Ultraman for MD

Image: MobyGames

Ultraman

Why did someone port this?

Genre: fighting - 1v1

Publisher: MA-BA

Year: 1993

System: MD

Gameplay Score: 1

Gameplay Notes:

Plays just like the SNES version. And that's not a good thing. Only one fighter - Ultraman of course. Strange system of inputs. Press A to jump, B to kick and C to punch (excuse me, Ultra Kick and Ultra Punch) and B&C to execute a special move. There's a meter that's doesn't look like a meter that fills over time and can be used at any time but your have to store it up completely to deal a killing blow so you can't use it much. The killing blow is like a Fatality from MK. You have to get the enemy health to zero and then use the most powerful special move. I had to look this up in an FAQ after getting him down but being unable to end the fight. Stupid mechanic but once you know it's fine. Controls are sluggish but responsive. The gameplay is repetitive and boring but again the controls aren't terrible. I've seen worse.

Level Design Score: 1

Level Design Notes:

Just the one story mode. No versus mode. I guess there are different difficulty levels but there's no option screen to select it. Instead you have to know a button combo to press on the home page like it's the Konami code. Again the FAQ helped me learn this. The arenas are sort of interesting with scrolling in both the fore and backgrounds but they have no sides so they scroll forever. This makes it impossible to corner an enemy so they can just back away forever. They can win by just staying alive and waiting out the clock so you have to chase them the entire time.

Theme Score: 1

Theme Notes:

Japanese Kaiju fighting. Where's Godzilla when you need him? I'd prefer him over this dufus in a rubber suit.

Art Style Score: 2

Art Style Notes:

Not bad for an early SNES title, but not great for a 1993 Genesis game. The animation is decent, so I'll keep it at 2.

Audio Score: 1

Audio Notes:

Music is a downgrade from the SNES version. It's got those twangy noises. The real kicker here are the terrible sound effects and the ear-splitting alarm that sounds every second for the last 30 seconds of a round. It's Zelda one-heart and Baby Mario rolled into one. Awful.

Overall Score: 22

Review ID: 6085