Chiki Chiki Boys

~ CHIKI CHIKI BOYS ~

NEC Avenue / Capcom

Super CD-ROM

1994

Chiki provides some good, clean platforming fun, but it seems like it could've just as easily been done on HuCard. It plays kind of like a linear and simple Dynastic Hero, and it's ridiculously easy--to the extent that it makes breezy Shubibinman 3 seem as brutally difficult as Gaiares. I completed it on my very first try and never actually felt threatened at any point, which is absurd. There are some good ideas here as far as level and enemy designs go, but I breezed through the game so quickly and effortlessly that I didn't really appreciate any of that stuff, and I wasn't eager to do a repeat run afterwards. The good news? The music during the end credits is very nice.

The levels are very bright and colorful, and you get some interesting locations to explore.

There's good variety in the gameplay, as some stages have you fly or swim instead of the usual dash-and-leap stuff.

Some of the bosses are neat in concept, but they're all feeble in battle. The entire adventure is a single path of little resistance.

Sometimes, the enemies don't even seem to be paying much attention.

On the off chance that they do spot you, remember that they're more scared of you than you are of them.

I just had to prove to myself that it is indeed possible to get hit.