| paleface [sys=PCB; cat=Platformer; reg=JPN] |
| | | Carb-laden single-screen platformer from Data East; pump the monsters up with bubbles (?), then knock their ballooned forms around the screen, wreaking havok amongst the other baddies. Monsters shoot food at you to fatten you up; too much fattening and you're dead, but keep an eye out for that life-saving can of diet drink to slim back down.
The character sprite is sorta small, but each level is chock-full of enemies at the beginning, and bloated baddies careen around at top speed. Bosses are huge and inventive, like the bubbling treestump stewpot ladling out slop, whose crabbish legs protect its underside from blown-up henchmen. Each area, and there are maybe eight or ten or so around the globe, has a unique theme with different monsters, and consists of multiple stages ending in a boss fight. They seem to come along in random order, getting harder the later they come...I think. It gets tough fairly quickly due to the number of enemies and projectiles onscreen at once, not to mention obstacles such as moving buzzsaws and spiked elevators. I think there's some kind of combo system involved where you get a multiplier when taking out multiple badguys with multiple inflated victims at once, but I'm not sure about that. A few split-second bubblings and caroms and you can clear a board almost instantly, but one slip-up and you're morbidly obese. It's a cruel world.
Killing enemies may get a coin to drop; get the coin and a slot-machine readout at the top of the screen activates, showing you with point-filled powerups if you get a match. You can also get items that take you to bonus levels where you have to avoid fatty foods while collecting gems.
Some of the sprite designs look a little odd, but most have amusing animations, and usually the whole screen sparkles with gems, badguys, and sugary frosted treats. Mmm. Some of the happy music verges on polka, but it mostly fits the goofy theme of fruity cakes and frenetic single-screen platform action. |
|
|
| | |
