Super FamiComplete #33: Jerry Boy (Redux)

                    

Title: Jerry Boy (JP)/Smart Ball (NA)

Release Date: 9/13/91

Developer: GameFreak

Publisher: Sony Imagesoft

This was and still is a strange one. Since I originally completed this blog, I have learned that this has a full fledged sequel, which looks to be infinitesimally better in quality as a platformer than this game. Based on the North American title, the unimaginative Smart Ball, I originally assumed it was going to be another baseball sim. It is not, though, in fact it is an action puzzle platformer. The title Jerry Boy is an "engrish" pronunciation of "jelly," in that Japanese, and incredibly phonetic language (they will spell a Western name out phonetically, ie. Brian becomes "Buraian"), has the habit of turning "Ls" into "Rs." Hence, Jelly Boy is Jerry Boy.

Background

It turns out this game isn't a baseball game at all, but instead a platformer that is based around an anthropomorphic blob. For a game about a ball of goo, the backstory for the game is actually rather deep (well at least for a 16 bit platformer). Apparently the game takes place in the Kingdom of Kyrilia. The king of this land, King Geoffrey, dies and leaves his kingdom to his son Jerry. Jerry's brother, Tom, jealous over his brother's inheritance, hires an evil wizard that turns Jerry into a blob and kidnaps Jerry's wife, which allows Tom to swoop in and rule the kingdom. Now Jerry must journey through 8 different worlds, with two levels apiece, in order to reclaim his throne.

Now it must be said, in the North American version, this story is not presented at all except for in the manual. If you just picked up a loose cart of Smart Ball and started playing, this narrative would not be conveyed to you at all. The Japanese version of this, though, does cater to this narrative as it added cutscenes, characters to talk to, and town stages that served as interludes between levels.

So who made this game? Well it is a company called GameFreak and if you are any student of video games, than that name should certainly sound familiar. This is the company that, as associated with Nintendo, would go on to make the insanely popular Pokemon series. This was their second game ever developed, the first being a puzzle/platformer for the NES called Mendel Palace. Who would have thought that only 5 years after Smart Ball, they would change the video game industry in such an impactful way?

Region Differences

As mentioned in the background section, Smart Ball is much more bare bones than the Japanese version of the game. The story is eschewed almost entirely, and without that narrative backbone, the game just becomes a platformer with no narrative weight for the player. The protagonist being a blob is already very unmemorable for a player, and without any real reason for your actions in the game except for "get from point A to point B," the game becomes a bit of a drag. Even the original Mario brothers set up the "save Princess Toadstool!" narrative within the gameplay; the player needs that reason to be playing the game and undergoing this "journey" even if it ultimately is a superficial conceit. Smart Ball, by forgoing plot completely, loses a lot of like-ability and charm. I think the original cutscenes would have done a lot for the game.

Another thing the Japanese version adds are towns. Each world consists of two levels, and in between each level is a town for Jerry to rest at, talk to townsfolk, explore, and find life ups and ammo. These are needed breaks that help pad out the game length, add some much needed personality, and focus the already sparse narrative of the game. Townsfolk will wonder what happened to Prince Jerry, marvel at the weird goo that has entered their town, and bemoan the recent monster attacks. I am kind of sad that this was left out of the North American version.


Gameplay
This game is an exploration puzzle platformer. The goal of each level is to make it from point A to point B, but the path is usually never that straightforward. Between Jerry and the goal are a legion of cute little animal beasties, a series of traps, hidden treasures and exits, multiple routes, and some platforming challenges. Jerry has the ability, being a jelly, to climb walls and ceilings, which are often used in traversal. The "puzzle" aspect of this game boils down to simply finding the correct path to go. Sometimes Jerry might have to slide down a pipe, or find a hidden exit buried in sand. Sometimes the game uses the much loved "multiple doorways but most lead back to the start" gimmick. Some levels can be very confusing, but most are pretty straightforward.

To use a term coined by the wonderful Arin "Egoraptor" Hanson in his series Sequelitis, this game lacks a fair amount of "conveyance." Conveyance is the term for how a game teaches the player its mechanics through the gameplay. Games with great conveyance are ones that are easy to pick up and play, while games with poor conveyance tend to leave players confused on how to play. Smart Ball is very confusing, and this is due to some very strange gameplay and design choices. First, Jerry attacks in a couple ways, but if you played the game naturally, you might only think he attacks in one way: by picking up red orbs and chucking them at enemies. You can only throw as many orbs as you can find, and once thrown they are gone. This left me frustrated all the way up to the second world, as I thought that you pretty much had to avoid enemies completely as ammo was so limited. One nice thing is that Jerry can "catch" a ball again if he can manage to connect with it. 

It turns out, though, that Jerry can also attack by pressing "up" while he jumps, causing his head to go into a point which he can jab enemies with. It is like the exact opposite of the sword pogo or cane pogo from Zelda II or Duck Tales respectively.  This led to a problem, for me, as the animation of this attack doesn't make it look like Jerry would hurt anything he touches, as he doesn't become a sharp point, just a more narrow and rounded tip. He doesn't look like he could damage an enemy with that, so why would the player try it out? Maybe if they added a little "ping" noise or a shiny "ooo that's sharp" glisten, it would help, but as it stands, it is not properly conveyed.

Finally he can also do damage to enemies by pressing "down" as he hits the ground and landing next to enemies. This is a very key distinction here: if Jerry lands on an enemy, he will get hurt and/or die. Why would a player with any previous experience with platformers attack enemies in this fashion? Most players would try jumping on an enemy first, like they would in a Mario game, see that they get hurt, and therefore not try jumping on them again. No child would think of jumping NEXT TO an enemy to hurt them. This plays similarly to Kirby's "breath" attack from Kirby; when he is done floating and hits the ground, he can puff a bit of air out which damages enemies. As anyone who plays that game knows, though, this is treated as a way to make distance between yourself and enemies, and not a great source of damage. This is not a mechanic to base your platforming combat around. All in all, this leaves poor Jerry really ill equipped to face the challenges ahead, and can be quite frustrating, especially in boss battles.

Some of the controls are also very inconsistent. Jerry's big platforming schtick is that he can climb up walls as a blob, which should lead to some interesting platforming puzzles. Instead Jerry can barely stay on walls; sometimes inputs will get crossed as Jerry is moving, and he will fall off the ceiling down onto spikes. Some puzzles, which require you to switch from the wall to a ceiling, often result in Jerry falling down to his death. It is rather annoying. I even watched a speedrunner go through a difficult section I was having issues with, and even he took multiple tries to do a jump from wall to wall. 

The game is also oddly punitive in its puzzles. For example, if you go the wrong way in a stage, i.e., through the wrong door (there is sometimes no marking on which path is the right path, it is just luck most times), the game will take you all the way back to the beginning of the level or, even worse, dump you into a room filled with enemies. This isn't always a terrible design choice, but Smart Ball tends to employ this habit a bit too much frequency for my liking.

At the end of every world is a boss fight; weirdly enough it is often against a type of bird (?). Generally you want to save all your ammo for these bosses,  as they make them kind of a joke. None of the bosses are too difficult; they just tend to move about the screen in random arcs, and the gimmick is just waiting for the right time to lob your "balls" at them. None of their designs are too inspired (in the sequel you fight a legit angel of death which is terrifying).

The art design is bright and cheerful. The enemies are all cute and adorable in a mix of "kawaii," Japanese pop-art, and Japanese folk style. Jerry himself is rather plain as far as protagonists go, but he fits in with the world around him. Now, I will say that the art design doesn't feel complete as in the world doesn't feel like an actual "world." It feels like you are playing stages in a video game and you are just fighting a random assortment of enemies, not truly interacting in a living, breathing, world. But, it is still a nice game to look at. Again, that addition of the towns and interludes would really have helped with this.
  

Any good Jerry jams?

The music is serviceable if not completely memorable. 

Ads, Art, Commercials

Worth Playing?

In my opinion? I would actually play through the Japanese version. It is a much better experience than the North American version. If you just want to play the North American version, it is a neat curiosity, but a bear to play through.