NTBUMMYAB*, I was one of those goons who spent the late ‘90s ogling issues of Gamefan like they were hardcore pornography. Dave Halverson’s unhinged hyperbole describing the latest 2D treasure (typically made by Treasure) to hit the Japanese Sega Saturn was intoxicating, and the sprite art for these games was downright titillating. These were games that I would never get to play, unattainable ideals perpetually out of reach, a full continent, ocean, and language away from me.
What? Yes, I had a girlfriend at the time. She was real.
Anyway, I eventually did get to play many of the games I lusted after, though one of them I’ve never been able to fully enjoy. Vanillaware’s Princess Crown was and still is a sight to behold, its giant, graceful sprites one of gaming’s finest hand drawn achievements. Even though I’ve played it a number of times, I still have no clue what the story is about since it’s never received an English translation (and never will, since the code’s been lost.) Fortunately, Vanillaware has re-emerged in the past two years and their most recent games, Princess Crown’s pseudo-sequel Odin Sphere and SRPG GrimGrimoire, are just as beautiful as their forebear and fully available in the one language I’ve managed to partially learn. Their next sidescrolling tour-de-force, Oboro Muramasa for Wii, well, it doesn’t even look real. Look at these screens? This is like some kind of ridiculous fever dream about what 2D games might look like in the awesome-future.
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