-1459362227.png "famicon pocky and rocky 2")
If you’re wanting to add an engaging diversion to your gameplay, simply hobbling a character that normally enjoys considerable freedom of movement isn’t a great way to go about it. Echoing a now familiar theme, I get that Natsume wanted to shake things up a little, I just can’t get behind the execution. Both see Pocky riding on a mythic beast of some sort, resulting in severe limits on her usual eight-way moving and shooting. All-in-all, they may as well have dispensed with the shopping altogether and had the same items scattered throughout the levels as before.įinally, we have the two vertical auto-scrolling stages to consider.
Famicon pocky and rocky 2 upgrade#
The selection in these shops is relatively small, however, a fact further compounded by Pocky now being limited to a single weapon upgrade type. Most item pickups were replaced by coins, which are to be gathered up and spent in shops.
This has the side-effect of making Pocky & Rocky 2 a much easier playthrough, albeit at the stiff cost of general excitement. Hence, combat lacks that frantic arcade feel. The evasive slide maneuver so vital to staying alive before is gone, and the overall speed and complexity of the enemy patterns have been toned down as a result. Pocky & Rocky 2’s other tweaks to the formula didn’t impress me, either. Here, I can’t say it’s worth investing time in at all. Worse still, since only Pocky can die, the game ends the instant player one runs out of lives! This is all especially tragic given that Pocky & Rocky has one of the best two-player modes on the platform. They also can’t die, meaning that there’s no incentive whatsoever for them to play with any sort of care or technique. Second players can’t pick up shot upgrades, armor, or other power-ups. Player two is essentially treated as an extension of player one, as opposed to an equal party to the mayhem.
Famicon pocky and rocky 2 free#
Defeated enemies drop icons that will switch your current partner out for another in the roster, so you’re quite free to use them as you see fit.įascinating as they are, all these new mechanics come at the expense of the two-player experience. They reappear good as new a few seconds later, thankfully. Instead, Pocky picks up and hurls her “friends” at the opposition for a similar effect. Helpers also take the place of the super bomb items from the previous game. The combined form of Pocky and Bomber Bob, for example, can pick up and move the boulders that block the path to certain treasure boxes. In addition, they can magically merge with Pocky for a limited time, allowing for the use of unique abilities. Every companion has his, her, or its own way of moving and attacking. The remaining four characters, a scarecrow, tengu, mole, and robot, are met along the way.īeing free able to experiment with so many different characters sounds like a blast, and indeed it is, provided it’s in single-player mode. I suppose her name in the Japanese version is the equally bland Shinobi, so we can’t say the localization staff was being extra lazy. You start out able to pick between Rocky, a burly explosives enthusiast named Bomber Bob, and a little ninja dubbed…Little Ninja. More like “Pocky & Rocky & Company,” eh? Player one always controls Pocky, while player two (or the CPU) controls the chosen helper. She’s joined on her eight stage journey not only by her faithful tanuki pal Rocky, but by a grand total of seven playable sidekicks. This time around, plucky shrine maiden Pocky is out to rescue a moon princess who’s been kidnapped by demons. Although these risks rarely pay off, Pocky & Rocky 2 is still novel and playable enough on its own terms to warrant a qualified recommendation. Natsume wasn’t afraid to take risks with this 1994 follow-up, as its design diverges considerably from that of its immediate predecessor. Surely there’s no better way to celebrate than to treat myself to another helping of cutesy run-and-gunning via Pocky & Rocky 2, aka Kiki Kaikai: Tsukiyo Soushi (“Mysterious Ghost World: A Moonlit Night”) in Japan. In all seriousness, I’m elated to see publisher Natsume dragging more of its older franchises out of mothballs. Thanks aren’t necessary, though I do accept tips. In any case, I’m totally taking credit for this one, y’all.
Promotional material thus far makes Reshrined out to be closer to an enhanced remake of the first Super Nintendo game than a true sequel, similar to 2014’s Wild Guns Reloaded, but all-new stages are promised. Lo and behold, one is currently in development under the title Pocky & Rocky Reshrined. Speak of the devil! When I covered Pocky & Rocky back in 2019, I expressed the vague hope that the duo might return for another adventure someday.
0 kommentar(er)
