Legend of Hero Tonma (ARC, 1989)
Graphics-8 Sound-7 Control-7 Challenge-8.5 Story-5
Level Design-6.5 Frustration-9 Fun-6.5 Originality-6
Overall Score-6.5
+
Temporary shield power up (5 extra hits)
weapon upgrades
good art direction
pretty big and detailed boss sprites
difficulty options (easy to hardest, coin worth options)
pretty fast paced overall, bounce on enemy heads (fairly controllable height, does minor damage), power up that turns enemies into coins for a short period of time (sort of like a smart bomb), hover jumps (press up, usually not that useful though),
+/-
One hit kills
starts out pretty tough on normal difficulty
some invincibility time when picking up a power up
borrows some stuff from Wonder Boy in Monster Land (how coins fall out of chests, some art direction)
no shops?
can't shoot up/down (except for the bomb sub weapon), time limits, fairly forgiving hit detection, no dodge or run moves,
-
Lose all weapon upgrades after dying
inconsistent checkpoints (sometimes spawn before the boss which in a way is bad because of the aforementioned loss of power ups, sometimes start from the beginning of the level after almost reaching the end)
slow/floaty jumps
trial & error (can't bounce on small flying enemies, can't look up/down, last three bosses)
can't duck or crouch
auto-jump down through platforms by pressing down (would've preferred down+jump), no weapon inventory, can't control the alternate bomb weapon separately, no auto-fire, dropped items that bounce off screen will disappear, very little difference between easy and normal
Notes:
no 2-player simultaneous
Level Design-6.5 Frustration-9 Fun-6.5 Originality-6
Overall Score-6.5
+
Temporary shield power up (5 extra hits)
weapon upgrades
good art direction
pretty big and detailed boss sprites
difficulty options (easy to hardest, coin worth options)
pretty fast paced overall, bounce on enemy heads (fairly controllable height, does minor damage), power up that turns enemies into coins for a short period of time (sort of like a smart bomb), hover jumps (press up, usually not that useful though),
+/-
One hit kills
starts out pretty tough on normal difficulty
some invincibility time when picking up a power up
borrows some stuff from Wonder Boy in Monster Land (how coins fall out of chests, some art direction)
no shops?
can't shoot up/down (except for the bomb sub weapon), time limits, fairly forgiving hit detection, no dodge or run moves,
-
Lose all weapon upgrades after dying
inconsistent checkpoints (sometimes spawn before the boss which in a way is bad because of the aforementioned loss of power ups, sometimes start from the beginning of the level after almost reaching the end)
slow/floaty jumps
trial & error (can't bounce on small flying enemies, can't look up/down, last three bosses)
can't duck or crouch
auto-jump down through platforms by pressing down (would've preferred down+jump), no weapon inventory, can't control the alternate bomb weapon separately, no auto-fire, dropped items that bounce off screen will disappear, very little difference between easy and normal
Notes:
no 2-player simultaneous
