GOTD 4/24/2016: Somer Assault (TG16)
Somer Assault (or Mesopotamia in Japan) is an action... um... let's say puzzle platformer in which you must traverse mazes guarded by creatures of the zodiac as a hardened... uh... fighting... slinky? Hmm...
Yeah. So, your mighty battle slinky must find its way through mazes in a pretty strict time limit AND defeat the zodiac guardian in that time. You stick to the walls, moving like a slinky flipping atop itself with a band in the center that can fire. You can duck tightly against walls, jump about two tiles in height, and fire to traverse these mazes which vary wildly in complexity. Many are quite simple and intuitive, while others are obtuse and littered with teleporters. You do get help in the form of powerups from defeated foes, such as extra speed, additional firing bands, and life bar extensions to help keep you alive. Dying causes you to lose all of your powerups, though, so fire away early and often.
The bosses themselves are, as mentioned, giant bronze creatures of the zodiac. Gemini Twins, the giant Cancer Crab, the Taurus Bull... each has its own detailed look and attack pattern, some of which are way simpler than others. They tend to be fairly easy, though, so most of the lives you lose will likely come from running out of time while trying to locate them.
Somer Assault is pretty darn unique in its premise and execution, and feels very fresh for it. The difficulty is uneven until you learn the tricks to the different mazes, but the boss fights are mostly pretty cool, and clinging to walls with your slinky flips is oddly entertaining. The music isn't amazing, but I should probably take into account how I was playing Gondomania with a friend immediately beforehand, which has a soundtrack I really dig, and that comparison might be coloring my perception a bit. Still, it's a fun, sorely unique game that Atlus or Turbografx fans should definitely check out, as there's really not much else like it.
Played this one?
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