Ufouria: The Saga NES Review

[@LeoStaley]

The reason game designers made passwords like that was because it was the only way to allow a player to resume a game without including a relatively expensive battery in the cartridge. Passwords were generated algorithmically, much the way the way hash codes or private/public keys work today. Most of the time, the game would keep a record of all pieces of information relevant to a save state, and assign a numerical value for each of those information states, which would be passed through an algorithm to produce a code, which, when entered into the password entry section, would give the game all the information necessary to load up a game. The passwords often had to be frustratingly long, because the possibilities of recorded states was fairly high, and they wanted them to be obsfucated so you couldn't just predict what a password would be. Probably the most efficient one I know of was Castlevania II: simon's quest. it used a 16 byte password, which would contain all of the data about a current run, including the amount of in-game time the player had been playing, all of the items owned, the number of deaths, the amount of hearts currently collected, and several other pieces of information; in just 16 bytes.

[@Vereid]

Also Australian here from south Aus. Ufouria was the first game I can remember beating by myself, at like age 6 lol. I loved it. Great review!

[@Venoix]

I would have been about 8, I think? I didn't remember the name of the game for years - only that a ghost threw his eyeballs, and one of the tracks. Glad you enjoyed. Thanks for watching.

[@MerkhVision]

This game looks fun and has a great unique artstyle! Thanks for bringing some attention to it, I probably would’ve never heard of it otherwise

[@Venoix]

No problem. Glad I could bring something new to your table. :)

[@Antzmacadamia]

very interesting game, ahead of its time, except for the no-save part.

[@Venoix]

I'm sure I didn't beat it in one go as a kid, so would have dealt with that password system. So frustrating. Haha.

[@WorthlessWinner]

Way too many games i missed out on as a kid. We'd only buy games if we found them in second hand stores so if a game didn't pop up there I couldn't get it. It took me so long to find azure dreams!

[@Venoix]

I think that was the advantage of the video store in the 90s. You could browse the shelves and hire a game, and even if the game wasn't good, at least you didn't pay full price for it. Haha. Oh yeah! Azure Dreams was a great game! Going to have to jump back into that one at some point, too!

[@dexterWES]

My fav NES game ♥️ great review

[@Venoix]

Thanks for checking it out!

[@bpsalami9864]

This is My favorite NES game of all time!

[@Venoix]

Yep! It would have to be pretty high up there for me, too.

[@jellyg0d]

This looks super interesting and fun! I wish it was on the Switch eShop or NES online. Is it me or is Bop-Louie such an adorable name? 🥰 I also like how cool yet friendly Shades looks and the derpiness of Gil 😊

[@Venoix]

Actually, this game had some changes between the Japanese version and the PAL one. In Japanese Bop-Louie is called Hebereke, which is basically "drunk". He also looked like a penguin. Also, the flying birds dropped poop on you instead of weights. I like the PAL version though, cause it's what I played when I was a child. Haha. Shades is my favorite character of the bunch, though he's creepy when his eyes fly out of his head. I agree - it would be a great addition to the Switch Online offering.

[@EvaFull]

Not sure if you you noticed but this game is finally available to OWN in the eShop. It’s listed under its Japanese Name.

[@jellyg0d]

@@EvaFull thank you 🙏

[@HaydenTheHistorian]

love this game