Poor Hit Detection, Lack of Transformer Characters, and a punishing difficulty curve, what more is there to explain?
Transformers Convoy no Nazo (Transformers: The Mystery of Convoy/Optimus Prime) is a Transformers platforming game released only in Japan for the Nintendo Famicom/NES, and supposidly picks up where the 1986 film ends, casting the player in the role of fan favorite Ultra Magnus who embarks on a quest to track down Optimus Prime/Convoy's assassin (the realse of Transformers 1986 was delayed four years in Japan)
The one part in which the game excelles is it's controls, which are responsive, and the over game play is what one would expect in a Transformers game, namely running around blasting Decepticons.
However the game play is also where this game begins to fall apart. The enemies the player faces aren't what one would expect when playing a Transformers game, including recycled Cyclonus Attack Drones and small lasers cannons that are next to impossible to hit.
In addition to the lack of enemies, the first thing you will notice is a lack of Decepticons and Autobots, in fact most Transformers games allow you to select your character, in this game you're limited to Ultra Magnus, even though you can unlock Rodimus Prime, he's just the Ultra Magnus spirt repainted. The Boss Battles are rediculus, ranging from fighting Megatron himself to the Nemesis, and even though Megatron was the one to deliver the fatal wound to Optimus Prime in the animated movie, he isn't the final boss, instead of facing off against Megatron's upgraded form, Galvatron, you fight Trypticon as the final boss
However the biggest flaw this game has is it's difficulty, which is made all the more harder by the lack luster graphics, which at times allows enemy fire to blend into the back ground. In terms of difficulty this game is brutal, you're limited to one life, and one hit with no health power ups, status bar, or check points, but there is at least a continue code. However the enemy can take a lot more damage, and can often kill you by simply running into you. The other thing that makes this game almost impossible to beat, is the hit detection, which is mutaltated. In most games if you're shot so much as touches the enemy it counts as a hit, but in this game if you shoot any ware other then dead center, you attack passes right through the enemy doing no damage at all.
In conclusion, Transformers Convoy no Nazo has more in common with games like Super Mario Brothers and Sonic the Hedgehog then Transformers, it even lacks the Transformers theme song, with the exception of "More then Meets the eye" and doesn't even acknowledge the Transformers by name, with the exception of Rodimus, whose name is spelled out in letters you have to collect to unlock him. In the end this is a game that is soley for a Transformers collector, or anyone seeking a complete Famicom Library