CapCom 16-bit gems
With the current state of the Japanese video game industry it's sometimes hard to forget that companies like Konami and Capcom truly dominated the market two decades ago essentially all of their releases were a guarantee for high quality video game fun so let's take a look at three capcom gems from their heyday Cadillacs and Dinosaurs is one of the more obscure Capcom beat-em-ups with a very peculiar name the game was a tie-in to the animated TV series by the same name which was also based on a comic book series from the 80s taking place in the distant future where dinosaurs again roamed the earth The story's protagonist mechanic Jack Tenrack is an ecological freedom fighter with a passion for Cadillacs the arcade game Cadillacs and dinosaurs was built on the famous Capcom beat'em up engine which guarantees unrelenting action the four characters all have their special life draining move to get them out of sticky situations but the true game changer is the ability to run making the game play a lot faster than final fight for example.
There's also a wide arsenal of weapons for the characters to pick up knives swords and all sorts of guns as one might expect both Cadillacs and dinosaurs are present in the game The dinosaurs won't attack the player unless provoked but be careful hit them once and they'll become ferocious killers adding an interesting dynamic to the game.
To make the whole package complete the game has that classic capcom sound from their fame team and let's be real how could a game with giant lizards and vintage cars be anything less than fantastic unfortunately the chance of a rerelease is pretty small due to the trademark issues which is really a shame as it's arguably one of their finest beat-em-ups to date Chiki Chiki boys is a 2d arcade action title with a strong resemblance to Wonder Boy meaning there's hidden gold everywhere and monsters are colorful and cute but very deadly although the storyline falls in the save the kingdom category the attention to detail and the unique design of characters and bosses brings the kingdom of Aluria to life your even asked to name your character at the start of the quest adding even more immersion to the adventure gameplay can be described as 2d platforming action although the action flows much faster than your typical platformer.
The underwater and Air stages in particular feel somewhat like a shoot-'em-up. In true capcom tradition you're free to select the order of the first couple of stages once they're completed the quest continues with more varied and colorful levels apart from the arcade version you can also play the game on the sega mega or the NEC pc engine The mega drive version has a unique feature that allows you to spend your coins on power-ups and other useful items such as life pills and magic orbs but sadly the two-player co-op mode was absent in this conversion chiki chiki boys is everything you might expect from a grade-a Capcom title super polished gameplay as well as brilliant visuals and music which makes it all the more sad that this classic has gone mostly forgotten Back in the 80s games were more often than not tough-as-nails capcom's arcade hit ghouls and goblins fits neatly in this category.
A game that spawned a number of sequels and also a spin-off series by the name of gargoyles quest which originated on the Gameboy sporting graphics so real you forget it's only a game but in all honesty it's a great handheld action RPG title The SNES installment Demons Crest was the third and final chapter in the series once again starring the gargoyle Firebrand on his adventurous quest to bring peace to the demon's realm.
Demons Crest throws you right into the action with a boss battle against a giant skeleton dragon after completing the introduction stage the world map opens up at which point you can fly around the realm and pick your destination freely. Apart from 2d action levels there are also houses where you can buy potions and spells or play minigames adding some fun RPG mechanics to the game.
The realm seems to be small at first glance but after making progress it will open up exponentially. Most levels also have alternate paths which can only be explored if you have a certain ability adding to the game's overall longevity. New abilities come in the shape of new gargoyle forms the water gargoyle grants you the ability to swim while the ground gargoyle bestows firebrand with the strength to crack rocks finding the alternate paths and secrets is one of the biggest challenges of the game especially when you consider just how well-hidden it can be it's essential to fully explore the realm and collect all the items in order to get the real ending making for quite the completion bonus.
The bosses can really give you a challenge but when they seem to be unbeatable you're usually using the wrong gargoyle or missing an item so experimentation is key Demons crest is scored by Toshihiko Horiyama the same composer who helped score the original Mega Man as well as Mega Man 7 so you know you're in for quite the melodic extravaganza the only downside to all this goodness is the price tag Demons Crest is a pretty rare and highly sought-after game with the cheapest copies typically available for no less than 125 dollars so you're lucky if you can nab a copy for anything below that but with that being said the game itself is a wonderful little capcom gem and it proudly holds its place on many SNES fanatics shelves if you're looking for games in the same vein as these three gems...
