Drop Off

~ DROP OFF ~

Data East / NEC

HuCard

1990

I've always hated Breakout and its many imitators. The only title along those lines I'd ever enjoyed was an ancient LCD handheld game called Spitball Sparky, which starred a likable Q*bert-like character and played better than its "paddle"-featuring peers. Of course, I haven't had the pleasure of giving SS a go since I was about seven years old; if it's actually crap and my memories are horribly distorted by nostalgia, well, I'm none the wiser. And this didn't bode well for Drop Off: I'm inclined to despise its ilk to begin with, and there wasn't any chance it could compete with the masterpiece that I recall Spitball Sparky being. With things looking grim, DO actually brought a quick smile to my face with its opening cinematics, which can boast of very cool music and very goofy text that relays a Psychosis-like "go inside a mind" plot.

The weaving of this intriguing tale continues with melodramatic between-realm intermissions. It's funny: the original PCE version featured mangled English during these scenes, so whoever localized the title decided to fix that... and still came up with gibberish.

So the story stuff is entertaining, but then there's the game itself. Well, let's try to get through this quickly. You control a blue thing and destroy objects with a ball. You can "open up" your blue thing to deflect the ball at a sharper angle. There are plenty of different objects to obliterate: apples, crystals, eyeballs, amoebas, and so on. If you hit the right spot in a chain and break off a bunch of objects at once, you're rewarded with bonus points. The "interesting" thing is that the chains of objects gradually descend. This is no Space Invaders; you don't have to annihilate every item to finish a round. You just have to hang in there until the chains have fully descended. But if an object touches you, you die. And if the ball bashes its way through the floor, you die. You can repel the chains a limited number of times to create a little breathing room, and a steamroller-type thing occasionally shows up to perform floor repair.

That's about all there is to it, aside from the occasional instance of silliness.

Drop Off is not excellent. It's not a great concept and it's not executed particularly well. But it's often said to be a disaster. Well, even though I was predisposed to hate it, I really can't say that I did. It gets kind of intense, I suppose, when items come down and crowd you. The music really is nice and made me want to like the game, as did the amusing story. I came in expecting about a billion levels, but there are only sixteen, which is just fine. And it does have something even Spitball Sparky doesn't: a final boss.

Cyber Core

~ CYBER CORE ~

IGS

HuCard

1990

People often compare this game to Dragon Spirit, which I think is inane. The control setups are similar, as you have your main weapon to take out aerial foes and "bombs" to deal with enemies on the ground, but that's where the similarities end. Cyber Core is faster and has much more action; it really is one of the "busiest" chip shooters, while crappy Dragon Spirit plods along. Delightful, upbeat melodies and a lovable cast of big-bosses and mini-bosses contribute to CC's irresistible charm. Veteran players will have little trouble beating it, but the fast action gives it good replay value.

It's unfortunate that Cyber's backgrounds generally don't look very nice, but the game thrives on speed and onscreen activity, so its visual shortcomings are hardly devastating.

Heck, most of the midbosses do look pretty cool, and they're lots of fun to fight. An enormous mosquito with a mighty sword of a proboscis challenges you to a duel. And then there’s the gargantuan moth who plops himself onto the playfield.

Some of the bosses really make you work: you'll have to sneak through a barrage of projectiles and smaller vermin to make precise bomb strikes on the massive spider. The final boss, on the other hand, gives up after a few seconds' worth of direct hits from powered-up weaponry.

Speaking of weaponry, four different devastators are at your disposal. Power up the mighty blue "pinwheel" and you'll be flying freely for most of the adventure. The defense-oriented green shot had the most promise, as it unleashes sickles capable of eliminating any sort of projectile attack, but CC gives us little reason to play with a defensive game plan.

Look down at Stage 2's desecrated city to find a line of funny little beetles scampering down the road. The game gets more serious with its enemies later on.

It isn't until the very last level that it gets at all challenging, though. Those small blue pests are incredibly fast and actually pose more of a threat than do their daunting one-eyed allies.

So sure, if you’re an experienced shooter player, you'll reach the end of Cyber Core quickly and with a healthy number of lives in tow. The amazing thing, though, is that the game doesn’t feel easy while you’re actually playing it, as it gives you so many insects and bullets and explosions to be concerned with. Perhaps you'll finish it the first time you power it up... but you’ll probably return to it the next day, cruise right through it again -- and have yourself a blast.

Addams Family

~ THE ADDAMS FAMILY ~

ICOM Simulations / NEC

CD-ROM

1991

Ah, NEC and their wonderful properties. I didn't like the "classic" Addams Family television show, nor did I enjoy the "hit" movie NEC intended to cash in on here, so as you might imagine, I wasn't exactly dying to play this game. Still, I was a bit--and I really do mean a bit--interested in it because of the unusual direction the project ended up taking. Umbrella-wielding Tully Alford is hardly a dream hero, but as I fully expected to play as the "good-guy" Addamses, the unlikely protagonist was a pleasant surprise. And since some of my favorite games are ambitious side-scrolling adventures that shun the idea of level-by-level progression, I'm always interested in giving new ones a try. Indeed, exploring the hallways (and dungeons and caverns and torture chambers) of the Addamses' mansion can be quite enjoyable, as you never know what sorts of freaks you'll run into.

Some of those areas look better than others, but the graphics hold up pretty well aside from a few botched sprites and bland side-rooms, and the designers clearly tried to inject as much variety as they could into what's essentially a single-structure adventure.

As you make your way through that structure, you'll inevitably run into the Addamses themselves. Some of these showdowns are quite cool: young Wednesday tries to smash you with an enchanted NES, while Gomez goes the sword-fighting route.

Just as there's variety in the location designs and boss fights, there's variety in how you make your way around. A ferry is your ticket to a duel with Uncle Fester, while the Addams family locomotive can help you reach treasures resting on high-up platforms.

Sadly, not much use was made of the Turbo CD's capabilities aside from inclusion of the Addams Family theme song and some digitized images.

And there's more to find fault with here than that. Sure, it's fun to peek around the crazy old mansion, but it would've been nice if there were some cool puzzles to solve along the way; about all we get along those lines are spots that require us to choose the right door or pull the right cord. And speaking of "the right door"... open the wrong one and you might find yourself hurled back to a point much earlier in the adventure--which is irritating, to say the least. Still, if you can live with some frustrating times, you might find this game to be a nice little surprise, as I did.

Bikkuriman World

~ BIKKURIMAN WORLD ~

Hudson Soft

HuCard

1987

Well, thank goodness things got better, a hell of a lot better, with Dragon's Curse. That's what I was thinking a few levels into Bikkuriman World--a very early PC Engine release, an aged, decrepit chip title that showed its revolting wrinkles at every "cartoonish" turn and starred a dopey-looking, poorly dressed Chubby Cherub wannabe.

I expected the predecessor to Dragon's Curse and Dynastic Hero to let me do some exploring. But aside from the damnable labyrinth that is the final board, Bikkuriman's rounds are pretty straightforward. Maybe we should be "thankful" for that, as the game imposes time limits and urges us to race from checkpoint to checkpoint (an unnecessary leftover arcade element). Yes, I suppose there are secrets to uncover, but they mostly involve jumping and fiddling around to find hidden coins and shop entrances.

And without the element of adventuring, Bikkuriman is left to rely heavily on its "hack-and-slash" gameplay, which was never the series's forte, even when it hit its stride with DC. There's no such thing as "attack range" in these titles, and the goofy hero here starts off as a slow, feeble pushover. You'll definitely wonder early on how you'll ever avoid severe thrashings from certain bosses when you're charged with guiding such an incompetent "warrior."

Funny thing is, even with all my early head shaking and skepticism, I eventually started enjoying the game. Finding and memorizing the locations of the hidden loot stashes becomes a lot of fun because it's so important that you earn cash quickly. And even after you earn that dough, you can't just empty out your pockets without putting some thought into the purchases; you've gotta spend your money wisely in order to keep the poor Cherub-like fellow healthy and strong.

Once you figure out how to make good cash (and allocate it well), you can have a lot more fun with the action itself. Acquire some good equipment, and the formerly meek lad evolves into a speedy, fearless powerhouse! ...Well, I'm exaggerating there, but you'll find that he sure does become a better fighter as you yourself get better at money and equipment management. He even almost starts to resemble a TRUE VIDEO GAME HERO after a while!

Bosses that seemed horribly unfair the first few times you faced them are suddenly no match for your skills and the naked-no-more warrior's might!

And so Bikkuriman World ends up being not only playable, but fun and rewarding as well. Would you believe me if I told you I prefer it to Dynastic Hero? Well, I sure do.

Shockman (Shubibinman 2)

~ SHOCKMAN ~

NCS/Masaya

HuCard

1992

Shubibinman 2 retains the charge-up method of attack featured in its predecessor but ditches swordplay in favor of MegaManish run-and-shoot action. Indeed, a Turbo title so prominently featuring the MM style (the resemblance goes beyond basic combat elements) is a novelty unto itself...

...but its many huge bosses are deviations from the midget men fought by the old blue bomber.

There are even some side-scrolling shooter stages included, and while they feel a little sloppy, they do play well enough to serve as satisfying, nice-looking change-of-pace boards.

The visuals are nice throughout the game, in fact, though some areas are prettier and less repetitive in backdrop design and foreground layout than others. The music is good, as per the norm for this series. But the best part of all might be the fairly high level of difficulty. This game gets really tough towards the end and definitely provides those who conquer its challenges with well-deserved feelings of accomplishment.

So I like all that stuff, but the floaty gameplay... not so much. Sure, Shubibin 2 controls better than its forerunner did, but it still leaves plenty of room for improvement, and it's easy to get frustrated during tight parts that call for "careful" advancement.

Despite the control issues, Shubibinman 2 earns a spot among the good Turbo action games. It's not an extraordinary title, but one can certainly see signs of creative potential here, the origins of ingenious ideas that were eventually realized in the brilliant Shubibinman 3.