Little Samson ・聖鈴伝説リックル
Developed by: Takeru (aka Sur Dé Wave)
Published by: Taito
Release date: June 26th, 1992 (JP) | November 1992 (NA) | March 13th, 1993 (EU)
Now that I have your attention: Little Samson! This unassuming cart flew under the radar when it was first released, but its reputation has grown over the years thanks to its eye watering price tag. Only, like, seven people bought Little Samson when it was new, and its scarcity has made it highly coveted by retro collectors. A complete copy – that being the original box, cartridge, manual – is valued at nearly $6,000 USD at the time of this writing. A factory sealed one is nearly $20,000. I know. I’m getting the vapors, too.
Everyone in the NES scene knows about its monetary value, but so few have actually sat down and played the thing. Shame really, because it’s a mighty fine Nintendo game.
Little Samson is an action platformer in which you play as four distinct characters. Samson the human can climb walls and shoot projectiles, Kikira the dragon plays like if Princess Peach in her Mario 2 era had a chargeable Mega Buster, Gamm the golem is a damage sponge who can walk across spikes and has a crazy strong attack, and K.O. the mouse can climb across anything but spikes and has powerful bombs.
Once each character’s tutorial level is complete, players can swap between these characters on the fly. There’s also this dialogue-less plotline about a king, and a bell, and all the characters live in the bell and they have to save the kingdom for some reason. It was the 90’s, try not to think too hard about it.
Samson often draws comparisons to Mega Man, and there’s a good reason for that: development house Takeru was rife with ex-Capcom employees! The way combat and levels are designed is handled feels very Mega Man-esque, but with its own spin on the formula. The four heroes’ abilities being on tap at any time add tons of depth and strategy to tackling the stages, which was uncommon for most platformers of the time. The difficulty isn’t terrible either, with the game providing passwords after every boss fight. There might not be anything groundbreaking gameplay-wise in Samson, but what is on offer has been polished until it’s sparkling.
And oh, the audiovisual department. The music and sound design is killer, and don’t even GET me started on those pretty 8-bit graphics. Look at this:
Are you seeing this? I can’t breathe when I look at this. Most late release NES games went above and beyond in the visuals department (with a few sad exceptions – Wayne’s World, Cliffhanger, Wayne Gretzky Hockey…actually why were there so many of these??) and Little Samson stands at the top of that pack. It’s the textbook definition of a swan song, and a game I greatly enjoyed playing from start to finish. Mostly. The very last stage is kinda annoying, and I feel like they could’ve trimmed a bit of fat by removing a level or two. But otherwise, super good. No complaints.
Airtight gameplay, excellent sound, and beautiful graphics come together to make a wonderful little package (hyuk hyuk). It might not set the world on fire with originality, but if you’re hankering for a high quality action platformer, emulate this and have yourself a great time.
If you actually own a physical copy of Little Samson and you’re bored of it taking up precious shelf space in your house, I will reluctantly offer to give your unwanted cartridge a new home. You can send them here:
Nintendo Entertainment System Junk (this is my government name)
Domino’s Pizza Store # 12814-B
47 Ticklemenots Lane
Yonkers, NY, 90210
Looking forward to hearing from you and your Samsons.
Final Rating:
NESJunk 