Kato-Chan & Ken Chan (PC Engine/Turbo Grafx 16) 1987

Being a very early PC Engine title, it seems almost unfair of me to compare it to later titles, after all it was one of only two platform games released in the PC Engine launch year, with only "Wonderboy in Monster Land" to compare it to.

It was also one of the first PC Engine/Turbo Grafx games I've played. And it's currently the last I completed. The reason for that is both the games' length and cryptic nature.

The game itself is basicly a very simple "run right until you get to the exit" sort of thing, with a distinct "New Adventure Island" feeling, coming from having to collect quickly dissapearing fruit to replenish your ever decreasing life bar. But as one soon finds out, finding various secret trigers is esential to completing the game. In order to get the key to the boss room, you have to hit most everything in every third field of a world, otherwise you're pretty much screwed. However, you also have to hit numerous items in varying ways to make necessary platforms appear, and sometimes you're basicly forced to just blindly kick at the air until you hit something.

Toilet humour is about the only thing that even gives this game any distinct flavour, but it was done better elsewhere, resulting in "Toilet Kids" ,which is nothing but toilet humour in every single aspect.

Then there's the level warps. Oh the level warps. Some springs actualy bounce you all the way out of the level you're on, but only a select few make you warp forwards, and even then alot of the times, it's useless (like a warp to the next level in a key level long before you have a chance to get the key) or counter productive (a warp to the next level right in front of the level exit- which actually isn't very beneficial because your depleted health bar won't get refilled). And then there are many many many warps sending you back. Sometimes these can be usefull if you're in the boss world and forgot to pick up the key. Other times, these can send you back needlessly far, one such warp in level 6 apparently sends you back all the way to level 1 !

Finaly, the game can be very dickish sometimes. Towards the end, there's a large gap that you can't seemingly move across, making you jump up and hit the air like deranged, until you figure out....oh, there's a secret platform all the way below the bottom of the screen. It's the only time the game does this, so you're a basicly forced to waste time and resolve to commit suicide before you can move on.

The final level of the game. Can't you just feel the excitement leaping off the screen ?

But that's nothing compared to one area in world 6. You have to jump across a whole platform filled to the brim with instant death fire on every pixel, by jumping over a flock of enemy flies, one at a time. And if you happen to fall off, the flies never come back.

The main reason, however, that alot of people wouldn't finish the game is more the fact that the game is just really repetitive and long. There are 24 levels, but only about four or five different level themes, cycling through several each level, and these don't even look that different from one another to begin with. The enemies are also all pretty much the same from 1-1 to 6-4, with only the bosses looking different, but even these are pretty much the same hulkish sprite, with slightly changed graphics, attacking you in the exact same way, just the amount of hits they take is different.

The final boss. He actually looks more mookish then the world 5 boss, he at least had a goatee and wore green.  Oh and guess what ? He attacks by throwing boulders at you. Just like all the other bosses.

Only the final boss even gave be a bit of trouble, as I could just wheeze through all the other bosses without any kind of plan or strategy.

Overall, this game is really not that entertaining, and you will find yourself bored after the first couple of levels.