Pirates of Dark Water is one of my favorite beat’em ups. Interestingly, games based on this property were released on the Genesis and SNES. They are not the same game, and I like one of them much more than the other. I’ll just be going over the SNES game here.
This game quickly became one of my favorite beat’em ups in the system. It is also one of my favorite games of any genre for the SNES. Part of it has to do with how I feel about the property as a whole.
Back when the cartoon was on the air, I really enjoyed it. A few of the episodes stood out to me and stayed with me for some reason. Finding out that there were video games based on it was really cool! While I like both of them, I prefer the SNES game.
I do want to talk about some of the other things associated with The Pirates of Dark Water. A few things were new when I looked into this game a few years ago. While I don’t have as many memories with things outside of the cartoon, it was still fun to come across them.
TLDR: A Wonderful Beat’em Up for the SNES. It is one of my Hidden Gems.
Comics, Toys, and the Genesis game
There are three things that I didn’t know about, aside from the SNES game. When I was little, I didn’t collect comics, and I wasn’t following gaming news. I didn’t even know why some cartoons just disappeared from the TV. At the time all of this was happening, I was between the ages of 7 and 10.
There are nine issues of the Pirates of Dark Water comic book. Marvel published them, and because the first six sold well, three more were made. The first six issues retell a few of the episodes from the cartoon show, and the last three are a new story. I bought all nine of them a while ago, after I learned that they existed.
The Genesis game is an entirely different genre. It is an action platformer, which isn’t a genre of games that I enjoy playing. While there are a few twists to the formula, I didn’t really enjoy it when I played the game. I prefer the SNES game.
There was a toy line for this property because that was how things were done in the 1980s and in the 1990s. It was a marketing strategy, and sometimes it worked out, and the companies made a lot of money. Other times, you get something like this, where it is only around for a few years, and then people make YouTube videos and blog posts about it.
Narrative
The game’s narrative isn’t too different from the cartoon. You have to gather the treasures you need to stop the Dark Water and defeat the pirates who want the treasures for themselves. Having an original narrative might’ve been better, because this one is leaning on people having watched the cartoon.
To be fair, that was probably the group of people who would’ve bought or rented this game. In 1994, the cartoon had either ended or was close to ending. The comics were done, and the toys were most likely in the discount bin.
Gameplay
The gameplay is quite good. The controls are great, and there is some variety to the gameplay. It isn’t all good, as the enemy AI is a little awkward, and the stage hazards are a little annoying.
The manual is available online (Link). While it isn’t necessary to play the game, it does have some fun things in it. It lists the controls, premise of the game, and the characters.
There are three playable characters in this game. They’re the three human characters from the cartoon:
- Ren – Our “Chosen One” character.
- Tula – She is a spirited warrior, according to the manual. I don’t remember her backstory from the cartoon.
- Ioz – A former pirate who joined up with Ren.
While there are only three playable characters, I’m okay with it. The developers were hamstrung by what was in the cartoon and probably not allowed to add a fourth and fifth character.
The controls are solid, and you can exploit the stage design to your advantage. This is something that you can do in many beat’em ups. Everything that you would expect to see in a beat’em up is here.
The enemy AI is a little odd at times. They aren’t all that bright and will walk into some of the stage hazards until they die. At first, I really didn’t like the stage hazards, then this happened, and I realized I could exploit them to my own advantage. Not every enemy is as dumb as a box of rocks, but many are.
Overall, I really like the gameplay! There is some strategy to fighting groups of enemies and the stage bosses. It also has some things to help you defeat the somewhat overpowered enemies.
Visuals
The Pirates of Dark Water is a great looking game! The character sprites and stages are excellent. This game really looks like it could be the cartoon. It is a wonderful looking game, and much better than other games released in 1994.
All of the characters look great in this game. The sprites are well detailed, and they look similar to the cartoon. It feels like you’re playing the cartoon, which is nice. The game can be creepy or threatening when it needs to be, and it can be goofy at times.
The stages look great. While the level design isn’t amazing, it is much better than some of the other beat’em ups on the SNES or Genesis. It is easy to see the stage hazards, and you can tell what everything is supposed to be.
Overall, this is an excellent looking SNES game. The graphics don’t outshine the gameplay, and they don’t make the game harder to play. Everything in this game looked great, which isn’t something you can always say about a retro game.
Reviews at the Time
There weren’t a lot of reviews for this game when I looked at a few of the archive sites. From what I can see, the game received average reviews from the publications that looked at it. There were a few 8/10s, but most were in the 5-7 range. (MobyGames)
8.5/10. This is one of my favorite SNES games. It isn’t as good as other beat’em ups, but I had way more fun with it. Much of this is being fueled by nostalgia, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Pros
- Good Controls
- Great Graphics
- Fun Gameplay
Cons
- Bad Enemy AI
- Few Playable characters
- Level design can feel cheap at times
Conclusion
Games like this are why I enjoy playing retro games. Sometimes you find something that really connects with you. It can be hard for some people to consider that not everyone knows about every game on every system. Some people just play games and don’t engage with the different communities of people who follow a system, company, or series of video games.
The Pirates of Dark Water was a game that I had never played or heard of until the late 2010s. To me, it is a hidden gem. I know that other people knew about it before I got to it, but that isn’t a factor in me forming my opinion of this game.
One thing that I do want to look at more has to do with the reviews. Publications were still reviewing SNES games in 1994, so I know there are more reviews for the game. Unfortunately, not all of them have been archived very well, and some of the search engines aren’t great at finding a specific thing.
I had so much fun when I went back to play this. Beat’em ups are some of my favorite games, and this is a very good one. It looks great and has wonderful graphics. I hope that I find more games like this as I continue to play retro games.
If you like this post, check out my others on beat’em ups. Such as King of Dragons or Knights of the Round.