![]() ![]() Sliding allows players to quickly evade attacks and can also be used for a unique co-op maneuver in which one player slides into another and launches them around the screen, resulting in a deadly spinning projectile. While the core gameplay is the same at a glance, Pocky & Rocky introduces several new mechanics that have a significant impact on the experience. However, if you’re playing the PAL version, you’ll miss out on most of the story because it removes all of the text from the cutscenes! There’s even some environmental storytelling in the game’s final level – as you proceed deeper into the Black Mantle’s castle, you’ll witness the youkai from the original game captured in jail cells and PukaPukas being transformed into stronger versions in the underground lab, showing the player the Black Mantle’s intent and giving the finale a distinctly darker vibe. It’s a simple tale with a sufficient mystery that’s well presented thanks to colorful illustrations and charming writing done by Yoshihito Hattori. The story is more prominent here than in the previous two games, with cutscenes placed after each stage and occasional instances of dialogue from bosses prior to fighting them. She agrees to help and the journey to uncover the scheme of the mysterious Black Mantle and fight his “Gorgonzola Goblins” begins in earnest. He tells a story of how the youkai (referred to as the “Nopino Goblins” outside of Japan) have gone crazy once again and pleads for Pocky to intervene since she was able to stop them the first time around. Pocky & Rocky is generally regarded as the strongest entry in the series and that reputation is well deserved.Īt the start of the game, Pocky (originally Sayo-Chan) is visited by Rocky the tanuki (Manuke in Japanese), a former enemy now desperate for help. Rather than being a Taito joint, this game and its sequel were licensed out to Natsume while such licensing deals can lead to potentially strange or underwhelming entries in beloved franchises, that is most certainly not the case here. In other territories, the game and its two protagonists were renamed to Pocky & Rocky, a change that would stick with every entry afterwards. There's also no shops in these levels, so the dragon one, which comes right before the final level, feels like it's way harder than anything else in the game.After a year off, the series would make its return in 1992 on the Super Famicom as Kiki Kaikai: Nazo no Kuro Manto (“The Enigmatic Black Mantle”). Their limited movement and rules makes them feel a little half baked. These levels look cool, but they’re not very fun. Oh, and you can't take your friends with you on these levels, so you don't get bombs, which is a pretty big mechanic in the game. It feels like you’re on some kind of 8 way treadmill. The dragon stage lets you shoot in all 8 directions, but you can’t move around very quickly because you’re riding on the head of a dragon. ![]() ![]() The stone lion stage only allows you to shoot forward and doesn’t let you use the swatting move, so it feels the most limited. One of them has you riding on a stone lion through a castle with wooden floors, and the other has you riding on top of a dragon above the clouds. Pocky & Rocky 2 has 2 straight up auto scrolling shoot 'em up levels with their own rules. ![]() Pocky & Rocky 1 has a couple of auto scrolling sections, but they really didn't change the gameplay too much. ![]()
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