By 2001, Neo Geo's rivals had LONG since abandoned making 16 bit games! By this point, Video Games actually got to the point where a PORTABLE video game system, Nintendo's Game Boy Advance, was now capable of playing 32 bit games on average! If Neo Geo won on any points during the 16 bit console wars, it was mostly for the fact that their games often visually looked the best, and were often the most difficult. Arguably, what KEPT the Neo Geo from doing any better, is the fact that Neo Geo had to SELL their video game systems for a HUGE amount of money, just so they could BARELY make a profit out of each system sold! Ironically, it was probably due to the FACT that Neo Geo didn't sell more systems, and were kept in circulation for so long; that probably allowed Neo Geo to continue officially putting out games for it as late as 2004! Oddly enough, this game apparently only came out in Arcades, and didn't even GET a version of it on the Neo Geo System OR the Game Boy Advance, which REALLY puzzles me, as they really could've REFINED this game on either of those systems! As it is, one of Neo Geo's last great attempts at an Arcade Platform Game is this one, starring a blue (and/or pink) dragon-like creature, called a Zupapa! While you can start at ANY of the first six levels (each with four sections) available to play, you can only play them in a clock-wise order, beating each one before you have the ability to play the (eventually) final three levels of the game! What Zupapa has to do in each section of each level, is beat up every enemy by knocking them off-screen! While Zupapa is TECHNICALLY capable of punching enemies, Zupapa's punches don't stun enemies for long, and the enemies can only be knocked out while they're stunned! That's where the gimmick of this game kicks in! To better his (or her) chances of knocking an enemy out, Zupapa can collect a bunch of small computer-controlled fighters called Zupipi's (up to four of them). By throwing them at the enemy (the more that are thrown, the longer the enemy will stay stunned) and when Zupapa DOES knock an enemy out; the more Zupipi's that were stunning the enemy, the bigger a chain explosion will occur; which will wipe out any small enemy, and take health out of the nine bosses that have to be fought! But the unique gimmick of this game, is sadly it's biggest short-coming. Once Zupapa has knocked out an enemy, he (or she) has to PHYSICALLY recollect any Zupipi's that were thrown! And if Zupapa gets knocked out by an enemy, the Zupipi will randomly wander off, forcing Zupapa to have to recollect them in order to stand a fighting chance against the boss enemies! While the 16 bit graphics are stellar as per usual for a Neo Geo outing, the music and sound effects good, and the controls actually work FINE barring the constant re-collection of the Zupipi's! So, if you're going to play a version of this game, play the version on the Nintendo Switch, as it allows you the option to start off this game on any difficulty level with as many lives and continues as you need! Enough said, true believers!
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