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Review Information |
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Reviewer Name: |
Alexander Landgren aka uffbulle |
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Game Difficulty: |
Hard |
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Difficulty Options: |
False |
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Game Information |
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Full Title: |
Megumi Rescue |
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Year Released: |
1988 |
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Game Type: |
Misc/Other |
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Max Players: |
1 |
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| Introduction |
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| "A Different Kind of Rescue."
Here's something exclusively Japanese that seems to fit the bill for Both hardcore old school gamers and the more recent breed of casual gamers with bad no attention spans. Megumi Rescue is all about tight reflexes and silly action crammed into a single screen, bursting with colorful and cute little pixels.
In other words, it offers that simple kind of pick up and play experience sprung from the old days of gaming - the days of the arcade classics. Donkey Kong, Arkanoid, Dig Dug and the like. It's no clone though, but rather a very unique take on the genre.
The premise is as simple as the gameplay, and they're both kind of weird. The city is in flames and you, as part of an especially daring, acrobatic type of fire patrol team (straight from the circus? read on) is sent out to rescue those who can't rescue themselves, by offering them a safe place to land their behinds on, in the form of a large rubber mat.
And that's where your team's years of circus acrobatics training come in handy. Since for some strange reason these people are either too scared to jump, or simply suicidal, you'll have to "persuade" them by bouncing up there and dragging every single one of them down with you, one at a time. Yes, that's how it's done in Japan apparently.
Now this wouldn't be all that interesting if the game wasn't any fun, but fortunately for the citizens it is. It's also quite flawed, but more on that later...
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| Gameplay |
| Apart from the procedure I just explained to you, your bouncing fireman can perform quite a few other tricks, and it's all done by grabbing onto the right windows. Among the things that can be grabbed are Fire (putting it out), the Apartment Valuables (guess they're not gonna need it when they're dead?), and of course Power ups, some of them so powerful that they immediately finish the level for you!
But as we all know, grabbing at everything in sight is bound to cause some problems, especially when you don't know what you're grabbing (which is unfortunately the case here), and in this game it's represented by huge pieces of furniture that comes crashing down at your colleagues. Another thing to watch out for, obviously, is the rapidly spreading fire. Once the fire reaches a citizen, he/she/it suddenly understands what it was supposed to have done all along and so jumps right out.
As the game progresses, pretty soon there will be more people jumping out their windows by themselves than there are people being grabbed by your experienced hands. The game gets highly intense within like 10 minutes of playtime, and then it just goes overboard from there.
Because the controls are a bit dodgy, it's easy to grab the wrong thing at the wrong moment and then you easily lose control of the situation... And since keeping yourself alive is crucial because the game session stops when you die, the game soon becomes a rather saddening experience (well, for some) as more and more people start falling to their deaths with no one there to grab them. All to the sound of some un-fittingly happy tune, which sounds like it's saying "Hey, nobody really cares about those people, riight?”
Now the reason I wrote that last bit, is because the game seems to encourage that kind of thinking. I'm going to let you in on this game's little dark secret, to prove my point..
It's quite a shocker.
There are certain power ups in this game... that makes your character NUKE the building! And it's meant to be a good thing too! I'm not kidding; you actually nuke the building and finish the level. You even get to play a bonus stage when you do this. So... now you know the real reason why you never got to play this on your SMS back in the day.
To sum up, the game is inviting at first, refreshingly humorous and intense... But it won't be long before total chaos ensues and it beats you and everyone in it into a bloody pulp on the street. The solution? Nuke the building! |
| Graphics |
| While they're rather non-personal and small, these sprites and backgrounds are certainly cute and colorful (you can rescue cats looking like Pokemon), and everything is easy to make out. |
| Sound & Music |
| Sound effects are pretty much standard fare for this kind of game (blips & blops), but the music, while not bad or annoying in any way, just does not fit this game at all. |
| Controls |
| Slightly confusing (see Gameplay) and not really good enough for such a hard game. The awkward paddle control doesn't make things easier. |
| Replay Value |
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| The game is just barely worth trying out in the first place, except for a few laughs, and longer sessions can have a very bad effect on your mood. It sure is different though, so you may want to keep it for that reason alone. |
| Conclusion |
| Yes, it's easier being angry than sad, but it's even easier to turn the game off and play something much less bizarre and unforgiving, like for example Woody Pop. Now that's a paddle game done right!
Overall score: 6.5/10 - While it's not worth tracking down, I recommend trying out the ROM for a laugh. You might like it (if you're weird) and keep playing it from time to time. After all, how many games like this are out there? None! This has to be The most sadistic and bizarre SMS game. That's worth the extra 0.5 points. |
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