The game's plot is loosely based on the film of the same name. In this side-scrolling platformer, the player controls Darkman, a superhero who can jump, kick and punch, as well as swing from a rope during action sequences between levels. In each level, Darkman disguises himself as the boss of the level, whom he must defeat before the time limit elapses.
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Darkman is one of my top 10 movies of all time. Sam Raimi's inspiration from Universal Monsters to create a monstrous super-hero invented for screen makes it one of the most unique movie ever screened. This movie is a perfect mix of classic horror and RoboCop-era hero action and if you haven't seen it, I seriously recommend that you do.
It's a shame that I can't say the same about the game adaptation, Ocean Software has always been a hit and miss developer when it came to adapting original content to video games, and this is by far no "hit" by any means.
Not only does the game has almost nothing to do with the movie, the iconic stealth aspect of Darkman's shape-shifting is entirely put aside and while the player impersonates Durant and his other cronies at the start of each levels (each with their own abilities), it's mostly cosmetics. The game sometimes has a rail shooting section not foreign to other Ocean titles, which offers a welcome break from the tortuous platforming sections. The controls are perhaps the worst part of the game, the player is expected to make pixel-perfect jump at multiple points in the game and the hits register very poorly with no feedback from the game.
The overall presentation of the game is faceless, sprites are quite large for a NES title, but use one of the worst over-saturated palette seen in a NES game and the soundtrack is lazy and generic despite its signature Ocean Software instrumentation.
There is little that can be redeemed about this game, it's playable from start to finish but every sections of the game are mediocre at best, I wouldn't recommend this game to my worst enemy, it's just that painful to play.
It's a shame that I can't say the same about the game adaptation, Ocean Software has always been a hit and miss developer when it came to adapting original content to video games, and this is by far no "hit" by any means.
Not only does the game has almost nothing to do with the movie, the iconic stealth aspect of Darkman's shape-shifting is entirely put aside and while the player impersonates Durant and his other cronies at the start of each levels (each with their own abilities), it's mostly cosmetics. The game sometimes has a rail shooting section not foreign to other Ocean titles, which offers a welcome break from the tortuous platforming sections. The controls are perhaps the worst part of the game, the player is expected to make pixel-perfect jump at multiple points in the game and the hits register very poorly with no feedback from the game.
The overall presentation of the game is faceless, sprites are quite large for a NES title, but use one of the worst over-saturated palette seen in a NES game and the soundtrack is lazy and generic despite its signature Ocean Software instrumentation.
There is little that can be redeemed about this game, it's playable from start to finish but every sections of the game are mediocre at best, I wouldn't recommend this game to my worst enemy, it's just that painful to play.