As the covers have shown, this is a game adapted from Osamu Tezuka's classic manga. In this game, you assume the role of Hyakkimarru, a hero who has lost 48 body parts to fiends immediately after he was born. The story took place in troubled times, where the evil gods have descended to human land and sown chaos. The God of Light, who could not tolerate the Dark God's deeds, gave birth to a child in the house of a warrior. (This is Hyakimarru's father) This child was supposed to be the chosen one who would bring an end to the chaos. Fearing the child's powers, the evil fiends tricked Hyakkimaru's father into sacrificing his son's body parts in exchange for ultimate victory in battle. Hyakkimaru's ill fate almost set demise upon him, but he was saved by a Japanese doctor who had graduated from China. Taking Hyakkimaru as his own son, Jyukai operated on Hyakkimaru and granted him destructive weapons such as a cannon incorporated into his lower limb and machine guns in his upper limb. Hyakkimaru has also gained dual blades which are fixed into his 2 arms, and he has prosthetic forearms and hands, which could be used whenever the occasion rises. At 18 years of age, Hyakkimarru left the confines of his house and started on his journey to uncover his ultimate destiny and to recover his lost body parts The introduction movie is impressive, but in-game graphics leave much to be desired. The hero's pony tail looks like a big broom, and graphics are jaggy. Environmental effects such as the waterfall and boulders look like drawings from some kindergarten kids. Other than that, it gives the player a sense of over-simplicity. Either the game artists are under-paid, or they probably were rushing into completing their work, because most of the graphics appear dull and the colors are extremely boring. Landscape design is lacking a lot of details. This is a hack-and-slash action RPG where you can level up your character's weapon level and attack power etc. You can switch between Hyakkimaru's double blades or use his prosthesis to wield a samurai sword. Other than that, the cannon come in handy during boss fights, and you can also go trigger-happy with the hero's machine gun. It is however, very difficult to procure the ammo in the game. Hyakkimaru's lost body parts are retrieved by means of defeating different fiends who have stolen them. After retrieving the body parts, the hero will gain extra abilities, for example after you have acquired the eyes, the monochromatic screen view will change into color view. You control either Hyakkimaru or his side-kick thief (Dororo) on various occasions. 4 Different types of commands can be issued to the thief, such as "collect items", or "attack nearest" by pressing the circle button. You will gain different weapons and items through out the game, which can be equipped. Worth mentioning is the sluggish cannon targeting system which will hit the wrong target most of the times. Issuing commands to the thief is troublesome as the control is greatly non responsive. Hyakkimaru can double jump in mid air, execute some stylish mid-air 360 degree spin move, and not forgetting to mention his break-neck blade thrusting technique. Dororo, on the other hand, will be throwing stones and attacking with his upper-cut punch. Conclusion: This game would have been better with improved graphics and smooth controls. Frequent boss fights give it a sense of repetition. Enemy attacks are predictable and variation is minimal. Back ground music is extremely scarce, with occasional traditional Japanese drums and taps. A good story line but plot is laughable. This game is worth a rent for action game fans, but I would not recommend buying it.
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