G.I. Joe: The Atlantis Factor

This week, we are going to talk about a franchise that is near and dear to my heart: G.I. Joe.

You could debate whether G.I. Joe is really “kid friendly” for days, but the iteration this game is based on would certainly qualify.  It had quite a bit of shooting for a kids show, yet no one ever actually got shot.  You would think the Joe’s and their nemeses Cobra would be more accurate, considering their status as an elite military unit and infamous terrorist group respectively.  I’m not sure parents nowadays would have been ok with their kids watching something that violent, but for me it was required viewing every Saturday morning.

“The Atlantis Factor” was one of the first games I ever added to my collection.  I don’t remember where exactly it came from, but I was certainly glad to have it.  This is actually the second G.I. Joe on NES, but it was the only one I knew at the time.  To this day, I have still never played any of the others, so my frame of reference with 8-bit G.I. Joe games starts here.  However, I was a HUGE fan of the cartoon and owned probably about 1.2 million of the action figures (the 3.5 inch ones, not the big ones).  I definitely went into this with expectations, both when I was a kid and when I played it last week.

 

I think the biggest surprise here was the amount of depth.  There are a staggering amount of stages, most of which are relatively open ended.  There are a variety of mission objectives, from rescuing hostages to diffusing bombs.  There are several stages where you just need to reach the end, but even those will have something to make them stand out, from branching paths to non-stop action.  You select your stage by moving your team around a map screen, with the objective of reaching the final area for a showdown with Cobra Commander.  That means you don’t have to clear all the levels and you can take whatever path you choose.  This was fairly unique at the time and it allows you to go at your own pace and avoid stages you find frustrating.  I like it.  

You get a good selection of Joe characters who will joint your squad as you clear stages.  Up to three can come into battle at any time and you can switch between them, kind of like the first Ninja Turtles game.  Each of them has a unique ability, which adds variety to gameplay and strategy to team selection.  Wetsuit can dive under water, Roadblock can crawl through ducts, Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow have ninja skills and Duke and General Hawk are your baseline characters. They aren’t playable, but Stalker, Gung-Ho, Spirit and Big Bear also make an appearance.  

It’s a good selection of characters, but I do think some changes could have been made.  First, what’s with the sausage fest?  Where’s Scarlett?  Spirit is okay as a healer, but wouldn’t Doc have been better since, ya know, he’s the team doctor?  It also would have been nice to play as Stalker and Gung-Ho, but at least they’re recognized.  I guess starting as General Hawk makes the most sense, but I really think Duke would have been better.  The enemies are also stock, it would have been nice if they looked more like Cobra grunts.  At least the bosses look great and feature some memorable villains, including Firefly, Destro, Cesspool, Major Blood and, of course, Cobra Commander. (Again with the sausage fest though, where’s Baroness?)

The character models could be more detailed, but the stages look great.  The backgrounds have a ton of depth, which really adds to the feeling of exploration.  There is a lot of variety and the crumbling columns and broken buildings drive home the whole Atlantis theme.  The indoor stages aren’t as detailed or appealing to the eye, but they still look okay and are on-theme for top secret Cobra facilities.  There is a story here and its told through great looking cutscenes.  This writing is half way decent, although I did notice an error in the opening credits.

Again, the enemy character models don’t look great.  Neither do the Joes for that matter, but its an NES game and they could only do so much.  The sound is also excellent, although some of the tracks don’t necessarily fit the motif.  It’s a Capcom game and their quality and style are definitely on display, which I think is a good thing.

The controls are pretty tight and responsive.  Everything is simple, which isn’t surprising considering its an NES game.  A jumps, B shoots, Select chooses weapons.  Hit detection isn’t the best and you jump like you are on the moon, but it isn’t game breaking.  You get a variety of weapons, which can be powered up by collecting icons.  Some of the weapons don’t really feel like they get much stronger, but most are worth powering up, especially your fists.  There are also health bar power ups, which become essential later on.  If I can make one complaint about the power ups, its that any icons you get from enemies bounce around like crazy and are difficult to pick up.  Not gamebreaking, but certainly annoying.

Of course, there are flaws here.  As I mentioned, the hit detection isn’t great.  It doesn’t matter too much when you are shooting, but if you are using your fists or playing as one of the ninjas it can be annoying fast.  In general, there isn’t enough ammo, especially considering enemies respawn once you leave the screen.  It almost forces you to rely on your fists.  There is also a steep decline in the number of power up icons after the first few levels.  It’s very difficult to upgrade the characters and weapons you acquire later.  The biggest problem though, is the difficulty spike.  There is no middle ground here.  It goes from walk in the park to merciless beating really quick.  My last gripe here is the password system.  The passwords are hard to enter, confusing to write down and needlessly complicated.  This might be the worst password system on the NES.  It really, really sucks.

So, that brings us to our questions:

Could your kids play this game?: Definitely.  It’s probably too violent for really young kids but 5-10 year old boys will eat this up.  The controls are simple enough and there aren’t any crazy one hit deaths or anything like that.

Would kids enjoy playing this game?: Probably.  It’s very difficult and its unlikely younger gamers will be able to complete it.  However, its early levels are easy enough, the controls are simple and the gameplay is addictive and stimulating.

Would gamers enjoy it?:  Certainly.  G.I. Joe: The Atlantis Factor is a quality NES game.  Its variety of characters, weapons and locations combined with strong gameplay make it a worthy addition to any 8-bit collection.  It isn’t perfect and the password system is garbage, but the depth more than makes up for it.

8/10

Play this game if:

You are a big G.I. Joe fan

You like weapon based platformers

You prefer games that are less linear

Avoid if:

You are easily frustrated by difficulty spikes

The floaty jumping and hit detection are off putting