8 Eyes

"Being called four eyes in school was bad enough, but man, if they see my bifocals and contacts, I'm done for."

As a child I was fortunate enough to have a well-stocked, albeit mildly smoky video store (the 80's, mind you) near my house. The store was within walking distance, and I rented and experimented with NES games that I otherwise would not have bought back then. A side-scrolling action game, 8 Eyes, was in particular an obscure favorite of mine and my dad's too, who would even drive me to the store sometimes. He and I both liked 8 Eyes because we could play it together. For pure cheapness, which concerned at least me, even at such a tender age, it is true that the NES sanctioned the official Super Mario Bros. multiplayer game, but 8 Eyes let two people play at once, which beat taking turns. We also liked 8 Eyes for other reasons, primarily because it required remarkable coordination between the two players that challenged it. As an example, the two characters that you played as, a bird and a man, had to work off of each other's weaknesses to overcome the environment and especially to the beat the bosses of the game, who were no laughing matter. However, I realized at the time that, though we had certainly regarded it as an exceptional game back then, 8 Eyes still lacked something. I tried it again ten years later--this time by myself--and discovered that a tolerable single-player mode was what it missed. Whereas 8 Eyes is a blast for two players, perhaps one of favorite two-player games ever other than arcade fighters, I had to come down to the reality that the neat design that seemed so intuitive and novel for my dad and me was also the greatest detriment to the single player.

The game is side-scrolling action and at that, somewhat singular side-scrolling action, owing to this sequences of stair-climbing where you sometimes scroll upwards in the game rather than side-to-side (when I grew up, I discovered that this was a copy of the platformer Castlevania's interface), among other quirks. The general layout of the game is that Cutrus, the bird that you control, sits on the shoulder of Orin, the man that you control, (though he is capable of leaving at any time)and if you play with two players one person will optimally control each character. To start, you select a location of Egypt, Italy, Germany, Spain, Africa, India, or Arabia from a menu. Then, you warp there, and you must defeat a powerful boss at the end of, and complete, a level. Because they are tough, you will undoubtedly attempt these levels multiple times. Should you beat a level you will encounter a very strange, amusing scene where for some reason a skeleton serves you tea in the boss' lair. Afterwards you receive a password, and then you move on to other countries.

The levels of 8 Eyes have objects that you can bust in them, such as blocks in walls, that reveal special items. For example, scrolls found in walls will give you brief hints, and you may find a special axe to throw or a white ball that will stop time. You also find hearts, which regulate your usage of these special items--each usage costs a number of hearts. You also find jars that give you temporary invulnerability or completely restore your health bar. If your health bar is gone obviously you are dead. Losing the bird won't end the game, but losing the man will. A last caveat is that some levels are maze-like, with endless loops if you continue to ascend stairs in the same place, which is an example of the game's challenging not only your reflexes but also your mind, at least to some extent.

Most importantly, your job in the game is the navigation of the two characters. The bird Cutrus has one ability only, which is swooping down at an angle. As he does this, he may strike the heads of enemies or unveil special items in blocks. Cutrus may be the only way of reaching special items, and weakening a boss with Cutrus sometimes seems as if it is the only way of beating the boss. By swooping, Cutrus can also hit out-of-the-way switches that Orin can't reach. Conversely, Orin is the one that carries the special items that Cutrus can unveil, has a sword that he can fight with, and can also enter doors, which Cutrus can't do. Cutrus flies to Orin's shoulder in these cases, and the screen fades out to the next. Also each character has their own health bar, Orin usually being the one under fire, as Cutrus can flee to Orin's shoulder (invulnerability) if he becomes a big target. Indeed, Cutrus can fly to Orin's shoulder at any time; however, if he wants to be of use he must be aloft and prepared for swooping when necessary. The problems begin if you play by yourself, which is where you must control both characters separately. Doing so means that Orin must stand idle while Cutrus moves, and Cutrus must be on Orin's shoulder while Orin moves, creating nasty logistical problems.

8 Eyes in this way can be restrictive. Especially it hinders the single player, who must control both characters as he moves through the game. The impression that the game gives in this manner is a bit like going to a party where the host ousts you because you aren't married or you don't have a partner with you. Don't take it that 8 Eyes is a party, or that Orin, the grainy, dreary-looking gothic fellow that you control is anything resembling a party-goer, but having to control both characters as a single player is a burden. It is clearly less efficient than playing the game with two players. And this sort of disparity could wreck a game, except that 8 Eyes covers its tail somewhat. Although you can visit the game's stages of Arabia, Africa, etc. in any order, if you visit and kill the bosses in a specific order you gain enhancements to your sword that help you kill the next, specific boss. For example, if you kill Germany's boss you may get a power-up against Arabia's. The links between bosses are static, and they go full circle till the end. I don't know what they are. I only became aware of this from the internet, but that says that two players can experience a greater challenge by not following any order of progression (this is what my dad and I did), and single players can experience a fairer challenge by following an order of progression. It is an acceptable band-aid that fixes what could have been an unacceptable restriction. Still the single player will have less fun with 8 Eyes because of the challenge and inefficiency of controlling two characters, even if he can beat the game by following this prescribed order.

As a final note the comparisons of this game to Castlevania, which is another NES action game that most people recognize, are entirely justified. I honestly never put two and two together as a child and realized this. And, moral complaints aside--again, I think some reviewers may get too raveled up in whether a game has copied another game rather than if it's fun--some people may not like this. Perhaps people may be tired of games that play like Castlevania. 8 Eyes, though, has a different feel than Castlevania. Although Orin is as much of a gothic downer as Simon Belmont, who played Castlevania's hero, the countries that you visit--all whittled down to a castle full of stereotypes, such as dark-skinned men with thongs and axes in Africa or men with cutlasses and turbans in Arabia--appear differently. The sound is a change from Castlevania too. In Africa the NES soundchip does its best to emulate tom-toms that you suspect a dark-skinned guy in his underwear could throw axes to. Or other countries have slightly nationalistic tunes. The graphics and sound are stereotypes, but they are not Castlevania's graphics or sound. Oh! and they were great fun as a child. I got raveled in all sorts of fantasies as a child regarding this game. I must have thought that the leader of Italy had a pet panther and that he threw razor sharp cards when people tried taking him out of office. Or that hunch-backed green monsters lived in Africa.

Unless you are fascinated by the idea of exploring prescribed castles in 13th century countries you may want to give 8 Eyes a pass for its single player. I have mentioned why: it is tough; controlling two characters at once seems unfair compared to the capabilities that two players have. However, for multiplayer I do not see an alternative to this great game. I suppose Contra is a side-scrolling two player game. You shoot guns and have strategy in it, but the bird and man characters hold a unique balance in 8 Eyes. Their deficiencies make 8 Eyes more strategic. Two players must work at helping and compensating for one another. The only problem that I see is the argument over who will play the bird and who will play the man! Can I pan the game for requiring third-party help (a coin) to settle this most disturbing of disputes? Amusingly the bird may be sacrificed in certain boss battles--and if I haven't said it yet, boss battles are painful, especially if you run them out of order--making for possibly amusing pre-game arguments over who gets stuck with the bird.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/13/06, Updated 11/14/06