The fact it's taken me this long to review Wonder Momo is astounding. The classic Namco girl that stood out for the time. While she has practically no popularity here in the states, in Japan she’s got fans. The original game was made for the Arcade and somehow didn’t see an official release here till 2022 thanks to Arcade Archives. This review will be for the PC Engine version. Namco really liked porting a lot of their more modern games at the time. I wouldn’t be surprised if half the reason was due to Namco hating Nintendo. So is this one any good? Well the score gives it away so idk why I even ask.
Wonder Momo is a beat em up but with an interesting premise. It’s given a tokusatsu feel to it, you know like Kamen Rider and that kind of stuff. It’s also set up as a play which I think is a thing people do in Japan? You can kick with Momo and you kick multiple ways including using both legs if you’re facing the screen. The controls are a little weird as you can face forward meaning you can’t just tap left or right to turn around. You can also jump but it’s not a high jump unless you hold up during it. You’ll be fighting random enemies until a boss or two arrives and once you’re done it’s off to the next act with 12 in total. While you only have one life, you can continue as much as you want though you’ll have to start from the beginning of the act.
The main thing that makes this game special is the fact you can transform by either entering a tornado or by facing the screen and pressing the attack button a bunch. With this new form you’re stronger, you take 0 damage from small projectiles and you can throw a hoop to do massive damage. Just make sure to pick up the hoop again otherwise you’ll be kicking for a bit. You use up your Wonder meter as you use it so I’d recommend not transforming the moment you start an act as you won’t have enough meter before the boss shows up. You gain meter by just defeating enemies as normal Momo. If you find a capsule that’s green, you can also do this spin attack that shoots projectiles left and right and it’ll give you back your hoop instantly once it’s over. There’s also a red capsule that just heals you, you’ll also get healed a bit after each act is over.
With that said though, the game is pretty simple. Once you’ve seen the first stage, you basically see what the game offers for stages. They are always on this stage with different backgrounds. While the enemy variety isn’t large they’re at least memorable and honestly feels like they could fit in for the type of show they’re doing. Though the only enemy I actively dislike are those pink hover things that shoot at you, especially when there’s two of them. Make sure you time your high jumps well! There’s even a cameraman that will try to take an upskirt shot of you, god just writing that makes me kind of groan. The bosses aren’t too memorable outside of their designs but if you can transform then you should be fine if you play smart.
Alright let’s just talk about it here, this game is kind of horny. It’s most evident with Momo herself as her panties can be exposed on some of her animations. This port also adds special images when you finish specific stages and it can range from her just relaxing in her swimsuit, relaxing in a bubble bath or even congratulating you and showing the credits in an unbuttoned shirt and panties yeah it’s certainly something alright. While you can definitely find worse than this in other Japanese media, I don’t really blame people for being creeped out by it? Idk maybe I’m being too negative about this.
The presentation in this game is good for what it’s meant to be though some changes had to be made. The images for the curtains are all gone and were replaced with a single cute image of Momo so if you wanted to see Momo in only a towel before a level started then you’re out of luck. Thankfully most of what made the original look good is still here. The new images for the game whether you find them creepy or not look great for the console and are the highlights of this port. I do wish some things weren’t cut though like the opening to Acts 1, 5, 9, and 13. Even the original ending screen is missing here. The music is alright but I would never take them over the Arcade versions. What really sucks though is every voice has been cut which saddens me because they were really charming. They even made her lion roar way worse in this port!
Wonder Momo in today’s world is nothing special in fact it’s kind of a game you’ll either go “It’s eh.” or “It’s bad!” Which isn’t a bad thing for the record, I don’t like hold grudges or other petty bs against people who dislike this game, I don’t even think the game is good. That said, I still enjoy it despite its problems. It also helps I can actually beat this version which I can’t say for the Arcade one. I would love a sequel for this one but sadly that got canceled back in the day to focus on a game called Tekken, though I’ve also seen it was due to a decline in popularity. Wonder Momo would continue to be in stuff like Namco x Capcom for the PS2 but the closest she ever got to anything new herself was this awful comic and OVA series she starred in. Though that one starred a different Momo, I think the original was like her mother or something? There was even a mobile game made by Wayforward for it which just feels surreal to even read about. Should you play this port nowadays? Well not really? I can’t really see anyone besides an idiot like myself really getting any appreciation for it nowadays. I don’t know, maybe it’s worth at least a try or 2 if you’re curious.
Before I end I just want to say, for some reason the original ROM for this game just doesn’t work on my emulator. The logo on the title screen and images between some stages are glitched and it’s like the only ROM with issues. The fan translation even works fine. Does anyone know why this is the case??
Wonder Momo is a beat em up but with an interesting premise. It’s given a tokusatsu feel to it, you know like Kamen Rider and that kind of stuff. It’s also set up as a play which I think is a thing people do in Japan? You can kick with Momo and you kick multiple ways including using both legs if you’re facing the screen. The controls are a little weird as you can face forward meaning you can’t just tap left or right to turn around. You can also jump but it’s not a high jump unless you hold up during it. You’ll be fighting random enemies until a boss or two arrives and once you’re done it’s off to the next act with 12 in total. While you only have one life, you can continue as much as you want though you’ll have to start from the beginning of the act.
The main thing that makes this game special is the fact you can transform by either entering a tornado or by facing the screen and pressing the attack button a bunch. With this new form you’re stronger, you take 0 damage from small projectiles and you can throw a hoop to do massive damage. Just make sure to pick up the hoop again otherwise you’ll be kicking for a bit. You use up your Wonder meter as you use it so I’d recommend not transforming the moment you start an act as you won’t have enough meter before the boss shows up. You gain meter by just defeating enemies as normal Momo. If you find a capsule that’s green, you can also do this spin attack that shoots projectiles left and right and it’ll give you back your hoop instantly once it’s over. There’s also a red capsule that just heals you, you’ll also get healed a bit after each act is over.
With that said though, the game is pretty simple. Once you’ve seen the first stage, you basically see what the game offers for stages. They are always on this stage with different backgrounds. While the enemy variety isn’t large they’re at least memorable and honestly feels like they could fit in for the type of show they’re doing. Though the only enemy I actively dislike are those pink hover things that shoot at you, especially when there’s two of them. Make sure you time your high jumps well! There’s even a cameraman that will try to take an upskirt shot of you, god just writing that makes me kind of groan. The bosses aren’t too memorable outside of their designs but if you can transform then you should be fine if you play smart.
Alright let’s just talk about it here, this game is kind of horny. It’s most evident with Momo herself as her panties can be exposed on some of her animations. This port also adds special images when you finish specific stages and it can range from her just relaxing in her swimsuit, relaxing in a bubble bath or even congratulating you and showing the credits in an unbuttoned shirt and panties yeah it’s certainly something alright. While you can definitely find worse than this in other Japanese media, I don’t really blame people for being creeped out by it? Idk maybe I’m being too negative about this.
The presentation in this game is good for what it’s meant to be though some changes had to be made. The images for the curtains are all gone and were replaced with a single cute image of Momo so if you wanted to see Momo in only a towel before a level started then you’re out of luck. Thankfully most of what made the original look good is still here. The new images for the game whether you find them creepy or not look great for the console and are the highlights of this port. I do wish some things weren’t cut though like the opening to Acts 1, 5, 9, and 13. Even the original ending screen is missing here. The music is alright but I would never take them over the Arcade versions. What really sucks though is every voice has been cut which saddens me because they were really charming. They even made her lion roar way worse in this port!
Wonder Momo in today’s world is nothing special in fact it’s kind of a game you’ll either go “It’s eh.” or “It’s bad!” Which isn’t a bad thing for the record, I don’t like hold grudges or other petty bs against people who dislike this game, I don’t even think the game is good. That said, I still enjoy it despite its problems. It also helps I can actually beat this version which I can’t say for the Arcade one. I would love a sequel for this one but sadly that got canceled back in the day to focus on a game called Tekken, though I’ve also seen it was due to a decline in popularity. Wonder Momo would continue to be in stuff like Namco x Capcom for the PS2 but the closest she ever got to anything new herself was this awful comic and OVA series she starred in. Though that one starred a different Momo, I think the original was like her mother or something? There was even a mobile game made by Wayforward for it which just feels surreal to even read about. Should you play this port nowadays? Well not really? I can’t really see anyone besides an idiot like myself really getting any appreciation for it nowadays. I don’t know, maybe it’s worth at least a try or 2 if you’re curious.
Before I end I just want to say, for some reason the original ROM for this game just doesn’t work on my emulator. The logo on the title screen and images between some stages are glitched and it’s like the only ROM with issues. The fan translation even works fine. Does anyone know why this is the case??
Angel_Arle
1 year ago