The game's plot is actually very simple.
In short, it's yet another conspiracy by the classic villains Team Rocket, kidnapping a whole bunch of Pokémon.
To rescue these Pokémon, Clefairy embarks on a journey to save them, heading to the Myst where Team Rocket's base is said to be located.
However, this place is far more dangerous than imagined.
Clefairy had barely arrived when she encountered a series of crises.
Just when the situation was extremely dangerous, Clefairy saw a rainbow on the horizon and the faint silhouette of a large bird in the sky.
Unfortunately, after the crisis, Clefairy was already exhausted and, swaying precariously, fainted.
When Pipi woke up again, Clefairy was surprised to find that her HP had been completely restored, and she was also unexpectedly given the magical power to tilt the world.
Thus, a brand new Adventure story belonging to Clefairy officially begins.
"What Pokémon is that? Moltres? Or Fearow?"
Ethan was still processing what had just happened; following Gamenova's usual pattern, there was definitely something hidden.
He simply couldn't recognize what it was. At least he was certain it was some kind of flying-type bird Pokémon.
The only birds whose appearances roughly match are Articuno and Moltres.
The screen is actually quite small, and the resolution isn't ideal, so it's really not easy to tell what it is.
Regardless, the game has officially begun at this point.
Like most platforming games, Clefairy stands on the far left of the screen.
This is a tradition that has continued since Nintendo's Super Mario series, a soft guidance hidden beneath intuition.
Simply placing the character on the left side will intuitively make most people want to try moving to the right.
The level design is nothing special, just average.
After all, it's really difficult to come up with anything new with traditional 8-bit platform jumping.
The only thing that surprised Ethan was the roll of turf in front of him.
There was a pit in front of the turf.
If he ran straight there, he would undoubtedly fall. Although it might not seem like it would affect his ability to continue, Ethan's intuition told Ethan that it was definitely not the right route.
The reason is simple: a row of bright gold coins is displayed directly in front of them, with an egg at the end.
This clearly means that you have to find a way to walk straight through.
Just like in Super Mario and Sonic, coins once again serve as route guides.
Recalling the miraculous scene when he was asked to calibrate the direction, Ethan instantly understood what had happened.
He tilted the game console slightly to the right.
Sure enough, the counterweight, along with the roll of turf in the game, began to roll and spread out to the right in sync.
When the counterweight slid to its end, giving Ethan a noticeable impact, the turf had been fully laid out, forming a new path over the original pothole.
"That's amazing..."
This was the first time Ethan had ever seen a game like this.
To be honest, it's not complicated at all; in fact, it's ridiculously simple compared to Gamenova's previous works.
It's just an ordinary platformer, not a unique or unusual game like Sonic the Hedgehog. But with just this one gravity module, it creates a wonderful chemical reaction.
You are no longer limited to interacting with the game world by simply pressing these plastic buttons.
Instead, it's about truly integrating reality into the game.
Tilting and rotating will faithfully reflect your real-world actions in the game.
When Clefairy tilts the world, it's as if the world has tilted, and she's in a state of climbing uphill.
This feature is quite interesting.
It truly has the potential to change the state of the entire world.
It's not as simple as just the triggering scene elements mentioned earlier.
After passing the previous small obstacle, a wall suddenly appeared in front of us.
That's right, it's not a slope, but a solid wall.
A rock face that rises completely vertically.
Under normal circumstances, only Sonic with sufficient acceleration could use inertia to scale such a 90-degree wall. However, Clefairy has her own solution.
Ethan tried tilting the host again.
Sure enough, the wall, due to its tilt, transformed into a steep slope that could be walked on.
As he turned at a certain angle, the slope became gentler.
It didn't take much effort at all; Clefairy easily walked up.
After a simple downhill straight stretch, the first obstacle was easily overcome.
It was simple, yet it had already given Ethan a grasp of the game's tone, and at the same time, it created an irresistible urge to keep playing.
Let alone real-time gravity sensing, even a simple vibration is a rare find in this era.
This time, Gamenova went all out with something big.
This refreshing new interactive paradigm is so appealing that it's hard not to keep playing.
The levels in " Clefairy's Universal Gravitation " aren't long; compared to Super Mario, they're ridiculously short. But they're packed with content.
Thanks to the improved capacity brought by the new NAND flash memory, although it can't reach the terrifying level of hundreds of megabytes on optical discs, it can be said to be completely free in terms of capacity for 8-bit games.
The second level is even shorter than the first level. Rather than a new level, it's more like a continuation of the tutorial level from the first one.
In this level, the scene changes from the grassland to a snowy landscape, with even the ground covered in ice.
Stepping on this, Clefairy was like Mario, slipping and sliding like crazy as if her feet were greased.
Clearly, this is the new mechanism that this level plans to introduce.
I remember that's how Gamenova was designed back in Cut the Rope.
The game packages a large number of complex game mechanics into small levels, gradually introducing them to players in a step-by-step manner.
The biggest advantage of this design is that it provides a very smooth gaming experience.
The perfect difficulty curve is enough to easily put you into a state of flow. Under the extreme comfort of the brain, you are constantly driven to actively explore the next level and keep looking forward to what will appear next.
In this level, the only obstacle Clefairy needs to overcome is the U-shaped ramp in front of him, which is entirely made of ice.
No guidance was needed; having learned from the first challenge, Ethan navigated it with ease. He simply had Clefairy walk up the ramp and start sliding.
Then, whenever Clefairy slid to one side, he tilted the plane accordingly.
Once he reaches his limit and runs out of kinetic energy, he will tilt to the other side, causing Clefairy to accelerate again.
After just two rounds, Clefairy's speed was fast enough to break off the slope.
"Ring ring--"
Clefairy dashed out in one breath, grabbing the entire line of gold coins above the ramp, and then landed precisely at the checkpoint.
The next level is a giant iron ball that can be controlled by gravity to roll left and right; then there's a human cannon that needs to be rotated to adjust its direction; tilting a boat on water to drive it; and shaking a hot air balloon...
Almost every level introduces new and interesting mechanics.
Even if not, they will design a mini-challenge that is an enhancement of the original level.
Gamenova's accumulated level design capabilities are fully demonstrated in this mini-game.
As the saying goes, the simplest things are often the ones that reveal true skill.
Admittedly, it doesn't have the spectacular scenes or revolutionary new technologies of Gamenova's past works. But it's definitely a well-made game worth playing.
Even in another ten or twenty years, the collectible value of this cassette will be higher than imagined.
"Damn it..."
Ethan silently pushed forward, one step at a time.
Simple, pure... and joyful.
This is what it truly means to make games with heart.
Although Ethan had never seen what kind of magic Gamenova had used to turn a bunch of incomprehensible characters into these exquisite games.
But the artwork itself is already a projection of a designer's soul.
While playing this game, Ethan would sometimes have the illusion of being connected with Gamenova on a deeper level.
It's as if it was designed from the perspective of a player, Ethan himself, from the very beginning.
"Fuck it! Gamenova is the fucking ruler of this world!"
... At Gamenova headquarters, Lin Lixin casually pulled out a letter from a pile of fan mail, all of which were unreserved praises for the new work.
This unique connection has once again earned Gamenova the respect of its players.
Respect is mutual. Whether it's a gift that the manufacturer has carefully prepared for the fans or a mass-produced industrial product, players can tell at a glance.
No matter what, we must never become complacent about focusing on games just because we have an IP that can sustain us for a lifetime.
Lin Lixin smiled and carefully put the envelope away.
Later, I'll need Sam to sign some postcards or something and send them to me.
He arrived at Kojima's workstation. Besides " Clefairy's Universal Gravitation," " Our Boktai: The Sun Is in Your Hand," which he had entrusted with full responsibility to Hideo Kojima, would also be completed soon.
Compared to cartridges like " Clefairy's Universal Gravitation," which have a slightly more complex structure, his only requirement is a solar sensor, making the hardware aspect much simpler.
You'd better pick a good date to release this work.
Lin Lixin glanced out the window.
California's summer is characterized by cloudless skies and scorching sun.
In this land, the protagonist of " Our Boktai: The Sun Is in Your Hand " could probably just unleash a rampage and slaughter everyone. But in other places, it's a different story.
Just like in the Great Lakes Region, the East Coast, or even in Japan and Britain, it's common for it to rain for a whole week straight.
"Pick a sunny day, otherwise it would be quite awkward if players couldn't even get started."
"Yes, but I asked Mr. Gerald to add an RTC real-time clock to the cartridge, so the game time is synchronized with real time, and the game will automatically switch to stealth mode at night."
"Steelwalker said, 'I think you're just craving Metal Gear, aren't you?'"
"Hey-hey..."
Even Kojima felt a little embarrassed when Lin Lixin brought this up.
He did indeed occasionally petition the Supreme God to initiate the development of a new generation of Metal Gear.
But Lin Lixin would always tell him that once 3D technology matured, they would develop it, and he might even be put in charge.
The pie looked huge and delicious, but the waiting time was agonizing.
"This cartridge has an interesting design; perhaps we could try out the vibration feature I mentioned earlier..."
The two were chatting idly when Gerald suddenly appeared in the development department.