Status Chovus Apr 17, 2023
Beat SNES version on Normal. What a terrible excuse of a game. The controls were sluggish with a noticeable delay between pressing the buttons and the Hulk actually punching or jumping. The moves were bare bones with just a punch, a duck that could evade some enemy attacks, and an uppercut from the duck that was rarely useful. He could …
Beat SNES version on Normal. What a terrible excuse of a game. The controls were sluggish with a noticeable delay between pressing the buttons and the Hulk actually punching or jumping. The moves were bare bones with just a punch, a duck that could evade some enemy attacks, and an uppercut from the duck that was rarely useful. He could also grab enemies by walking up to them, then head butt them for no better damage than a punch, or throw them for minor damage. I favored throwing enemies down somewhere they could not get back up so I could avoid the god awful combat as much as possible. Between the stiff delayed controls, enemies taking way too many hits to defeat, and cheap enemy placement, I found it difficult to get through the levels without taking damage here and there. Nevermind the annoying platforming and hazards. Once his health got low he changed into human form, which I actually found easier because he could crawl around avoiding almost all enemies. I had to spend a life just to get past the first half of the first level, and another life to start the mid boss with enough hp to win. Whoever designed this fucking boss, and put the bastard as the mid boss for every. Single. Level. Should be dragged out into the street and beaten. The boss was faster with an annoying jump attack and tendency to duck, making him unable to be hit. He could do a lot of damage with a flurry of punches if I got too close. I could not find any decent strategy other than be aggressive and hope his hp deleted faster than mine. Maybe ducking his jump and punching him after would work, but the game would have to be in slow motion for me to react to that. The first time I beat him I finished him off with the 2 shots you get in human form. Wow a whole 2 shots. I wonder if Easy mode gives 3 shots. I hated fighting this guy but the later times were not quite as bad because I found health items to increase max hp and speed. The actual bosses were much easier with patterns that I could learn and react to. Then I died at the final boss because he just stood there like a friendly npc. I was confused and jumped down the pit behind him thinking there was more level; an anticlimactic end for a shitty game. It was just a token fight where he died in 1 hit. The level design was uninspired with a lot of repetition. There were some small branching paths for switches and items; overall a boring slog.
This game needed a lot more work to be passable. Switching back and forth between Hulk and human should have been a mechanic done on demand and incorporated into the level design. The combat needed more moves, more enemy variety, and a larger number of easily killed enemies. And for God sakes give the gun more than 2 bullets. Make enemies drop ammo and health, or make both regenerate with the enemies respawning. Maybe make it high risk high reward with the human being better at platforming but frail without health regen, while the Hulk goes slow and steady. I almost quit during the first level because after my first death the game put me at the beginning if the screen, hidden beyond the edge of the screen on an elevator. I had to fumble around for minutes before the elevator worked. This game was shoddy, poorly made drivel that was made even worse by the frustrating difficulty. The Sega version seems to be significantly different so I will have to check that out eventually.
3.5/10