"And here...we...go!"
Battle Kid: Fortress of Peril is a 2010 NES game by one-man operation Sivak Games. The gameplay is basically an honest version of I Wanna Be the Guy (i.e, all the Nintendo Hard challenge of the original, minus the infamous out-of-nowhere surprises and Trial-and-Error Gameplay) with heavy Metroidvania elements. It uses an eight-character password for continuing (unless you're on one of the difficulty levels that don't let you continue). It boasts "over 550 rooms, more than 30 enemy types, and 8 bosses" standing between you and victory.
The plot is as follows: You are Timmy, a One-Hit-Point Wonder Kid Hero tasked with infiltrating the Fortress of Il'Akab, also known as the eponymous Fortress of Peril (due to all the traps and defenses and such, naturally,) in order to prevent a Humongous Mecha from being built.
One of the more notable things about Battle Kid was that, while a demo version exists as a freely available ROM
, the full game was originally available only in the form of an actual NES cartridge sold by RetroZone, complete with multi-region lockout chip, manual and dust sleeve (but no box). Twelve years later in 2022, it was finally published for digital distribution on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Windows (via itch.io) by 8-Bit Legit, with a Nintendo Switch release in 2023.
List of Trailers:
- Version 1 trailer
- Version 2 trailer: English version, Japanese version
- Alternate Version 2 trailer (Japanese version only)
This game provides examples of:
- A Wizard Did It: Wizards constructed the Fortress of Peril and its defenses long ago.
- Big "NO!": Timmy in version 2.000's bad ending if he fails to prevent Chester from escaping.
- Boss Rush: An extra, timed challenge accessed via a password given for beating the game on Hard (Normal in the 2018 update) difficulty.
- Bonus Dungeon: There are five of them. Four are accessed using a password.
- The first one is a hidden, optional area in which you get the Damage Amplifier.
- The second one is a very tough level for beating the game on Very Hard (Hard in the 2018 update) difficulty. It also has a harder version of the Lotus Guardian called the Petunia of Pain.
- The third one, exclusive to version 1.100, is a shorter level that was meant to be a time attack for the ScrewAttack Gaming Convention's tournament.
- The fourth, one of the two new ones added to version 2.000 for beating the game on Very Hard difficulty, is a space station where you traverse through lifts. It also has a harder version of the Minimech called the Mighty Minimech.
- The fifth, the other one exclusive to version 2.000, is a labyrinth where you must survive 32 areas in a randomized order before you could reach the end. This one features the Triple Jump from Battle Kid 2: Mountain of Torment.
- Captain Ersatz: Amethyst Angel (the sixth boss) isn't just similar to Star Sapphire, she's identical.
- Defeat Equals Explosion: Both enemies and Timmy explode upon death.
- Difficulty by Region: The 2018 update for Japan has the following difficulties: Very Easynote , Easynote , Normalnote , Hardnote , Very Hardnote , and Unfairnote .
- Double Jump: This is a powerup collected later in the game.
- Easy-Mode Mockery: Easy mode starts you with an item that doubles your damage and turns your suit bright pink. Said item is also in the other difficulties, but you need to find the Bonus Dungeon and clear it to get it.
- Exalted Torturer: In the Good Ending, Dr. B calmly explains to Chet that she will extract the info she needs using a serum that will eventually drive him mad. The last image shows her slowly lowering the needle to Chet's face.
- Everything Trying to Kill You
- Fake Difficulty: Surprisingly averted, given its major sources of inspiration. It's stupidly hard, but honest.
- Fanfare: Plays after beating any boss.
- Good is Not Nice: In the Good Ending, Timmy decks Chet in the face after capturing him.
- Hand Wave:
- Timmy's mentor, Dr. Byers, constructed the suit he uses as a prototype after reverse-engineering some of the technology the Wizards left behind in the Fortress of Peril. It can be upgraded, but she couldn't quite figure out the technology behind the upgrade cards to make any herself. However, it should still be compatible with any preexisting upgrade cards Timmy happens to find within the fortress. She never mass-produced the suits because the drawback to their being so lightweight is that they offer very little, if any actual protection. And that is why you are a One-Hit-Point Wonder who infiltrates the Fortress of Peril by himself, and why you start with nothing but can conveniently find upgrades in the very fortress you're trying to infiltrate. This is perhaps the closest you will find to a legitimate story explanation for the various Metroidvania gameplay mechanics in the entire genre, so just roll with it.
- According to the instruction manual, the Lethal Lemon can't be shot "due to forces unknown".
- Harder Than Hard: "Normal" (or "Hard" in the 2018 update) gives you one hit point, infinite continues and access to passwords (think I Wanna Be the Guy). Modes above that disable the password feature and give you a finite amount of continues, up to "Unfair", which only grants you a single life (much like IWBTG's "Impossible").
- Hit Points: In the original release, the Easy difficulty gives you three hit points. In the 2018 rerelease, the Normal, Easy, and Very Easy difficulties respectively start you off with three, five, and seven hit points, with an extra one found near Chester's boss room (you can't reach it until after you cleared the Subterranean Sea). In the One-Hit-Point Wonder difficulties (I.E. Hard, Very Hard, and Unfair), this Life Upgrade is replaced with an envelope containing a letter from Sivak Games thanking the player for playing the game on its true difficulty. Timmy dismisses it as garbage and shoots it 99 times.
- Item Get!: While the original game and its sequel only have a message displayed on the screen when collecting an item, the 2018 update adds an animation of Timmy hold a collected item over his head.
- Metroidvania: Definitely. It has everything, down to the large map, powerups, areas you can't enter without said powerups, teleporters to assist in the backtracking, and so on.
- My Name Is ???: The three figures at the beginning of the original version of the game. In the case of Chester Donovan, this lasts until Timmy catches him at the good end of the game. The 2018 update averts it in Chester's case, leaving the other two characters to continue playing it straight. Their real names are revealed early in the second game to be Helga Kraftie and Ivan Mekanovich.
- One-Hit-Point Wonder: In "Normal" ("Hard" in the 2018 update) and above give one hit point.
- Oxygen Meter: A 90 second timer used in water until an item is found that allows you to breathe underwater. Both the timer and the item were removed from the 2018 update.
- Platform Hell: Averted. It is still a very tough game, but unlike IWBTG, it doesn't rely on constantly trolling the player.
- Point of No Return: After entering the teleporter to the final area.
- Pre-Final Boss: After defeating the seventh boss, Zedd, you will travel through a teleporter, followed by 2 rooms. (One has an enemy, but it dies in one shot.) After walking through these rooms, you will come face-to-face with the dreaded Super Mech.
- Respawning Enemies: Enemies will always be reset when returning to a room.
- Retcon: In the original 2010 version of the game, there was nothing that suggests Timmy and Chester had known each other before the events of the game. The 2018 update adds a prologue showing they were friends at Disch Corp. until Chester got expelled for cheating at a test.
- Retraux: A NES game released in February/March 2010. Good heavens. It subsequently led to increased interest in NES homebrews.
- Sequel Hook: The Big Bad is apprehended, but his cohorts remain at large.
- Sound Test: An extra, accessed via a password for beating the game on Normal difficulty.
- Spikes of Doom: Lots. The game tends to use spike balls more, though.
- Super-Deformed: All of the characters, even in cutscenes. Ver. 2.0 changed the cutscene art to be more like the sequel's, however.
- Time Stands Still: The seventh boss can freeze time.
- Timed Mission: The 2018 changed the ending so that rather than being forced to take the bad ending path if you don't have the fourth key, the game gives you a chance to catch Chester in one minute and fifteen seconds (the fourth key still helps in that it provides a shortcut).
- Treacherous Checkpoint: The game contains a checkpoint that instantly deprives Timmy of the equipment he's collected, forcing him to re-gather it in the next area. The checkpoint symbol is inverted to subtly warn of its malevolent nature. However, there's no way to avoid going through it.
- The Unfought: Chester in the original game. The Updated Re-release adds a boss battle against him right before the Hall of the Colormancers, and he later controls the Supermech from within.
- Unique Enemy: Limes only appear on two screens in the whole game.
- Updated Re-release: In July of 2018, the game was announced for a Japanese release for September (later moved to October 18th) with revamped level design, redesigned boss battles, dual language support, and cutscenes given visual consistency with the sequel. However, during that transition, the ScrewAttack Bonus level was taken out, with the website being defunct as of then 3 years.
- Walk, Don't Swim: Underwater physics simply involve higher jumping.
- Warm-Up Boss: The 2018 update adds a new boss at the beginning of the game called the Minimech, which is a smaller version of the Supermech.
