Review: Super Hydlide

If, like many, you were an impatient child during the Nintendo years, chances are the name “Hydlide” is enough to throw you into a seizure. Consequentially, many people never gave its sequels a chance.

If you passed up on Super Hydlide, also called Hydlide 3: The Space Memories, you made a big mistake. Without question this is one of the most underrated RPGs I’ve played this year.

I was first prompted to try the game when I ran across the soundtrack and was blown away by the catchy, well constructed tunes. I’m still listening while I write this review. I vaguely remembered seeing the hideous NEC PC-88 edition of the game, and decided to try the ports to more advanced systems.

The two editions I looked at were the MSX2 and Sega Megadrive releases. I strongly feel the MSX2 game has better graphics and music, however since most of The Second Dimension’s readers are English speakers, I chose the Megadrive Super Hydlide for the review.

Long, long ago, the hero Jim saved Fairyland from imminent doom, reuniting the faeries to save Princess Ann. Since that time, peace has reigned in the land and evil gradually faded away.

One night, there was an explosion of flames east of the City of the Woods, leaving a gigantic chasm in the terrain of Fairyland. Since then, monsters have appeared and the land has been in turmoil. You are the new hero summoned to once again quell this darkness and restore peace to Fairyland.

If it sounds simple enough, it’s not. Along with this traditional RPG plotline, Super Hydlide mixes elements of science-fiction. The chasm in Fairyland is rumored to lead into a sort of “inner space” and has swallowed up everyone unfortunate enough to fall in, including the original, highly advanced aboriginal species of Fairyland.

There’s a return of some familiar bosses from Hydlide, but the true evil is greater than anything Fairyland has ever faced before.

Upon setting out, you have to create a character. The four available classes are Fighter, Thief, Priest and Monk. There are advantages to each class, but beginners would probably do best to choose a Fighter or Thief to get right into the action. Priests and Monks take a long time to level up to where they’ll be effective, though both are much more useful later in the game.

I can’t stress enough–starting Super Hydlide will take some patience. Players can’t venture more than a few screens until at least level 3. This could take between 20 - 50 minutes to reach depending on the player’s action-RPG experience and skill. Until this hump is crossed, the real fun can’t begin.

Super Hydlide was way ahead of its time with how developed its gameplay is. The game runs on a 24-hour clock and counts play time in days. Each day, the hero has to eat four meals at 1:00, 7:00, 13:00 and 19:00.

Staying at an inn will cover all meals until waking up the next day at 7:00. Failing to feed your character will result in him getting hungry. His attack and defense weaken, he slows down, and then start losing life as he dies of hunger.

Hunger isn’t the only unseen enemy; your hero also gets sleepy. It’s nearly impossible to adventure all night long, as fatigue will set in. Attacks begin to do less damage, and then miss completely. Eventually, you can end up totally paralyzed from exhaustion and it’s game over.

Townspeople appear randomly bearing different messages. You may not meet the same townsperson next time you’re in town, so it’s important to talk to everyone you can. Just make sure to keep an eye on the clock or you could fritter away a whole day chasing down the townspeople.

The game mostly takes place on a world map, which is a series of mazelike interlocking squares. The map loops to create a globe-like effect, meaning walking off one end leads you to the other. In fact, this ends up being the only way to reach some areas. Every screen is uniquely detailed and enemies are free to move on and off it just as you do.

For every area of the game, there are “bad monsters” and “good monsters.” Good monsters will never strike at you, so if you’re in doubt, wait for them to throw the first punch. Killing the innocent monsters will kill your Morality Points, which are extremely hard to ever rebuild.

When currency is picked up, it can be in one, 10, 100 and 1000 coin increments. Each coin weighs you down, so you’ll need to find a money changer to convert your currency to the lowest possible denominator.

Not just coins, but everything weighs you down. One of your stats is “Load Capacity,” (LC) the max weight you can carry. LC increases with your levels, though Monks and Priests will have to play smart with what they carry.

Exceeding your LC will slow the game to a complete crawl and give the monsters plenty of time to kill you while you stumble along. It’s possible to exceed your LC mid-battle too. Killing one too many monsters could overload you with coins and dropped items. Then it’s time to start dropping things.

Another weight factor is your “Handle” stat. This is the maximum weight any weapon can be that you’ll be able to wield effectively in battle.

As you explore further in Super Hydlide, you’ll encounter the dungeons, which are actually gigantic maze systems full of twists, turns, false walls and secrets. They can be incredibly formidable, especially with the clock hanging over your head. Any attempt at a dungeon must be finished within a day with time to make it back to the inn, or you may end up fatigued and dead.

In case none of the above made it clear, this is not your mom’s Action-RPG. Games like Ys are a complete joke in the face of the challenge put forth by Super Hydlide. The action-RPG element alone is tough, but some puzzles in the game could leave you racking your brain for hours trying to solve them.

Super Hydlide’s soundtrack was originally composed by Michiako Kato. All the music fits excellently into the game and is very catchy. Some of my favorite songs were Out of Freedom, the music from the City of the Woods, Dragon!, the track played when fighting in the Cave of the Dead, and Chaos Separator.

Don’t let bad impressions of Super Hydlide’s ancestor from 20 years ago prevent you from giving this one a try. It’s an amazing RPG experience, and still stands above many modern games in fun, complexity and challenge.

From when I first entered the Subterranean City till I saved Fairyland, I only put the controller down twice. It’s an incredibly addictive game, and there’s no other action RPG quite like it.