Tokkyuu Shirei Solbrain VS Shatterhand

VS 

I was quite shocked when i bought Solbrain and found out that the game actually is the original Shatterhand made by Natsume. The difference between the games are actually quite big. The main character in Solbrain is a Robot/cyborg while in the NES version he is more or less a stereotypical muscle man like so many other games during that time. In Solbrain you collect "P" which is the games currency, meanwhile in Shatterhand it's "G". You can also power up your character on certain power stations all around the stages by standing on them and pressing the down button, but it's not free, you have to collect all the "points" or "money" to pay for it. The power up lets you deal twice as much damage with your fists and will disappear if you get hit a couple of times. There's also a healing station which works the same way except it heals you. During the game you will find the letter " " and " " and by combining them you can summon eight different robot companions who will help you during the stage. Each robots have their unique weapons and ups and downs so it's esencial to know what robot to use on which stage. There's even a special armor (or weapon in solbrain) if you successfully combine the same letters you used to summon you companion and still having him alive when that happens. The armor or weapon will give you a extremely handy weapon that deals a lot of damage and even makes you invulnerable, but the it's not infinite, there's a timer that slowly tics down starting on 15 and when it reaches 0 the suit disappears. If you get damaged you wont loose any life but time that's left on the armor. Here are some pictures that illustrates the differences a bit more.

Shatterhand character

Solbrain character

Acquiring the armor in Shatterhand

Acquiring the gun in Solbrain

The biggest difference in the game for me was that there is a whole level that has been totally replaced in Shatterhand. On the top right of the stage select there is a "Circus" stage in Solbrain, but in Shatterhand there's a submarine. The boss is replaced as well, in Solbrain there are 2 women who jump around and attacking you, i don't think Nintendo of America liked the thought of players beating women in video games.

Also, that stage had different music, but i feel like the Japanese circus music was way better than the submarine stage in Shatterhand.

The level select with the submarine  stage

And the level select with the circus stage

Overall this game is a must play, although it may be a bit challenging to some people, the soundtrack and the unique play style will keep the more dedicated players going.

Arashes out!