In the 80s, any popular brand received a licensed game, so it's no surprise Takara published a game for the Nintendo Family Computer, or Famicom, for the Transformers property. This game, titled Transformers: Convoy no Nazo, translates roughly to Mystery of Optimus Prime. This game was never released in the United States and for good reason: it's horrible.
The game takes place around the series' third season and stars Ultra Magnus in his search for Optimus Prime's killer. This strange plotline, as the 1986 Transformers movie was very clear in that Megatron killed Optimus, does have some merit to it; the Transformers movie was not released in Japan until three years after the game, so the canon explanation went unknown in the meantime.
Perhaps the best part about the game is the ability to transform between the robot and truck forms by holding Down on the control pad. However, since it takes a few seconds to transform this leaves you available to get hit so it is ultimately useless. As a robot, pressing the A button fires a standard gun. As a truck, you can fire bombs upward and forward at enemies in your way, though hit detection is spotty at best and your bullets will mostly go through enemies.
As far as graphics, sound and control are all concerned, Transformers: Convoy no Nazo suffers greatly in every department. Enemy projectiles blend into the background, making it very easy to lose one of your three lives within the first ten seconds of the game. If you manage to get past these essentially invisible projectiles, you will quickly notice the scenery and characters both suffer from little variation and great repetition. Other than Ultra Magnus, a few boss characters and a jet that resembles Starscream, you would never realize this game held the Transformers license.
To make matters worse, the controls may very well be your worst enemy. Jumping in robot form is floaty and hard to control, and the vertical length of Ultra Magnus's jump is about ten feet into the air, producing the side effect of hitting a flying enemy while you're trying to avoid a tank rolling toward you on the ground.
The sound also suffers a case of repetition with the same background music playing throughout each stage. To make matters worse, that one song is atrocious. The only time the music changes is in between levels and when you die, when a short clip of music from the television show is played. While it's nice to hear official music in the game, expect to hear this clip often.
Games of this generation have always had a reputation for being difficult, but this game borders on fiendish. It's simply too easy to die no matter what you're doing. The camouflaged enemy projectiles are a pixel wide at most, and whether you accidentally graze a Decepticon or get shot, one hit is all it takes to lose a life. In fact, it's easier to run past every enemy and learn the pattern to avoid shots rather than trying to shoot them.
This game has no redeeming values, even for a Transformers fan. The money that could be spent on the game is better spent buying your own Ultra Magnus and Decepticon figures and recreating the events of the game in your basement. Avoid this one at all costs.
Click the link to visit retrogamerjapan.com for classic retro games, cleaned, tested and ready to play Famicom consoles on sale We also have Super Famicom games, controllers and guides. All 100% original, straight from Japan.
No comments :
Post a Comment