Decap Attack

 Let's dive back into the always fun world of 16-bit platformers.

There were tons of these things back in the 90's, almost as many as there are first person shooters now. I've never actually looked up numbers, but I would guess they were either the most common genre of games released in the 3rd-5th generations or a close second to tournament fighters. Don't get me wrong, a lot of these are great games. But, much like FPS' and open world games now, a lot of these titles started to feel the same after a while. As such, developers started to do everything they could to make their games stand out. Some used gameplay gimmicks, others tried to turn up the level of violence and many (many) tried to drum up interest by slapping a popular license on their games. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't, but it did go a long way in ensuring not every single platformer felt like a straight up clone of Mario or Sonic.

Which brings us to Decap Attack, a 1991 platformer for the Sega Genesis developed by Vic Tokai. It follows a similar layout to most of it's contemporaries, you move from left to right through a series of 2D levels, using your attack to dispatch enemies on your way to the exit. Decap Attack is a little less linear than most of it's contemporaries, but it is still a relatively straightforward title. I should also mention, this is the Western version of a Japanese title that got the Super Mario Bros. 2 treatment, as Decap Attack is actually a reskin of (exhales) Magical Hat No Buttobi Tabo! Daiboken. That translates to Magical Hat's Turbo Fight! Adventure for those who were curious. The game was changed because the developers were unable to secure the license for Magical Hat outside of Japan, though something tells me it wouldn't have sold very well in the West in its original iteration.

Instead, we got a platformer starring a mummy creature named Chuck D Head (sigh), created by Dr. Frank N Stein (sigh again) to battle the evil demon Max D Cap (still sighing), who has returned from the underworld to conquer skeleton island. It is up to Chuck to travel to each piece of the now separated land, reunite them and defeat Max and his forces. It's silly and straightforward, but fitting for a platformer of this era. Chuck doesn't actually have a head, at least not right away, and instead attacks by shooting out his face to bash enemies. No, I'm not making this up. He can find a head as a powerup, which he can throw to extend his attack range, but it doesn't appear all that often and he loses it if he's hit. You can choose to have between one and three hearts, with each counting for two hits. That's pretty forgiving for a game from 1991, though it doesn't always feel like it here. Each area is named after a part of the body, with Chuck contending with stages like Abdomenland, Armington and Left Elbeau.

I think the biggest problem with Decap Attack is Chuck's movement. He carries way too much momentum when running and it leads to frequent hits from enemies that are off screen. By the time you actually see an enemy and are able to react, it's too late and you have no choice but to take the hit. Your only other option is to walk deliberately through the whole game, which makes it play far slower than it feels like the developers intended. The enemies pretty small and either low to the ground or in the air, so it can be difficult to see them coming. Even if you manage to panic mash your attack button, your chances of actually hitting are low because most enemies aren't within it's normal range. The hitbox on Chuck's attack always felt inconsistent and you can't activate it if you are ducking, which is a problem when so many of the enemies are on the ground. Even worse, the layout of the levels often forces you to make leaps of faith, which will almost certainly result in you hitting enemies. At least you can take quite a few hits and, while not quite plentiful, health pickups aren't exactly rare.

The level design does contribute to some of the problem, as blind jumps are a major problem. The levels feel like a random mishmash of platforms with little rhyme or reason as to why they are there. At least they aren't overly straightforward, the game does reward you for taking different paths and allows you a variety of ways to beat each challenge. The last level of each area will also require you to find a special item before exiting which, while it was frustrating the first time because I didn't realize I had to do it, does add some variety. Boss fights are fun, they aren't overly challenging but did offer some level of difficulty. All in all, they would best be described as "fair," which I very much like. The levels also feel designed to take advantage of Chuck's abilities, from his normal attack to his head throws to his floating jump. I did have some problems with certain platforms looking like part of the background, but I quickly got over this and the game offers enough teaching elements that you rarely feel stuck or like you just die out of nowhere.

I also liked the powerup system, which allows Chuck to drink potions to improve his abilities or impact enemies. You can increase your range, speed or jump height while also freezing time or locking enemies in place. These powerups are relatively common and can be found scattered throughout each level. It is a bit unfortunate that you have to bring up the pause menu, as it does negatively impact the pace of play when you want to use one of these things. But I think it still adds more to the game than it detracts. I also have to give them credit for actually explaining what these things do. It sounds ridiculous, but this wasn't always a given in games of the era. The only issue I have with this system is that you have to bring up a menu every time you want to use an item. It takes quite a bit of time for the menu to come up too, so it really slows things down. This is an earlier Genesis game, so it was designed for the three-button controller, so I understand why it had to be that way, but it was a bit frustrating. The control overall is okay, I think it was a little loose, but everything did what it was supposed to do, so I can't complain too much.

I think the graphics and sound are okay, not great by any means but passable. Eh, probably more than passable when compared to other early 90's Genesis games. I know I've mentioned before how it always feels like games of this era have muted colors, or just don't pop as much as their SNES counterparts. I think it's the same here, at least during gameplay. Some of the menus look really great and offer some of the better graphics of the era. The sound is mediocre, I've definitely heard worse from the Genesis but I couldn't think of a single track that stood out. I can't say much more here, Decap Attack was a technically proficient game that came out during a time period where that wasn't a given. It wasn't offensive to the eyes or ears by any means.

Decap Attack is, yet again, a title I just don't have all that much to say about. That's the problem with a lot of these okay-ish titles. Great games are, well, great, and it's really easy to sing their praises and find gameplay elements worth talking about. Reall bad games are usually so because of something (or several things) that are so laughably bad you can't help but discuss them. But Decap Attack is just a good, solid platformer with a kinda weird premise, no matter how you look at it. I don't think it's really worth actively seeking out if you aren't a diehard platformer fan or a Genesis completionist. But it is absolutely worth playing, it's a fun game that has a different atmosphere and sense of humor than its contemporaries. You could do better, but you could absolutely do worse and certainly find something more cookie cutter than Decap Attack.

7/10