So here's an oddity on the PC Engine. A game surprisingly developed by Atlus of all companies. This is one of those games that just makes you go wtf with the premise. You play as this weird slinky thing coming with some odd controls and just an odd premise. Thankfully it's fun too.
Your weird slinky thing can move like a slinky and depending where it's standing, it can shoot in multiple directions. You can also jump to attach to other walls but your jump isn't too high. You can also get some powerups from enemies like more health, more bullets, going faster or even reversing your controls but it's not too annoying but come on game why have this?
The stages can be a little confusing on your first run but none of the levels can lead to frustration at least not for me. You also get a lot of time so don't worry about ever getting a time over. There's some good creativity here though not every level is well made as some feel too easy and short. I would argue it's because of the powerups but the game loves to shower you with them.
The bosses are sadly the lowpoint of the game because they are quite easy most of the time and it just leads me to just tanking hits and just winning that way. I just don't think the controls work the best for this kind of thing to just not do that. The last few bosses though it's best to just sit in a specific spot and spam your shots. Though if you didn't hate them the first time, the last stage will. It's a boss rush and it hurts the game so much. The game was already pretty decent length and could have just had the final boss be the final stage as it is three forms but nooo we have to fight all 12 bosses again. You will hate mashing the fire button by the end of it.
The Japanese version also seems to be harder. I noticed the US version gave you more time and maybe it's less generous with power-ups? I can't really say because this is sadly not documented anywhere at least from a quick search. The plot is also different. The Japanese one has god go to a Egg Tree with an egg falling and then the slinky thing comes out...what? The US one is just a generic plot sorceress is wanting to take over the world plot and suddenly talking slinky thing wants to stop her.
The game looks good enough for what it is but nothing is going to amaze you. The bosses are good sizes though but all share the same color palette which is intentional but doesn't make it less bland looking. At least the framerate is good and there isn't really any graphical problems. I also like the weird color effect for the slinky when the controls are reversed. The music however is not very good. I really don't like the pitches of the audio personally. Though this is highly subjective, I just don't like some PC Engine OSTs that have sound like this.
This game is fun and good but it's such a shame the last part of the game hurts the replayability so much. There is still more good here then bad and again I enjoy the interesting concept but it's nothing outstanding as a game. I still did enjoy the game but it is a hard game to recommend. It's worth at least a try to see if you'll enjoy it.
Your weird slinky thing can move like a slinky and depending where it's standing, it can shoot in multiple directions. You can also jump to attach to other walls but your jump isn't too high. You can also get some powerups from enemies like more health, more bullets, going faster or even reversing your controls but it's not too annoying but come on game why have this?
The stages can be a little confusing on your first run but none of the levels can lead to frustration at least not for me. You also get a lot of time so don't worry about ever getting a time over. There's some good creativity here though not every level is well made as some feel too easy and short. I would argue it's because of the powerups but the game loves to shower you with them.
The bosses are sadly the lowpoint of the game because they are quite easy most of the time and it just leads me to just tanking hits and just winning that way. I just don't think the controls work the best for this kind of thing to just not do that. The last few bosses though it's best to just sit in a specific spot and spam your shots. Though if you didn't hate them the first time, the last stage will. It's a boss rush and it hurts the game so much. The game was already pretty decent length and could have just had the final boss be the final stage as it is three forms but nooo we have to fight all 12 bosses again. You will hate mashing the fire button by the end of it.
The Japanese version also seems to be harder. I noticed the US version gave you more time and maybe it's less generous with power-ups? I can't really say because this is sadly not documented anywhere at least from a quick search. The plot is also different. The Japanese one has god go to a Egg Tree with an egg falling and then the slinky thing comes out...what? The US one is just a generic plot sorceress is wanting to take over the world plot and suddenly talking slinky thing wants to stop her.
The game looks good enough for what it is but nothing is going to amaze you. The bosses are good sizes though but all share the same color palette which is intentional but doesn't make it less bland looking. At least the framerate is good and there isn't really any graphical problems. I also like the weird color effect for the slinky when the controls are reversed. The music however is not very good. I really don't like the pitches of the audio personally. Though this is highly subjective, I just don't like some PC Engine OSTs that have sound like this.
This game is fun and good but it's such a shame the last part of the game hurts the replayability so much. There is still more good here then bad and again I enjoy the interesting concept but it's nothing outstanding as a game. I still did enjoy the game but it is a hard game to recommend. It's worth at least a try to see if you'll enjoy it.