Popful Mail

Charming, funny, and undeniably adorable, Popful Mail is one of the most unique RPGs of the mid-90s. Developers Nihon Falcom spent a lot of time finely tuning the gameplay of Popful Mail to adapt to the console they were working on, and that’s why each version of this game feels so finely crafted.

Follow the adventures of Mail, an elf bounty hunter who’s on the hunt of Nuts Cracker, a dangerous criminal. If you like anime and are looking for an RPG that really captures the whimsical tone of the fantasy anime of the 90s, then Popful Mail might be just the game for you.

Not your everyday RPG

If you were expecting Popful Mail to be like a Final Fantasy game, you’d be sorely mistaken. Instead of the classic gameplay of an RPG title, Popful Mail plays more like an action platformer with role-playing elements. There’s no leveling-up in Popful Mail: each character instead acquires new armors and weapons that improve their fighting prowess. In a sense, the game feels more like a Mega Man game than a Final Fantasy, but the emphasis on the story elements sets this game apart from the rest of the platformers of its time.

Fantasy shenanigans

Like Lunar: The Silver Star, Popful Mail tries to capture the vibe of a fantasy anime as faithfully as possible. Through the use of semi-animated character portraits and some animated cutscenes, Popful Mail does a great job looking like an anime.

The game’s plot is simple: Mail, an elf bounty hunter, tries to make a living however she can. Her attempts at claiming Nut Cracker’s bounty are futile, as no one has been able to retrieve the technomancer’s body. Disappointed, she sets out to capture Muttonhead, a dangerous wizard with a high bounty on his head. Her adventure would soon become bigger than she expected, as she becomes involved in an ancestral battle of the forces of good versus evil, in a battle that’s way over Mail’s paygrade.

Meet the party

Though Mail is the first character that players can control, Mail will meet two other characters throughout her journey that will also join her party. Mail is the fastest of the group, but her jumps are the most limited.

The second member of Mail’s party is Tatt, the apprentice of the wizard Muttonhead. Tatt is the most balanced character of the bunch, but that also means that he hardly excels at anything. That said, his versatility makes him the go-to character for almost any situation. Lastly, there’s Gaw. Gaw is a small purple dragon that’s very difficult to master due to its unique stats. This dragon is the lowest character of the group, but its attacks and jump height are usually the best between the three characters.

Depending on which version of the game you play, some character encounters have voice acting. The dialogue in these scenes is witty and compliments the rest of the game’s aesthetics, and the voice acting is usually satisfying enough.

Pros:

• Excellent platforming controls
• Beautiful sprites for the world and characters
• Characters feel unique and they’re all fun to play

Cons:

• Writing and humor might not be to everyone’s taste

An incredibly cute and thoroughly wacky adventure about a second-rate bounty hunter named Mail. Some of the best animated cinemas on the Sega CD can be found in this game, plus insane amounts of speech and a barrage of jokes. A long adventure, its many small touches help to make it a must. My only gripe is about the music, which can be repetitive and boring in the beginning.