeon. What a headache! For some reason this game didn't grab me. The areas are uninteresting and the incessant need to talk to everyone and smash everything got on my nerves. I never knew what to do next to advance the story.

Theme Score: 3

Theme Notes:

The story is extremely basic. Your party includes a blue-haired, angsty youth (named Red) who is angry with his father, the younger sister (named Blue), and their grandpa who I'm sure gets cycled out quickly. Stuff happens and off you go. Again, nothing about the premise hooked me, especially when compared to contemporaries like FFVI, Lufia 2, Star Ocean, et al

Art Style Score: 5

Art Style Notes:

Impressive visuals, to be sure. The sprites are prerendered, Mario RPG style, which isn't my favorite aesthetic, but there's no denying the quality here. I appreciate the bright and bold colors, which look much better than the drab pallette in Tales of Phantasia and Star Ocean.

Audio Score: 4

Audio Notes:

There are a couple of incredible tracks in the OST, but by and large the music is good but not great. Many of the songs use weird instruments like an old timey piano like you'd hear in an Old West saloon. Yuck. Again, the OST is hit and miss, but overall is quite good.

Overall Score: 76

Review ID: 1935