Shaman King: Master of Spirits (GBA, 2004)
Graphics-8 Sound-7.5 Control-7.5 Challenge-7.5 Story-6
Level Design-7 Frustration-7.5 Fun-7.5 Originality-4.5
Overall Score-7.5
+
Igavania-style gameplay/controls/art style w/ a hub map (new paths open up as you reach new locations on the map and like in Cocoron (NES) you have to move between locations in-game and the direction you enter a path from on the map affects which side of it you start at - can exit any level/path from where you entered it, ability gating, special item/spirit inventory that affects your alternate/special attacks and abilities (similar to the soul system in CV: AoS) - can add up to 20 of them to one of 4 sets of 5 (slots 1 and 4-5 per set is for passive abilities/armor though these can also be placed in the other two slots, second is for mapping an active ability to to R and third is for mapping one to L; each set works like a quick select menu for 3 items and you switch by using the select button), good mid-air control, dash dodge, some hidden items)
3 hit attack combo (can't perform it while crouching, can follow it up with 1+ special attacks)
Upgrade your health bar by finding bead items (4 required per increase; one special item also upgrades it while equipped)+your MP/SP bar by beating bosses+your number of slots per special item set by finding gear - up to 5 (no exp point leveling system)
Regenerating MP/special move energy (can also upgrade the speed of it by using up one special item slot)
Enemies carrying special items/souls always drop them after one kill
Difficulty options (normal and hard)
Features a shop which can be accessed via the hub map (can sell items, not a lot to buy though)
Very good bosses overall (pretty varied patterns)
Some minor shortcuts when backtracking through paths (not enough of them though)
Good art direction and nice sprite animation, Some huge and multi-jointed sprites
Some interesting abilities (cloe/pendulum - basically a grappling hook, small sheep transformation - moves quickly and reaches into smaller spaces but can't attack and doesn't last that long, health draining whip - quite slow though and doesn't always work, homing shot - kinda weak though and sometimes targets an enemy on the other side of a wall which it then can't go through, a couple of mascots/familiars though they're not very useful, huge beam attack (totem cannon) though it's not very practical)
Mandatory gates are often placed at the beginning of paths so that you can quickly backtrack to the map when running into them
New game plus (cleared levels+items+spirits etc. will be the same as before fighting the final boss plus you'll have the fire spirit which lets you gain some HP by hitting enemies - seems the fire spirit should've been there in the regular game since it makes the game easier)
Some decent switch and box puzzles (red temple, factory) - at times it would've been good if the game showed exactly what pulling a switch accomplished though
Good economy in that being careful with your money stays relevant throughout
One smart bomb style special attack (costs all mp bars though so 4 shots with michael is better if you can hit with all of them)
+/-
Mostly linear structure besides optional backtracking and sidetracking for upgrades and combat abilities (can take 4 paths from the get go and 2 more paths open up for each new location that you visit up to a point however nearly all of them are blocked off early on - you can really only go to where you get the box pushing ability and then only the path where you use it which is then repeated for the next ability (freeze fire pillars) and then the next (gas protection), the world is divided into 8 areas (unnamed in-game and even in the manual?) which in turn are divided into several paths, two optional bosses in the NW in the end-game and some optional (and missable) spirits)
Save on the hub map screen (one slot per game only) - can't save within areas and there are no continues or lives
Gain fast travel after about half the game (via a dragon; a bit annoying how you have to use it for every path between two locations though, some one way paths before gaining it)
Can't move while crouching or attacking (can jump while attacking)
Can't swim (a familiar of sorts picks you up and puts you at the last platform you were standing on but you also lose a lot of HP)
Most locations (dots on the map) can't be visited and explored - most of them simply represent the end of a path rather than a location you can visit and are where you access the shop and save screens (the dojo/your home is the only exception)
Partial life refill after finishing a path (getting to the other side of it in either direction)
Can look around but need a soul equipped in a quick slot for it - a couple of leaps of faith before you find this ability
Can't attack upwards or downwards by default
Mostly pre-rendered/digitized backgrounds and some foregrounds as well (clashes a bit with the sprites and some foregrounds plus they look a bit dated)
Doesn't show bosses' and stronger enemies' health bars
Some of your attacks hit both in front of and behind you
Collectathon element (5 guardian ghosts/silver spirits for the totem attack to break a barrier), no forward dash until you're about 60% through the game (via an ability item, also lets you jump while dashing for a longer jump - see MMX) - there are default movement speed upgrade spirits though
Frequently respawning enemies (as soon as you leave a room)
Some enemies and level gimmicks are basically ripped from CV and Mario
Enemy drops do disappear but it takes 10+ seconds
Carry capacity limitations on inventory items (decently balanced though at a couple of points you find a chest with 4 noodle items in it and can only carry 1 of them with you)
Generally can't use a special attack in different ways by crouching or pressing up
Enemies aren't frozen by the first freezing ability - need the later upgraded ver.
Some resource management (chests don't respawn and enemies rarely drop money - most enemies don't seem to drop anything, enemies never drop healing items, a few ammo-based special attacks)
Can jump past most enemies
While you can upgrade your main weapon it has the same range and 3 hit combo (gaining the light sword also turns your first special attack into celestial slash which adds a projectile)
Short knockback when hit but also short invincibility time
Some pits however they don't kill you - instead you lose some health and are carried to the platform you were on previously
Minor slowdown
A few NPC encounters but no neutral creatures
Black raven combined with bason turns the latter into ultra cavalry charge - good for weak enemies but bad against most of what you face in the late game since you take damage if the enemy isn't killed (a toggle would've been nice)
The elemental shield spirits only help slightly in the final battle
-
No area maps (too many ability gates to remember besides the mandatory ones, game also doesn't tell you if/how many items are left on a path)
Some control/interface issues (no control config and you double tap down to perform a backwards dash for dodging, can't jump cancel out of an attack animation - can dodge cancel, when tapping down to crouch there's some delay before you get back up again, the game doesn't tell you what you've just picked up, some delay before an opened chest drops its contents and it's spread out a bit - breaks flow, annoying delay after you're knocked down by certain enemies like the boxers, no area names on the hub map screen or title cards shown when entering them, can't tell on the map screen if you've visited a location or not, if touching a diagonal surface with your head in mid-air you get pulled upwards along that surface, some mid-air control is lost if you attack in mid-air, can't attack while dashing (can do it while dash jumping), being able to perform abilities required for progression with a button combo would've been a good alternative to switching to them in the menu, the animations before using movement abilities get annoying after a while, no special item inventory sorting?, somewhat floaty movement after letting go of the d-pad (hard to make small and precise movements on small platforms), the grappling hook controls fine but is a bit too slow - particularly when pulling yourself upwards, )
Backtracking (you have to backtrack through visited paths to go to previous locations on the map - can't just move past them on the map, also if you screw up a box puzzle you have to re-enter the path instead of just moving a couple of screens away, again for the guardian ghosts which are spread out across the world in places where you've already been... (three of these paths are also among the slowest in the game) - new enemies don't appear in previously visited paths)
Some trial & error (weight mechanic - can't carry as many items as you have inventory slots, can't use the block pushing ability in mid-air, can't push a box if there's another box on top of it, can't enter gaps from above that look like you can enter them, some boss patterns, a few cheap enemy placements near pits and in the red temple in the north (stompers), some enemies aren't affected by orona/enemy freeze but the range is actually huge - it hits everyone on screen plus even further away, some boss patterns, it's a good idea to save before entering a new path as you might run into a boss immediately, the lego pilot's falling debris attack)
Kinda basic level design outside of the dungeon-like areas and there are no breakable walls or floors - long corridor-like paths without much vertical movement (some background doors leading to parallel paths though, the dungeon-like areas still tend to have more than one entry point)
Some ability gates are basically locked doors (statues, flame pillars, gas filled rooms)
Can't manually talk to he NPCs you've rescued (by defeating their possessed form, they end up back at the dojo) at will - only at certain points in the game which aren't signalled on the map
Some other tedious aspects (starts with a pretty long dialogue scene where a bunch of characters are introduced and tells its story mainly through dialogue with still portrait artwork and very minor animation (the intro cutscene has a bit more animation to it while the ending is just text over artwork), box puzzles don't stay solved - there could've been a default ability to reset them, if you take the path towards one of the guardian ghosts from the south (the one in the southwest) then you can't reach it due to not having the ability to pass through from that side, no MP restoratives, a couple of parts where you have to redo a longer segment if you fall down, totems don't stay removed, weird how sushi weighs as much as hamburgers when it barely heals you, no point in backtracking to the one way path in the eastern graveyard, some ability gates aren't worth backtracking to, if you start using an ability and it's interrupted then all the MP it cost is still wasted)
Some abilities are redundant (golden thunder impalement replaces the regular bason attack after picking up the thunder sword (which can't be unequipped) - kinda weak but it is useful in the factory area against the turrets, the white paint one and the short ranged punch move you gain early on, the spinning fireballs also kinda suck in that they make it impossible to hit an enemy at the same time as they hit it+their damage is too low+they disappear if you change deck/set, the little doll mascots aren't aggressive enough and do minor damage, jack is kind of weak, shaolin/green punch gets redundant after a couple of levels, gundari (sometimes blocks) blocks too rarely, footballer is a weaker version of ultra cavalry charge, konchi - basically the same as gororo with more range but less damage, ponchi - doesn't block enemies from moving into you so it's only useful in the factory area)
Sometimes annoying screams by Yoh/your avatar when using abilities
Difficulty spike at Eliza (face her right after the giant skeleton boss and she's more agile than you are) and at the enemy carrying the golem spirit - Joco and the late game mech boss on the other hand are kind of easy
Pushed boxes don't hurt enemies if they fall onto them
Celestial slash removes the vertical range of the first special attack (amidamaru) and you can't revert to the previous slash
Repeats some enemies in several areas and palette swaps some of them as well (makes these areas feel less unique)
Pretty cliché story with a one dimensional villain (until the finale but then he's replaced by a completely undeveloped and one dimensional villain)
No attack power boost if you let your MP bar recharge and then wait for about 7-10 seconds before using certain special attacks (an animation plays - seems odd since it pauses gameplay for a bit and makes it look stronger)
Some safe spots (can hit some enemies through walls/floors or from far away - can also do it with the tao the great and impalement abilities)
No double jump or wall jump moves and the slide isn't used to dodge with much
Unskippable staff roll
Kind of scratchy music samples (quite a bit in a couple of tracks)
Bugs:
-Can use orona to go out of bounds in some places (did it by accident in the jungle ruins)
-The big purple guy's ball and chain throw goes through you if you're standing slightly above his level
Notes:
-Some missable spirits in the end-game (search for IMPORTANT NOTE): https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/gba/919443-shaman-king-master-of-spirits/faqs/33736
Level Design-7 Frustration-7.5 Fun-7.5 Originality-4.5
Overall Score-7.5
+
Igavania-style gameplay/controls/art style w/ a hub map (new paths open up as you reach new locations on the map and like in Cocoron (NES) you have to move between locations in-game and the direction you enter a path from on the map affects which side of it you start at - can exit any level/path from where you entered it, ability gating, special item/spirit inventory that affects your alternate/special attacks and abilities (similar to the soul system in CV: AoS) - can add up to 20 of them to one of 4 sets of 5 (slots 1 and 4-5 per set is for passive abilities/armor though these can also be placed in the other two slots, second is for mapping an active ability to to R and third is for mapping one to L; each set works like a quick select menu for 3 items and you switch by using the select button), good mid-air control, dash dodge, some hidden items)
3 hit attack combo (can't perform it while crouching, can follow it up with 1+ special attacks)
Upgrade your health bar by finding bead items (4 required per increase; one special item also upgrades it while equipped)+your MP/SP bar by beating bosses+your number of slots per special item set by finding gear - up to 5 (no exp point leveling system)
Regenerating MP/special move energy (can also upgrade the speed of it by using up one special item slot)
Enemies carrying special items/souls always drop them after one kill
Difficulty options (normal and hard)
Features a shop which can be accessed via the hub map (can sell items, not a lot to buy though)
Very good bosses overall (pretty varied patterns)
Some minor shortcuts when backtracking through paths (not enough of them though)
Good art direction and nice sprite animation, Some huge and multi-jointed sprites
Some interesting abilities (cloe/pendulum - basically a grappling hook, small sheep transformation - moves quickly and reaches into smaller spaces but can't attack and doesn't last that long, health draining whip - quite slow though and doesn't always work, homing shot - kinda weak though and sometimes targets an enemy on the other side of a wall which it then can't go through, a couple of mascots/familiars though they're not very useful, huge beam attack (totem cannon) though it's not very practical)
Mandatory gates are often placed at the beginning of paths so that you can quickly backtrack to the map when running into them
New game plus (cleared levels+items+spirits etc. will be the same as before fighting the final boss plus you'll have the fire spirit which lets you gain some HP by hitting enemies - seems the fire spirit should've been there in the regular game since it makes the game easier)
Some decent switch and box puzzles (red temple, factory) - at times it would've been good if the game showed exactly what pulling a switch accomplished though
Good economy in that being careful with your money stays relevant throughout
One smart bomb style special attack (costs all mp bars though so 4 shots with michael is better if you can hit with all of them)
+/-
Mostly linear structure besides optional backtracking and sidetracking for upgrades and combat abilities (can take 4 paths from the get go and 2 more paths open up for each new location that you visit up to a point however nearly all of them are blocked off early on - you can really only go to where you get the box pushing ability and then only the path where you use it which is then repeated for the next ability (freeze fire pillars) and then the next (gas protection), the world is divided into 8 areas (unnamed in-game and even in the manual?) which in turn are divided into several paths, two optional bosses in the NW in the end-game and some optional (and missable) spirits)
Save on the hub map screen (one slot per game only) - can't save within areas and there are no continues or lives
Gain fast travel after about half the game (via a dragon; a bit annoying how you have to use it for every path between two locations though, some one way paths before gaining it)
Can't move while crouching or attacking (can jump while attacking)
Can't swim (a familiar of sorts picks you up and puts you at the last platform you were standing on but you also lose a lot of HP)
Most locations (dots on the map) can't be visited and explored - most of them simply represent the end of a path rather than a location you can visit and are where you access the shop and save screens (the dojo/your home is the only exception)
Partial life refill after finishing a path (getting to the other side of it in either direction)
Can look around but need a soul equipped in a quick slot for it - a couple of leaps of faith before you find this ability
Can't attack upwards or downwards by default
Mostly pre-rendered/digitized backgrounds and some foregrounds as well (clashes a bit with the sprites and some foregrounds plus they look a bit dated)
Doesn't show bosses' and stronger enemies' health bars
Some of your attacks hit both in front of and behind you
Collectathon element (5 guardian ghosts/silver spirits for the totem attack to break a barrier), no forward dash until you're about 60% through the game (via an ability item, also lets you jump while dashing for a longer jump - see MMX) - there are default movement speed upgrade spirits though
Frequently respawning enemies (as soon as you leave a room)
Some enemies and level gimmicks are basically ripped from CV and Mario
Enemy drops do disappear but it takes 10+ seconds
Carry capacity limitations on inventory items (decently balanced though at a couple of points you find a chest with 4 noodle items in it and can only carry 1 of them with you)
Generally can't use a special attack in different ways by crouching or pressing up
Enemies aren't frozen by the first freezing ability - need the later upgraded ver.
Some resource management (chests don't respawn and enemies rarely drop money - most enemies don't seem to drop anything, enemies never drop healing items, a few ammo-based special attacks)
Can jump past most enemies
While you can upgrade your main weapon it has the same range and 3 hit combo (gaining the light sword also turns your first special attack into celestial slash which adds a projectile)
Short knockback when hit but also short invincibility time
Some pits however they don't kill you - instead you lose some health and are carried to the platform you were on previously
Minor slowdown
A few NPC encounters but no neutral creatures
Black raven combined with bason turns the latter into ultra cavalry charge - good for weak enemies but bad against most of what you face in the late game since you take damage if the enemy isn't killed (a toggle would've been nice)
The elemental shield spirits only help slightly in the final battle
-
No area maps (too many ability gates to remember besides the mandatory ones, game also doesn't tell you if/how many items are left on a path)
Some control/interface issues (no control config and you double tap down to perform a backwards dash for dodging, can't jump cancel out of an attack animation - can dodge cancel, when tapping down to crouch there's some delay before you get back up again, the game doesn't tell you what you've just picked up, some delay before an opened chest drops its contents and it's spread out a bit - breaks flow, annoying delay after you're knocked down by certain enemies like the boxers, no area names on the hub map screen or title cards shown when entering them, can't tell on the map screen if you've visited a location or not, if touching a diagonal surface with your head in mid-air you get pulled upwards along that surface, some mid-air control is lost if you attack in mid-air, can't attack while dashing (can do it while dash jumping), being able to perform abilities required for progression with a button combo would've been a good alternative to switching to them in the menu, the animations before using movement abilities get annoying after a while, no special item inventory sorting?, somewhat floaty movement after letting go of the d-pad (hard to make small and precise movements on small platforms), the grappling hook controls fine but is a bit too slow - particularly when pulling yourself upwards, )
Backtracking (you have to backtrack through visited paths to go to previous locations on the map - can't just move past them on the map, also if you screw up a box puzzle you have to re-enter the path instead of just moving a couple of screens away, again for the guardian ghosts which are spread out across the world in places where you've already been... (three of these paths are also among the slowest in the game) - new enemies don't appear in previously visited paths)
Some trial & error (weight mechanic - can't carry as many items as you have inventory slots, can't use the block pushing ability in mid-air, can't push a box if there's another box on top of it, can't enter gaps from above that look like you can enter them, some boss patterns, a few cheap enemy placements near pits and in the red temple in the north (stompers), some enemies aren't affected by orona/enemy freeze but the range is actually huge - it hits everyone on screen plus even further away, some boss patterns, it's a good idea to save before entering a new path as you might run into a boss immediately, the lego pilot's falling debris attack)
Kinda basic level design outside of the dungeon-like areas and there are no breakable walls or floors - long corridor-like paths without much vertical movement (some background doors leading to parallel paths though, the dungeon-like areas still tend to have more than one entry point)
Some ability gates are basically locked doors (statues, flame pillars, gas filled rooms)
Can't manually talk to he NPCs you've rescued (by defeating their possessed form, they end up back at the dojo) at will - only at certain points in the game which aren't signalled on the map
Some other tedious aspects (starts with a pretty long dialogue scene where a bunch of characters are introduced and tells its story mainly through dialogue with still portrait artwork and very minor animation (the intro cutscene has a bit more animation to it while the ending is just text over artwork), box puzzles don't stay solved - there could've been a default ability to reset them, if you take the path towards one of the guardian ghosts from the south (the one in the southwest) then you can't reach it due to not having the ability to pass through from that side, no MP restoratives, a couple of parts where you have to redo a longer segment if you fall down, totems don't stay removed, weird how sushi weighs as much as hamburgers when it barely heals you, no point in backtracking to the one way path in the eastern graveyard, some ability gates aren't worth backtracking to, if you start using an ability and it's interrupted then all the MP it cost is still wasted)
Some abilities are redundant (golden thunder impalement replaces the regular bason attack after picking up the thunder sword (which can't be unequipped) - kinda weak but it is useful in the factory area against the turrets, the white paint one and the short ranged punch move you gain early on, the spinning fireballs also kinda suck in that they make it impossible to hit an enemy at the same time as they hit it+their damage is too low+they disappear if you change deck/set, the little doll mascots aren't aggressive enough and do minor damage, jack is kind of weak, shaolin/green punch gets redundant after a couple of levels, gundari (sometimes blocks) blocks too rarely, footballer is a weaker version of ultra cavalry charge, konchi - basically the same as gororo with more range but less damage, ponchi - doesn't block enemies from moving into you so it's only useful in the factory area)
Sometimes annoying screams by Yoh/your avatar when using abilities
Difficulty spike at Eliza (face her right after the giant skeleton boss and she's more agile than you are) and at the enemy carrying the golem spirit - Joco and the late game mech boss on the other hand are kind of easy
Pushed boxes don't hurt enemies if they fall onto them
Celestial slash removes the vertical range of the first special attack (amidamaru) and you can't revert to the previous slash
Repeats some enemies in several areas and palette swaps some of them as well (makes these areas feel less unique)
Pretty cliché story with a one dimensional villain (until the finale but then he's replaced by a completely undeveloped and one dimensional villain)
No attack power boost if you let your MP bar recharge and then wait for about 7-10 seconds before using certain special attacks (an animation plays - seems odd since it pauses gameplay for a bit and makes it look stronger)
Some safe spots (can hit some enemies through walls/floors or from far away - can also do it with the tao the great and impalement abilities)
No double jump or wall jump moves and the slide isn't used to dodge with much
Unskippable staff roll
Kind of scratchy music samples (quite a bit in a couple of tracks)
Bugs:
-Can use orona to go out of bounds in some places (did it by accident in the jungle ruins)
-The big purple guy's ball and chain throw goes through you if you're standing slightly above his level
Notes:
-Some missable spirits in the end-game (search for IMPORTANT NOTE): https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/gba/919443-shaman-king-master-of-spirits/faqs/33736