Makai Prince Dorabocchan for PCE

Image: MobyGames

Makai Prince Dorabocchan

Spike McFang the platformer

Genre: action - gun

Publisher: Naxat Soft

Year: 1990

System: PCE

Gameplay Score: 3

Gameplay Notes:

At first I was genuinely excited, but as the game wore on the warts started to show. My first impression was that the controls have a great deal of refinement. You've got a tall jump, a projectile attack that can be upgraded a couple of times, the ability to duck and throw a grenade while ducking, fast movement, and a run/dash by double tapping on either direction. However, your attack strength seems to vary and many enemies take multiple hits or are invulnerable. Your grenade lands inches away from you so is hard to use, especially given my main complaint - the slight delay or lag on some inputs. It seems to come and go but there's an annoying delay when stopping, ducking and throwing, or otherwise attacking. Again it's inconsistent but when it happens it can wreck you. Both you and enemies have no i-frames so if you get stuck within them you're in for a series of cheat hits. Still, despite all that, I actually enjoyed the gameplay. It's not amazing, but is on par with some of the other so-so platformers of this gen.

Level Design Score: 3

Level Design Notes:

Tons of branching paths. Initlaly I thought that I should be exploring to figure out how to see everything, but I quickly learned that there's no value in exploration. Heck there's little to no value in combat or collecting the tomatoes that enemies drop. The only saving grace is there variety in biomes between levels which at least gives you something to look at in each area.

Theme Score: 4

Theme Notes:

As cute as could be. The protagonist is a dead ringer for Spike McFang. Enemies are similarly cutesy. There's no story to speak of, but I like the whimsical setting. Feels almost like a Kirby game.

Art Style Score: 4

Art Style Notes:

The pixel art is excellent but there's not much going on. The same enemies appear over and over but there's no effects to speak of. But again, great pixel art and designs.

Audio Score: 4

Audio Notes:

This may be too generous, but credit goes to music that perfectly fits and accentuates the mood. The songs loop too quickly for my tastes, but are packed with personality.

Overall Score: 65

Review ID: 8081