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I have mixed feelings about emulating classic games on the iPhone. On the plus side, some of my favorite games from the past are finding a new audience in the App Store. On the other hand, the emulation quality of many retro releases has been less than impressive. The lack of a physical controller often makes the classics less fun, and and worst, renders them unplayable.
The bad news is that DotEmu’s iPhone version of the Sega Master System action-RPG Golvellius: The Valley of Doom suffers from many of the problems that plagued other App Store retro revivals. In all, though, I was surprised at how much of the original experience still shines on the platform.
Golvellius is, at its core, a stripped-down take on The Legend of Zelda’s exploration-based gameplay. Players will spend much of the game wandering around an overhead-view world map, which consists of a series of single-screen areas.
Almost every screen has a secret room that can be uncovered by performing a certain task — pushing rocks, defeating enemies, or using certain items, in most cases. These hidden caves contain helper characters, who will sell you life-extending potions and other quest items.
(They’re also quick to curse your name if you’re unable to pay.)
Unlike Zelda, though, many of Golvellius’s puzzles are simple and easily solved. Most hidden overworld areas are easy to discover on your own, and dialog sequences hint at the solutions to the more complex puzzles. This results in a more action-packed and better-paced game than Zelda was, even though Golvellius’s clumsy controls ultimately make Zelda more fun to play.
The awkward controls are more pronounced in the iPhone version. Your character’s sword has a short reach, and you’ll often find yourself stabbing the air right next to an enemy rather than the enemy itself. The controls are a bit better in the occasional side-view action segments, but the auto-scrolling stages leading up to boss battles never controlled all that well to begin with, and they’re much harder to play with a virtual control pad.
Control issues aside, the biggest problem with the iPhone port of Golvellius is that it only runs at about three-quarters of the speed of the original Sega Master System version. The speed has improved in the most recent update, but it still performs far slower than it should.
Oddly, though, I felt that the slower speed actually made the game more playable. Golvellius is a difficult game — overworld enemies swarm you when you enter each screen, and death can come quickly if you’re slow to react. The reduced speed evens the odds in your favor when you’re fighting against enemy hordes and the problematic control pad. It’s disappointing from a purist’s standpoint, sure, but from a gameplay perspective, the slower speed is a welcome break.
It’s not all bad news, either, as many gameplay aspects have been updated for the better. The iPhone version of Golvellius includes multiple save slots, and the game can be saved and loaded at any time — a vast improvement over the original version, which only allowed saving via passwords. DotEmu has even implemented the enhanced FM synth soundtrack previously exclusive to the Japanese version of Golvellius, as a bonus.
Despite its many problems, Golvellius turned out better than I thought it would. It remains a fun and inventive game throughout, and the reduced emulation speed actually works to its advantage. It’s just unfortunate that the iPhone’s control limitations make the experience less fun than it would be otherwise. With some patience and practice, though, action-RPG fans could find a lot to like here.
(And at only 99 cents, there’s little room for complaint.)
[...] ◇Review: Golvellius- Valley of Doom @ FingerGaming [...]
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