Energy
Metroid meets The Goonies IIGenre: adventure - platform
Publisher: Masaya
Year: 1989
System: PCE
Gameplay Score: 1
Gameplay Notes:
I feel bad for some of these early PC Engine games because they don't stack up against late gen titles like Super Metroid or Yoshi's Island. There's a generational gap because the PCE coexisted with both the NES and SNES. But them's the breaks, I suppose. I say all that because this is, easily, the worst programmed game I've come across for the PCE/TG16. It feels like one of those awful NES games, like Predator or Bible Adventures, which were seemingly created by amateurs. This game features a hilariously floaty jump, animations which can stop mid-animation, terrible hit detection and a host of other basic gameplay problems. Despite all that, it's actually somewhat playable. The gameplay resembles Kid Icarus in that you fire a projectile at enemies who mindlessly wander around the screen in rooms that lock you in until all enemies are killed.
Level Design Score: 2
Level Design Notes:
It's got light Metroidvania elements, with gated areas which can be revisited once you've acquired a new item. However, these items don't give you any new abilities, so they act more as a key than a powerup. It's quite linear and more ambitious than the developer was capable of realizing. The world feels a lot like Metroid.
Theme Score: 1
Theme Notes:
Aliens have destroyed Tokyo and a bunch of kids around a laptop are called int to save the day with a "secret weapon" that's just a weak fireball gun. Pretty derpy if you ask me.
Art Style Score: 1
Art Style Notes:
Embarrasing, even for an early gen game. It actually reminds me a lot of Bible Adventures for the NES, with blocky, simply drawn, and unintentionally hilarious sprites. So bad its good
Audio Score: 3
Audio Notes:
Like the graphics, the music is so bad its good, but it takes itself serious enough that I actually enjoyed it. Decidedly 8-bit, but that speaks to me most of the time.
Overall Score: 29
Review ID: 8036
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