 Snnnnn that's drunk. There are quite a few Super Nintendo games that PAL regions received that North America did not, and one of the better games was Lucky Luke, which was also released for PC, and it's based on the popular comic series created by Morris back in the late 40's. Yeah, I know I've talked about this one a couple of times before, but it's an interesting and well-made game that not so many people in the U.S. know about, so it's well worth spending some more time on it. This one was developed by Infograms, same as just about every other PAL Exclusive Licensed Game on the SNES, But I would argue that this is the best of the bunch that they made. You play as Lucky Luke with 3 lives to get through 12 levels, your health is represented in your facial expression in the upper left, and you can absorb about 4 or 5 hits or so before losing a life. There's no continues, but there is a password system. You start the game in Yuma chasing down the dastardly Dalton brothers, who have just robbed a bank. The structure each level has is pretty interesting. At first glance, it seems like you just run to the right and shoot stuff, but this is much more of a puzzle platformer, and the level design here can be pretty clever. You gotta figure out how to use your surroundings to find your way around, and you'll see a really simple example right away where you shoot this haystack so it can fall and boost you over this horse that kicks you every time you approach it. Eventually, you run into this dude, who says that the mare was dropped down a well. So you go back, go down the well, and find the mare, and you just kinda stays there hanging out by himself. Hey, suit yourself, dude. You head back to the right where you meet your first boss fight. This undertaker dude, no not that undertaker dude, sets up a duel with this big guy, and you have to fire on his signal before the enemy shoots you. In the meantime, you've got these extra enemies that pop up and try and sheepshot you, ugh. But yeah, that's just the first level. The game does a good job keeping things interesting, with each level structured a little differently, and giving you different missions to complete. Whether it's rescuing someone, finding an item, riding your horse alongside this train as you jump over boulders, or gunning down projectiles flying at you in these over-the-shoulder gallery shooter stages. Those are a lot of fun. The second stage has you try and find a dog, who has a key that can free these guys that got locked into a room, so you climb around these caverns underground, and there's plenty of hidden areas to discover, which is really cool. Later on, you're in a saloon that's been trashed. I love how this level looks. You have to find this guy who gives you a clue on the whereabouts of the Dalton brothers, but you have to lure him out somehow. You get a clue that he loves music, so you find some sheet music and put it into the player piano to get his attention. Some people may not like this approach, and I can understand that, especially since some of the puzzles here really are not intuitive at all, unfortunately. Like in the second level, it took me forever to realize that you can use dynamite to blow up these ball and chain things, so they fall all the way to the floor. Then you can kick them to knock down the door. I mean, I was just lost and screwing around and found that totally by accident. There's other instances like that, too, but I mean, it's not like there's a time limit here, so you have plenty of time and certainly plenty of space to mess around in. Unfortunately, enemies constantly respawn, which is a pain, but still, if you're into puzzle solving, you'll dig this game. Oh, and you also arm wrestle your horse at the end of some stages, so if you're into that, then here you go. As you can see so far, the art style of this game is just fantastic. I'm obviously no expert on Lucky Luke, so I can't speak on how well it represents the source material, but just as a fan of 16-bit gaming, this is some high-quality pixel art here. The sprites are really well done, the backgrounds are deep and detailed, the cutscenes look really good, and despite there being a plethora of Western-themed games on the Super Nintendo, everything from Wild Guns to Sunset Riders to Tin Star, this game still manages to look completely unique. Just take one glance at the screen at any point during the game, and you immediately know it's Lucky Luke. The music also fits the game perfectly without sounding generic or derivative. One thing that kind of bothered me about this game is the way the buttons are laid out. It's B to jump and X to fire, and the options menu doesn't let you change it. There's a run button, too. You hold Y to run, but as you'll find out very quickly, running in this game is not a smart thing to do, since enemies will fire at you at the split second they're on the screen. Plus, projectiles can be pretty tough to see sometimes, so you really have to be careful. You also can't shoot while jumping, which can be problematic. So yeah, I understand Lucky Luke may not be for everyone. Some people might not have the patience for some of the puzzles in this game, but I appreciate how easygoing this playthrough is. Like I said, there's no time limit other than your own patience, and this game looks and sounds fantastic, so I have no problem taking my time to try and find my way around this game. So for all of you folks that missed out on this PAL region exclusive, this is one you should try and check out any way you can. Alright, I want to thank you for watching and I hope you have a great rest of your day.