Review Mazinkaiser 5/5 · Aug 25, 2017
Pocky and Rocky - The Cutest Commando
There was a lot of love that went into Pocky and Rocky - featuring an adorable and colorful little story with gameplay that seems clunky at first but actually has some tightly wound design into it, this game is something special.
Given a priestess and her tanuki friend, the game features co-op multi-directional scrolling while shooting up any spooky youkai …
There was a lot of love that went into Pocky and Rocky - featuring an adorable and colorful little story with gameplay that seems clunky at first but actually has some tightly wound design into it, this game is something special.
Given a priestess and her tanuki friend, the game features co-op multi-directional scrolling while shooting up any spooky youkai or goblins in sight. Given a pair of upgradable shots and a short-range attack that can deflect small projectiles, the characters make up for their slow movements by a quick way to block certain shots to make their way through hordes of enemies. There's also a fair amount of bombs to clear the area and an evasion jump that can be used to get past larger attacks.
For six levels, the game is surprisingly expansive, with levels that are timed to last fairly long for shmup stages and allows movement that feels alert but careful, making sure that the player never rushes into territory and goes at their own pace.
With co-op, this game is a fantastic treat to play with friends, making this fairly difficult shmup a battle of teamwork and a balanced set of moves to handle kappa, pirates, octopi, and whatever else comes your way -