Friday, February 03, 2012

The Great Gaymathon Review #52: Sky Kid (Famicom)


Game: Sky Kid
Genre: Shoot 'em up
Developer: Namcot
Publisher: Namcot
System: Famicom
Release date: 1986

I knew next to nothing about this odd little game before buying it a year or so ago--which shouldn't be much of a surprise to those who know anything about its history. (Although the arcade original was released in the States, it wasn't a very high-profile release and, as such, it didn't see much success. The NES port, published here by Sunsoft, suffered a similar fate.) To be completely honest, I only picked it up because I was on a bit of a Namcot-made-Famicom-game kick at the time and I thought Sky Kid's cover art was cute. Luckily for me, the game that resides beneath that box art quite a lot of fun. I especially like that it's unique in the way that only games from this era seem to be: At its heart, it's a shoot 'em up, but blowing oncoming planes to smithereens isn't really the goal. No, the real goal of the game is to pick up a bomb that's placed about half-way through each stage and then drop it on a specified target that typically sits just before said stage's landing strip. (Yep, you have to land your plane at the end of each mission.) As I'm sure most of you have already imagined, that's a lot easier said than done. In the case of Sky Kid, that's because rival pilots do their best to create havoc by filling the screen--and not just with their planes, but with their bullets, too. At the same time, multitudes of ground units add to the visual cacophony by launching their own ammunition into the air. Thankfully, controlling your little pea-shooter-with-wings is as easy as can be. You even have access to a loop-the-loop maneuver (performed with the Famicom controller's B button) that can help you evade on-coming fire. Two additional reasons to check out this pleasingly unique title: Its graphics, while definitely on the simplistic side, are colorful and well crafted, especially for the era, and its soundtrack enjoyably jaunty--although not to the point of annoyance.


See also: Previous 'Great Gaymathon' posts

12 comments:

Darwin said...

I have fond memories of this game. I think it would make a good iOS game. Kind of weird that a bird flew a plane though. :)

Bryan Ochalla said...

It definitely caught me off guard, Darwin. I expected not to like it when I first fired it up, but I it surprised me. Some sort of update would be welcomed by me, too, although I have to admit that I'm perfectly fine with the aesthetics/controls of the original.

Viewtiful_Justin said...

This game is in one of the cabinets at our local arcade. It's AWESOME. I play it a lot.

I had no idea it ever received an NES port. That's pretty great! I especially love the arcade version's ability to recover once shot. When the plane starts to crash, you can tap a button really fast to pull out of the death spin. I assume the NES version kept this mechanic, since it's so great!

Sean said...

I`m glad I`m not the only one who likes this game! I think it is one of the most under appreciated Famicom games out there, it is usually one of the ones I recommend when people ask which Famicom games I think they should try.

I love the box art too, I only have the cart but this one boxed (along with most of those early Namco carts in the little cardboard boxes) is high on my want list!!

Bryan Ochalla said...

Oh, that's great, Justin! (That your local arcade has this game.) The NES version doesn't look as nice as the arcade one, of course, but it's still a nice-looking game, IMO. And, yes, it does have the recovering mechanic you brought up--I completely forgot about that! I also completely forgot about the fact that the loop-the-loop maneuver allows you to loop the sun and turn it into a moon. Drat! Anyway, you should check out the NES port at some point. It's freely available as a ROM, of course, or you can buy it via the Wii Virtual Console, I believe...

Bryan Ochalla said...

Hey there, Sean! Oh, you're definitely not alone. What a charming little game, right? I was really surprised by it, as I thought it would be your typical, boring shmup, but it's much more interesting than that :)

Actually, a lot of Namcot's early Famicom games are pretty great (and unique): Babel, Dig Dug, Galaga, Mappy, The Tower of Druaga, Warpman...

Sean said...

Too true, I love those early Namco games. Almost all of them are on my favorite Famicom game shelf.

Bryan Ochalla said...

When you think about it, Sean, it's amazing how great some of the early Famicom efforts by Capcom, Konami, Namco and Nintendo were.

Viewtiful_Justin said...

I HAD NO IDEA ABOUT THE SUN! I have to try that!

Bryan Ochalla said...

Yes, go try it, Justin. I'd guess it's possible in the arcade version, too? Also, you can shoot the girls near the runway and turn them into dogs (or something), I think...

Viewtiful_Justin said...

So much amazing info!

Bryan Ochalla said...

Ha! Yes, it's amazing how many little Easter Eggs can be found in such a simple little game.