Sotenga
04-20-2005, 05:09 PM
Inspired (or possibly ripped off) by others who have their own topics about specific games, I decided that I'd begin ranting about certain games from time to time. :D
Today, the focus is on a curious NES title, Ultimate Stuntman. Developed by Camerica, and of course, distributed by CodeMasters, I decided to talk about U.S. because it's actually a damn good action game for a non-Japanese title from the early 90's. I apologize, but I'm not very interested in most European or American games. U.S. is something else, though. You get to ride cars, speed boats, dune buggies, and hang gliders, and the action-platforming sequences are as good as you would expect a 2D platform shooter to be. It's not quite Contra quality, but what is (besides Gunstar Heroes)? Also, before each major boss fight, you gotta scale buildings or mountains in scenes that I can best describe as a crossbreed between Crazy Climber and Operation Wolf, where you gotta make it to the top while gunning off debris, rats, falcons, and other hazards. After every boss, you gotta defuse the bomb in a puzzle that, although simple in theory, becomes quite tricky in practice.
There are eight rounds, each with four stages, so that's 32 stages in all! Sounds fun, eh? Well, by the fourth round, the levels do become a slight tad repetitive (as well as the bosses), and by a slight tad, I mean that backgrounds are recycled, and the game, although good in graphics, starts to look a bit bland after a while. The sound quality is great, and the music is bitching. The problem is that it eventually becomes more repetitive than the graphics later on in the game! Plus, it really becomes freaking hard, and I'm often blowing chunks by the fourth round.
Despite its flaws, I advise playing Ultimate Stuntman, if not just to see a good example of a title that isn't licensed by Nintendo. :)
Today, the focus is on a curious NES title, Ultimate Stuntman. Developed by Camerica, and of course, distributed by CodeMasters, I decided to talk about U.S. because it's actually a damn good action game for a non-Japanese title from the early 90's. I apologize, but I'm not very interested in most European or American games. U.S. is something else, though. You get to ride cars, speed boats, dune buggies, and hang gliders, and the action-platforming sequences are as good as you would expect a 2D platform shooter to be. It's not quite Contra quality, but what is (besides Gunstar Heroes)? Also, before each major boss fight, you gotta scale buildings or mountains in scenes that I can best describe as a crossbreed between Crazy Climber and Operation Wolf, where you gotta make it to the top while gunning off debris, rats, falcons, and other hazards. After every boss, you gotta defuse the bomb in a puzzle that, although simple in theory, becomes quite tricky in practice.
There are eight rounds, each with four stages, so that's 32 stages in all! Sounds fun, eh? Well, by the fourth round, the levels do become a slight tad repetitive (as well as the bosses), and by a slight tad, I mean that backgrounds are recycled, and the game, although good in graphics, starts to look a bit bland after a while. The sound quality is great, and the music is bitching. The problem is that it eventually becomes more repetitive than the graphics later on in the game! Plus, it really becomes freaking hard, and I'm often blowing chunks by the fourth round.
Despite its flaws, I advise playing Ultimate Stuntman, if not just to see a good example of a title that isn't licensed by Nintendo. :)