Ludography
56/100
Players7 ratings
Totally Rad cover

1990 · Port · Aicom · Action-adventure · Platformer

Totally Rad

Nintendo exclusivePort

Totally Rad is an action game in which you play Jake, a magician wannabe being trained by the Master Magician Zebediah. One day, during his training, Jake is attacked by surprise by unknown foes who kidnap Allison, his girlfriend. Then, Jake has to save her and discover what lies behind that attack.

Released
28 September 1990
Platforms
NES
Genres
Action-adventurePlatformerScience
Developers
Aicom
Publishers
Jaleco
Modes
Single-player
Country
Japan
Languages
English
Composers
Kazuo Sawa

About

Totally Rad, known in Japan as Magic John (マジック・ジョン, Majikku Jon), is an action-adventure game developed by Aicom and published by Jaleco for the Nintendo Entertainment System. The game was released in Japan on September 28, 1990, in North America in March 1991, and in Europe the same year.

Keywords

  • magic
  • action-adventure
  • side-scrolling
  • damsel in distress
  • misrepresentative box art
  • shape-shifting
  • kidnapping
  • regional port

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

Multiple boss fights ranging in complexity

Special summoning abilities

Story

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 teens who talk in contemporary "surfer" lingo.

Reception

Mean Machines 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.”

Releases by platformdates and regions as published

PlatformReleasedRegions
NES31 December 1990Europe · North America 29 March 1991

Editions and related releases

Included in
Jaleco Collection 1Star Flashback Blast!Jalecolle Famicom Ver. Magic John & Totally RADPolymega Collection Vol. 14: Astyanax
Part of
Magic John
Port of
Magic John

Games like this

Collections1 collection

Platform libraries

Description adapted from its source, CC BY-SA 4.0.