CreepingNet's World

Labyrinth
The Jim Henson Cult Classic comes to the Famicom (But not the NES)

In 1986, following the very (fittingly) dark Dark Crystal in 1982, came out with a new fantasy adventure movie called Labyrinth. Featuring Jennifer Conneley as the lead character "Sarah" who wishes her baby brother away, only for her wish to be granted by the Goblin King Jareth (played by David Bowie), leading her on a wild adventure through aforementioned Labyrinth to rescue her baby brother. Along with her were three companions, Hoggle, who looks like he could be Keith Richards lost brother (get that muppet a TELE!), Ludo, the big horned monster thing, and Sir Didimus, a dog/fox looking thing. Anyway, I've only seen the movie three times so far (that I can remember), cut me some slack.

Anyway, in America LucasFilm Games released the father of Maniac Mansion, with ACtivision for the publisher - made for the C64, Amiga, and a few other computers (but sadly no MS-DOS port, guess a CGA IBM 8088 was just not enough for ol' LucasFilm yet). But in Japan, because there was no LJN there (ah yes, the Rainbow of Disaster), got this supurb release for the Nintendo Family Computer, released by Tokuma Soft, and released in January 1987. The game follows the movie from the point that Sarah was just entering the Labyrinth, and the game features the majority of the soundtrack, a pretty good Anime approximation of David Bowie, Sarah looks a hair off, a bit to "Dragon Quest Esque" - but hey, it's not the only time Japan has Anime-Ized a release of something based on something from America (go ask the Space Quest Historian about Police Quest II in JApan, yes, PQII was released with a ANIME redesign in Japan).

As for the movie, it did not do too well in it's theatrical outing, barely even managing to come near putting Henson into the black, and was Jim Henson's last production of this type before his untimely death of an ear infection in 1990 (one of the sad days of MY childhood for sure). The Movie did do a little better overseas, and it's in that cult-classic status, kind of like Rocky Horror, but a bit more "kid friendly" I guess. As for the game, in Japan, it's another one of those that probably sort of sits in the mid-tier, but that said, it's a bit of a surprise it never came to the USA. Obviously, some Nintendo fans have made fan translations on this.

I bought this for my wife - My Experiences

In the relationship, both of us are Music, I am Video Games, but she is Movies. And As my interest started to wax in obtaining some O.G. Nintendo Family COmputer releases from Japan, I started to look, as a middle aged man, with a very discerning eye. I'm sure I mentioned this in another page somewhere, but I had some standards....they are....

The Game Must not be released in the United States at any time (except Dragon Quest)
If it is released in the United States, it must be reasonably different (again, Dragon Quest, or Akumajou Densetsu/Castlevania III)
If it's in Japanese, get it, because I'm also trying to force myself to LEARN Japanese to enjoy the games as intended (I call it gaming tourism)
The game must be good (ie Star Luster, Antarctic Adventure, Summer Carnival 92'.....)
Resist tempatation to buy in bulk (remember, you're an American, don't take TOO MUCH from Japan, they need to preserve THEIR history too)

So imagine my surprise when I find out there IS a Laybrinth game for the Famicom. And it's Japan only, and it looks a heck of a lot like Dragon Quest! THIS was tempting. So I went to the YouTube Reviews to see what I was getting into, and remembering my feelings on Dragon Quest I and II vs. theirs, I figured, this might be a good hit. As of the beginning of this part of the page, I've only played the game once (and gotten surprisingly far in, despite having not learned a lick of Japanese yet). We shall see more once I get more into the game in my first play on YouTube.