City Hunter

~ CITY HUNTER ~

Sunsoft

HuCard

1990

City Hunter is pretty enjoyable even though there's a lot wrong with it. It's way too short at four levels, and it essentially charges you with the same tasks in every mission (find a key and an ID card). It ends very abruptly (sans even a true final boss), and reaching that disappointing "climax" is hardly any challenge at all. The enemy cast lacks variety, the environments are fairly dull and simplistic, and the animation is poor.

But it's still fun to explore the many rooms and corridors within each stage, as you sometimes find yourself in interesting situations...

...which occasionally involve a "SEXY GAL" (as they're called in the end credits).

The music is pretty cool, as one would expect from a Sunsoft PCE title. You don't get many weapons to play with, but you have to do a decent amount of strategic switching up, and the guns that are present serve just fine for the short adventure. And while the bosses are kind of small and don't look all that great, minotaurs and saber-toothed tigers and the like still make for cool creatures to fight.

Some sellers try to make good money off City Hunter, but it's really not hard to acquire for just a few bucks; and at a low cost, it's worth picking up. And while there are some mid-stage conversations to click through, you certainly don't need to know Japanese in order to complete and enjoy the game.