Rod Land

1990 | Jaleco | Jaleco Mega System 1, Evercade

Among classic arcade fans, the name Jaleco brings up warm and fuzzy memories of incredible arcade experiences in the mid 80’s and early 90’s. They brought us absolute classics, like Q*Bert, Avenging Spirit and Earth Defense Force. While the arcade scene in its original form has started to fizzle out into a more niche corner of the gaming world, it’s still a worthwhile part to revisit from time to time. Whether it’s to delve into coin-devouring danmaku, brutal platformers and high-score chasing action games, Jaleco opted for a more approachable title in the form of 1990’s Rod Land.

Released on Jaleco’s Mega System line of arcade boards; Rod Land is a colorful platformer in which the player takes on the role of Tam or Rit on a quest to save their mother, who has been kidnapped by monsters and taken to the Tower of Maboots. With your trusted rod and shoes you’re given the power by the fairy village elder to undergo a rescue operation. The game takes you through 32 stages, or scenes, in which you have to clear the screen of enemies. Much like Taito’s Bubble Bobble, you don’t directly kill enemies. Instead you use the rod to momentarily stun them or swing them around. You can also hit enemies with the enemies you’re swinging around. Since there is no jump button, Rod Land gives you the ability to place a ladder anywhere you want. This allows you to traverse to higher platforms, but can also be used to route enemies. At first it may seem a bit silly to place a ladder in the middle of a platform, but enemies are incredibly enthusiastic about climbing them. To clear a level you have to defeat all enemies on a stage. However, if you collect all the jewels, flowers and fruits on screen, you’ll go into EXTRA mode. This causes all enemies to turn into red turnips and they drop letters when killed. If you manage to spell out EXTRA, you get rewarded with a small cutscene of a fairy giving you an extra life.

It’s a good idea to strategize a bit around collecting everything on screen before killing the rest, since you can find yourself in situations where all the lives you had left are suddenly vaporized by hordes of tiny crocodiles and elephants. While Rod Land isn’t as punishing as most arcade titles of the time, it does have an appetite for quarters and isn’t shy about trying to corner you. Placing ladders haphazardly and without strategy can leave you in situations you can’t get out of, with a lost life as a result. Rod Land does an incredibly smart thing by placing the character at the bottom of the screen and usually far away from the monsters you’re supposed to beat, giving you ample time to study their patterns and formulate a plan.

Among the 32 scenes are four boss battles to challenge. These usually involve fighting a larger enemy that requires more than three hits to be defeated. The bosses usually spew out a horde of tiny versions of themselves to make hitting them more of a challenge. While the bosses offer a bigger challenge than your standard enemy, they also have rather recognizable patterns and taking your time to memorize these goes a very long way to make your life easier. My favorite is the first and second phase of the final boss. The first has him bouncing over you in a shrinking arc, and you can manipulate where he goes by turning around on the spot. It’s rather precise, but once you pull off the proper rhythm it feels incredibly satisfying. During the second phase he snakes around the stage and you can avoid him by climbing your ladder.

After defeating the final boss you’re rewarded with one rescued mother and a code to enter on the main menu to enter the second story. This story follows your dads’ fight against a mechanical army that has made a base underneath a pyramid. In these additional 32 scenes the cutesy animals and slimes are replaced with cold hearted machines. The difficulty also ramps up quite a bit, with enemies having the ability to hover around instead of walking. The final boss is surprisingly fiendish as you’re pitted against the oddest tonal shift and grand general of the alien robotic army; the Devil. This fight is hellish to say the least, with orbs floating all over the place. Luckily my years of looking at DVD logo’s floating around screens had prepared me somewhat for this ordeal. With the boss defeated, the aliens leave and the credits roll.

Rod Land is an absolutely adorable title, with some cheek pinch worthy enemies and fun boss designs. There is a surprising amount of depth to strategizing around monsters and points outside of clearing screens. A lot of decision making is a risk and reward assessment that’s based on how fast you can clear the enemies to a point where they become manageable so you can comfortably collect your flowers. I found myself using ladders as decoys and even as pitfall traps to make collecting as safe as possible. The first story offers a decent challenge, but never feels overwhelming. That is, until you play with two players. When flying solo, you can find consistent ways to manipulate bosses into specific patterns, but when you have a co-op partner this becomes wildly unpredictable. It gives an extra layer to strategizing and also makes certain bosses a lot harder, and some a lot easier to deal with. It’s a great experience to play alone, but a fantastic embodiment of chaos when you have a friend to join you. Rod Land is a terrific game to serve as an introduction to arcade platformers without overwhelming newcomers. The adorable aesthetic and color palette feels warm and welcoming. The controls are easy to understand and use, leaving a lot of breathing room for players to learn how to use them. It’s a great game to kill a few hours on. I just wish there was a bit more to the music than the one jingle that’s slowly carving the inside of my skull for all eternity.

BEEZLEBALLS/10