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Psycho-Nics Oscar |
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1988 Data East USA
Data East have always had, in my view, a problem with making interesting and innovative games that suffer from poor balance and often unfair levels of difficulty. This game is no exception.
It's a side-scrolling platform shooter with a Gradius-like powerup system - collecting the little "N"s advances a bar at the bottom and highlights a range of weaponry, which you can then redeem by pressing the third button. It's an unusual choice of powerup system for a platformer, but it works quite well.
Psycho-Nics Oscar is not a game for those who like to rush in unprepared. It's also not a game for those on a budget, since a lot of the game is made up of getting killed, retracing your steps and choosing a different weapon. This game demands a conservative, cautious play style, which I find at once both interesting and frustrating. Interesting 'cause that's the sort of thing I like, frustrating 'cause the execution could have been so much better.
For example, every now and then you'll come across an enemy that can only be killed with a weapon type that you don't currently have - or, you'll come across a steep hill with enemies rolling down towards you, that you can't kill unless you have the grenade powerup because you can only shoot straight ahead. I know it's 1988, but Jesus, come on.
Having said that, even though the game presents a very steep challenge, and even though it's set up in rather an unfair and at times frustrating way, for some reason that I can't nail down it still remains the good kind of challenge. The kind of challenge that made me say "Oh go on, then, I'll just try and get to the end of the first level." I met the boss, which was bizarrely and ridiculously hard to beat, and was tempted to quit - but after getting killed, you start a little way back, so you can change your weaponry to suit what you know is coming up, so I figured I'd try it a little differently.
Going on just like that, I got to the third level before I felt addiction setting in, and decided to take a break to write this review.
Well, in short, it's a funny little game. Like all Data East games it's ridiculously hard, but this is the good kind of hard. The kind of hard that actually gives you real satisfaction when you beat a boss on the sixth attempt. And for that, despite its flaws in balance (invulnerability only lasts one second after being hit), presentation (the level one boss wasn't even animated), controls (you can't shoot upwards?) and just about every other aspect of, y'know, being a game, I still feel compelled to play it a little more.
FUN
4. What at first seems horribly, unfairly difficult is later revealed to be a rather convoluted challenge of equipping the right weaponry for the right job.
NOTABILITY
2. It's a fairly bog-standard platformer, albeit with a Gradius-type powerup system. Nothing terribly special or unique, but executed quite well.
PRESENTATION
2. Very bog-standard graphics. Slightly catchy music. Poor translations. Irritating sound every time you take a step.
ADDICTION
4. It's not immediately addictive, but once you take the time to give it a chance and get into it, this game can keep you going for a while.
SURVIVAL
2. I'm afraid this one wouldn't do terribly well in arcades - the style of game demands rush-in-and-shoot style gameplay from the player, but it actually rewards a more slow and careful approach. The disparity is immediately confusing, and may put off a lot of potential players. Also, you don't last terribly long per credit - perhaps it might do well at 10p play once you had some experienced players, but there are other, more commercially sound games to put in any money-earning arcade machine.
OVERALL
(4+2+2+4+2)/5 = 2.8. A lack of care taken in balancing the game, and a lack of effort in its presentation, lets down what should have been a classic.
Data East have always had, in my view, a problem with making interesting and innovative games that suffer from poor balance and often unfair levels of difficulty. This game is no exception.It's a side-scrolling platform shooter with a Gradius-like powerup system - collecting the little "N"s advances a bar at the bottom and highlights a range of weaponry, which you can then redeem by pressing the third button. It's an unusual choice of powerup system for a platformer, but it works quite well.
Psycho-Nics Oscar is not a game for those who like to rush in unprepared. It's also not a game for those on a budget, since a lot of the game is made up of getting killed, retracing your steps and choosing a different weapon. This game demands a conservative, cautious play style, which I find at once both interesting and frustrating. Interesting 'cause that's the sort of thing I like, frustrating 'cause the execution could have been so much better.
For example, every now and then you'll come across an enemy that can only be killed with a weapon type that you don't currently have - or, you'll come across a steep hill with enemies rolling down towards you, that you can't kill unless you have the grenade powerup because you can only shoot straight ahead. I know it's 1988, but Jesus, come on.
Having said that, even though the game presents a very steep challenge, and even though it's set up in rather an unfair and at times frustrating way, for some reason that I can't nail down it still remains the good kind of challenge. The kind of challenge that made me say "Oh go on, then, I'll just try and get to the end of the first level." I met the boss, which was bizarrely and ridiculously hard to beat, and was tempted to quit - but after getting killed, you start a little way back, so you can change your weaponry to suit what you know is coming up, so I figured I'd try it a little differently.
Going on just like that, I got to the third level before I felt addiction setting in, and decided to take a break to write this review.
Well, in short, it's a funny little game. Like all Data East games it's ridiculously hard, but this is the good kind of hard. The kind of hard that actually gives you real satisfaction when you beat a boss on the sixth attempt. And for that, despite its flaws in balance (invulnerability only lasts one second after being hit), presentation (the level one boss wasn't even animated), controls (you can't shoot upwards?) and just about every other aspect of, y'know, being a game, I still feel compelled to play it a little more.
FUN
4. What at first seems horribly, unfairly difficult is later revealed to be a rather convoluted challenge of equipping the right weaponry for the right job.
NOTABILITY
2. It's a fairly bog-standard platformer, albeit with a Gradius-type powerup system. Nothing terribly special or unique, but executed quite well.
PRESENTATION
2. Very bog-standard graphics. Slightly catchy music. Poor translations. Irritating sound every time you take a step.
ADDICTION
4. It's not immediately addictive, but once you take the time to give it a chance and get into it, this game can keep you going for a while.
SURVIVAL
2. I'm afraid this one wouldn't do terribly well in arcades - the style of game demands rush-in-and-shoot style gameplay from the player, but it actually rewards a more slow and careful approach. The disparity is immediately confusing, and may put off a lot of potential players. Also, you don't last terribly long per credit - perhaps it might do well at 10p play once you had some experienced players, but there are other, more commercially sound games to put in any money-earning arcade machine.
OVERALL
(4+2+2+4+2)/5 = 2.8. A lack of care taken in balancing the game, and a lack of effort in its presentation, lets down what should have been a classic.
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