Overview
Little Samson (JP: Seirei Densetsu Lickle, or "Lickle: Legend of the Holy Bell") is a platformer for the NES which appeared late in the system's life cycle and was largely ignored at the time as a result. The high quality of the game and its relative rarity means it now commands a high price among collectors, similarly to Gimmick!.
The player uses four separate heroes, each with their own strengths, to defeat the armies of the Prince of Darkness. Each hero has a tutorial stage that allows the player to get to grips with their special abilities, before the game progresses with the foursome as a team.
Little Samson was published in the US, Japan and Europe by Taito.
Story
The Prince of Darkness, Ta-Keed, has escaped from his imprisonment and has been terrorizing the countryside as a means of vengeance. Emperor Hans has heard the legend of the Majestic Bells and their bearers and call for the heroes to fight Ta-Keed and his armies!
Heroes
Heroes are the different characters the player takes control of throughout the game. There are four heroes in total, each with differing abilities and play-styles that are introduced in character specific stages. Upon finishing the introductions the player is able to take control of each of the four heroes, utilizing their strengths as a means to complete the various stages.
Little Samson
The young human hero, owns the White Bell and uses his mountain-climbing background to allow him to grab on to just about anything! Using this specialty, along with the ability to fire bells while climbing makes Little Samson invaluable to cross almost any terrain available while maintaining a good offensive.
Kikira the Dragon Lord
Owner of the Blue Bell, Kikira is able to fly for a set amount of time making her perfect for stages with a lot of platform jumping and open space. Kikira's main attack is a fireball breath that increases in power the longer it is held before firing, also changing her body color!
Gamm the Rock Lord
The biggest, and therefore slowest, of the characters and owner of the Red Bell. Gamm has edge in all-out power. With one single punch, controllable in 4 directions, enemies that could take many hits fall to the feet of the great golem and being the toughest character allows him to even walk across spikes!
K.O. the Enchanted Beast
The tiny mouse hero, K.O. is the fastest moving character which also give him the lowest health. His stature and ability to climb surfaces, similar to Samson, provide K.O. with the only means to get to hard-to-reach places. Laying time-delay bombs as a weapon prove that tiny does not mean "weak".
Power-Ups
There are few power-ups in the game, however each posses important effects to help the player and stay active for the entirety of play. These power-ups are:
Gameplay
Little Samson is very clearly and unabashedly a Mega Man clone. Jumping with the A button and attacking with the B button, players must traverse stages avoiding pit-falls and enemy attacks while collecting power-ups and eventually fight a boss before the next level. The health meter is very reminiscent of Mega Man as is the overall feel of the character movement.
Little Samson has two modes of play, Easy and Normal. On "Easy" mode enemies are much more scarce, the maximum health points are double that of Normal and, most uniquely, a death of any hero with the exception of Little Samson will result in that hero no longer being playable until the full stage is cleared. Each hero has a separate health meter while sharing a pool of extra "lives".
Log in to comment