Don Doko Don
Released: 1989
Pitch: As the carpenters Bob and Jim, smash and throw your enemies with the hammer.
On first blush I really liked this game. You play as a carpenter (you and a friend, if you want) that is trying to save the king and princess from monsters blah blah blah. What I like about the clichéd premise is that your characters are bearded old men and they kind of waddle when they move. But on to the actual game. It doesn't look like it's from 1989. The graphics are lush and cartoony. But the gameplay is basically Bubble Bobble but with hammers instead of bubbles. I really liked the first world. It's a charming game. You whack enemies and then throw them into other enemies to kill them. Kill all the enemies and you clear the level. But the world 1 boss felt kind of cheap (I had to continue, like, three times just on the boss) and the difficulty ramped up too much (in my opinion) in world 2. Still, it's a fun game. It's worth a spin just to see those player characters run!
Don Doko Don is all right, I just didn't like it as much as Bubble Bobble. Just got a bit too repetitive. There's a Famicom sequel that plays like a straight up 2-D platformer.
So are you going to keep doing these or what?
That's the plan. Every Monday, maybe? Might throw in the occasional Friday. I haven't actually started on the extra games yet though, hehe.
It reminds me of the original Mario Bros, especially since the protagonist looks like Mario (he even has a red hat). Same kind of gameplay where you hit enemies as more of them come on screen.
I see what you mean. Hey, why haven't we had an Old Man Mario game??
I love the colorful graphics. Looks fun.