Overall Rating: 1.5/5 Stars
In 1995, the last new video game was released for the 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) console; at least, until homebrewers hit the scene the next century. This cartridge was not an official release, however; the last to bear Nintendo’s Seal of Approval (or Quality or something) was in 1994, with the puzzle game Wario’s Woods. No, this was Sunday Funday, a title by Christian gaming company Wisdom Tree, formerly Color Dreams.
That “formerly Color Dreams” part is important, because Sunday Funday is basically just a palette-swapped version of their 1990 release Menace Beach. The differences are that Sunday Funday plays a tiny bit more smoothly, the plot revolves around trying to get to Sunday School on time rather than saving a kidnapped girlfriend, the enemies are no longer ninjas and sumo wrestlers but just normal guys and plumbers, and the end boss is not a demon but, instead, a bear.
Gameplay
Of all the bizarre things about this game, perhaps the weirdest is that it does not begin with the Sunday Funday game by default. Instead, the opening screen gives the player three options: Sunday Funday, Fish Fall, or The Ride. Selecting The Ride just opens a screen-by-screen sing-along of the lyrics lit up in rhythm to the 4Him song of the same name.
Now Fish Fall is interesting. This is a puzzle game where the player controls a hand at the bottom of the screen that can move right and left, pressing A to catch falling fish and B to throw them toward a basket at the top of the screen. Each stage (called an “arena,” of which there are about fifteen) has a quota of amount of fish to get into the basket, along with a time limit, and each level has a different appearance and even very different gameplay elements. The fish may be shot out of cannons, or smoked from bubble pipes, or just fall, or there might be enemies blocking the path to throw to the basket up top, or, any number of truly random-seeming items. As a level-completing, lightly strategic puzzle game, Fish Fall may actually be a superior game to Sunday Funday.
Which, itself, as said before, is just a clone of Menace Beach. This means the same side-scrolling, enemy-defeating, item-grabbing gameplay is intact, for a dozen levels, with the same irritatingly difficult precision-jumping puzzles, light switch effects, and slippery play control. While the control seems a tiny bit smoother, one other difference not mentioned is the items: Instead of bombs, there are exploding peaches (oddly similar to the devastating fruit in another Wisdom Tree game, King of Kings, and perhaps the Fruit of the Spirit in Spiritual Warfare – one could say Wisdom Tree made some fruity games). The funniest difference, though, is probably the enormous sumo wrestler enemies replaced with murderous old ladies.
But there it is, entirely while on a skateboard, and one last difference: No punching. Apparently that would be sinful. Instead, the whirling spin attack is all the protagonist can ever use, mid-air or not. Whether the player is familiar with Menace Beach or not, the gameplay is not rewarding; through the pier stages, the sewer levels, all the recycled sprites and bland one-color backgrounds, this is more of a watered-down attempt at a game than an actual video game.
Graphics
The visuals are so-so. Fish Fall actually looks interesting, such as in Arena 4 when humorous miniature people are throwing balls at fish descending down a ladder in order to knock them aside and make them more difficult to catch. A lot may be going on at once, and the gameplay nears frenetic at times, though never quite reaching the heights of tension found in the stacked blocks of Dr. Mario or Tetris. Again, Fish Fall may be the highlight of this cartridge, amazingly enough.
Sunday Funday does not look so good, with its repeating elements and overall not-quite-professional look. The slowly stripping girlfriend chained to a wall has been replaced with a funky-looking Sunday School teacher who, lacking a nose or other human being characteristics, seems more like an odd puppet than a person.
Sound
Do we really have to try and critique the sound? Eh. The Ride is interesting, in that the sound channels of the NES machine are used to carry the bass beat, the treble melody, and the voice, but still does not sound great overall. It would be another decade before people truly got the hang of singing vocals over chiptunes.
As for the gameplay in Sunday Funday and Fish Fall, well, there are background tracks, but not entirely fitting and definitely not engaging, with the highlight maybe being the end-of-level victory ditty. The effects are hardly there. This is not a concert hall video game.
Originality
Trying to score the creativity of this game is crazy: While the actual Sunday Funday game is a clone of Menace Beach, Fish Fall is an original puzzler, and The Ride is, well, not really a game, but is that worth crediting for its originality? For the record, the answer is no, it is not worthwhile, as it is a very silly, valueless idea.
Yet, solely for the inclusion of Fish Fall, Sunday Funday is a superior cartridge to Menace Beach. Oh, this reviewer just remembered one more difference: In Sunday Funday, enemies flash when damaged, as opposed to just turning upside-down as in Menace Beach. But, still, even with a packed-in puzzle game, the overall effect here is underwhelming and ultimately nearly amateur, netting one and a half stars out of five.