A child named Nemo wakes to find himself in a mysterious world. After some exploring, he comes across a girl dressed like an 80’s pop-star who appears to know him. When she discovers that Nemo doesn’t remember her, she reveals she’s Flip, his “bestest friend,” and tells him that Slumberland, the world their in, is in trouble. Mysterious areas of black starry space have been appearing all over Slumberland with nightmares following. Realizing that there must be a connection between this and Nemo’s missing memories, Flip suggests that they find the Guardians of Slumberland to figure out what’s wrong. And by “they,” Flip means it’s up to Nemo while she “supports” him from the background.
Little Nemo and the Guardians of Slumberland is a Metroidvania that’s based on the Little Nemo Sunday newspaper comic created by Winsor McCay that ran in the early 20th century. It’s actually one of two games that have taken advantage of the comic’s status of being in the public domain, though unlike other projects that try to take advantage of a media product in public domain as of late, it’s far from a bad game. In fact, it was a very fun game with a fair difficulty level.
Gameplay feels like a mix of Super Mario Bros. 2 and Metroid. Early on you’re required to either pick up certain enemies or veggies out of the ground in order to defend yourself. As you explore Slumberland, you’ll come across toys that can give you more offensive options as well as open other routes for exploration. Other toys can even give you defensive and mobility options, giving access to items like candy, which is used as currency, and moons to increase rank or unlock fast travel.
Being a Metroidvania, you mostly explore Slumberland in a non-linear fashion, though you’ll likely find certain areas off limits until you have a certain toy or find alternative routes. You’ll also find ways to access different domains of Slumberland, though some care should be taken as a few of these domains have nightmares and other dangers that can potentially wake Nemo up in a single hit. In these cases, it’s best to search the areas you’ve already been to find parts of defense coins before returning, though you can challenge these domains anyways.
If Nemo is woken, he simply returns to his bedroom where he falls out of bed like in the comic. From here you can switch Pjs or buddy, examine the world map to pick a fast travel location, and even pet the cat. Waking up doesn’t effect you’re game negatively other than losing your rank and whatever candy you had been holding, though a portion of your candy can be recovered if you talk to a certain character. Returning to sleep puts you at the last bed you found in Slumberland, though unlocking fast travel in certain domains allows you to pick any beds you’ve found there.
There’s usually a boss in each area of Slumberland which is required to be beaten in order to help restore a Guardian. The bosses are usually taken out in three “hits,” but it’s usually not that simple. If you’ve acquired a toy before reaching the boss, it’ll usually be needed to actually damage the boss, not unlike a boss from most The Legend of Zelda bosses. This usually makes the bosses a bit of a puzzle, which makes bosses a bit of a challenge.
Little Nemo and the Guardians of Slumberland has a vibrant and honestly adorable art style. The graphics are reminiscent of the crayon-drawn art style similar to Yoshi’s Island or Kirby’s Dreamland 3, which really suits the game. In fact, I was expecting to be lulled into a false sense of security and be thrown an end game akin to the Kirby or MOTHER/Earthbound games, but received something else entirely…
The sound effects are fine if nothing too special and serve their purpose. There’s no voiced dialog though characters speak in Simlish like in Animal Crossing when they interact. The music is really good and suit the domains traveled, with a few tracks even using chip-tunes that feels like a call back to the Little Nemo: The Dream Master game. In fact, the soundtrack was produced by Peter Berkman of Anamanaguchi, a band known for using chip-tunes as part of their music. Unfortunately, if you wish to listen to the music separately, the music player is still a work-in-progress as of this article’s release despite cassette tapes being scattered around Slumberland.
As for using the Little Nemo IP… I’ll admit, I’m no expert on the comic as I started reading through it recently. Guardians of Slumberland is a setting update to the original comic, now taking place in I think the late 80’s or early 90’s. A number of characters that are from the comic have been re-imagined, such as Flip being gender-flipped and now an 80’s pop-star instead of a chain-smoking clown. However, I’m pretty sure that the Guardians were created for this game, though one uses the name of an animated character Winsor McCay had created.
What the game might lack in nods to it’s origin it makes up for in nods to classic video games and pop-culture from the 80’s and 90’s. There are several reference to the Super Mario Bros. games such as a pair of Pjs causing a defensive ability to turn Nemo into a statue like Tanooki Mario from Super Mario Bros. 3 as well as having a Phanto-like nightmare chase you when traveling with certain items. A few of the buddies look like a few toys from days gone by, like one that looks like the old Glo Worm toys and another that’s a weird combo of Alf and a Furby.
The story is fairly simple on the outside but also very deceiving. You’ll gradually be filled in on what’s happening to Slumberland and even hints about Nemo’s past adventures as you progress through the game and talk to the characters you encounter. However, there’s a subtle feeling of melancholy to the tale that’s woven that I felt as soon as I restored the first Guardian. Lore pedestals scattered around Slumberland make it even more obvious, with bittersweet tales from both the waking world and Slumberland. The true ending hit me hard despite it’s simplicity.
Honestly, I really enjoyed Little Nemo and the Guardians of Slumberland. It’s a sweet game that has a hidden bittersweet center. It has it’s moments where it can be a bit frustrating but still is mostly fair. If you enjoy Metroidvanias and the cute art style doesn’t deter you, I’d recommended checking it out. As for that other Little Nemo game that’s in the works, Little Nemo and the Nightmare Fiends is currently in Alpha. If the fact that Guardians of Slumberland seems a bit lacking in regards to it’s source material, Nightmare Fiends has an art style that replicates the look of the original comic.
Currently Available on Steam – Coming Soon to Nintendo Switch
CaptObvious42 is otherwise the very definition of a nerd. He’s a fan of many things considered retro, with his biggest obsessions being science fiction series both known and obscure, detective shows mostly out of the 80’s and 90’s, video games mostly from the Genesis/SNES years, and dinosaurs.