Five reasons I hate myself for waiting 29 years to finish Capcom's Sweet Home

Like Super Mario Land 2, which I discussed in my last post, Capcom's Sweet Home is an old game I've been meaning to play for many decades now. Nearly three decades, in fact.

Unlike that 1992 GameBoy title, however, I'd at least booted up this scary Famicom RPG from 1989 on a few occasions over the years.

I'd never gotten more than an hour or so into it, though--or at least I hadn't until I started my way through it about a week ago.

Well, that's all in the past. This time around, I played Sweet Home for just over 12 hours. And not only that, but I finished it.

So why do I hate myself for waiting 29 years to thoroughly explore this game's hair-raising halls and grounds? Here are the five reasons that first popped into my head:

Sweet Home absolutely nails the feeling of being locked in a haunted mansion--Seems impossible, doesn't it? After all, not only is the dwelling in question crafted using 8-bit sprites, but it's depicted using a top-down perspective, too. Despite that, Sweet Home is as nail-bitingly claustrophobic as any survival-horror game that takes place in such an eerie (and similarly cramped) locale. You really feel like you're stalking the spooky hallways of an evil manor while playing Sweet Home, and that's a real accomplishment as far as I'm concerned.

Its soundtrack only adds to the tension--Sweet Home's music isn't always easy on the ears. Hell, sometimes it's downright annoying. It's pretty much always fitting, though. As in, even when the game's backing tunes are discordantly irritating, they complement what's happening on your TV screen. Don't take this to mean there are no standouts on Sweet Home's soundtrack. In fact, quite a few of its songs could be heralded as stellar. I'm especially fond of the "eastern garden" tune, with its lightning-like percussion flourishes, and the sweetly melancholy "fresco theme."

I love how its story is revealed in bits and pieces--In most RPGs, you learn about its story through banter between party members or conversations with non-player characters. Here, you're mostly made aware of it via notes and even paintings you discover while exploring the titular "home." That gives the game an air of mystery I'm not sure it would have if it'd stuck more closely to the traditions of the genre. It also enhances the sense of loneliness and unease that permeates this Japan-only release.

The turn-based battles in this game are surprisingly unique--Yes, you read that correctly: Sweet Home features turn-based battles. And they're not unlike those you encounter in Dragon Quest or Mother or numerous other 8-bit RPGs with first-person fights. So what's unique about the ones on offer here? A good example is the "pray" option, which increases your power if you time things right. Another example is the "call" option, which lets you bring straggling party members into an on-going battle. (Although five characters are at your disposal while playing Sweet Home, you're forced to split them into groups of two or three. When you select this command, the game cuts away from the fight at hand so you can move one or more other party members to its location.)

It's nearly the perfect length for an RPG--As I mentioned earlier, my just-completed playthrough of Sweet Home took just over 12 hours. That's a breath of fresh air for someone (such as myself) who rarely has the time, energy, or attention span to deal with 100-plus-hour behemoths like Octopath Traveler. Which isn't to suggest Sweet Home's pacing is perfect. I actually thought it overstayed its welcome by an hour or two. Still, I'll take that over the aforementioned alternative any day.

There's only one other aspect of Sweet Home that turned me off, by the way. What is it? The way it severely limits how many items you and your intrepid companions can hold. I understand why the game's developers decided against giving players unlimited space for these objects (which include candles, fire extinguishers, and pieces of rope), but I wish they'd been a bit more lenient. Thankfully, you can drop seemingly pointless tools and wares on the ground and return for them later if the need arises.

That pair of slight missteps notwithstanding, I found my latest (and most successful) foray through Sweet Home's halls and grounds both fascinating and exhilarating. So much so, in fact, that I can't wait to enter its creepy confines again this time next year.

Three scary games I'm playing as part of #HorrorMonth

Although I had a lot of fun playing the shoot 'em ups that I chatted about in these recent posts and that were inspired by my blogging and podcasting pal Anne Lee's #Shmuptember game-along extravaganza, I'm about ready to move on to another genre now.

Thankfully, Lee is one step ahead of me and already has announced another such event for October, with the theme this time around being scary games.

The thing is, I've never been one to play overly scary games--games like Fatal Frame and Silent Hill and Siren and Resident Evil. Oh, I love reading about them and watching videos of them and stuff like that, but playing them? Not really--which is kind of funny when you consider how much I love scary movies.

Still, I really want to participate in #HorrorMonth (that's the official name of Lee's latest game-along, by the way), so I'm doing my best to put my fears behind me and play through the following trio of terror-ific titles between now and Halloween.

Sweet Home (Famicom)--Those of you who have visited this blog for a few years now may remember me mentioning Sweet Home in previous posts that were published around this time of year. That's because this isn't the first time I've attempted to play through this spooky, Resident Evil-esque (due to its setting more than anything) RPG. I've never made it more than a couple of hours into it, though, so this year my goal is do do a bit better than that (if not make it all the way to the cart's credit roll).

Splatterhouse (PC Engine)--Here's a game I've been curious about since it first caught my attention back when the PC Engine was still in its infancy and its North American counterpart, the TurboGrafx-16, had yet to be released. I've barely played it in the ensuing years, although I couldn't tell you why that is--other than this genre generally isn't my cup of tea. Thankfully, the few minutes I spent with Splatterhouse the other day were a blast, so I have a feeling it won't be all that difficult for me to complete at least a handful of its stages before I call it a night, so to speak.

Clock Tower (Super Famicom)--Unlike the pair of titles discussed above, I've purposefully avoided this Super Famicom spooker over the years because I knew its scissor-wielding antagonist would be too much for my rather delicate constitution. Although that mostly was proven true when I played a fan-translated version of this unique point-and-click title over the weekend, I'm not going to give up on it--mainly because I want to learn more about the aforementioned villain, the titular mansion and protagonist Jennifer Simpson.

Are any of you participating--or planning to participate--in #HorrorMonth? If so, which titles have you short-listed for this particular game-along?

It's that time of year again

And when I say "that time of year," I'm talking about the time of year when I spend way too much time searching for games that will put me in a Halloween mood.

Speaking of which, here are four "spooktacular" games--two of which I've played before and two of which I haven't--that I'm hoping will scratch that itch in the lead up to this year's All Hallows' Eve:

Cotton 100% (Super Famicom)--This Super Famicom-based shmup, developed by Datam Polystar and published by Success (or is it the other way around?) in 1994, stars a broom-riding witch who is obsessed with candy and who has to fly through all sorts of dark and dreary environs in order to collect a bunch of missing gems. Could there be a more perfect game to play during this spooky-and-sweet season?

Jigoku Meguri (PC Engine)--The point of this pixelated platformer, developed and published by the folks at Taito in 1990: To help a portly monk complete a perilous trek through hell. It all sounds suitably horrific, I know, but in reality said trek is more cuddly than creepy. Still, the game is more than spooky enough to earn a spot on this list.

Splatterhouse Part 3 (Mega Drive)--Originally, I planned to include Namcot's Spatterhouse 2 in this spine-chilling playathon. After reading some negative reviews of that title, though, I decided to include the series' third installment, released in 1993, instead--mainly due to the fact that "Part 3" is less linear than its predecessors and, as such, allows the game's Jason Voorhees-like protagonist to explore each stage.

Sweet Home (Famicom)--I played through a bit of this survival-horror RPG, released by Capcom in 1989, last Halloween, but regrettably put it away after the holiday vanished into the ether like a vampire at sunrise. I say "regrettably" because Sweet Home is one of the most terrifically tense Famicom titles I've ever played. Anyway, hopefully this year I'll stick with it long enough to see an ending screen.

See also: 'Halloween-ish HuCards (and CDs)'