Little Samson is a 1992 action–platform video game developed by Takeru and published by Taito for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). The game stars four heroes summoned to stop the demon king Ta-Keed from wreaking havoc on the kingdom of Forgy. Each hero has different abilities and the player can switch between the four at any time.

Little Samson was directed by Shinichi Yoshimoto, who had worked as a designer on Capcom titles such as Ghouls 'n Ghosts and Strider. Kiyoshi Utata, who also worked on Cocoron and Nostalgia 1907, made the game's artwork. The game received favorable reviews. Critics praised the audiovisual side and noted that swapping between characters added an element of strategy to the action. The game is considered one of the best NES games in retrospect, and the North American release has become an expensive collector's item.

Gameplay

thumb|left|Little Samson in a palace attacking a knight [[Boss (video games)|boss who summons lightning against him]]

Little Samson is a side-scrolling action–platform game reminiscent of the Mega Man franchise.

The player chooses between one of four characters—the climber Little Samson, the dragon Kikira, the golem Gamm, and the mouse K.O—each with advantages and disadvantages. Artwork for the game was done by Kiyoshi Utata, who had worked on Cocoron and Nostalgia 1907. The Japanese and Western covers were illustrated by Mitsuru Todoriki and Greg Winters, respectively. Taito published it in Japan as Seirei Densetsu Lickle on June 26, 1992. The game was shown at the 1992 Summer Consumer Electronics Show and released in North America in November of that year. A European release followed on March 13, 1993.

In 2022, Limited Run Games's CEO, Josh Fairhurst, stated that Little Samson was high on his list of titles he sought to bring back. After contacting Taito, which suggested that game's rights "might be with the owner", Limited Run Games tracked down the owner, who did not know who held the rights. In 2025, Limited Run Games announced that Little Samson would be re-released for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam in 2026. Fairhurst explained that they acquired the license from the Agency for Cultural Affairs through Alexander Aniel, head of business development in Japan for Limited Run Games, and Tatsujin, a Japanese video game developer and licensee founded in 2017 by Masahiro Yuge, a former Toaplan employee, who introduced him to a Japanese agent who worked with Limited Run Games on the re-release.

Reception

The Japanese publication ' ranked the game ninth in popularity in its September 1992 issue, and it received a 21.2/30 score in a readers' poll conducted by Family Computer Magazine. Famitsus four reviewers found the game's audiovisual side to be good for the NES and that each character was unique but believed the action lacked intensity. Club Nintendo deemed Little Samson an entertaining game, highlighting the audiovisual presentation, character and enemy animation, and level of challenge. Billy Moon of Game Players Nintendo Guide found the game to be average, feeling that the character switching kept it interesting, but that its graphics were unexciting and the unlimited continues almost rendered the password feature useless. Merche Garcia of ' underscored the animation of the characters, particularly that of the mouse. Ação Games regarded Little Samson as one of the best games for the NES.

Retrospective coverage

In retrospectives, Little Samson has been listed among the best NES games by IGN, USgamer, and Paste. AllGames Skyler Miller wrote that "Little Samson is a tour de force of excellent game design, attractive graphics and pure entertainment value." Greatkev of Jeuxvideo.com praised the game's colorful graphics, gameplay, and soundtrack, but found the simple plot and lack of dialogue to be its weak points.

Hardcore Gaming 101s Michael Plasket lauded the game's visual appeal, music, gameplay mechanics, difficulty curve, and overall duration. GamesRadar+ listed it as one of the thirty games they wish had been included on the NES Classic Edition. Den of Geek regarded Little Samson as one of the most underrated NES titles, while Destructoids Zoey Handley gave positive remarks on the game's visuals and character animation fluidity but questioned some of its design choices.

Notes

References

  • Little Samson at GameFAQs
  • Little Samson at Giant Bomb