Developer: T & E Soft Publisher: FCI Released: June 1989 Genre: Action RPG
Hydlide is one of the worst games of all time; I’m going to put that out there now. Everyone who has played it knows this. But it is interesting to examine just how and why the game fails so hard. It says a lot when even the screenshots on the back of the box and in advertisements can’t make it interesting. Hydlide wants to be a sweeping adventure like you would find in a fantasy novel. But like Deadly Towers it completely fails in the attempt and has become legendary because of it.
Hydlide is partly a victim of timing. Originally released for the PC-88 in 1984 it was impressive for its time. As a contemporary of Ys it is similar and was one of the first action RPGs released. The Famicom version followed in 1986 bringing it to a new audience. Unfortunately Hydlide did not come to the the US until 1989. By that point games like Zelda and Faxanadu were out and showed just how dated it was. Honestly I contend that even if it were released years prior it still would not be good. I can’t think of any reason to revisit this outside of morbid curiosity.
The game stars a knight named Jim, who is tasked with rescuing the Princess Anne. Unfortunately Anne has been transformed into three fairies that are hidden throughout the land. Hydlide drops you into its world and lets you roam free, much like the later Zelda titles. Unfortunately it offers no hints or guidance. If you don’t read the manual you won’t have any idea of your objective. While the ultimate goal is obvious how you go about it and the order is up to you. The game is obtuse as hell which means you will have to use trial and error to reach its conclusion. The problem is some of the late game items that are crucial have such specific criteria to obtain that I doubt most will suss it out on their own. If you can believe it that is the least of Hydlide’s problems.
To find any enjoyment in Hydlide you will have to get around its wonky “battle” system. This is the precursor to the Ys school of bump combat. There is no sword swing per se. You can switch between attack and defense by holding the button. You ram into enemies like Ys except Hydlide lacks that game’s nuance. The only skill comes in attacking from behind which is brain dead simple. Combat is completely unsatisfying as the one with the higher level wins. Magic could have added an interesting dynamic but is also implemented in a stupid way. You cycle through spells with B and cast by pressing both buttons at once. Killing enemies with magic awards no experience which makes it near useless.
Hydlide presents itself as a one massive continuous world. In reality it is five by five screens wide. There are a number of dungeons and such but no towns or even NPCs. That is what makes the game seem larger than it is. To be fair the fact the game is nonlinear is cool. But it goes about it in the worst way. You can reason that the cross will kill the vampire. But attacking the indestructible moving trees to find the 2nd fairy? Who would find that out on their own? And that is one example. I guess eventually you would poke and prod everything out of frustration eventually but that is not good game design, nor fun.
The other notable feature of Hydlide is its high difficulty. It is very easy to wander into an area with high level enemies that kill you in seconds. In fact it is not advised to leave the first screen until you have leveled up a few times. That is a grueling process as experience comes slow. Combined with the boring combat system and most probably grew tired of the game in less than an hour. Which is ironic considering Hydlide is about an hour long. Once you know what to do you can blow through its meager content quickly. In truth the grinding wouldn’t be so bad if it weren’t so tedious and marred by the bad battle system. It only comprises twenty minutes of your play time but it will be the longest twenty minutes of your life.
If there is one thing that I can give Hydlide credit for it is giving me a newfound appreciation for the Legend of Zelda. In the early to mid-80s many developers wanted to create grand adventures that you couldn’t find in an arcade. Some like Dragon Quest succeeded. But for every Dragon Quest there were many Hydlides and Deadly Towers that failed. That Nintendo were able to weave complex puzzles into an open world adventure while still remaining accessible and nailed it on the first try is still impressive to this day.
In Closing
Games as bad as Hydlide are rare. Hydlide is worse than most of LJN’s licensed titles and is one of the worst NES games of all time. Ridicule it from afar; don’t spend your money on it. It is not worth it.
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