Schbibin Man 3

~ SCHBIBIN MAN 3 ~

NCS/Masaya

CD-ROM

1992

It isn't often that a line of games is given until its third episode to achieve greatness. Most companies are more than happy to put an engine to sleep following a single unimpressive outing--a repeat performance typically signals certain death, usually displaying prudence on the part of the executioners. The first two Schbibin Man titles hardly made a mark on the world, but NCS/Masaya stuck to their guns and finally unleashed brilliance in the form of the sidescrolling torpedo, Schbibin Man 3, an insanely fast-paced hack-and-slash platformer propelled by adrenaline-pumping senses of urgency and sheer madness. Dash through futuristic metropolises and penetrate enormous airships; shatter crystal monsters and annihilate faceless flame-throwing magicians. There are no level breaks here, just one crazy scenario after another--a "parade of insanity," as my impressed cousin Zigfriederov once called it.

One minute you're commandeering a mecha and blasting your way through a city, the next you're riding a strange beast in outer space as a huge red dragon pursues you.

Hop onto floating platforms and fight off circling cannons until a group of gargoyles wrecks your ride and sends you plummeting to the land of killer snowmen!

You never know what to expect here. Plus, the graphics are unbelievable (especially for a CD-ROM2 game), the red book soundtrack is dynamic, and the cinemas are awesome.

Sadly, copious strength restorers and the blazing baubles our heroes unleash make Schbibin Man 3 one of the easiest 16-bit platformers available--much easier than even Shinobi III, which is usually the poster child for titles with a forgivable lack of challenge. The difficulty can be boosted a notch, although the difference is hardly noticeable. It's not like the elements for a challenging experience weren't all in place; some enemies are capable of attacking you in plenty of different ways. But a simple trade-off of shots will take care of most bosses, as they never approach relentlessness with their attack strategies.

Still, Schbibin Man 3 is very memorable; unlike, say, Chiki Chiki Boys, it's not the sort of super-easy game that you forget about by the next day. The events and tunes in this effort have stuck with me; and when I first bought it, I played through it lots of times before moving on. It's one of the PC Engine's must-own action titles, without any question.