Well then. The second of Nintendo’s unreleased Virtual Boy games dropped alongside Zero Racers, and this one’s even more of a treat.
The idea of a vertical hopping game calls to mind the likes of Monster Rancher: Hop-A-Bout (aka Monster Farm Jump) and even Jumping Flash.
But really, Dragon Hopper wouldn’t work without stereoscopic 3D as, viewed from an overhead perspective, continually jumping higher is the name of the game.
In many ways it is the anthesis to Jack Bros. on the Virtual Boy. Where in that game you kept moving down floors, in Dragon Hopper, you’re continually climbing. Unlike Jack Bros, which was a top-down shooter, Dragon Hopper is more of a platform action game, and Intelligent Systems really takes this concept and runs with it.
Each level involves a lot of jumping from, to, and up to new platforms to reach higher ground or stomp on enemies. And the designers keep upping the tension to those proceedings, whether it’s through moving platforms - which move along all directions in 3D space, disappearing platforms, icy floors, or simply annoying enemies. You can also flap your wings to descend slower.
The 3D effect is extremely impressive and makes landing your jumps or firing at an enemy in mid-air a treat. There’s mini-games between each world too, where you can wager hidden medals that you’ve collected in hope of performing well to earn back more medals and buy new magic spells.
It’s just an honest, straightforward, compelling action game, with fantastic presentation. The sprite tiles add to the depth and detail, and the animation is exquisite. Fog is also used to either convey a huge sense of depth (words can’t describe how insane it can be just to look down from where you’ve jumped from) or hide platforms from view to focus your attention on routes you might not have seen.
I’m shocked developer Intelligent Systems didn’t revisit this game back on the 3DS. To me, this justifies 3D even more than Super Mario 3D Land did, in terms of platformers. We did get Fallblox/Crashmo, though, so Intelligent Systems managed to outdo itself in terms of innovating with stereoscopic 3D.
