Rod-Land 'Wand'-ers Back to the West in Two Sweet Rereleases

Comprehensive readers of this website have probably long inferred my love for a certain gaming franchise. Mario? Sure. Pac-Man? Of course. But Rod-Land? Yep, I'm quite enamored with that Japanese arcade game that essentially skipped the United States back in its early 1990s heyday. Despite the title's obscure nature in America, it was a relative hit in both Japan and Europe, spawning a slew of ports across a bevy of systems, including the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 home computer. These various adaptations varied in both quality and faithfulness, with the Amiga version generally being considered the best conversion...with the infamous NES/Famicom edition claiming the opposite distinction. That latter wasn't bad, exactly, but its British developers (Storm/The Sales Curve) clearly had a different interpretation of what Rod-Land could be on a home system. And this difference in direction is both what hurts the game...and what makes it great.

Years later, this lost port, along with its equally rare Game Boy rendition, have finally gotten an official release on the American side of the Atlantic. Crafted by the vintage specialists over at Retro-Bit, both games come in fittingly deluxe, lovely packages meant to celebrate their overdue return. Naturally, I purchased the pair and, not forgetting my due diligence, photographed my journey digging through the NES version's contents.

Retro-Bit's new-fangled editions of Rod-Land resurrect the game's British ports but retain the original Japanese art...which, probably, was a wise decision.

Rod-Land's box art as originally depicted in Europe. Something was definitely lost in its aesthetic translation.

The Rod-Land box is much like a chest of colorful treasures. Check out the lovely concept art!

Rod-Land is a special game--one of the great single-screen platformers, actually--and these premium releases are indeed delicacies for the eye...even if the titles themselves are fallacies of their place and time. The 8-bit aesthetic simply can't match the splendor offered by the box art, nor the glamour of the arcade and Amiga games on which they are based. And that's problematic: While the existence of these belated ports is something of a Christmas miracle, those not familiar with the series, I fear, won't understand the commotion--the fierce devotion--revolving around the arcane iterations of an already obscure, ancient game.

Indeed, judging from the two releases' low edition-serial numbers, preorders were modest--suggesting that, after all these years, Western recognition of the franchise remains meager, the disinterest still distressingly high. From a collector's standpoint, this just makes the few manufactured copies all the more scarce and theoretically valuable. But it's a shame for fans who know that Rod-Land deserves better. After a 30-year-or-so hiatus, the fabled franchise finally arrives in North America only to be criminally ignored. Alas, what a shame. What a heartbreak. What a fate.

From top to bottom: The Famicom, Game Boy, Amiga, and Arcade versions of Rod-Land. All practically identical, right?

The Rod-Land NES cartridge and manual. The game always had a cute, storybook charm not unlike The Smurfs, or later, Paper Mario.

Worth the Purchase?

For those who can still find copies, Rod-Land is still a must for any NES, Game Boy, or single-screen platformer fanatic. These versions might not be the franchise's best, but any Rod-Land is better than no Rod-Land. And the more these sell, the more hope there is for a true sequel...or at least a sweet remake of the arcade original.

For those interested, my reviews for the Arcade, Amiga, and (some) 8-bit editions of Rod-Land can be found here, here, and here, respectively.--D