By Aaron N
It if wasn't obvious from my column that was all about Godzilla games, I love everything and anything dealing with kaiju and the tokusatsu genre. Basically anything dealing with giant monsters. My favorite character outside of the Godzilla series is Ultraman. There have been many Ultramen throughout the series. When I was younger the one game I always wanted but never owned was "Ultraman: Towards the Future" for the Super Nintendo. "Ultraman: Towards the Future" was based on the television series of the same name. I remember enjoying the game when I borrowed it from my friend. I recently finally acquired this game. So let's see if the game has stood the test of time, or if it is a product of nostalgia.
Graphics:
"Ultraman: TTF" is a sprite-based combat game. The sprites do not look too bad but they lack in comparison to similar games on the Super Nintendo. The movements of the sprites are minimal and when you do a move like jumping, the graphics are awkward and they look poor. Each level is set in a different place and the background changes to account for that. Although it still looks like a still picture in the background, it is very good looking. But you must compare it to other fighting games like Mortal Kombat. Mortal Kombat had moving parts in the background such as people cheering and moving. "Ultraman: TTF" lacks that movement. Although they are good looking backgrounds, they can be dull. For example, the Mars level is basically dust and red. They lack detail. The graphics aren't too much of a hinderance, but they are lacking compared to what games were capable of.
Story:
To understand the story to this game, I must explain the concept of Ultraman. Ultraman is a giant cosmic being from a planet consisting of ultras. He came to Earth and inhabits a human. When a giant monster threatens the Earth, the human changes into Ultraman to combat it. The problem is that Ultraman can only stay in Earth's atmosphere for three minutes. So you are basically playing through episodes of the show, although only the climactic fight scenes. Each level is three minutes long. The cutscenes in "Ultraman: TTF" are only of Ultraman looking up and flying away as he does in the show after each battle. They don't explain the plot in the game. I wish they did a better job with the cutscenes as newcomers to the franchise will not fully understand what us ocurring.
Gameplay:
"Ultraman: TTF" plays very similarly to other 2D fighting games. The only difference is that you can only play as Ultraman. You can punch, kick, jump, and block. As you use an attack, your special attack meter increases. There are four different special attacks, each increasing in power. But the only way you can defeat an enemy is by bringing its health meter all the way down and then hitting it with your most powerful special move. There are nine levels varying in difficulty, but I found that I could get pretty far by basically just using jump kicks and special attacks. As I said before there is a three minute time limit on each level because of the limit set in the television show. It is very simplistic in gameplay and it doesn't have much variety upon replaying it. I wish it wasn't so simplistic but I'm not sure there was much more it could have done.
Sound:
The sound in "Ultraman: TTF" is simplistic. The only vocal sounds are monster roars and Ultraman screams. He yells when he kicks or punches. The sounds are taken directly from the show, but they work because the simplistic sounds matches exactly with the shows portrayal of Ultraman. Each stage has a different theme song to go with it. They aren't very memorable but they do the trick. Once again I wish they tried harder in this category but it does a good job matching the feel of the show.
Overall:
Upon playback "Ultraman: Towards the Future" does not live up to my nostalgic expectations, but it is still an enjoyable game. It feels lacking in every category. It feels just good enough to enjoy, but not good enough to be great. They had a great concept so with a little more effort it could have been great. I still enjoy this game, but unfortunately not as much as I remember.
Ultraman: Towards the Future gets a 7/10
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