El Viento
 

 

 

  

   Unlike its spin-off, Earnest Evans, El Viento is a fairly decent game (heavily praised by genesis fans) and heavy on storyline, with an epic plot told through long sessions of dialogue between each stage (although, strangely, these scenes never indicate which character is actually speaking. It's not that difficult to figure out, but still...)

 

   On the downside, most enemies are either humans or mundane animals, and most of the bosses are nondescript blobs. There are, however, a couple of extra-special guests from the literary works of Howard Philips Lovecraft and his close circle of friends. If you're a Mythos geek of any level, these cameos will knock your socks off.

 

 

   

 

   El Viento takes place in New York City, 1929. Henry, a mad religious leader with mafia ties, seeks to awaken the god Hastur (another Mythos reference, but not one of the cameos I'm talking about) and has promised great power to the foolhardy sorceress, Restiana, who will in reality serve as sacrifice to the elder deity. As the green-haired sorceress "Annet", you will chase these villains around America and ultimately straight back to New York, battling monsters and mobsters alike while meeting (in cutscenes) an assortment of other heroic characters (including an earnest adventurer who probably shouldn't have been given his own game).

 
   Annet's primary weapons are small, bladed boomerangs, but she will also learn a series of devastating magic spells. These spells consist of a basic fireball, a sliding waterspout, a blade-like gust of wind, an explosive ball, and a prolonged spray of homing energy spikes. A single charge attack encompasses all five spells, with the shortest possible charge creating a fireball and the longest charge casting your spike-spray.

 

The Enemies

(Info on mouse-over)

 

Nyah, see, it was like this, see...   We was mindin' our own buisiness, like we always - GACK!   ...When some crazy broad came by hollerin' and hoppin' around throwin' boomerangs...   ....Sos I pop out the winda' and drop a chair on 'er, and...and..AAIIEEE!   ...And I'm like, EAT MOTORCYCLE, BITCH!   And then I'm like, EAT MOTORCYCLE AND A MACHETTE, BITCH!   And she's like...OH CRAP! MY MOTORCYCLE!   So dat's when I tought, hey, I can stand hea' and 'trow cans at 'er...   Yeah, take dat! You dodge 'dem cans, I'll just keeps 'trowin 'em!   And I'm like, yes, I am happy to see you, and yes, that's a steak knife.   She didn't think it was funny.   It's like he said, boss. Boomerangs! I thought I could hide behind pillars...   ...But those boomerangs, they swing right back around and - URK!

 

...Okay, that's enough of that. These guys try to run you over AND mow you down with bullets.   ...Okay, that's enough of that. These guys try to run you over AND mow you down with bullets.   ...Okay, that's enough of that. These guys try to run you over AND mow you down with bullets.   Hopping slimes that drip from pipes in the background.   Hopping slimes that drip from pipes in the background.   Hopping slimes that drip from pipes in the background.   Adorable but annoying, giant rats come in waves, running at ultra-high speeds.   Adorable but annoying, giant rats come in waves, running at ultra-high speeds.   Adorable but annoying, giant rats come in waves, running at ultra-high speeds.   These fish jump in and out of sewage (with only one pose) and spit water. You can stand on them while they're in the air.   Goofy looking guys in hang-gliders who drop bombs.

 

KNIFE-THROWING. MIDGET. PIRATES. They bust out of barrels, and leap over your head to attack from behind. Rascals!   KNIFE-THROWING. MIDGET. PIRATES. They bust out of barrels, and leap over your head to attack from behind. Rascals!   KNIFE-THROWING. MIDGET. PIRATES. They bust out of barrels, and leap over your head to attack from behind. Rascals!   KNIFE-THROWING. MIDGET. PIRATES. They bust out of barrels, and leap over your head to attack from behind. Rascals!   KNIFE-THROWING. MIDGET. PIRATES. They bust out of barrels, and leap over your head to attack from behind. Rascals!   These just walk around and shoot blue fireballs, but you KNOW I love them. A perfect 10 on the eyeball-monster scale, for sure.   These just walk around and shoot blue fireballs, but you KNOW I love them. A perfect 10 on the eyeball-monster scale, for sure.   These just walk around and shoot blue fireballs, but you KNOW I love them. A perfect 10 on the eyeball-monster scale, for sure.   These just walk around and shoot blue fireballs, but you KNOW I love them. A perfect 10 on the eyeball-monster scale, for sure.   Could these be night-gaunts? Or am I reading too much into the Mythos thing? They pretend to be gargoyles.   Could these be night-gaunts? Or am I reading too much into the Mythos thing? They pretend to be gargoyles.   Could these be night-gaunts? Or am I reading too much into the Mythos thing? They pretend to be gargoyles.   Somewhat creepy cave-people. They throw axes.   Somewhat creepy cave-people. They throw axes.   These cave-worms are adorable, though all they do is slide along the ground.

 

Oh, I'll tell you about the bats...I'll tell you ALL...   Oh, I'll tell you about the bats...I'll tell you ALL...   These statues release bats in early stages where bats aren't that big a problem.   These statues release bats in early stages where bats aren't that big a problem.   Gunners on the stage seven blimp. I like their outfits.   Gunners on the stage seven blimp. I like their outfits.   Gunners on the stage seven blimp. I like their outfits.   Little gun turrets on vertical rails.   Just an obstacle, but I like it for some reason. It drops garbage onto conveyer belts.

 

Spear-throwing snake men. Up close, their little heads are *adorable*.   Spear-throwing snake men. Up close, their little heads are *adorable*.   Spear-throwing snake men. Up close, their little heads are *adorable*.   Spear-throwing snake men. Up close, their little heads are *adorable*.   You fight just three of these flying cave-serpents, in a single large chamber before the boss of stage three. Giant, spitting plants that can only be damaged in their flailing "head".   Giant, spitting plants that can only be damaged in their flailing "head".

 
The Strangely Scaled Cephalopod (Cthulhu?)
 
 

   This is only a basic enemy which pops out from the water and slows you down during a strange dolphin-riding sequence, but I feel it warrants some special attention. Clearly, this is a small-sized enemy who's graphics have been scaled up to ridiculous proportions, causing it to be appear blocky and way out of place on the genesis. If anyone has an explanation for this, or a clear image of this weirdo's entire body, I would much appreciate an e-mail or forum post. I cannot find any other mention of this anomaly on the internet.

 

THE BOSSES
 

First Stage

 

 

   The first boss is nothing but a big, purple tank driven by one of the generic mobsters. It initially attacks with regular cannon shells, then switches to a machine gun, and finally starts hurling tiny bombs.

 
 
Second Stage
 

           

 

   You will face the misguided Restiana over a deep pit filled with tiles that shatter on contact, which will send the both of you crashing through to the bottom throughout the battle. Restiana attacks with a couple different blasts of blue energy, and only moves via a spin-jump.

 
        

 
   When Restiana is defeated, she escapes on the back of surprise guest #1: a Byakhee!!! Perhaps not that surprising, since these guys are the servants of Hastur himself in the Cthulhu Mythos, but such an obscure reference in such a direct manner is pretty damn remarkable for games like these, and the design for this guy appears to have been borrowed (stolen) straight from an illustration in "Petersen's Field Guide to Cthulhu Monsters", a book published a mere three years before El Viento's release. Byakhee were created not by Lovecraft, but by his close friend August Derleth, and are originally described as resembling a blend of mole, crow, ant, and human corpse, with leathery bat's wings. Difficult to visualize, but they pulled it off nicely, here. You will never get to fight the Byakhee, but you will see it again before the final battle.

 
 
Third Stage
 

        

 

   This gelatinous cube may not have any treasure inside, but it does have some giant, green comb jellies (or diatoms, or something) that orbit its nucleus and fire wave upon wave of yellow fireballs. These defensive pods can be easily taken out with the water spell, but to damage the boss itself you'll have to "dent" the outer body and shoot the core when it passes through air.

 

 
Fourth Stage
 

     

 
   Boring, but somewhat pretty, you will fight this giant ball of electric coral in the hold of an oil rig. It attacks, obviously, by charging up and firing a weird yellow "bolt", but it will only do so when you attack first.
 
Fifth Stage

 

        

 

   The third and final nondescript blob boss, this heap of floam is actually one of the trickiest opponents in the game! It doesn't move, but constantly fills the room with large bubbles that float around in completely random patterns. Only your magic can destroy the bubbles, but only your boomerangs can damage the central mass, and your boomerang attack is temporarily disabled if it hits a bubble (or a bubble hits Annet).
 
Sixth Stage
 

        

 
   Meet surprise guest #2 - the MI-GO! Geek that I am, my jaw just about hit the floor when I saw this guy. An original Lovecraft creation, the Mi-go are also known as Fungi from Yuggoth (the planet we know as Pluto), and are known for their eerie experiments with the human brain. This particular version of the creature has been ripped off even more blatantly than the Byakhee from this interpretation in the same book.

 

   In boss form, however, this feisty fungus wants nothing more than to play a game of hide and seek. Like the good old cup-and-ball routine, it ducks behind one of three metal crates in the background that shuffle around one another until you attack. Hitting the right box will damage the boss, hitting the wrong box creates a spray of shrapnel.

 

   All in all, a delightfully nonsensical role for a rarely-seen monster of classic literature.

 
 
Seventh Stage
 

 
   Instead of a proper boss, stage seven has you blasting your way into a blimp and attacking the engine. It vertically spans at least two screens, but only a single point (shown here) can be damaged. Electricity flies out at you while you climb ever-descending platforms and I can't believe I sit here and recount all this crap.
 
Eighth Stage
 

 

   Before I get into the boss, let me just say that this stage is an absolute nightmare, and it's entirely because of bats. A few scattered snake-men and easily-avoided spikes are the only other dangers in the entire level, but DROVES of bats will assault you from off-screen almost constantly... and once a bat hits you, it orbits your body and continues to damage you while evading nine out of ten attempts to kill it. The level itself is straightforward and uneventful, but the bats - my god, the BATS! They never end!!! THE BATS! THE BATS!

 

   Anyways, your good friend the Byakhee will drop off Restiana at the final chamber, where she promptly transforms into a tentacled purple dragon thing (hey, now I understand the final boss in Earnest Evans!) and kills you dead because you're bleeding from a thousand bat-bites.

 

   Go home, loser!

 
 
  

 
   All in all, El Viento is a fairly enjoyable game with some fairly remarkable quirks, and the scattered Lovecraft elements more than make up for its otherwise generic selection of baddies (though there's certainly nothing wrong with hordes of mafia goons)
 

 

AIM / Yahoo: Scythemantis

Email / MSN: bogleech@hotmail.com

 
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