Product Info
Title:
Clu Clu Land
Developer:
Nintendo
Publisher:
Nintendo
Genre:
Action
Price:
500.00
Description:
One of Nintendo's lesser-known early titles interestingly had this
"sequel" released near the end of the life of the Famicom Disk System.
As a Disk Writer-only release, it's one of the rarest and most sought
after FDS games, easily fetching between $400 and $800.
In total, there are three versions of Clu Clu Land: the original NES
cart release, the Vs. Arcade release, and the FDS version. The FDS
version is strongly based on the Vs. Arcade release, though with some
differences. It was also included as a game you could unlock in Animal
Crossing for the Gamecube, in which it's referred to as Clu Clu Land D,
with the “D” likely meaning “Disk”.
In Clu Clu Land, you control a character known as Gloopy (Bubbles
in the American version). The goal is to help her navigate levels and
collect all of the “Ingots” (gems) that are placed randomly around the
level. You cannot directly control Gloopy, except by extending her arms
to grab onto oncoming poles and spinning her around to change
direction. You must also avoid enemies, known as Unira, that will come
out of black holes. Both of these obstacles will kill her on contact, but
you can safely cross black holes as long as you are holding onto a pole.
Unira can be halted with Gloopy's stun ray, which causes them to freeze
and turn into small orange balls. Pushing these balls into the wall will
give you points and remove the Unira temporarily from the screen. The
controls take some getting used to, and are likely a reason this game is
not fondly remembered, as it’s not easy to just pick up and play.
So what are the major differences from the original NES release?
For starters, there are twice as many level designs. A new enemy known
as “Boss Unira” also appears after defeating enough Uniras on a level.
It's a large version of the regular enemies that will rush after you, but
can be defeated in the same fashion as its normal-sized brethren.
Another addition is the inclusion of a high score table to save your
score. The music is also different, and changes between levels as well.
An expert mode is now available, too, which instantly activates a rule
that normally doesn't occur to level 23, which causes ingots to flip
around to a dark side if they are crossed more than once. When they’re
dark, they don't count as revealed, so you have to take great care in this
mode. The FDS and Vs. System releases differ in the fact that the Vs.
System features no expert mode, and the purple levels are black instead.
Due to the extra levels and expanded features, the FDS port is the best
version of Clu Clu Land. Beyond being hidden in Animal Crossing, it was
also released on the Wii Virtual Console.