This is the first game to be directed by Masato Maegawa (founder of legendary action game developer Treasure, huge influence on games like Cuphead), and it really shows.
One of the very few games I've played (let alone beaten) that is so sadistically hard at times...I was actually kind of impressed by the game developers' insanity LOL. Bucky is actually pretty managable for the few stages, but the difficulty goes completely off the rails, literally, during the rail cart section at the end of Yellow Planet, following that up with an absolutely insane boss fight that can one-shot you if you touch it. And then you have the last 4 stages to deal with, which are even more ridiculous!
Thankfully, this is all contained in a game with tight controls, great graphics for the NES (and some cool effects like the Z-Axis rotating letters of the Game Over screen), a super catchy soundtrack (Center of Magma Tanker is my personal fav, but literally every stage theme is great) plenty of combat and platforming options between your 5 characters, and a REALLY lenient checkpoint and password system. So while the game is insanely difficult, it never feels frustrating and will always put you right back to the point you got stuck. There's a even a HARD! mode for truly crazy people where every hit is a one-hit kill (but the checkpoints remain). At that point, all you need is some flashier visual effects and a Synthwave soundtrack and you basically have a modern indie game ala Hotline Miami, Katana Zero, and Furi.
Easily one of the best aging games on the NES that I can recommend to non-retro gamers, though again, be aware that this is quite a challenge so you may want to start somewhere easier first (maybe one of the Mega Man games).
One of the very few games I've played (let alone beaten) that is so sadistically hard at times...I was actually kind of impressed by the game developers' insanity LOL. Bucky is actually pretty managable for the few stages, but the difficulty goes completely off the rails, literally, during the rail cart section at the end of Yellow Planet, following that up with an absolutely insane boss fight that can one-shot you if you touch it. And then you have the last 4 stages to deal with, which are even more ridiculous!
Thankfully, this is all contained in a game with tight controls, great graphics for the NES (and some cool effects like the Z-Axis rotating letters of the Game Over screen), a super catchy soundtrack (Center of Magma Tanker is my personal fav, but literally every stage theme is great) plenty of combat and platforming options between your 5 characters, and a REALLY lenient checkpoint and password system. So while the game is insanely difficult, it never feels frustrating and will always put you right back to the point you got stuck. There's a even a HARD! mode for truly crazy people where every hit is a one-hit kill (but the checkpoints remain). At that point, all you need is some flashier visual effects and a Synthwave soundtrack and you basically have a modern indie game ala Hotline Miami, Katana Zero, and Furi.
Easily one of the best aging games on the NES that I can recommend to non-retro gamers, though again, be aware that this is quite a challenge so you may want to start somewhere easier first (maybe one of the Mega Man games).