Solomon's Key

"An enchanting, difficult puzzle adventure"

Solomon's Key is one of the earliest Nintendo games, released in 1987 by Tecmo. It may have been the first game released by Tecmo for the system (don't quote me on that). It features fifty rooms filled with enemies, blocks, and traps that require a complex series of moves in order to collect the key and exit the room.

Storyline: 6.0
The story goes like this: a long time ago, an evil power was sealed inside of a book. The book was hidden away, in the hopes that it would never be discovered. However, one day a curious monk found the book and he unknowingly released the evil upon the world again. It's up to the wizard Dana to make things good and right again.

Gameplay: 9.0
It seems so simple - collect the key, exit the door - but of course, it's not that simple. Each room is made up of one screen and is seen from a side view. The rooms are filled with blocks, enemies, platforms, walls, and items. Your wizard Dana can create and destroy blocks with his magic wand. This is the meat of the gameplay, as you can make your own platforms to get up to high places, surround enemies with blocks to trap them, and more.

The enemies range from dopey ogres to electric balls that move along walls and ceilings, to dragons that can destroy your blocks with fire, and many more. All of them kill you instantly. This is where the puzzle aspect comes in, as you need to figure out the best way to defeat or avoid the enemies in the room to get to the prizes. For example, you can create a small ceiling that juts out from the wall, wait until the electric ball moves into the corner, then quickly create another wall to trap the ball inside. Or if an ogre is on a platform above you, wait until he reaches the breakable block at your end, then break it to make him fall and die. These are only some of the things you can do, but they are among the most important.

Some of the items that you pick up will allow you to fight back against the monsters. You can pick up fireballs and Super fireballs (which kill all the monsters in its path, instead of just one), receiving one use of the fireball for each jar you pick up. There are also scrolls which extend the maximum number of fireballs you can pick up, hourglasses which reset the room timer to a certain level (oh yeah, did I mention each room is timed?), 1-ups, faeries which grant you an extra life after you collect 10, and many crystals and gems that are worth points. There are also secret hidden items like Constellation symbols which allow you to enter treasure-filled bonus rooms, and other symbols like the Star of David which have a mystery purpose.

Control: 8.0
Dana can run, jump, duck, use his block wand, and shoot fireballs. A difference from the norm is using the Up arrow for jump instead of a button. It does feel natural after a tiny bit of playing, however. Dana can create and destroy walls and platforms precisely and speedily. He can create blocks above, in front of, or below his position, and if he stands on the edge of a block, he can create one a square away. This comes in handy. Unfortunately, he's not the fastest video game character, and it can be somewhat difficult to avoid enemies that move faster than you.

Graphics: 7.0
Everything is pretty good here. Dana is animated well and so are many of the enemies. Despite the small size of the characters, everything is easy to see, even the tiny power-ups and money bags. The backgrounds are plain, one-color walls, occasionally with a zodiac symbol, but you'll be too busy to really even notice.

Sound: 8.5
The music has a very nice, enchanting, mystical feel to it, perfect for the atmosphere of the gameplay. It doesn't get very repetitive because each room doesn't take much time. You'll either complete it or die within 90 seconds. The sound effects include the creation and destruction of blocks, and an enemy going up in flames after getting hit by a fireball, but that's about it.

Challenge: 9.5
The game starts off easy but soon becomes maddeningly difficult. With only three lives to complete fifty rooms, you'll have to be precise and exact through the first half of the game, as well as collect extra lives, in order to deal with the puzzles of the second half. Some of the challenges require unbelievable timing and so the game can get frustrating, especially since there's no continues (unless you cheat). But if you're looking for a very high challenge level, you won't be disappointed.

Replay Value: 7.0
Since the game will take a long time to complete, you're sure to get your money's worth out of it. There are plenty of hidden secrets to find, so you can continually find new things.

Overall: 9.0
Solomon's Key is a great puzzle adventure for the NES that may take many months to complete. The fact that it came out so early in the NES's lifespan is astounding. Emulate or buy ASAP.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 05/03/00, Updated 05/03/00