Lots of Capcom goodies in this second part of my look at all the games in the Retro-Bit Generations console.  Highlights include Captain Commando, NES Commando, Exed Exes, Forgotten Worlds, Ghouls N Ghosts, Super Ghouls N Ghosts, Gun.Smoke, and many more!

Broken Circle

This is an original new 16-bit RPG from Piko Interactive.  The main problem is the turn based battles aren’t very much fun.

Captain Commando

Was there a SNES version of Captain Commando?  I’m thinking there was, but I’m not totally sure.  Anyway, what’s on here is the arcade version, they even start with the RAM and ROM check like most arcade games do when you turn them on.  For one of Capcom’s earlier beat ‘em ups, I always found this game rather imaginative and fun, and it’s one of my favorites.  One of the characters you can play as is a baby driving a giant mech (named Baby Head).  That was who I always picked.  You can also hop in even bigger mechs, so if you are playing as Baby Head, you can be a baby driving a mech, that’s driving an even bigger mech!  At any rate, this is one of my favorite games on this console.

City Connection

I rented this on the NES back in the day.  I think it was in arcades, too.  It wasn’t very good, but I was always drawn to this game anyway.  You drive a van in a side scrolling area and must drive on all the roads while avoiding police cars and cats.  In Japan, the driver of the van is a blue haired lady, but they changed it to be a guy in the US.

Commando

This Capcom arcade classic is a military themed vertically scrolling shooter.  It was also on the NES, which is the version found here.  Oddly enough, it’s the only Capcom NES game on here that has all the music, I think.  I never liked this game as it was very hard and the enemies can outrun your bullets.  I always found SNK’s Ikari Warriors more memorable, although as a game it really wasn’t that much better.

Corn Buster

OK this Piko Interactive original is just WEIRD!  You play as Globey the dragon, who in the intro is dreaming of his favorite breakfast “Cerial” as the game calls it.  I also have to mention that the picture of Globey sleeping in his bedroom, it shows he has a poster on the wall that says “ASS” on it.  So when he wakes up to have breakfast, he notices all his corn flakes have been stolen!  In fact, all the world’s corn has been stolen!  So then it shows a picture of Globey’s buff chest, him putting a knife in his boot, a bandana on his head, and pink masquerade sunglasses on!  Now what kind of game do you think this would be with that crazy intro?  Well, it’s a BreakOut clone!  You control two paddles, one that stays on the bottom of the screen and one you can move up and down.  You try to get the ball as high as you can in a vertically scrolling passage.  Kind of reminds me of Devilish.  And this part of the game looks like it has nothing to do with the intro!  I don’t know what they were smoking when they made this!

Creepy Bird

Just a clone of Flappy Bird with a horror theme.  The controls make it impossible to play, though.  But that’s OK since Flappy Bird wasn’t that great of a game anyway.

Dorke N Ymp

I’m not sure if this an old game or a new one, but in this 16-bit side scrolling platformer, you play as a goblin who has a fat flying red demon by his side.  You can jump and have the demon fire projectiles to hit enemies.  The animation is so choppy that it’s hard to play, and it just reminds me of all those awful me-too Sonic clones that came out back in the 90’s.

Escape From Atlantis

In this crappy NES game, you play as a guy with a beard as you run around in an overhead perspective in an ancient Greek setting.  Eventually a ball of fire from a volcano will hit you, and then you’ll be sent to a graveyard level where you must collect hearts while avoiding the Grim Reaper.  The game stopped being fun at this point so I don’t know what happens after that.

Esper Corps

I don’t think this Jaleco Famicom game ever made it to the US, as everything in this game is Japanese.  You run around 2-D side scrolling maze areas and can jump REALLY high.  Like Legend of Kage or Mighty Bomb Jack high.  You also wield a hammer which you can use to defeat silly enemies like googly eyed vacuum cleaners, beds, sun hats, etc.  But since the game was all in Japanese I didn’t know what I was supposed to be doing or where I should go.

Exed Exes

This was one of Capcom’s very first games, and it was a vertically scrolling 2-D shooter.  I didn’t know there was a NES version, but that’s what this is.  It’s incredibly choppy and not much fun, though.

Exerion

This is another 2-D shooter, this time from Jaleco.  They do some graphical effects to make it look like you’re flying forward but it’s really just another 2-D vertical shooter.

Field Combat

Another Jaleco 2-D vertically scrolling shooter.  This time you’re a UFO with a radar antenna on top.  You can shoot missiles at people below, but they’ll get right back up after a second.  So before they do, you must push the other button that fires a Galaga-like beam that makes them run away.  And that’s all I could figure out from this one.

Forgotten Worlds

Another Capcom arcade classic.  You play as one of two guys who fly around on jetpacks and shoot dragons and stuff.  A lot of Capcom staples appeared in this game.  Sylphy the shopkeeper also appeared in other games like Namco X Capcom and Card Fighters Clash, and I believe this was the first game that started using Capcom’s form of currency they use in lot of their games, from Mega Man Legends to Zack and Wiki.  And that would be Zenny.

Formation Z

This is a NES side scrolling shooter where you play as a mech that can change into an airplane.  As a mech you are too slow to avoid anything, and as a plane you move too fast!

Fortified Zone, Ikari no Yousai 2, and Operation Logic Bomb

If there is one good thing about this console, it’s that it’s helping me learn more about Jaleco game series.  All these games are from the same series.  Fortified Zone is a Game Boy game that kind of reminds me of 2-D Metal Gear without the stealth.  You can switch between a military guy and a military woman as you run around mazes shooting bad guys.  The Japan only sequel seems like more of the same.  It’s another GB title, too.  The graphics and music are better, but the sprites aren’t as detailed as in the first.  Operation Logic Bomb doesn’t seem related to these games at all, as you play as one guy fighting robots from another dimension.  But the gameplay is the same so it’s part of the same series.  Not really my cup of tea, but they aren’t bad games at all.

Free Fall

In this weird 8-bit game, you control a hand on the bottom of the screen and can move it left and right.  You press one button to open the hand and catch falling people.  Then you can press another button to throw them up into a moving pipe, for points.  And that’s it.

Gadget Twins

So when I tried to start this game, it said “Invalid File Format.”  I guess every one of these ripoff multi-console knock offs has to have one game that doesn’t work.

Ghouls N Ghosts

I thought this would be the SEGA Genesis version, but it’s actually the arcade game.  It’s a good game, but I’m not a big fan of the series because it’s so hard.

Super Ghouls N Ghosts

This is the SNES game.  I rented it once.  I do like the music and style of the game, but like the others, it’s just too hard to be any fun.

Gun.Smoke

I rented this game a bunch on the NES, and it’s one of my favorite Capcom NES shooters.  While most vertically scrolling shooters have you play as a spaceship or airplane, in this one you are a cowboy in a western setting, so I thought that was kind of cool.  Unfortunately, this is one of those Capcom NES games that this console can’t play all the music of, and that was one of my favorite parts of the game is the music.

And that’s all for now!  Come back tomorrow for more games in Part 3!  –Cary

Tags: Game Reviews