Classic Game Room - SOLSTICE review for NES 

I met Mark yesterday at a Convention and after 4 years of watching CGR avidly, it was one of the most exciting moments of my life. Mark was an amazing dude and there's nos possible way I could thank him enough for the entertainment he has given me for as long as he has.

The intro song to this game is glorious. One of my favorite video game songs of all time.

I owned this game and thought it was really good. That said, your worst enemy in Solstice is that isometric view. In some areas it's soooooo hard to tell how the blocks and pillars and whatnot line up, and of course, that sort of angle does not lend itself well to NES gamepad controls, either.

The SNES sequel "Equinox" also has incredible music. The "dying sound" kind of reminds me of Marble Madness.

Oh, now this strikes straight through my heart of memories. I played this way too much when I was a just a little kid. Super hard but also so rewarding.

Tim Follin is a god.

Tim Follin is a chiptune genius.

I watched this video a few days back and I must say I was impressed by the look of it. I'm new to the NES console and was hoping to find some hidden gem games and this one seemed to fit that pretty well. I tried it on emulator but I've never got on with them very well as, for me, it's just not the same as having the actual console and a controller in your hand. I've now purchased this and it should be arriving in about 2 days, I'm so excited to play it! I really hope it's as good as it seems. Great review video and please keep up the good work, I can see these videos being extremely useful to me when building my collection so thank you I guess for producing such great content :)

Tim Follin's soundtrack...rocks again :)

When we were kids, our Mom made us return this game, because she hated that dying sound so much. One of my favorite NES memories. :)

Always surprised to hear people say this game is difficult. If you're patient and have good timing, you actually won't die all that often, and the credits system is very forgiving. The game is also fairly short once you know what you're doing -- I think a password system would've made it much too easy. The idea is, you're supposed to try searching a different part of the castle each time you play, getting more and more familiar with the map, until you eventually know where all 7 pieces of the staff are -- at which point you can start from scratch and generally breeze through the entire game in 30-40 minutes, easy. Maybe it's just the exact right kind of challenge for me specifically or something, but both as a kid and to this day, I don't find this game particularly frustrating or overly difficult or anything. I've probably beaten it from beginning to end more than any other game ever made (I used to play it at least once a year, as it's one of my favorite games of all time). And I'm not trying to brag or anything -- I'm just hoping anyone who hasn't played this and is turned off from it by the supposed challenge will read this comment and consider giving the game a shot, as it truly is a beautiful experience. It's like a 3D Metroidvania in many ways, and the castle layout is absolutely perfect. Wonderful, wonderful game.

You know, the fact that the NES could handle a 3D-esque isometric game this well at all is pretty impressive, but I can't help thinking that only another Kb or two of storage would have allowed them to make alternate versions of floor tiles indicating a shadow from above -- even if it was the entire tile that ended up shaded for any object above it -- and that the inclusion of such a graphical feature would have VASTLY improved the game's playability without really hurting the puzzle element, since players would have still been left with the task of comparing the shadows to the tiles to determine elevation and platforming elements.

That man on the cover has a name... It's Tim... *remove glasses dramaticly* TIM FOLLIN!

i had this game as a kid in 1994. but the name totally slipped my mind now 21 years later i was able to find this game thanks CGR.

My favorite game on the NES and maybe of all , one of my first , thanks for the awesome review!

That dying sound effect sounds like the high note that Nigel, from Spinal Tap, plays when he's doing that crazy solo from the movie.

i remember having this game unfortunatly i never could get far but i do agree the music was great

Still waiting for that Tourist Trophy review. You're gonna love that game Mark. It's Gran Turismo W/ Motorcycles!!

That death sound! Eerie!

I just bought this game, now I see a cgr review. Heaven

Looks like Head over Heels, a game I've never played. But a game I played and loved that looks similar is Cadaver on Amiga500. That game was awesome!

You I forgot about this game then I heard the death noise oh yeah that was a sad weekend rental for me. Though I would pick up and try it again now thanks Mark , I can't wait to get my DVD from CGR!!!

Love the retro reviews!!!

this is one of my favorite games in my entire NES library, Right now that game i can compete it with a 207% percent completion in 15 minutes... since the percentage exceed 100 i dunno what is the real limit... I've been through every room and that's the highest score I've gotten.

This game looks like a lot of fun...I've gotta try it out sometime

Still a classic. Got it a long time ago from EB games and it was in the bargain shelf. Took me a long time and a FAQ to pass the game. Going to dust this off and try again.

The music in this game is AMAZING, like prog-rock for the NES

The forest levels look awesome and the title screen music reminds me of tom and jerry for the nes

The music does sound really good.

I never had this one. This game looks fun and it looks really good for an NES game.

Best NES intro music.. ever.

As soon as I heard the first second of music, I knew it was Tim Follin.

Glace Bay, huh? Weird seeing that on CGR, considering I live there.

this was one of my favorite games on the NES beet it time after time!!! great game would love to see a remake!!!

I would actually like to see a redo of this game for the 3DS, or a virtual console release. My type of puzzle game

I like that death sound

There's a sequel called Equinox, that was released on the SNES. Does anyone know if it's harder or easier then Solstice?

Despite being more of a Sega guy, I must admit the NES had some pretty damn cool games.

I used to own this game as a kid. It was basically unplayable and there was no chance of me advancing past the initial part of the game because there was no internet.

it was a tough game as a ten year old. this, swords and serpents made me the geek i am. and the most obvious point, incredible music

Hi, did you play this on an emulator? Because mine on nes isn't so fluid and the colours are also very different (bad). Thanks a lot!

Very similar to Knight Lore on the ZX Spectrum

whoaaa me an my brother had this game. we were young though, we never knew how to play it lol we didnt even know what rpg meant back then

Looks like a really good puzzle game

Looks like a pretty sweet game!

Whoa! That music tho :o

Lol that dying sound really does sound weird. Like a mouse screaming to death. XD

Don't know anything about this game at all - but upon listening to the music it sounded like a Tim Follin composition (probably more famous for his superlative C64 tracks). I've just gone and googled it and turns out I was right, he did write the music for this game! Sounds very much like his C64 stuff, I have to say (except on using a different soundchip).

This looks like my kinda game, I love being locked in dark/small puzzle rooms.

I still have my cart of this. This game kicked my ass when I was a kid. Which was really demoralizing because I mean, the game starts out melting your face off with the intro music. THEN it kicks your ass afterward.

Huge fan!!!

This didn't stay in my NES for long... Maybe it should !

The cartridge ou recieved seems to be glitchy as hell, especially in the intro sequence

2:52 Actually, you are supposed to stop time. If time is stopped, you can pick up a block as you jump off it. That way you can basically fly.

That mastery of the NES sound chip sounds like Tim Folin's work...hmm

Reminds me of Light Crusader on the Genesis.

God I remember playing this when I was under 10. I still have nightmares.

Its a pretty easy game if you know how to use the Potions, and when to get the Credit Coins. Sure it takes a while to learn where to go but I beat this game in 2 months when I was a kid

This game is all about memorizing the maze the strategizing where you go and when you collect the credits.

great classic

You should have played this on your Retron5, Mark.

Never got on with isometric games, floating enemies - could never tell where they are. Why couldn't programmers add a simple shadow on the ground.

this review is old, i remember watching it at cgr website

Oh this looks exactly like Knight Lore

What green potions do?

Haven't you reviewed this before, Mark?

I want remake! Game is awesome!

even though i never got far in this game, it was awesome

I've got this game for a long time , and when I was young ( aournd 7 years old ) I played it a lot but I did not really understand how to succeed , it's a tough game , not easy for a children

I know you may be a purist Mark, but I'd say that this game's flaw is what emulators with a save feature are for.

The E word can make this game a hell of a lot better.

the music plays too fast on the NTSC version

I'd like to watch Jason Pullara beat this game on his "Until We Win" series.

I was never able to rescue the princess either. This game is IMPOSSIBLE!!!!

Is that an easter egg? He tried putting the nes cartridge in an old atari system?

Wooo! Go Nova Scotia!

Pity you didn't choose to use an emulator that does a more accurate job of handling the graphics; someone's liable to think those glitches are inherent to the real game. Also, if anyone plays the Japanese version of this, be advised that the final room is way harder/sneakier to complete than the NES version. Seriously glad I used a walkthrough (and eventually figured out I should specifically watch a Famicom walkthrough), it might have taken me days to figure out the final room without it.

death sound should be used more often in your show.

How do I send things to mark?

all hail LOOORRRDDD KAAARRRNNNAAAGGGEEE…behold the classic game master

there is a walkthrough on youtube complete in 05:51 minutes, :)

dope ass music bro

Just had to play the dying sound that one last time, didn't you?!?!? :-P

I always liked this game. But I never get far because it's so easy to die.

Really funny!

if only a MOLE could be a wizard in this game

Play it on an emulator with save states.

Lumo brought me here! Interesting genre.. There was also Immortal which I had on Amiga that was similar stylistically..

@Lord Karnage My Lord?

NO PUZZLE IS TOO DIFFICULT FOR SHADAX THE MUSCLE WIZARD!

Reminds me a lot of Light Crusader! Someone send Mark Light Crusader! It

This game used to frustrate me so much lol.

I grew up playing Solstice and this review is 100% spot on 👍🏽 😂

Emulation+saveStates FTW!

My dad played this game when i was a lil kid. i remember it so well the music and the lil purple wizard because he would be screamin at the tv it was so hard to beat

Nova Scotia!

This game should receive a 3d remake for 3ds, would be more playable!

i remember when i was a kid a friend of mine had this game and the cover art looked so cool on the cartridge that i always wanted to play it but he never wanted to, one day i finally managed to get him to play it and.. yeah, we played it for like 5 minutes and i finally understood why it was the one game he had stuffed at the bottom of all the others collecting dust.. lol what a pos.

This game is really hard. I had it as a kid. Congratulations on beating it!

This is one of those games that desperately needed a password or battery save feature. It's too long to complete in one go. I owned this as a kid and never got too far.