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!

Quarth Review

I'we never liked puzzle games that much to be perfectly honest. I prefer games with a bit more action like Rockman, Gryzor, Akumajou Dracula and so on. But during my recent trips across the internet to but random Famicom games i came across this game which i have seen EVERY time i ordered games from that specific site and i thought to my self "Why don't i buy it, it looks cool and its dirt cheep (2$)". I didn't do any research on this and assumed it was a J-RPG game like so many other Famicom games out there. The picture on the site was blurry so i didn't see the blocks and everything ells on to top of the box. The only thing that i knew was that it's made by Konami and you just cant go wrong with them. To my surprise it was one of the most entertaining Puzzle/SMUP games i'we ever played. And the condition of the Box, Game and the Instruction book was in almost perfect condition, well worth the 2$.

To explain the game i think its easier to show the Instruction Book since it explains it pretty well.

The game auto scrolls vertically and you shoot square "bullets" to complete the shape.

I think its like a mix of reverse Tetris and the "2,4,6 and so on" stages of Salamander.

Quarth unfortunately only have 2 songs. One on the first half of a stage and then one with a bit more "Stress" to it on the second half of the stage when the game starts going a bit faster. 

Speaking of stages.

There's 10 stages in total and you can even chose between 2 ships ( The one on the cover with the 2 angel kids carrying a "Space Pod" shaped object, the second ship is a more or less a bigger Vice Viper looking ship). 

You can play the game on regular single player or Tag Play with another player or even play competitive against each other. There's even a "Change Play" option, but i have yet to try it out. 

I was really surprised how addicting this game was, since its not as slow pace as some Tetris games tends to be, this was more like a fast pace shooter where you need to use your brain a bit more than usual. I like this game a lot. This just goes to show that Konami games on the Famicom doesn't disappoint (Mostly).

Well, there isn't anything more to say abut Quarth so please enjoy these pictures!

This is it for this time.

Arashes Out!

Wanpaku Kokkun no Gourmet World Review

"Wanpaku Kokkun no Gourmet World" or "Naughty Kokkuns Gourmet world" is one of my favorite newly bought games. Although this is a short game, it sure is one great gaming experience. First of this game has perfect difficulty since the 1st stage feels easy enough and for each level the game gets progressively harder. At the last 2 levels the game gets hard enough to challenge you, but not hard enough to make you shut of the game and make you go look for another game that's not as brutally hard.

The music isn't bad at all but its definitely not as good as it could have been. I feel like they didn't put enough effort in the music division like they should have.

The story goes like this: The evil chef "Hors D'Oeuvre" has taken over your restaurant and its up to you "Naughty Kokkun" to take it back.
Every boss and enemy in this game are food related. Everything from "Hamburgers" to "running grilled chicken" are out to kill you.

There have been some changes from the Famicom to NES. For instance "Kokkun" looked noting like the hero in the NES version and in the Famicom version he's standard attack is to hit the enemy's with he's head, but in the NES version he uses a black frying pan.

Famicom Version

NES Version

You can pick upp several weapons in this weird food-platformer. And they are:

Spoon - has a longer reach and a bit more powerful, but its a bit slower.
Fork - It's used like a "pogo-stick" and you can only hit enemies tat's underneath you .
Dishes - Probably the best weapon in this game, you throw dishes at enemies.
Pan - Pretty much like the "star" in Mario Bros except that you have a big pan over your head and you spin around and are invincible for a short period of time.

Instead of naming the levels simply 1 trough 6 they made it look like a food menu and the stages are called:

Stage 1 - Appetizer
Stage 2 - Soup
Stage 3 - Salad
Stage 4 - Fish
Stage 5 - Meat
Stage 6 - Dessert

Well this is a short and fun game, so if you ever want to kill 15 - 20 min then just play "Wanpaku Kokkun no Gourmet World" Or "Panic Restaurant" if you live in the rest of the world.

Arashes Out!

Quick Review : "Final Lap?"

This 8 stage racing game chart is packed with adrenalin pumping racing, bringing the F-1 experience to the Japanese homes in 1987. In my opinion, this is one of the best Motorsport games for the Famicom of all times. This game had a LOT of small little things in it to make it interesting for both hardcore F-1 fans and regular gamers. For instance, you have 8 tracks to race on, some of them are fictional and some are tracks modeled after the real tracks in Japan and the rest of the world. You can tune your F-1 car and enhance some of the car's stats like:

Engine: Increases the car's Top Speed!
Brakes: You brake faster!
Tier: Your car grips better in sharp turns!
Nitro: (the unrealistic one) By pressing "forward" you get a boost!

Each of the parts can be upgraded 4 times, but you only start with 5 points to spend so its up to you how to spend it.

The interesting part is how smart the AI is, they react really realistically to your actions.

This is one game that I really recommend for all who either loves motor sport or just want a short and a moderately hard game.

Arashes Out!

Back from the dead!

So i haven't been posting something new this month, but its all going to change.

There will be a new type of "Short Review" or "Quick Review" (whichever name i choose for it) coming out soon of a Namcot game that really isn't much to say about, but i still love it. And its a unnecessary to make a big review with lots of pictures and lots of information about a game that you can complete in less than 30 min.

Anyways, look forward for a new review coming soon!

Arashes Out!

Gradius 2 Flyer

Gradius 2 Review

The 3rd and final part of this 3 part Gradius Special!

And now we arrive at the final and (in my opinion) best Gradius game for the Famicom. Konami pretty much nailed everything in this game. The difficulty is perfect in the way that it starts out relatively easy and progressively gets harder. The Music is pretty much perfect throughout the game and the inclusion of voices when you select a weapon or item is a nice extra feature. The graphics are some of the best on the console and the bosses are big and have a sense of danger to them which Konami is really great at implementing in their games. It’s a shame that Gradius 2 never got released outside of Japan and i really wonder why that is, It’s not like they had a lot of text to translate, and to my knowledge the entire game is in English, from the start screen to the end screen it’s all English letters. The only thing i can think of is that Gradius 2 might have a built in FM Synthesis chip like Akumajou Densetsu (Castlevania 3) and the American and European NES couldn’t play those games because of pin shortage on the game cartridge.

The game starts of by giving you a choice between 4 types of item layouts. They are all special in their own individual ways but I always prefer the Laser setup with the spread bombs. The Laser cuts through the enemy and the bomb explodes on impact and a blue explosion stops for some time and constantly hits the enemy multiple times. Combining that with some Options just gives you a devastating power and a truly “Force to be reckoned with”. Although just like the other games, one hit means that you die and lose all of those sought after, hard to get weapons and powerups (Unless you of course have the shield).

The game begins with you piloting the Vice Viper again around some really big fire rocks with fire dragons around and gigantic flames that crosses the screen like enormous waves. The later levels include a alien lair straight from contra and the standard grass and volcanic planet from the first Gradius. There’s even a boss rush part when you fight against 4 bosses one after the other, each getting harder and harder to beat. The thing about the Gradius bosses are that they are almost too easy when your ship is full powered and way to hard when you accidently died and try the boss again but with maybe a speed powerup at best.

I always loved the manuals for the various Famicom games because they differ so much from the manuals we have now. For instance they cover in greater detail how the Vice Viper works and where the parts are laid out on the ship. And they include every enemy in the game and show either a direct cutout from the game or the art for that certain enemy and then wright their names to. The Power Up explanation is also drawn for every type of weapon instead of just one screenshot. They had fewer people working on the games during that time and they still made everything as perfect as it could be.

A fun fact is that I bought this game for less than 5$ and wasn’t aware that the game would come with the box and manual, sure that look beat up and old but I still think it’s a real catch. This is also one of the games that I bought the Famicom for, to play those games that we didn’t get and we missed out of. There are a lot of those games coming up on future reviews.

Hope you guys enjoyed this 3 part Gradius review.

Arashes Out!