This Week in Defunct Games - August 24, 2010

What Is It? Never mind the weird spelling, U-four-ia: The Saga is one of the best games of the year. I don't mean that it's at the top of my Virtual Console list, but it easily holds its own against most of the modern games being released today. This is one of those rare occasions when Japanese and European gamers had a chance to play the game, but the millions of American NES owners were left out. Perhaps it had to do with the release, since it didn't hit the English-speaking part of the world until 1991; a full year after the 16-bit Super NES was launched. No matter what the reason is, it's a shame so many gamers missed out on this 8-bit masterpiece.

U-four-ia: The Saga is a weird combination of Super Mario Bros. and Metroid. We play a confused boy named Bop-Louie, who wakes up in a mysterious world. Like Metroid, players explore an open world collecting items that will help open brand new areas. Unlike Metroid, you spend much of the game winning over your three friends. All four characters have individual abilities (one can swim, another can float, etc.), something that comes into play in both combat and exploration.

Although the world may not be large and you can technically beat the game in only an hour or two, there's really a lot for you to see and do. And while there's no question that this apes heavily on the Metroid series, U-four-ia is different enough to keep gamers satisfied. In some ways, this is a much better game. If you've always wanted a cute and cuddly Metroid knock-off, then you're in for a real treat with U-four-ia: The Saga!

Does It Still Hold Up? Obviously the graphics are 8-bit and the audio won't blow you over, but U-four-ia manages to hold up remarkably well. The gameplay feels like it came straight out of a Super Mario Bros. game, while the world map is the kind of thing you see in most common open-world games (2D and 3D). The only thing that makes this feel ancient is the continue system, which shoots you back to the beginning of the game every time you die.

Is It Worth The Money? Nintendo always stressed quality over quantity, and that's definitely what you get with U-four-ia: The Saga. Getting a previously-unreleased gem like this makes weeks of nothing almost worth it. If Nintendo can keep supplying the Virtual Console with quality titles like this, then they may actually find people pay attention to their dwindling download service. Unfortunately I know that this is just a fluke and the next time we meet we'll be talking about Aero the Acro-Bat 2 or something equally dumb.