occupation Q:
I've a pocket full of nails;
carpenter, I'm...not?
Additional Comments:
Along with Super Mario Land, Super Mario Land 2, and Tetris, Nail 'N Scale is one of my all time favorite Game Boy games. Part of my original collection as a kid, I remember long car trips giving these four games intensive play time - far, far more than the other few games I had, although I recall putting my fair share of time into NBA All-Star Challenge as well. I always enjoyed early era Basketball games. But that's another story, though if I ever get around to commenting on David Robinson's Supreme Court, I may just get a chance to tell it. Ah, memories.
Unlike either of the SML titles, I never made the headway in Nail 'N Scale that I did in the other two as a kid, at least nothing to boast about. Although, gaining access to Wario's castle but failing to finish it was never anything to boast about, so touché. Nevertheless, I never let the daunting task of facing Nail 'N Scale's harsh realism of one life to live do me in. Never give up! Never surrender! (Wait. Why do I know that quote from a lame, lame Tim "the Toolman" Allen movie? Ugh.) Still, the man does speak the truth. Except, eventually after having to repeat the first few levels for the nth time as you continue to try and figure out the best route in one of the later levels only to die from a combination of frustration, exhaustion, and stupidity, such sentiment is meaningless. I'll damn well give up if I choose. Hold the boat. There's a stage select ability? Why am I only just now realizing this some twenty-something years later? And of all places, I find out about it in the manual, something I know I looked at time and again years' past as I was one of those humdrum types that always found delight in leafing through the manuals. Chalk that one up to gross oversight. Sheesh.
Two larger than life railroad spikes and an affinity for high jumps (or frustratingly close but no cigar jumps in 1P Hard) is all our hero needs to scale these impossible towers. In many ways, Nail 'N Scale reminds me of Milon's Secret Castle - a good deal of navigating simplified, yet difficult block puzzles littered with one hit beasties that resurrect after a few short seconds. I've never liked the concept of enemies that can resurrect on screen like that. It's always felt like a lazy approach to difficulty, especially when you're trying to line up a jump or javelin throw only to die from an enemy suddenly coming back to life. It's annoying. I wouldn't say it's unfair, as it's never exactly unfair, but there is definitely aggravation under certain situations lest you keep moving.
Also like Milon's Secret Castle, Nail 'N Scale has a large focus on destroying blocks in order to advance, although often is the case in this game, you don't want to destroy the blocks. This calls for either clever hoarding and usage of white spikes or incredible fleet of foot. In 1P Easy, this isn't so much the case as you can afford to take your time and strategize. 1P Hard doesn't allow for such luxuries with a 3 minute timer and, especially in the late game stages, the timer really hammers on the pressure to make quality jumps on your initial attempts. Stages that specifically call for climbing inverted slopes or staircases are pure misery. That 3 minute timer isn't helping anybody as you really need to be on your A game with button presses to make those impossible jumps in quick succession. Oh, and as I mentioned before, your jump height has been nerfed in 1P Hard, so yea.
Point was, destroying blocks, and there's a lot of puzzles built specifically around this gimmick. Some involve creating staircases out of solid walls. One particular late stage has a number of hard blocks interspersed throughout the wall which makes overall wall destruction a true test. I still have no idea what the proper solution is and relied on hoarding exploding spikes from previous stages. Other stages consist of puzzles where you carefully have to navigate mimic-like blocks and figure out the proper pattern of block to destroy in order to advance. I found these stages to be the most devious, yet the most enjoyable.
Overall, the game is a typical action/puzzle game with a very bouncy, and if it wasn't limited to Game Boy's gray-scale color scheme, I'd imagine beautifully vibrant feel. It's also a lost gem, in my opinion at least. I rarely, if ever, see the game brought up in Game Boy game discussions and it's a shame. For me, it's up there with the best of the best as far as Game Boy titles are concerned and a definite recommended play for anyone who's into action/puzzle games. If anything, it damn near exemplifies the block puzzle/platforming genre. But it's not without its faults. It is, however, accompanied by an expected bouncy soundtrack. with tunes like Stages 1-9 or Stages 21-29. Looking back on my youth, I must have had that first tune ingrained in my head given how many time's I'd have to restart the game from the very beginning. And that is the game's true flaw, except for that damnable stage select that managed to escape me all these years.
Nano-Rant:
There is, however, one other flaw that really got on my nerves - something I never experienced as a kid because, well, I just never made it far enough into the game to know. The latter bosses have some really questionable hitboxes. A couple of them, namely the final boss, Lore, left me confused during my initial playthrough on 1P Easy. Apparently, I was taking the wrong approach to the boss despite it working...technically. Though painfully slow, my plan of action was entirely based on hitting a collision box from the wrong angle that apparently appeared on certain frames as nothing more than a pixel or two in width. It wasn't until 1P Hard, several battles in, when I finally realized how you're actually supposed to defeat him - that my directional focus was entirely incorrect. I only learned the proper way because the 3 minute timer forced me to try alternate methods.
But the bosses alone don't suffer from questionable hitboxes. There are a couple enemies here and there that also felt cheap or slightly off when it came to perceivable hit compared to actual hitbox. This mostly involved movement and may have been more a limitation of the Game Boy itself in regards to rotational figures where the hitbox appeared to be slightly ahead of the sprite by a few frames. Regardless, I never found it aggravating, just unfortunate on a few occasions. The hitboxes on a couple select bosses though...that's a different story.
Nano-Win:
Finally getting past the beginning section of Stage 39 after which seemed countless attempts. That's win enough.
Relying on a strategy that is used literally nowhere else in the game. Ugh.
Rating: 4 Mojo Jumps out of 5
