Ganpuru: Gunman's Proof/Gunple (SNES, 1997)
Graphics-8 Sound-8 Control-8 Challenge-7 Story-6
Level Design-7 Frustration-7 Fun-7 Originality-4.5
Overall Score-7
+
Zelda 3-style gameplay with guns in a wild west setting with sci-fi elements (same map system and movement style, story is similar to Earthbound)
Can strafe/lock your aim while moving (hold L or R)
Pretty good enemy AI overall
Can crawl (lets you dodge some shots)
Comedic tone w/ some decent humour (wacky, slapstick, parody, lewd), decent dialogue
Pretty good bosses overall (pretty good boss introductions, 2+ phases each and some transform, not puzzle-focused like Zelda though)
Good animation (nice water animation)
Charge shot which goes through enemies
Can speed up dialogue on a per sentence basis (can't skip repeated dialogue though)
Can ride a horse after rescuing it in the first dungeon (robaton, moves super fast but can't jump over obstacles and is a temporary movement upgrade, can also take out enemies and makes you invincible but you get no drop from them when you do) - called by picking up carrots which are dropped occasionally by defeated enemies
Can upgrade your main gun's strength two times and your punch three times
Some fun sub weapons (flamethrower, bazooka, smart bombs, morning star/ball and chain)
Some interesting abilities (upwards dash punch up waterfalls - basically a hadouken)
Blurs the line between overworld and dungeon a bit with the ghost town dungeon (no NPCs here though)
Some hidden items (extra HP and 1-ups, decent spacial awareness puzzles)
New enemies appear in some previously visited areas (makes backtracking through them more interesting)
Fairly frequent NPC dialogue updates over the course of the game
One optional mini-boss (reward is a choice between extra def or extra str - Zelda 1?)
+/-
Borrows heavily from Zelda 3 (a bit too much at times - some bosses and enemies are basically variations on Z3 ones)
Linear structure and smaller world than in Zelda 3
Can only save at your house (sleep in your bed, three slots)
Extra lives system (can gain lives by finding treasure in a dungeon and finishing its boss quickly to get a good score (no other point to most of the treasure found in dungeons) or by finding them in placed chests, respawn on the spot),
The main char has two black holes for eyes
HP drops are pretty rare in some areas
Enemies respawn when re-entering the room they were in
Secondary guns and melee weapons are temporary ammo-based power ups dropped by killed enemies (can't increase their ammo capacity, no sub weapon inventory)
Can't move while using the charge punch (used to break boulders)
Very few dungeon puzzles
Can't generally jump down 2x+ tall ledges (only in certain spots, makes sense level design-wise but not visually)
Some "level" gating - teacher NPCs found throughout the game won't teach you the next skill unless you've beaten enough dungeons
Some modern day elements (some weapons)
Can't restock on smart bombs (besides via placed chests) until the late game via the gun shop in town - can only carry 3 at a time as well
Have to mash the button VERY fast to use the crazy shot move (shoot randomly in all directions for a bit) or the punch combo
Pretty short invincibility time after taking a hit
Features domestic violence
You can shoot through otherwise solid walls (forest for example)
-
Can't save horse/robaton or alternate weapon power ups for later use (no sub weapon inventory)
Some interface/control issues (automatic movement in stairs and you can't cancel using them, if you let go of the button before you're done charging the gun then the shot is wasted - can't charge the gun while using stairs or jumping down cliffs either, no detailed map for the overworld (can't see where you haven't been nore where found chests are), no mini-map - see Mystery Dungeon 1-2 or Dune 2 for example, can't see all inventory items - sellable items?)
Some cheap enemy placements
Some backtracking (to the village to save or get upgrades and clues, to the teacher brothers in the late game, a few dead ends) - no teleporters or other means of quick travel besides the temporary horse which can't go through doors or into water,
Less interactive environment than in Zelda 3 or Link's Awakening (can't inspect objects, can't break pots, can't grab or attack animals in the wild)
Easy final boss
Some trial & error (no hint on where to go after the mines - back to the kung fu teacher brothers apparently, sometimes can't jump down a 1x ledge while you can in other spots)
Enemy drops disappear after a few seconds
Keep finding items which you have a full stock of when killing enemies
Unskippable "get item" jingle
Repeats some enemies and hazards for later dungeons (makes them feel less unique)
Can't save bought healing items for later use (and right next to the shop there are crabs which heal some HP) - means you have almost nothing to spend money on in the early game
Unforgiving hit detection near the ghost enemies in ghost town and around the mecha pig bullets
Can't swim under bridges
Difficulty spike at the giant mecha pig boss (also hard to tell what the weak point is at first since neither enemies nor bosses flash when damaged here) - followed by an easy dungeon and boss (sally & mary)
Overly repetitive dungeon design
Nothing much happens story-wise after the intro besides a damsel in distress scenario before the last dungeon
Not enough tools/abilities that add to your move set (see Zelda, Super Metroid, etc.)
Pretty easy dungeon 7 boss
The final dungeon is just a boss gauntlet (partial and some of them act differently though)
The game is somewhat inconsistent about which water parts can be crossed by simply walking over them (go too deep before getting the scuba gear and you lose 1 hp)
Level Design-7 Frustration-7 Fun-7 Originality-4.5
Overall Score-7
+
Zelda 3-style gameplay with guns in a wild west setting with sci-fi elements (same map system and movement style, story is similar to Earthbound)
Can strafe/lock your aim while moving (hold L or R)
Pretty good enemy AI overall
Can crawl (lets you dodge some shots)
Comedic tone w/ some decent humour (wacky, slapstick, parody, lewd), decent dialogue
Pretty good bosses overall (pretty good boss introductions, 2+ phases each and some transform, not puzzle-focused like Zelda though)
Good animation (nice water animation)
Charge shot which goes through enemies
Can speed up dialogue on a per sentence basis (can't skip repeated dialogue though)
Can ride a horse after rescuing it in the first dungeon (robaton, moves super fast but can't jump over obstacles and is a temporary movement upgrade, can also take out enemies and makes you invincible but you get no drop from them when you do) - called by picking up carrots which are dropped occasionally by defeated enemies
Can upgrade your main gun's strength two times and your punch three times
Some fun sub weapons (flamethrower, bazooka, smart bombs, morning star/ball and chain)
Some interesting abilities (upwards dash punch up waterfalls - basically a hadouken)
Blurs the line between overworld and dungeon a bit with the ghost town dungeon (no NPCs here though)
Some hidden items (extra HP and 1-ups, decent spacial awareness puzzles)
New enemies appear in some previously visited areas (makes backtracking through them more interesting)
Fairly frequent NPC dialogue updates over the course of the game
One optional mini-boss (reward is a choice between extra def or extra str - Zelda 1?)
+/-
Borrows heavily from Zelda 3 (a bit too much at times - some bosses and enemies are basically variations on Z3 ones)
Linear structure and smaller world than in Zelda 3
Can only save at your house (sleep in your bed, three slots)
Extra lives system (can gain lives by finding treasure in a dungeon and finishing its boss quickly to get a good score (no other point to most of the treasure found in dungeons) or by finding them in placed chests, respawn on the spot),
The main char has two black holes for eyes
HP drops are pretty rare in some areas
Enemies respawn when re-entering the room they were in
Secondary guns and melee weapons are temporary ammo-based power ups dropped by killed enemies (can't increase their ammo capacity, no sub weapon inventory)
Can't move while using the charge punch (used to break boulders)
Very few dungeon puzzles
Can't generally jump down 2x+ tall ledges (only in certain spots, makes sense level design-wise but not visually)
Some "level" gating - teacher NPCs found throughout the game won't teach you the next skill unless you've beaten enough dungeons
Some modern day elements (some weapons)
Can't restock on smart bombs (besides via placed chests) until the late game via the gun shop in town - can only carry 3 at a time as well
Have to mash the button VERY fast to use the crazy shot move (shoot randomly in all directions for a bit) or the punch combo
Pretty short invincibility time after taking a hit
Features domestic violence
You can shoot through otherwise solid walls (forest for example)
-
Can't save horse/robaton or alternate weapon power ups for later use (no sub weapon inventory)
Some interface/control issues (automatic movement in stairs and you can't cancel using them, if you let go of the button before you're done charging the gun then the shot is wasted - can't charge the gun while using stairs or jumping down cliffs either, no detailed map for the overworld (can't see where you haven't been nore where found chests are), no mini-map - see Mystery Dungeon 1-2 or Dune 2 for example, can't see all inventory items - sellable items?)
Some cheap enemy placements
Some backtracking (to the village to save or get upgrades and clues, to the teacher brothers in the late game, a few dead ends) - no teleporters or other means of quick travel besides the temporary horse which can't go through doors or into water,
Less interactive environment than in Zelda 3 or Link's Awakening (can't inspect objects, can't break pots, can't grab or attack animals in the wild)
Easy final boss
Some trial & error (no hint on where to go after the mines - back to the kung fu teacher brothers apparently, sometimes can't jump down a 1x ledge while you can in other spots)
Enemy drops disappear after a few seconds
Keep finding items which you have a full stock of when killing enemies
Unskippable "get item" jingle
Repeats some enemies and hazards for later dungeons (makes them feel less unique)
Can't save bought healing items for later use (and right next to the shop there are crabs which heal some HP) - means you have almost nothing to spend money on in the early game
Unforgiving hit detection near the ghost enemies in ghost town and around the mecha pig bullets
Can't swim under bridges
Difficulty spike at the giant mecha pig boss (also hard to tell what the weak point is at first since neither enemies nor bosses flash when damaged here) - followed by an easy dungeon and boss (sally & mary)
Overly repetitive dungeon design
Nothing much happens story-wise after the intro besides a damsel in distress scenario before the last dungeon
Not enough tools/abilities that add to your move set (see Zelda, Super Metroid, etc.)
Pretty easy dungeon 7 boss
The final dungeon is just a boss gauntlet (partial and some of them act differently though)
The game is somewhat inconsistent about which water parts can be crossed by simply walking over them (go too deep before getting the scuba gear and you lose 1 hp)