Stanley: The Search for Dr. Livingston (NES, 1992)
Graphics-7.5 Sound-6.5 Control-5.5 Challenge-7.5 Story-6.5
Level Design-5.5 Frustration-8.5 Fun-5.5 Originality-6
Overall Score-5.5
+
Start with a hover jump (heli-pack/gyro copter)
Weapon inventory
Platform Adventure/MV-style gameplay (hub map - different in that each tile represents one area, some ability gating (grapnel/hookshot for climbing walls), multiple towns w/ NPCs (some quest givers but not shops), breakable blocks (easy to spot) and some false walls, can generally exit an area to the hub map from where you entered it, AP and DP upgrades, upgradeable default attack (golden fist) - adds a strong projectile attack to punches)
Unusual premise (play as an old man who's a journalist looking for a lost adventurer and to "chronicle his exploits" as well as find a lost temple)
Blurs the line between town and hostile area (some enemies in town houses and on the outskirts of town)
Decent hints from NPCs and you can find written hints in some item containers while exploring
Pretty good dialogue
Pretty good enemy variety
Can fast travel through areas you've passed on the hub map (only passing through is required - can avoid all enemies, however if you place the cursor on an unexplored map tile then you automatically go there which is a bit annoying)
No touch damage from most enemies (not the case with tigers and some late-game ones)
6 different ammo-based weapons including the gem stones (11 in total if you count the anti-demon shield which is used more like a weapon)
Decent mid-air control
Some sequence breaking opportunities (one minor one via what appears to be a hit detection bug (can jump backwards through the green guards at the first wall gate - this one's kinda pointless though since you have to go back and kill them with gemstones later), can skip getting a couple of temple keys if you go back to the third town since the NPC there will hand out more seals)
The club can reflect enemy shots back at them (generally they don't do enough damage for it to be useful though, does no damage to the red warriors near the end where it would've been useful)
One good puzzle (moai heads temple entrance screen) and one decent one (don't break blocks at one point or you won't be able to climb a wall)
Some nice visual touches (birds in town, some sprite animations like the alligators, the restored fountain)
Some points of interest are marked on the hub map as you find them
Some good enemy AI
Decent ending cutscene (doesn't really show why Livingston wants to stay or what happened to the player afterwards though)
+/-
Partially non-linear structure (can explore sub regions on the map freely (going south from the starting town is quite tough but there's no point in visiting the beach tiles anyway), linear progression between the 8 sub regions on the map?)
Unlimited continues? (3 lives per credit though you can hold up to 5 by finding placed ones over the course of the game - can find 11 in total), Frequent checkpoints (at the end of the previously passed through area/level) besides in the final temple where there are none
Password save (fairly short, updates when reaching a new area)
Some placed health items (enemies also tend to drop health) - the placed extra lives also fully heal you
Can farm houses for consumables (ranged weapon ammo)
No healing in the first town
Can jump onto and up background ladders but not off of them (can jump off of ropes/vines)
Non-silent protagonist
Die from falling over half of the screen's height or more - can use the default hover jump to avoid this
Off-screen enemy respawning
Can't move while attacking (can jump)
The grapnel doesn't reach very far nor can you use it to climb a platform from below so its use is pretty situational
Only the grapnel adds a movement ability - the other quest items are used like keys except for the gem stones which are actually a strong projectile weapon
Some fetch quests
Outdoor areas are generally very short
Attacking with the machete right before landing makes you quickly attack one more time
Mostly very small towns
Various platforms that can't be reached
1800s African setting (Congo)
-
Various control/interface issues (can't climb down a ladder through a block platform - used two times for challenge reasons but they could've made an exception only for those ladders, can't see how much weapon ammo you have left without pausing, can't see how many lives you have left or your stats without pausing and going into a sub menu, some delay after punching during which there's a "fight stance" animation - shouldn't have interrupted your ability to attack quickly as it coupled with short stun times on enemies sometimes leads to just trading blows with them in melee (other times you can just keep hitting an enemy without it retaliating though; this delay is not there when using the machete so it makes the beginning harder than after finding it), can't use a thrown weapon while crouching - you'll punch instead, can't jump down through platforms you can jump up through - annoying in town, lose forward momentum from attacking in mid-air+however for a little bit before falling normally, can't attack in mid-air until you've started falling, some delay if you hit a ceiling with your head before attacking making it harder to hit a breakable block right under a ceiling, odd throwing arch for knife and spear weapons (not quite diagonal and not quite straight) which can't be adjusted+you can't use them in melee instead - can't throw up or down, when jumping down to a screen below the one you're on you spawn some ways into the screen instead of at the top edge of it, can't attack while climbing, so-so jump height control, sometimes inconsistent hit detection when punching breakable blocks, can't check a hint item again after finding it, can't view the hub map while exploring an area, unforgiving hit detection on the tigers, can't check your carried quest items such as the gourd in any menu, game is overly picky about your positioning when using the grapnel, unforgiving hit boxes on the giant butterflies+the flying lightning bugs and monkeys when hit with the machete (makes the area with the club really frustrating) - machete is literally passing straight through them without hitting, can't attack upwards or downwards with any weapon - would be useful at several points, sloppy hit detection when jumping into two tiles/blocks high spaces and on the lizard head platforms, can't hit the lower part of a giant spider with the blowgun+its firing angle is a bit odd, enemy drops can get stuck in walls though it's rare)
Trial & error (if you exit a temple after using a key to enter it then you get locked out of it since the door opening isn't persistent and the key is wasted when used, pits sometimes lead to a room below and sometimes kill you - can happen even if the pit above a room didn't kill you and there's a roping leading down a pit, the heli-pack lets you jump a bit further above pits but not otherwise, sometimes weird room connections (if you jump upwards in the screen below the first one in the first area north of town then you end up on the ground in the above screen and can't jump back down again), "you've found the bridge map" - ok and how do I view it? apparently it updates the hub map (the manual also doesn't explain this one), can't see on the hub map if an area will just lead to a wall or if it's accessible or not, sometimes hard to tell where there's a wall blocking you from exiting a screen, items aren't explained when picked up - some are explained in the manual but it doesn't explain most quest items, skull and crossbones item damages you, too hard to spot the floor traps in the beach areas, can't see if you've passed through a beach tile on the hub map, can fall through the floor into a giant spider in the northernmost area of the third sub region, can suddenly fly upwards in parts of the spirit magic area - should've been conveyed with upwards air streams or a separate upgrade to the heli-pack, the shield can't be used against enemy shots, going right in the moai head temple is a death trap as you can't exit that way, getting past the giant centipede trap in one temple - have to jump past the holes in an odd way, the punch itself is still as weak as before after getting the golden fist - only the projectile does higher damage, unintuitive how you're supposed to touch the middle platform at the bottom of the electric trap path in the final temple to beat the game - makes it seem like you're supposed to go right an climb the temple but this leads to a dead end)
No area maps (generally not a problem but there are two mazes)
Some difficulty spikes (the first enemy encountered can kill you in one hit (giant spider), tiger area near the beginning, under the lake if you didn't save any gemstones (can run past the green enemies though) and when facing the red warriors near the end, parts of the final temple though it dips at the very last part with the electric traps as you don't actually take any damage from them)
Small ammo capacity - very spongy enemies early on unless you use weapons (can find a punch upgrade pretty early on though which cuts the number of hits on orange snakes from about 16 to 4 hits and if you keep finding the upgrades you should be OK). First non-ammo based weapon is found in the second sub region of the map (south)
The game is inconsistent about entry points to areas when dying and puts you at the end of the previous area instead of the beginning of it. Sometimes when revisiting an area you also start at the "exit" side of it and have to replay a nearby area to reset it - not sure exactly how it works
Some tedious aspects (the giant butterflies, the southwestern sub region is mostly empty, have to go into the inventory and select keys then use them like weapons to use them on temple guards, can't exit the second town to the right or the fourth one to the left, tedious jump in tight space near an extra life in the third sub region, some empty temples and other minor dead ends with nothing in them, have to crouch to pick up items - breaks flow a bit as enemy drops also go upwards a bit before landing on the ground)
Some hints are too vague (secret passage in the wall - apparently a random wall underground to the east of the first wall gate where you can pass below the wall, lightning stones - "in the north" though it doesn't take that long to search its sub region)
Overly small temples (just a couple of rooms)
Some areas/levels on the map are identical (various rooms in the jungle, all of the wall tiles in the first sub region, some beach tiles and road tiles)
Mostly lacking in puzzles (the switches could've been expanded upon, breakable blocks could've evolved past the one puzzle where you're supposed to not break one to be able to use the grapple on a wall, butterflies could've been used to carry you to a higher platform, reflecting shots could've been used somewhere, one consumable weapon could've shot upwards, upwards flight could've been a fuel or charge meter-based upgrade, etc.)
Weak bow & arrows weapon considering how late you get it and most projectile weapons are too similar
Finding an item or the path forward within an area is never really challenging besides in the moai head temple and the final temple
Repetitive music in most jungle areas and there's no boss music. There's also no ending music (it just keeps playing the theme for the final temple)
The iron breast plate has the same sprite as the skull keys to the final temple
Few bosses and they're not that good (first one (green guards) is too easy, second one (cave tiger) is pretty easy too and repeated once, cranis does a lot of damage and gets very aggressive however if you time your hits right and have upgraded your AP it goes down pretty quickly) unless you count the respawning red warrior guards as a boss
Some slowdown
Bugs:
-The game crashes when entering the second town from the tile to the right of it in Nestopia (doesn't seem to happen on real hardware). Can happen again when moving between the lake areas
-Some area music stops looping after a couple of loops
Level Design-5.5 Frustration-8.5 Fun-5.5 Originality-6
Overall Score-5.5
+
Start with a hover jump (heli-pack/gyro copter)
Weapon inventory
Platform Adventure/MV-style gameplay (hub map - different in that each tile represents one area, some ability gating (grapnel/hookshot for climbing walls), multiple towns w/ NPCs (some quest givers but not shops), breakable blocks (easy to spot) and some false walls, can generally exit an area to the hub map from where you entered it, AP and DP upgrades, upgradeable default attack (golden fist) - adds a strong projectile attack to punches)
Unusual premise (play as an old man who's a journalist looking for a lost adventurer and to "chronicle his exploits" as well as find a lost temple)
Blurs the line between town and hostile area (some enemies in town houses and on the outskirts of town)
Decent hints from NPCs and you can find written hints in some item containers while exploring
Pretty good dialogue
Pretty good enemy variety
Can fast travel through areas you've passed on the hub map (only passing through is required - can avoid all enemies, however if you place the cursor on an unexplored map tile then you automatically go there which is a bit annoying)
No touch damage from most enemies (not the case with tigers and some late-game ones)
6 different ammo-based weapons including the gem stones (11 in total if you count the anti-demon shield which is used more like a weapon)
Decent mid-air control
Some sequence breaking opportunities (one minor one via what appears to be a hit detection bug (can jump backwards through the green guards at the first wall gate - this one's kinda pointless though since you have to go back and kill them with gemstones later), can skip getting a couple of temple keys if you go back to the third town since the NPC there will hand out more seals)
The club can reflect enemy shots back at them (generally they don't do enough damage for it to be useful though, does no damage to the red warriors near the end where it would've been useful)
One good puzzle (moai heads temple entrance screen) and one decent one (don't break blocks at one point or you won't be able to climb a wall)
Some nice visual touches (birds in town, some sprite animations like the alligators, the restored fountain)
Some points of interest are marked on the hub map as you find them
Some good enemy AI
Decent ending cutscene (doesn't really show why Livingston wants to stay or what happened to the player afterwards though)
+/-
Partially non-linear structure (can explore sub regions on the map freely (going south from the starting town is quite tough but there's no point in visiting the beach tiles anyway), linear progression between the 8 sub regions on the map?)
Unlimited continues? (3 lives per credit though you can hold up to 5 by finding placed ones over the course of the game - can find 11 in total), Frequent checkpoints (at the end of the previously passed through area/level) besides in the final temple where there are none
Password save (fairly short, updates when reaching a new area)
Some placed health items (enemies also tend to drop health) - the placed extra lives also fully heal you
Can farm houses for consumables (ranged weapon ammo)
No healing in the first town
Can jump onto and up background ladders but not off of them (can jump off of ropes/vines)
Non-silent protagonist
Die from falling over half of the screen's height or more - can use the default hover jump to avoid this
Off-screen enemy respawning
Can't move while attacking (can jump)
The grapnel doesn't reach very far nor can you use it to climb a platform from below so its use is pretty situational
Only the grapnel adds a movement ability - the other quest items are used like keys except for the gem stones which are actually a strong projectile weapon
Some fetch quests
Outdoor areas are generally very short
Attacking with the machete right before landing makes you quickly attack one more time
Mostly very small towns
Various platforms that can't be reached
1800s African setting (Congo)
-
Various control/interface issues (can't climb down a ladder through a block platform - used two times for challenge reasons but they could've made an exception only for those ladders, can't see how much weapon ammo you have left without pausing, can't see how many lives you have left or your stats without pausing and going into a sub menu, some delay after punching during which there's a "fight stance" animation - shouldn't have interrupted your ability to attack quickly as it coupled with short stun times on enemies sometimes leads to just trading blows with them in melee (other times you can just keep hitting an enemy without it retaliating though; this delay is not there when using the machete so it makes the beginning harder than after finding it), can't use a thrown weapon while crouching - you'll punch instead, can't jump down through platforms you can jump up through - annoying in town, lose forward momentum from attacking in mid-air+however for a little bit before falling normally, can't attack in mid-air until you've started falling, some delay if you hit a ceiling with your head before attacking making it harder to hit a breakable block right under a ceiling, odd throwing arch for knife and spear weapons (not quite diagonal and not quite straight) which can't be adjusted+you can't use them in melee instead - can't throw up or down, when jumping down to a screen below the one you're on you spawn some ways into the screen instead of at the top edge of it, can't attack while climbing, so-so jump height control, sometimes inconsistent hit detection when punching breakable blocks, can't check a hint item again after finding it, can't view the hub map while exploring an area, unforgiving hit detection on the tigers, can't check your carried quest items such as the gourd in any menu, game is overly picky about your positioning when using the grapnel, unforgiving hit boxes on the giant butterflies+the flying lightning bugs and monkeys when hit with the machete (makes the area with the club really frustrating) - machete is literally passing straight through them without hitting, can't attack upwards or downwards with any weapon - would be useful at several points, sloppy hit detection when jumping into two tiles/blocks high spaces and on the lizard head platforms, can't hit the lower part of a giant spider with the blowgun+its firing angle is a bit odd, enemy drops can get stuck in walls though it's rare)
Trial & error (if you exit a temple after using a key to enter it then you get locked out of it since the door opening isn't persistent and the key is wasted when used, pits sometimes lead to a room below and sometimes kill you - can happen even if the pit above a room didn't kill you and there's a roping leading down a pit, the heli-pack lets you jump a bit further above pits but not otherwise, sometimes weird room connections (if you jump upwards in the screen below the first one in the first area north of town then you end up on the ground in the above screen and can't jump back down again), "you've found the bridge map" - ok and how do I view it? apparently it updates the hub map (the manual also doesn't explain this one), can't see on the hub map if an area will just lead to a wall or if it's accessible or not, sometimes hard to tell where there's a wall blocking you from exiting a screen, items aren't explained when picked up - some are explained in the manual but it doesn't explain most quest items, skull and crossbones item damages you, too hard to spot the floor traps in the beach areas, can't see if you've passed through a beach tile on the hub map, can fall through the floor into a giant spider in the northernmost area of the third sub region, can suddenly fly upwards in parts of the spirit magic area - should've been conveyed with upwards air streams or a separate upgrade to the heli-pack, the shield can't be used against enemy shots, going right in the moai head temple is a death trap as you can't exit that way, getting past the giant centipede trap in one temple - have to jump past the holes in an odd way, the punch itself is still as weak as before after getting the golden fist - only the projectile does higher damage, unintuitive how you're supposed to touch the middle platform at the bottom of the electric trap path in the final temple to beat the game - makes it seem like you're supposed to go right an climb the temple but this leads to a dead end)
No area maps (generally not a problem but there are two mazes)
Some difficulty spikes (the first enemy encountered can kill you in one hit (giant spider), tiger area near the beginning, under the lake if you didn't save any gemstones (can run past the green enemies though) and when facing the red warriors near the end, parts of the final temple though it dips at the very last part with the electric traps as you don't actually take any damage from them)
Small ammo capacity - very spongy enemies early on unless you use weapons (can find a punch upgrade pretty early on though which cuts the number of hits on orange snakes from about 16 to 4 hits and if you keep finding the upgrades you should be OK). First non-ammo based weapon is found in the second sub region of the map (south)
The game is inconsistent about entry points to areas when dying and puts you at the end of the previous area instead of the beginning of it. Sometimes when revisiting an area you also start at the "exit" side of it and have to replay a nearby area to reset it - not sure exactly how it works
Some tedious aspects (the giant butterflies, the southwestern sub region is mostly empty, have to go into the inventory and select keys then use them like weapons to use them on temple guards, can't exit the second town to the right or the fourth one to the left, tedious jump in tight space near an extra life in the third sub region, some empty temples and other minor dead ends with nothing in them, have to crouch to pick up items - breaks flow a bit as enemy drops also go upwards a bit before landing on the ground)
Some hints are too vague (secret passage in the wall - apparently a random wall underground to the east of the first wall gate where you can pass below the wall, lightning stones - "in the north" though it doesn't take that long to search its sub region)
Overly small temples (just a couple of rooms)
Some areas/levels on the map are identical (various rooms in the jungle, all of the wall tiles in the first sub region, some beach tiles and road tiles)
Mostly lacking in puzzles (the switches could've been expanded upon, breakable blocks could've evolved past the one puzzle where you're supposed to not break one to be able to use the grapple on a wall, butterflies could've been used to carry you to a higher platform, reflecting shots could've been used somewhere, one consumable weapon could've shot upwards, upwards flight could've been a fuel or charge meter-based upgrade, etc.)
Weak bow & arrows weapon considering how late you get it and most projectile weapons are too similar
Finding an item or the path forward within an area is never really challenging besides in the moai head temple and the final temple
Repetitive music in most jungle areas and there's no boss music. There's also no ending music (it just keeps playing the theme for the final temple)
The iron breast plate has the same sprite as the skull keys to the final temple
Few bosses and they're not that good (first one (green guards) is too easy, second one (cave tiger) is pretty easy too and repeated once, cranis does a lot of damage and gets very aggressive however if you time your hits right and have upgraded your AP it goes down pretty quickly) unless you count the respawning red warrior guards as a boss
Some slowdown
Bugs:
-The game crashes when entering the second town from the tile to the right of it in Nestopia (doesn't seem to happen on real hardware). Can happen again when moving between the lake areas
-Some area music stops looping after a couple of loops