''Totally Rad'', known in Japan as , is an action-adventure game developed by

Aicom Aicom was a Japanese video game developer, founded in 1988, possibly by a group that left Jaleco . Despite evidence to support this, the Sammy corporate website lists 1990 as the first year and that it was a subsidiary. It was bought by Sammy I ...

and published by Jaleco for the Nintendo Entertainment System. The game was released in Japan on September 28, 1990, in Europe in 1990 and in North America on March 29, 1991.

Gameplay

* Multiple boss fights ranging in complexity * Special summoning abilities * Side-scrolling platform game

Plot

Jake (John in the Japanese version) is hired as an apprentice magician by Zebediah Pong (simply referred to as Pong in the Japanese version). He is training when some strange people attack and kidnap his girlfriend, Allison (Yuu in the Japanese version). Jake goes on a quest to find out where they came from and why they wanted Allison. Afterwards, Jake discovers Allison's kidnapping was a feint to force Allison's father, a renowned scientist, out of hiding. Jake must not only save Allison's father, but ultimately battle an evil king who plans to lead a subterranean army in a battle against the people of Jake's world. The Japanese and North American versions of the game are mostly the same, except for the characters. In the original 'Magic John', the main characters are two preadolescent, Japanese-style cartoon friends. In 'Totally Rad', they are redesigned into becoming two Californian adolescents who talk in "surfer" lingo from the 1980s.

Manual

The

instruction manual An owner's manual (also called an instruction manual or a user guide) is an instructional book or booklet that is supplied with almost all technologically advanced consumer products such as vehicles, home appliances and computer peripherals. ...

for ''Totally Rad'' is filled with surfer lingo, in addition to comical picture breaks and comments about the author's "babe" and how attractive she looks in the picture he put of her in the instruction manual.

Reception

Mean Machines ''Mean Machines'' was a multi-format video game journalism, video game magazine published between 1990 and 1992 in the United Kingdom. Origins In the late 1980s ''Computer and Video Games'' (''CVG'') was largely covering the outgoing generatio ...

magazine gave the game a score of 63 out of 100 giving criticism to the lack of challenge in the first few levels, repetitive action, over simplistic gameplay and concluding “A reasonable game which misses out on brilliance due to over-simplification of the gameplay and unoriginal gameplay.”

References

External links

Official website
a

''Totally Rad''
at MobyGames
The Rad Project
- A comparison of the original Japanese version with the Western revision.
''Totally Rad'' Game Review (With Cut Scenes)
- A complete transcript of the game's cut scenes and storyboard side by side with a game review.
''Totally Rad'' instruction manual
1990 video games Action-adventure games Aicom games Jaleco games Nintendo Entertainment System games Nintendo Entertainment System-only games Platform games Science fiction video games Side-scrolling video games Video games developed in Japan Single-player video games