Retro gaming is a fun hobby. You can find enjoyment hunting and securing games as well as simply playing them. From time to time I find myself looking at retro stores and thinking “Hmm, maybe I should buy this SNES copy of Chrono Trigger. It’s such an iconic game, and I absolutely loved it when I was growing up!”. And then I see the game costs like $300 cartridge only and regret every thought I’ve ever had about collecting retro games.
Thankfully many of these games are readily available on modern consoles and storefronts, making things like Chrono Trigger much more affordable (though ironically enough I don’t think this game is as available as you might think given its popularity). There are tons of people out there that have played these games on original hardware and at the time of original release. But there are TONS more out there like me that are only discovering some of these games for the first time right now, despite being alive and gaming during the 80’s and 90’s. And maybe you’re even more like me, and have picked up a retro console with some *ahem* games pre-installed on said console. That’s how I’ve come to find a huge backlog of old SNES and Genesis titles, including today’s topic, Brain Lord.
I know what you’re thinking: What type of puzzle game is Brain Lord? And let me tell you the shock I also had when I first started the game and found it to be an action RPG. Despite the name signifying otherwise, Enix’s Brain Lord isn’t a puzzle game at all and is instead a fully competent action role playing game originally released in 1994 for the Super Nintendo. The box art and the game’s logo definitely scream RPG though, with the high fantasy looking text and the floating castle screaming ominous adventures await.
Brain Lord follows many of the story beats you’d find in other RPGs at the time like Sega’s Shining Force or Square’s Final Fantasy: A lost family member, presumed dead, needs to be found in the illusive castle being threatened by a dragon. It’s basic, sure, but it gets the job done. There is a notably lack of party members in the game, instead having what you would think to be additional party members relegated to background NPCs that sort of interact as you explore the levels in each dungeon. These characters provide a welcome sense of comic relief as well as help to progress the overall plot. A comical tone runs through the whole story, making things lighter than you’d anticipate. It’s all generic though, so do not expect a grand epic to redefine how you rank your favorite old school RPGs.
I said earlier earlier that Brain Lord is an action RPG and not a puzzle game, and I was not totally truthful. There are some “puzzles” to solve here, but not in the “Match-3” or Tetris style. Think more The Legend of Zelda style puzzles. You’ll be jumping (yes, jumping) over hidden pitfalls, pushing objects to activate switches, manipulating automatically moving fireballs to navigate to a certain door, and more. Each puzzle room has a relatively obvious goal but it isn’t always obvious what you need to do to reach said goal. I liked the challenge! Also special shout out to the boss battles in each stage: very Zelda-esque in the most wonderful kind of way! It made the game not feel so much like an action RPG where you just smash buttons to win, but instead made you think in order to win. So maybe that’s where the Brain Lord title comes from…
While the puzzle and exploration elements are fun, and a highlight for the game, I still found the basic RPG elements to be the best part. Noteworthy is the game’s use of magic and character advancements. You have a variety of physical weapons to change things to your liking. Swords act differently than boomerangs which are very different from axes, so on and so on. I found the simplicity and speed of the swords to fit my play style. Augmenting this are magical fairies you find and equip and level up in the traditional sense. These provide powerful magical effects like enemy-seeking missile blasts or periodically heals which can be clutch because hot damn some enemies deal a lot of damage! As you make your way through the game’s five or so levels, you’ll routinely find new equipment to try and new fairies to use, which was a big motivator for me to keep going…
… at least to a point. After maybe 5 or so hours with the game, and clearing the first two dungeons, I found the game to be overstaying its welcome. It wasn’t because the game was bad. In fact, far from it: the game is a solid mid-level contender for anyone’s favorite game’s list. A hidden gem if you will. But I think a key piece to any great RPG is missing: the story. It just couldn’t hold up. This might be a product of time, since the game is over 30 years old from the time I’m first playing it. Perhaps back in 1994 the game’s rudimentary story and characters could entertain for the completion of the game, but in 2024 I just lost interest and didn’t want to keep playing. I can’t help but feel if I had rented this game on the SNES back in the day, I would have loved it for the weekend I had it. And perhaps that’s where Brain Lord should live: as a weekend warrior worthy of a few days’ attention.
When discussing the great games of yesteryear I always seem to run into folks talking about heavy hitters like Final Fantasy, Super Mario, Zelda, Sonic, and so many more. Those are all rightfully immortalized in history. But now that we all know and have (hopefully) played these games, what’s next? A game like Brain Lord is what I’m looking for. Despite not fully loving it, I could appreciate it for what it was and what it set out to do. The game is solid, and if someone notes it as one of their favorites, I would completely understand that thought. It isn’t entirely for me, but that’s what makes it great: for someone looking for something different, Brain Lord really can offer something unique.
What do you think? Have you tried this classic? Does it hold up to your modern standards of gaming?
Laters,
Jsick
