Nichibutsu Arcade Classics 2: Heiankyo Alien for SFC

Image: MobyGames

Nichibutsu Arcade Classics 2: Heiankyo Alien

Bad Booby Boys

Genre: arcade - n/a

Publisher: Nichibutsu

Year: 1995

System: SFC

Gameplay Score: 0

Gameplay Notes:

This must be the inspiration of Booby Bros and Cratermaze. The objective is to dig holes which your enemies fall into and then bury them to kill them. It's the exact same concept as those other games, but in this one digging ends killing enemies requires five successive button presses which take forever. The controls are so imprecise. It's maddening. And it's not just the repetition of dig, dig, dig, dig, digging. You also have to be positioned just perfectly. Your character moves in half steps along a grid, so if you're half in to a grid box you won't be able to dig. And the controls are so finicky. Chad that it's very difficult to correct your positioning. Enemies quickly and frantically zoom around the Pac-Man esque board with no regard for where you are. This makes them relatively easy to avoid unless there are so many of them that they're bound to run into. The original 1979 game is actually a bit better than the 1995 remake, both of which are available to play, for the simple fact that your positioning doesn't have to be quite so precise. The best and only way to succeed at this game is to create a box around yourself by digging four holes on each side of you and then waiting for the spastic enemies to come and fall into them. It's horribly boring. I'm being generous by giving this a one in the gameplay department as there really isn't much to do and the controls are not great.

Level Design Score: 1

Level Design Notes:

There's little or no level design here, especially in the 1979 version. But even the remake has only slight variations between stages. Cratermaze and Booby Bros did this much better.

Theme Score: 1

Theme Notes:

The old arcade game has no ambiance and the remake has charming enemies but a weird looking character sprite.

Art Style Score: 1

Art Style Notes:

Space Invaders is a visual feast compared to the original game. The remake isnt much to look at, but the original drags this all the way down.

Audio Score: 2

Audio Notes:

The remakes feature a single upbeat song that's not half bad, but overly loud digging which sounds like slapping a cardboard box. The old version is not worth mentioning here.

Overall Score: 12

Review ID: 1770