Past-Gen Review: Trip World

Trip World
Game Boy/3DS Virtual Console
Developed & Published by: Sunsoft

Trippin’?

Trip World for Game Boy is actually a really rare find. As of today, an unboxed cartridge is going for $129 on eBay. It must be a good game to be worth that much, right? Well, with it’s release on the Nintendo eShop you can find out for yourself for a mere £2.70.

Is Trip World a good game? Yes? Great? Maybe. Short? DEFINITELY. The game can be beaten in a thirty minute sitting, but what it lacks in length it makes up for in pure charm and beautiful graphics.

You play as a cute rabbit-like creature called Yakopoo and you are tasked with retrieving the Maita flower to bring peace to the land of Trip World. The premise is simple, but it does it’s job in establishing a simple plot to drive the game forward. Your character is capable of shapeshifting into different forms. There is the standard form which allows you to run, jump and attack enemies with a simple kicking attack, a marine form which allows you to traverse water levels, and a flying form to get you over large gaps and up into hard to reach alcoves. There are also a number of power ups which give you different attacks (such as spitting seeds, turning into a bouncing ball). The controls are simple but sometimes I was left unsure as to whether I’d ever actually hit and enemy or not because there is very little sense of you causing damage upon attacking. The flying form can also be very hard to control.

There are only 5 worlds in the game, each ending with a boss battle. Some levels have alternate routes, but they’re probably not drastic enough to make you want to play through the game again. The game is also pretty easy in that a lot of the creatures that you encounter won’t even try and attack you (unless provoked). I’d say that only about 50% of the enemies in this game are hostile. The hardest part of the game is the boss battles, in that you might need to few attempts to get used to their movement and attack patterns, but harder still is the World 5 boss encounter which takes the form of a boss rush. In this battle you are set against a series of monsters in succession and dying once means who’ll have to start again.

The game’s presentation is definitely it’s strong point. Some might say that the art-style mirrors Kirby’s Dream Land but in my opinion, Trip World is a lot more detailed. Backgrounds, foregrounds, and character sprites are all intricately detailed and character animations are very smooth; I’m especially fond of the cloud and grass effects. The music is also excellent: I’ll post some links at the end of this review in case anyone is interested.

Trip World’s uniqueness is what makes it appealing. Although it is short and there is little replay value, Trip World is still a fun game to play and looks (and sounds) fantastic for an early Game Boy title. If you’ve got a spare £2.70 and you’re a fan of 2D platformers then there’ no reason not to pick up Trip World.

I give Trip World a 3 star rating.

☆☆☆

Complete Trip World OST via Youtube (uploaded by explod2A03)