Destructoid Changelog - The dark side of Mario Party and the quickest way to the ocean floor

It’s the last Friday before Halloween, which means this should be the spookiest newsletter of the year. It’s not. Well, maybe. No, probably not.

October gets packed with horror games. Even going into the last week before Halloween, more release dates are getting announced. I get the appeal of wanting to release your horror game during spooky month, but since that’s when practically everyone else does, it’s easy to get lost in the shuffle. Most of my favorite horror games were released outside of October. Happy’s Humble Burger Farm? December. Draft of Darkness? August. I don’t know what my point is here.

A couple of years ago, I remember complaining to then-co-EIC Jordan Devore at the end of October that I was tired of looking at grimy textures. This year, I found some horror games that didn’t conform to the classic dirt-smeared look.

Also, I reviewed Mario Party Jamboree a few weeks ago, which is one of the least scary games I can imagine. Unless you think back to the Horror Land board in Mario Party 3. There was this crashed taxi that had clearly swerved off the road at the edge of the board that would turn into a monster at night. But, like, what happened to the occupants of the taxi? There’s a ghost nearby, and then there’s a long lineup of ghosts all along the road, and they stop where the taxi swerved. What does it mean? Has anyone done one of those over-analysis YouTube videos on it? It was so scary that it wasn’t on the remake of the board in Mario Party Superstars.

Anyway, moving on. This is your weekly reminder that if you can refer a friend or acquaintance to sign up to this newsletter via the link provided below this, you’ll get a special edition newsletter on the last Monday of the month (October 28th). Enclosed, you will find an exclusive interview with someone interesting. This month, it will be Dryft City Kyng, magicdweedoo (I’m told that’s supposed to be all lowercase). You’ll get to learn what game developer they’d keep locked in their basement. It’s pretty scandalous.

In the cartridge slot this week

S.O.S.

Did you know there are actually two games on SNES called S.O.S.? The other is a port of a DOS/Amiga game called Sink or Swim. For the SNES, they named it S.O.S.: Sink or Swim. We’re not talking about that one. We’re talking about the localized name for Septentrion, which is a way better name.

It’s 1921. You play as one of four dudes who are on a luxury cruiseliner when it gets caught in a storm and capsized by a rogue wave. The goal is to find a way to rescue, which is easier said than done.

The design of S.O.S. is incredibly unique. It has controls similar to Prince of Persia, but the ship is entirely mapped out, so you explore it in a non-linear fashion. You have one hour to find your way to safety. During this time, the ship pitches and rolls. Several minutes in, the boiler explodes, putting a hole in the ship and causing it to start taking on water. As time goes on, areas flood, power is lost in sections, and it can affect your escape plans.

It’s stressful. Starting out, you have no idea where to go. You can only assume the best way to move is up, but your attempts to find an escape are constantly frustrated by broken floors and raging fires. If you’re hit by falling debris or fall from a height, your character loses consciousness, and you drop 5 minutes off your clock.

Along the way, you find other survivors, which you can lead to safety if you hate yourself. Do you remember the survivors in the original version of Dead Rising? Imagine that kind of pathfinding, but they also have to move vertically. They aren’t very good at the whole climbing thing, though. Truly, everyone in this game has incredible upper-body strength. Getting them absolutely anywhere on the ship is just… I don’t know how to describe it without just making a non-verbal noise. Kind of like between a retch and a growl.

So, I had never completed this game, and I figured it would take quite a few playthroughs before I could. You need to learn the layout of the ship, maybe where some survivors are hidden. Essentially, you need to provide your character with clairvoyance. But last night, I managed to do it. Oh, sure, I made it out alone. I had to abandon a child to his fate after promising a man resigned to his death that I’d take care of them. That’s not my problem. I survived. The ending text got my character’s name wrong. Just an incredible experience.

Unfortunately, S.O.S. has never been ported. Its only home is still the SNES. With the existence of boutique reproduction cartridges, I hope someone gets around to a re-release. Maybe we’ll see it on the Nintendo Switch Online SNES channel eventually. It’s just too interesting a game to leave it in obscurity.

Elsewhere on Destructoid

Creature Packets makes putting small creatures in small appliances comparatively wholesome

I sometimes like to dive into itch.io and pull out an interesting-looking game to do informal reviews on. This time, I played Creature Packets, which is a game about putting animals in a microwave. Uh, I was going to explain it more, but I think it’s funnier if I leave that without context.

Vampire Survivors is actually crossing over with Castlevania for real

Yeah, it’s kind of weird that Vampire Survivors is getting an “Ode to Castlevania” expansion, considering the game is, on the whole, an ode to Castlevania. It’s going to be real weird to see its legally distinct Castlevania characters alongside officially licensed Castlevania characters. I mention this in the article, but in order for Vampire Survivors to keep its “not one vampire” jest going, Dracula can’t be a boss or character. I wonder if Poncle can resist the allure (probably).

Someone made a portable Xbox

Did you know that, in the manual for the O.G. Xbox, it had a warning that it could harm children and small animals if it fell on them? For the time, it was a chonker. The PS2 was in no way small, but the Xbox was just this massive slab. Bigger consoles have since become the norm, but at its launch in 2001, it stood out for its heft.

So, as an old person, it’s funny to see it made into a handheld. I mean, truly, that’s a big honking handheld. It would have to be since it’s using all original hardware cut down to fit into this unit, but the idea of hauling around an Xbox without a shoulder strap is fascinating.

You can get a physical dose of Game Boy Color horror with the Metamorphosis Collection

I love boutique physical productions for old consoles. It’s been a thing for a long time now, but it seems to get bigger every year. From reproductions to indie games on old hardware, it’s satisfying to see. Just don’t get FOMO. There lies doom.

But speaking of FOMO, the Metamorphosis Collection is an anthology of three Game Boy Color games by Ben Jelter. You can play two of them for free, but the newest one – reportedly the longest – will be released alongside the cartridge, presumably for money. If you act before Halloween, you can even get it on a special red translucent cartridge. See? There’s that FOMO.

Reviews for review this week

Grunn

I’ve talked about Grunn in the past two newsletters, so it’s maybe no surprise that I managed to fit it into my schedule. It’s good. It’s maybe not as revelatory as Bernband, but it’s probably the most relaxing horror game I’ve played. Maybe just get my full thoughts on this one.

Tormenture

I think Tormenture is one of those games that might get lost in the October explosion of horror games, especially since it has a striking resemblance to Pony Island. In fact, the whole haunted game thing has started to feel a bit routine. However, they are missing one important thing that Tormenture has: the game within a game is actually good. Forget all the re-world stuff; the puzzle design in Tormenture is pretty phenomenal.