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アルマナの奇跡
©Konami 1987
Release: 1987-08-11 (¥2980)
DiskCard KDS-ARM
Action/Platform game
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Arumana no Kiseki is a platform game by Konami featuring an
Indiana Jones wannabe named Kaito.
The game opens up in a remote village in an desolate country - The Arumana,
a red magic stone, has been keeping the village at peace for centuries but a callous
thief stole the precious jewel and a mysterious spell turned all the villagers into
stone statues. Kaito must pursue the evil demon who stole the stone
and bring it back to its original owners. But our hero doesn't come empty handed and
his greatest strength is his grappling hook. This particular item is
at the core of the gameplay - he can throw it in the air and use it to reach
high platforms, climb up or to go over obstacles.
The player also has a large arsenal of
weapons at is disposal, from throwing knives (short range), bombs, a gun (long range),
bola-balls to a mystical orb (kills all enemies on the screen) and
spiky balls (which can be used as a weapon or to reveal hidden passageways).
They however all come in limited quantities and must be refilled
throughout the game. Other items include meat (restores
health), extra lives and pendants (increase maximum life).
Arumana no Kiseki consists of six large stages, each
concluded by a boss battle.
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Arumana no Kiseki Konami Cards
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Like several other early Konami games released in the 1980s/1990s, Arumana no Kiseki
included a numbered collector card also known in Japan as コナミ キャラカード (aka 'Konami Chara Cards' or 'Konami Character Cards').
Each card featured an illustration or a snapshot
from the game (picture on the right), and the back of each card showed a serial number as well as the
game's title. They were randomly included with the games and Konami
produced several variations of each card. That's it, each game included a
card from a series related to the game, it is however not known
how many different card variations were made for each game.
Apparently six cards (on average) were produced for each game, except
for Doremikko (1 card), Exciting Boxing (1 card) and Meikyujin Dababa
(which, curiously, only seem to feature five cards).
The list of
Konami games to include such cards are believed to be :
Ai Senshi Nicol (FDS),
Dracula II Noroi no Fuin (FDS),
Arumana no Kiseki (FDS),
Contra (FC),
Doremikko (FDS),
Dragon Scroll (FC),
Exciting Baseball (FDS),
Exciting Basketball (FDS),
Exciting Billard (FDS),
Exciting Boxing (FDS),
Exciting Soccer (FDS),
Falsion (FDS),
Getsu Fūma Den (FC),
Majō Densetsu II Daimashikyō Galious(FC),
Meikyū Jiin Dababa (FDS),
Metal Gear (FC),
Salamander (FC),
Tetsuwan Atom (FC),
Top Gun (FC)
and Wai Wai World (FC).
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Click on picture to enlarge |
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Arumana no Kiseki is an incredibly difficult game to master, here are some
tips to help you to get through it:
Enemies keep respawning from doors scattered throughout the game. However,
if you stand in front of a door, enemies will stop respawning from it, giving
you some breathing space.
Learn to master the jump and rope throw - if you keep the controller in
an up-diagonal position (left or right) and press the jump and attack button at the same time,
you will be able to jump and throw the hook. This is tricky to master but will allow you to
reach many platforms in the game.
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If you are low on ammo, wait at any door. Red enemies will eventually respawn from it and
release items when defeated. Various places in the game are perfect locations
to refill your inventory.
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LK
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Add your Pov here !
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I have mixed feelings about Arumana no Kiseki. The game certainly
displays some incredible production values with detailed graphics and gorgeous
and atmospheric music tracks - Konami at its best. The game
also borrows most of its elements from the Indiana Jones and the temple of Doom
movie, was Konami expecting to license it at some point? In any case,
this was the promise of a great game in my book! But after the excitement comes
the reality. Arumana no Kiseki
has an insane 'old school difficulty' written all over it, and it is stuffed with
frustrating moments and the rope/hook feature is an ingenious and unique idea but
just ends up being awkward and incredibly clunky to control.
Additionally, although Kaito can jump, it is useless in most cases and
mastering the grappling hook is necessary, even to jump onto most moving platforms.
I have to say, even after playing this one for hours, I never managed to
get used to the controls... Especially as enemies keep respawning and attacking you,
leaving you little space to breathe.
I feel that Arumana No Kiseki often asks too much of the player - this is a
shame because it exhibits exceptional talents. All in all, it is game that will certainly
reward players who can handle its punishing difficulty and
questionable control decisions, but may be a frustrating experience for the ones who can't.
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