Golgo 13: Operation NES

Golgo 13 aka Duke Togo – the world’s greatest hitman and sniper. He is perfect in what he does – never failing, never swaying from the course. I had early exposure to Golgo 13 in the mid 90’s with The Professional, but even before that I knew it as an NES game. Golgo 13 had two installments on the NES – Top Secret Episode and The Mafat Conspiracy and they tend to be fondly remembered by those who have played them. Personally it’s not a game I played much (if at all) as a child. I mostly remember being at my brother’s friend’s house and watching them play Top Secret Episode. But it was still deeply interesting, especially whenever it would enter a first person action sequence.

Indeed, these games are known for having mature (particularly by NES standards) themes and a great number of play styles. Vic Tokai crafted some ambitious games for Duke, but how many games have there been that have tried to do everything instead of doing just one thing well?

Well, since I have been feeling a resurging interest in Golgo 13 I figured it was time to finally clear these games…

TOP SECRET EPISODE

 

Top Secret Episode has gained notoriety for being a game with mature content in a licensed NES game. There is implied sexual conduct and overt blood spray. But what really makes this game mature is that it sought to convey an unraveling story with real characters and interactions. While it is a little clumsy with the execution at times, Top Secret Episode ties together the events of the game and gives them purpose. The content and context of Golgo 13 are mature, and that’s worth giving it a look on those grounds alone.

As mentioned, the gameplay is quite varied. The primary style of play is a 2D scrolling action game. You can move between areas visiting locations to gather information while eliminating any enemies in your path. This sounds pretty standard but there are some gameplay flaws here. For one – Duke can crouch but cannot shoot while crouching. The enemies, however typically crouch to shoot. You’re forced to jump their shots though enemy behaviour can be erratic – they tend to fire in bursts of three but they may delay a bullet or deviate from the three shot burst rule and get up before starting another volley.  Golgo’s jump is also far to vertical and not enough horizontal. It could use just a little more horizontal velocity and it would have been a huge benefit.

You have underwater SCUBA scenes – much easier because of your freedom of motion.  Then there’s the side scrolling shootemup sections – relatively straight forward. Sniping segments which just amount to zoom in and shoot -they are more cinematic than clinch gameplay. There are first person mazes for Golgo 13 to navigate. These feature enemies, traps, branching paths, and pitfalls and will absolutely require you to make a map to navigate them properly. And of course there are the ambush scenes – first person combat against enemies and vehicles that can be either really easy or absolutely crazy.

For the first half of this game, things are really solid. There are some hiccups here and there, but generally there’s some good information sleuthing and the sections seem hard but fair. Around Chapter 7, the halfway point, things get crazy. The game is still very much playable but it gets rough. And not always in a gaood way, either. You begin to see the limitations of Golgo’s maneuverability and come up across some ghastly ambushes. Not to mention, the game seems very selective with how it lets you continue. If you die during the final boss (and it can be tough one) you will restart in the sidescrolling portion of the final chapter. But if you die in the final chapter en route to the boss, it sets you back partway into the previous chapter – I think that’s due cause to use a stage select code.

But I think the biggest issue with the late game is that it loses the cloak and dagger feeling of the first half, and becomes strictly a point A to point B game. Not to say it’s entirely bad, but it loses something.

Top Secret Episode is worth a play because it’s a unique experience on the NES. But I wouldn’t recommend clearing it if you’re impatient. Because there are moments that really test said patience.

THE MAFAT CONSPIRACY

The Mafat Conspiracy takes Top Secret Episode and streamlines it. It fixes a lot of issues with the previous game, but also does its own thing. Mafat is much more straightforward. It’s shorter, and a lot of the time it’s a point A to point B game. NPCs do most of the info gathering for you, and it is relayed in Ninja Gaiden style cut scenes. The story is still mature, but it feels a little more out of your hands this time around. I guess it just makes The Mafat Conspiracy feel a little more “standard action game” than the Top Secret Episode was.

But the upside is that Mafat plays much better than Top Secret. The 2D action stages are now much more balanced. There is a greater variety of enemies, Golgo can duck and shoot, and your jump has improved (though it’s not quite there yet). The biggest danger in these stages is knock back – there are a lot of pits and knock back is as much a killer here as it was in Castlevania. These are very manageable levels, even so. There are a few cases where enemies absolutely pollute the screen – this game has a case of Ninja Gaiden enemy spawns in the late game. But if you make it that far, you can soldier on.

The ambush scenes from Top Secret Episode are gone – this is a shame, they were my favourite sequences and typically well done. There are also no SCUBA stages. The 3D mazes are back, although they feel a little slower. They’re manageable, though you will still want to map them out. The 3D perspective is also used for entering buildings in the action stages – for ammo and the like. Nice touch! The sequence that is completely new is an OutRun style driving stage where you must avoid Mafat cars and return the favour with grenades. This is very straightforward and easy, but fun nonetheless.

Sniping has completely changed. It’s not longer purely cinematic, but now features gameplay elements. You will have to aim the crosshair at a particular target and compensate for wind velocity. I have read complaints about these sections before – especially since you get set back a piece if you miss. But they’re really not complicated. Look at the wind vector, compensate by aiming counter to it, and fire. I actually found it very natural.

Boss fights happen here as well, and they change the controls of the 2D action stages.

All in all, The Mafat Conspiracy is a solid game with a few hiccups still. It’s definitely worth playing.

GOLGO VS GOLGO

So which one is superior? From my thoughts, you might think I favour The Mafat Conspiracy. Well, you’d be right… to some extent. Overall, I think it’s a better game. A lot of mistakes were fixed. It’s more manageable, plays better, looks better. They both sound fantastic, for the record.

But it feels like there’s something missing. Simply gathering information in Top Secret Episode was neat, it felt like a covert operation. You felt like part of the story rather than just moving from story scene to story scene. Although I believe Mafat is the technically more adept game, Top Secret feels more engrossing – at least in the first half. If Top Secret had Mafat’s gameplay and cut scenes I feel we would have a whole product. As it is, both installments seem to be missing something from one another.

I can recognize that these games have shortcomings, but I wouldn’t call them bad. They are a bit rough around the edges and sometimes frustrating for the wrong reasons. But they tried new things, and tried to put forth a story of intrigue, adventure, and assassination with the limitations of the day.

Can I fully recommend these games? No, not with my usual fervor. But I will say that I enjoy them and had a lot of fun with them. I’d say give them a spin on a purely academic basis and they might just surprise you.