Is Decap Attack Still Good?
Decap Attack is a side scrolling platformer released for the Sega Genesis and Mega Drive
back in 1991.
The game was developed by Vic Tokai who also developed Kid Kool for the NES, Psycho Fox
for the Master System, and Magical Flying Turbo Hat Adventures for the Japanese Mega
Drive.
Decap Attack is actually a re-skinned version of Magical Hat, with all new characters created
for a Western audience.
Like most of the aforementioned titles, Decap Attack was met with positive review scores
upon release, and has continued to enjoy positive coverage as the years go by.
Some have even declared this one a hidden gem.
So, is Decap Attack still good?
Let's dive in.
Decap Attack opens with a brief cut-scene where we learn the game's villain Max D.
Cap has emerged from the underworld to wreak havoc on the over world, splitting an island
into 7 different parts.
Dr. Frank N. Stein and Igor have created a protagonist, Chuck D. Head, to go defeat this
nemesis, restore the island, and make things right.
After the brief intro, the player is dropped into the game and the adventure begins.
The structure in Decap Attack is very linear, with each area being a different island mass
with three levels offered sequentially, and then a boss fight.
The formula is repeated 7 times for a total of 21 levels across 7 unique areas.
The controls are straightforward as well, and should be immediately familiar to fans
of Vic Tokai's earlier games.
Chuck has some slow-ish momentum, taking a few steps before reaching maximum velocity.
Thankfully, momentum can be gained while jumping, helping the platforming to feel tight and
precise.
Even better, Chuck's descent can be slowed by rapidly pressing the jump button, not unlike
Bonk in Bonk's Adventure.
Attacking also feels great, and enemies can be defeated by jumping on them, punching them
with Chuck's chest appendage, or collecting the skull power-up and throwing it like a
projectile.
If the player takes damage however, the skull projectile will be gone, until a new one is
acquired.
Still, the fact Chuck has a projectile attack, a melee attack, and can jump on enemies, offers
plenty of flexibility in tackling the levels.
Speaking of which, the first area is Abdomainland.
This is a dilapidated forest like area, matching the undead motif of the main character.
In addition to learning the controls, it is here a wide variety of items will be discovered.
Littered throughout every level are statues that can be smashed to reveal bonus items,
coins, health, extra lives, or enemies.
Most of these items are optional, except one.
In the third level of each area is a special item that must be located before the player
is allowed to exit the level.
The coins are also extremely valuable, and collecting all five will award the maximum
chances in the end of area bonus round.
The bonus round offers the easiest way to rack up extra lives along with other helpful
goodies.
But backing up a bit, is the first boss fight.
In reviewing the footage it's clear I should be ducking under this boss's attack, however
one of the items is exceptionally useful against the bosses.
The Ooze02 item extends Chuck's melee attack and does extra damage, for a whopping 10 seconds,
making quick work of a majority of Decap Attack's bosses.
This incredibly powerful power-up means you'll want to take the time to smash open, and even
seek out, as many statues as you can throughout the game, as the items are an insanely useful
tool, helpful for beating the game.
Anyway, moving on we arrive at the second world, El Beau Island.
If I'm honest, this doesn't look a whole lot different than Abdomainland, and the structure
isn't much different either.
On the flip side, there are some water segments.
Mercifully, Chuck can still use all of his attacks while under water, which makes this
far less painful than water levels found in contemporary titles of the time.
There are some moving platforms as well, but the precise jumping and hovering abilities
make these pretty painless.
A few other things to note are how the levels change from being mostly horizontal, to vertical,
offering up new challenges through clever level design.
Enemy placement is thoughtful as well, rarely surprising the player as they move up or down
the screen.
However, you could use something like the Swill power-up to gain temporary invincibility
and then race down the screen with no regard.
For as cool as this is, what is less cool is the start back.
If you die at all during the level, you are forced back to the very beginning.
All of the statues remain broken too, so any health or items will not reappear, which is
kind of a bummer, and unfairly punishes a new player that needs these bonuses the most.
Moving on we arrive at boss number two, a giant frog, or maybe it's a toad, that hops
around the screen while little hoppers jump out of its back.
Like before, using the Ooze02 power-up will supercharge Chuck's attack and make this
fight rather easy.
Area three is Tibuland and the scenery finally changes.
The first stage also auto-scrolls, forcing the player to react to enemies and platforms
quickly, to avoid taking damage by the manic totem pole chasing Chuck.
It is here one will learn how invaluable the skull projectile really is, allowing the player
to take out enemies as soon as they appear on the screen, offering a nice reward for
cautious play.
I should also note while the levels are very linear with an obvious path forward, there
are a ton of nooks and crannies in nearly every level for those who like to explore.
Here for example, venturing off the beaten path will lead to a breakable wall, and eventually,
four statues.
There is no timer to force quick play either, which works well with the overall level design.
One thing I don't like is how enemies respawn when you revisit an area.
Here, I used the Xenon power-up which instantly kills everything on the screen, and makes
the screen all trippy.
Unfortunately, all of the destruction is for naught, as the enemies reappear as you make
you way back through the water.
I find it odd the game remembers which statutes have been broken, but not which enemies have
been defeated.
Moving on is boss number 3.
By this point the player has probably collected a bunch of an item called Trioxy.
This item is designed to do big damage to bosses.
It won't take them down in one hit or anything, but these too make bosses easier and are worth
seeking out.
And like before, the boss fight is a cake walk thanks to easy patterns and the power-ups.
After this is world 4, Armington.
I'm not really sure what this level theme is, but there is an emphasis on water.
The difficulty is also increasing thanks to a reliance on collapsing platforms, and more
and more enemies requiring two hits to take down.
Once you learn which enemies take multiple hits, you'll start planning your attacks
and managing items more proficiently.
For example, these otter things pursue Chuck in a way where it's hard to dodge them.
It's better to throw the skull at them if available, or use an item to take them down.
Same goes for the piranha plants.
While standing still waiting for two hits to register isn't exactly riveting gameplay,
I do like how different strategies can be utilized in different situations.
After dealing with the new enemies we arrive at yet another boss.
This is one of the few times in the game where ducking is necessary in the adventure, allowing
the giant brain to safely pass overhead.
Master this, and the boss is predictably simple to take down.
With the brain defeated, Chuck arrives at World 5, Pumpington, a tropical volcano styled
level.
There really isn't much to say here.
The difficulty remains high with two-hit enemies and collapsible platforms.
A second auto-scroll level is presented as well, with the difficulty ramped up with a
massive amount of breakable walls impeding Chuck's path.
The area concludes with what I consider to be the toughest boss in the game.
This mole-like critter is safely underground for a majority of the battle, making only
a brief appearance where the player can get in some hits.
However, after a few hits the mole will throw rocks at the player, which becoming increasingly
more challenging to dodge due to their random nature.
With the limited power-ups, because statues don't reset after death, and just a few
continues, the combination of a tough World 5-3 and this mole boss was the cause of a
couple of game overs for me.
Perhaps I'm attacking the challenge incorrectly, but the difficulty spike here is pretty brutal.
Thankfully, things are toned down in Last Leg Land.
This acts as the obligatory ice world, but isn't as annoying as one would expect.
The slow momentum, hovering mechanic, and platform heavy nature of all three stages
make these rather pleasant, instead of slippery and tedious.
So kudos to the developers.
I should also give praise to the melee attack, which not only has a nice reach and is void
of any hit detection issues, but also doesn't slow Chuck down.
He can take down enemies without losing momentum, which is awesome when penguin things are racing
at you on the icy platforms.
This also leads to my favorite boss in the whole game.
This giant ape isn't particularly challenging.
His attack patterns are easy, with telegraphed projectiles and jumps, and it's easy to
move in and get in headshots during his vulnerability period.
Instead, I just love how detailed he is.
His legs, arms, body, head, lower jaw, and eyeballs all move independently from each
other, making for some of the smoothest animations found in the whole game.
It's impressive and one of the highlights found in Decap Attack.
It's still easy though.
With the island nearly restored, we find ourselves in the seventh and final area, Eyeland.
This is a cave style level, with plenty of lava pits, small platforms, and water.
Still, as has been the case for a majority of the game, the structure hasn't changed
much and as best as I can tell, not a single new enemy type is introduced.
If you've managed to make it this far without running out of continues, you'll easily
cruise through these three stages on the way to the final boss.
This boss, which appeared during the opening cutscene, is a worthy final foe.
Only his head is vulnerable to attack, he'll cause boulders to fall from the top of the
screen, and he'll launch a couple of flames which home in on Chuck.
It can be overwhelming and tough to maneuver through three separate obstacles while trying
to land hits.
However, if you've managed to avoid a game over screen, and hoarded the Trioxy power-up,
which launches a massive attack at the boss, this fight is anticlimactic.
After a few super-powered punches to the face before he ratcheted up his attacks, I used
9 of these things in a row to take him down with minimal fuss.
Depending on what items you have remaining, this fight will either be incredibly frustrating,
or extremely easy.
In any case, after defeating him and exiting the level, the final piece of the island is
restored and the final cut-scenes play out.
Max D. Cap returns to the underworld as Chuck races to Dr. Frank N. Stein.
Sadly, poor Chuck collapses at his doorstep, exhausted from the epic journey he just completed.
Then, the mad doctor restores the mummified body into a man, for some unexplained reason,
marking the end of the game.
Then of course, the credits roll.
Graphically, Decap Attack is inconsistent.
Technically speaking, there are few flaws to speak of.
The framerate is smooth, sprites are large and detailed, there is no flicker whatsoever,
and the developers seemed to do a good job working within the confines of the Genesis
hardware.
I wish there was more than a single layer of parallax scrolling, but this is really
just a personal preference and not a requirement for pleasing visuals.
Artistically however, Decap Attack is all over the map.
Some level are gorgeous with an oversaturated color palette helping the game feel like a
Saturday morning cartoon.
Other levels are downright ugly, with a muddled color palette and complete lack of contrast
between the background and foregrounds, making the game look more primitive than it really
is.
Other levels have a nice contrast, but with a graphical fidelity more on par with the
8-bit Master System than the 16-bit Genesis.
Needless to say, the artistic quality is inconsistent.
A few things I do like are the character designs.
Chuck looks terrific and it's easy to see he is a mummy with a head bursting out of
his chest.
The bloody touches are icing on the cake, giving the character a super weird, surprisingly
unique look, and a nice change of pace from the anthropomorphic animal designs of nearly
all platformers of the day.
Enemy design follows suit, with a host of the different creatures, some realistic, others
less so, but all featuring pleasing caricature-like exaggerations.
While the artistic quality is spotty, the audio quality is overall really good.
While the opening music sounds a bit cheap with some bad Genesis twang, this is an anomaly.
The soundtrack as a whole is good.
The tracks are lengthy with various sections building into catchy choruses; the instruments
are layered with a solid bed of drums under smooth synthesized notes creating some truly
pleasant tracks.
A few are real ear worms as well, and some of the melodies are extremely catchy.
I wouldn't put this up there with some of the best efforts from Konami or Sega, but
it's a great effort nonetheless.
The sound effects on the other hand, are a lot less refined.
The sliding sound when Chuck changes direction is a bit too high pitched, and the sound an
enemy makes you jump on them is very low-quality.
The audio oddities aren't too frequent, but definitely stand out against the smooth
sounds of the background music.
So, with all of that out of the way we arrive back to the question asked at the beginning
of the video.
Is Decap Attack still good?
Of all the things Decap Attack does, both good and bad, what's most impressive about
the game is how few flaws there are.
There are no bottomless pits for example, no blind jumps, the invincibility period is
lengthy allowing the player proper time to recover after failure, the difficulty curve
is mostly linear, the controls are flawless, and the game is void of anything truly frustrating.
Better still, Chuck can still attack while under water and the icy sections exercise
restraint.
Enemy placement is also solid with few, if any, surprising moments meant to unfairly
trick the player.
It's like the exact opposite of another classic platformer, The Lion King, which broke nearly
every game design rule in the book.
It's refreshingly straightforward in a way.
That straightforwardness, it also what prevents Decap Attack from entering the upper echelon
of 16-bit platformers.
Don't get me wrong, there are some things that stand out.
Using a skull for a projectile is satisfying and unique, Chuck runs spastically, like one
would expect a mummy, and I really dig the power-ups.
While they mostly function the same, allowing temporary invincibility or increasing damage
done to bosses, the item management gives the game a little depth without being cumbersome.
But for me it all comes back to the overall design.
Other than the two chase levels, a majority of the game feels basically the same.
There is a real lack of variety in the challenges.
Chuck has abilities like ducking, as well as the ability to skip over water, but these
abilities are never utilized.
Instead, the same basic platforming gimmicks are repeated over and over through the game's
21 levels.
Decap Attack needs more unique moments like in the auto-scrolling level where you have
to break walls before being crushed, rather than the supremely basic platforming usually
presented.
While the difficulty ramps up somewhat as the adventure unfolds, it is disappointing
to see the same enemies found in the first world, are also on the last world.
With 21 levels and a two-hour run time, there really should be a lot more variety.
Instead, the player will have seen it all and done it all, by about the halfway mark.
Decap Attack really needed some refinement, to take better advantage of Chuck's extensive
move set, the item set, and the awesome halloween-esque feel of the game.
Gimmicks are carried over from the previous games, like how chuck will rapidly move his
feet when running off a platform, even though the momentum has carried him too far to actually
recover.
It's just unnecessary.
Finally, creativity was put into the area names, like Abdomainland and El Beau Land,
matching the body parts of the islands, but this thought isn't always carried over into
other aspects of the game.
Battling a neon-colored mole with sun glasses just seems odd when you're piloting a headless
mummy in a land called Pumpington.
And for me, this is Decap Attack.
It's a jack of all trades, master of none platformer.
While Chuck is a cool character and the music is surprisingly good, underneath the thin
veneer is a very by the book, bare bones experience.
The platforming is about as simple as it gets, and while chuck's unique projectile attack
and floating jump do help it stand out, Decap Attack contains little else to help it stand
apart from the competition.
It's still good for sure, but there are much better platformers on the Genesis, and the
16-bit generation as a whole.
For more infomation >> H O M O S E X U A L I D A D|| by Luu. Subs ESP, traducirlos/translate. - Duration: 6:03. 
For more infomation >> DJI GOGGLES - FIRST IMPRESIONS - Duration: 7:33. 
For more infomation >> #GraciasBebé te estabamos esperando. Feliz Día de las Madres (Video corto) | Pampers BR - Duration: 0:15. 
For more infomation >> Píldoras PNL: A resaltar lo POSITIVO! - Duration: 3:09. 
For more infomation >> معلومات عن حبوب منع الحمل لا تعرف عنها الكثيرات !!! - Duration: 3:21. 
For more infomation >> TOP 12 FRIGHTENING URBAN LEGENDS THAT STILL BEING TOLD - Duration: 10:33. 
For more infomation >> Actividad física y discapacidad - Duration: 4:59. 
For more infomation >> esculpen a Darth Vader en moneda de cobre HD - Duration: 1:01. 
For more infomation >> Hyundai i30 1.6i Style APK 04-18 bj 2007 schade !!! - Duration: 1:02. 
For more infomation >> Citroën C4 COUPE 1.4i 16v VTR 26000KM!! CLIMA/PDC/CRUISE/LMV - Duration: 0:42. 
For more infomation >> Mazda 626 Wagon 1.8I COMFORT met koude airco - Duration: 0:49. 
For more infomation >> 🎤 Psalm 36 Song with Lyrics - Your Steadfast Love - Jason Silver [WORSHIP SONG] - Duration: 4:30. 
For more infomation >> Stand By You - Duration: 5:00. 
For more infomation >> Hightech-Forum: Das Fachforum "Kooperation und Transfer" - Duration: 3:55. 
For more infomation >> Das Hightech-Forum: Das Fachforum "Internationalisierung" - Duration: 3:37. 
For more infomation >> Em Alta: Reforma trabalhista está em análise no Senado - Duration: 1:25. 
For more infomation >> Doutora Brinquedos - Perseguição da Hallie - Jogo de Desenho Animado - Duration: 11:30. 
For more infomation >> Hightech-Forum: Das Fachforum "Nachhaltiges Wirtschaften" - Duration: 4:14. 
For more infomation >> 5 SKINÓW w CS:GO których wcześniej NIE WIDZIAŁEŚ! #1 - Kolekcja Alfa - Duration: 1:16. 
No comments:
Post a Comment