Game: Escape From Mars: Starring Taz (Sega, Genesis)

Compiler: John Brain

For this month's "Maps Of The Month" featurette, I wish to draw your attention to John Brain's Escape From Mars: Starring Taz (Genesis) maps.

Marvin the Martian is fascinated with "rare Earth creatures", so when he learns of one called the "Tasmanian Devil", he captures Taz, intending to keep him in a Martian zoo.  Unsurprisingly, the hot-headed Taz is not a fan of this arrangement, so he immediately breaks out and tries to find his way back home.

This is the adventure of "Escape From Mars: Starring Taz" (or, as the title on the box art reads, "Taz In Escape From Mars").  Somehow, via Acme shipping crates, Taz will travel from Mars to other planets, even back to Earth, though he must confront Marvin before he can return to Tasmania.  It's not an easy trek through all these large, sometimes labyrinthine areas, but Genesis fan and cartographer John Brain can help you and Taz escape from Mars, with these 19 maps ranging from Mars to Moleworld to Mexico.

So to recognize the effort put into mapping this above-average Looney Tunes-licensed platformer, John Brain's Escape From Mars: Starring Taz (Genesis) maps will be known as VGMaps.com's Maps Of The Month for March 2025.
 

Discuss the Maps Of The Month here!

Game: Kirby's Dream Land 3 (Nintendo, Super NES)

Compiler: Jackster

For this month's "Maps Of The Month" featurette, I wish to draw your attention to Jackster's Kirby's Dream Land 3 (Super NES) maps.

Kirby and Gooey are enjoying a nice day of fishing when a dark, monstrous cloud appears in the sky.  It spreads its evil influence around the world, including possessing King Dedede and his minions.  Kirby and Gooey gather their friends - Rick, Kine, and Coo, along with new friends Nago, Chuchu, and Pitch - to again go on a platforming adventure and use Copy Abilities to save Dream Land and all of PopStar!

In this particular Kirby game, besides just making it to the end, every stage has a unique challenge where Kirby or Gooey can earn a Heart Star.  These include playing mini-games, solving puzzles, collecting items, or having a particular partner with you by the end of the stage.  The various challenges often take the opportunity to include some cameos of other Nintendo characters; in 3-4, you'll be reuniting Donbe and Hikari, in 3-6, you'll be looking for parts of R.O.B. and, in 5-2, you'll be eliminating Metroids to help Samus!

Because you'll need all the Heart Stars to be able to challenge Dark Matter, Jackster's been considerate and has explained the conditions for obtaining the Heart Star in each stage.  On top of cleanly mapping every stage of this cute and colourful platformer, this underrated late-release Super NES game has been given the love it deserves.

So to recognize the effort put into helping us collect all the Heart Stars, Jackster's Kirby's Dream Land 3 (Super NES) maps will be known as VGMaps.com's Maps Of The Month for February 2025.
 

Discuss the Maps Of The Month here!

Game: Vagrant Story (Square, PlayStation)

Compiler: VGCartography

For this month's "Maps Of The Month" featurette, I wish to draw your attention to VGCartography's Vagrant Story (PlayStation) maps.

The city of Leá Monde, once bustling with thousands of people, has been deserted since an earthquake a quarter of a century ago.  Now the city ruins, along with its abandoned mines and monasterial passageways, are a dark labyrinth whose inhabitants are the souls of the dead.

This is the setting for Vagrant Story, where Ashley Riot, a "Riskbreaker" agent of the Valendia Knights of the Peace, investigates the connection between a cult and the Parliament, while also having been accused of assassinating the Duke.  What revelations await in the haunted city of Leá Monde?

The mysteries of what you'll find there or how to find your way around don't have to be mysterious at all; you just have to look at VGCartography's maps.  The only thing cryptic about these (aside from the crypts) is that I haven't honoured these incredibly detailed maps earlier.  Rooms are named, doors are indicated, treasures are itemized, and all the beings that Ashley will encounter have all their stats revealed.  This is video game cartography at its finest!  VGCartography shows us, yet again, that he is quite the master of mapping three-dimensional video games and sparing no detail.  And indeed, no detail should be missed here in particular, as Vagrant Story is considered one of the best video games ever made.

So to recognize the effort put into mapping one of the most acclaimed interactive experiences from a quarter of a century ago, VGCartography's Vagrant Story (PlayStation) maps will be known as VGMaps.com's Maps Of The Month for January 2025.
 

Discuss the Maps Of The Month here!