Bakuretsu Hunter Duo Comic

~ BAKURETSU HUNTER ~

Media Works / Hudson Soft / Dengeki

Super CD-ROM

1994

Bakuretsu Hunter basically places a comic book on your television screen and takes you through its story in slideshow fashion. Unlike most PCE games considered "comics," BH doesn't have the "player" actually participate in the goings-on. There's lots of voice and plenty of sound effects, and the images slide and occasionally swirl around; but there's nothing for you to do but adjust the coloration of the panels and then sit back and look at one pencil sketch after another.

Well, it sure is different for a PCE game; and for all I know, it could be a pretty damn sweet show for fans of the original BH manga who really know their Japanese. In fact, sitting through the story doesn't have to be a throwaway experience for the Hunter-ignorant, as doing a bit of research beforehand will give players a basic idea of what's happening here. Still, I can't help but wish that the "interesting" approach were eschewed in favor of a traditional digital comic setup. The story seems to achieve moderate success with both its action and its comedy scenes, and the character designs aren't too bad. It's just hard to get much enjoyment out of the product with the format that's in place.

Of course, most folks who acquire the disc will do so because it was originally part of a "CD plus book" package and won't give a damn about the BH plot or cast anyway. But whether you're a Bakuretsu aficionado or not, you really should make sure the book is part of the deal if you go ahead and buy the thing, as it contains comics, character profiles, removable goodies, and other such stuff, making it pretty neat to flip through once or twice. Of course, as is the case with the "game" itself, the book won't be of much practical use to those who aren't already into BH and can't read Japanese. It's a cool (and fairly hard to find) collectible, plain and simple; and unlike some similar items, it isn't very expensive.