As we count down the last three Octurbo games I've decided, in a half-assed attempt to be seasonal, to select the scariest three games left on my list to see this feature out. First up is Sankindo's Fushigi no Yume no Alice, which I interpreted as "Alice in Wonderland, but with a Fushigi Ball". I mean, that's basically that Jim Henson movie Labyrinth, right? Turns out "fushigi" just means "wonder" though, so I guess this is a straight up Alice in Wonderland adaptation.
Still, though, it's a pretty freaky book and the game doesn't skimp on all its terrifying wordplay and... Victorian-era allegory? Yeah, all right, it's not particularly scary. I just picked it because VGK has covered it in the past, and that guarantees me at least one comment. Desperate times and all that.
(If you're wondering about the developer, Sankindo did a bunch of Japan-only TG-16 games like Cross Wiber and Hani in the Sky before moving onto Arcade quiz machines for the rest of its life. So, kind of a big deal.)
Japanese McGee's Alice
Welcome to Fushigi no Yume no Alice! Clever "looking glass" reference up there. Name actually means "Alice in Wonderdream", rather than Wonderland. I have no idea if that means anything though, besides that maybe someone couldn't get the license. To the, uh, public domain book?This is Wonderland, then. Or Wonderdream. Whatever. I can see the Dodo over there, but it doesn't seem particularly Japanese so far. Oh never mind.So Alice is apparently Banshee's great grandma or something, as she attacks with her voice. You can charge it up to make it more powerful, which is necessary for taking down some of the more irritating enemies as it blasts through their projectiles at maximum strength. I'd bring up Wagyan Land, but that's kind of a deep cut and I don't know if yelling at people to kill them isn't something that's been around for even longer.Man... I was kidding about this being a Halloween game, but these fish skeleton ladders are just mad macabre.I tried fighting Wispy's evil twin, but he kept spitting out hornets and I hate those things. Seriously not worth it. I only have three hit points, and they seem to vanish very quickly whenever these guys show up.Talking of butts, these card knights throw spears which then drop out of the air after a few feet, making them very hard to hide from. I'm already having to call upon all my Mega Man skills to charge up shots and pick the best moment to fire.Eventually, though, I make it to the gingerbread cottage which was totally in Alice in Wonderland and not something else.I think this game's mocking me now. I swear it's not a Halloween-themed game. At least I'm fairly sure it isn't.Anyway, after murdering what may well have been a harmless bunch of trick or treaters, it's time for my reward.Which is just the White Rabbit showing up and telling me something I can't read. Obtuse as ever, then.Forest 2 begins much the same way as Forest 1. In fact, the rest of the level is eerily similar too: I walk across this green plain, up a ladder into a creepy forest and make my way to another gingerbread house for a boss fight. I mean, there's a few differences in the level design, but it's still a little... disquieting.The boss is different though. I think there actually was a crocodile in Alice in Wonderland, which makes for a nice change. Or at least a poem about one. That book had a lot of poems.Again, I can't help but feel a sense of deja vu for Forest 3. I wonder how many of these identical Forest levels there are?I hate these owls. I mean, anyone who's played Castlevania 3/Dracula X has learned to hate owls, but these seem extra dickish. You can't easily reach them, but they're all but guaranteed to hit you if you try to jump any of these gaps.With a single hit point, I managed to squeeze through this door before the half dozen monsters and monster projectiles on-screen managed to finish me off. Surely I'll be rewarded for this deft maneuver? If getting insta-killed by a Pinocchio puppet that immediately lands on your head the moment you enter the boss room counts as a reward, and I honestly can't imagine it does in any culture, then consider me well-rewarded.Ack...AGHHH. NO MORE, PLEASE.
It's an odd coincidence that I followed Legend of Hero Tonma with Fushigi no Yume no Alice, because my lasting impression of the former was how devastatingly tough it was for something that looked so innocuously adorable. Alice pretty much trumps it in both those respects, giving us a little girl heroine surrounded by cute creatures and sneaker-wearing ghost bosses which then brutally punishes anyone who dares to look upon all that and think, "Wow, this is clearly a game intended for nine-year-olds, why is a grown man playing it for his blog feature?"
Make no mistake: if it could, Fushigi no Yume no Alice would kill you and everyone you ever cared about. One only has to glance at the above screenshots to know that this a game for the hardest of the hardcore. I defy anyone to make the claim that they're man (or woman) enough for Alice's Wonderdream. Major League Gaming! No Scrubs Allowed! Headshot Cit-
