Decap Attack (Sega Megadrive / Genesis)

Decap Attack (Megadrive/Genesis) :

When the evil Max D. Cap and his minions rise up from the Underworld to wreak havoc, Professor Frank N. Stein sends out his latest creation, Chuck D. Head to put a stop to Max and his cronies! Chuck is a headless mummy....wait, no..actually he's not headless! His head just resides in his stomach...and he can force it out using his intestines or something in order to bash any baddies that happen to get in his way...

As Chuck, you can also get the help of Head, a skull you'll find lying around the levels. He'll attach himself to your torso, and you can lob him at enemies or statues or whatever, with him zooming back to you boomerang style! He'll only stick around until you take a hit though, so it's worth trying to avoid trouble...

Also helping you in your quest are various power-ups hidden away in little gargoyle-type statues..(this is also where you'll find Head should you lose him)...These power-ups don't activate immediately though! They get stored in your inventory, which you can access via a button push and receive helpful information about what each power-up actually does from the Prof. and his assistant Igor...

The levels take place on various parts of a skeleton-shaped island that has been split into various different sections. Every few levels you'll reach the end of that particular section and face an inevitable boss...but even when you defeat them, you might not be quite finished with that section yet, as you have to find a special item on each stage..and if you haven't found it yet, you have to go back and search the level for it!

Vic Tokai's Decap Attack is an enjoyable platformer, with my favourite bits being the groovy graphics and funky spooky music...I would prefer it if the baddies followed suit though, as only a few of them appear spooky enough for my tastes! Also, it can be a little tricky getting used to how Chuck handles to begin with, but if you stick with it you'll soon have no problems...and maybe that's just me being a bit poop!

Overall though, this game should keep you happy and comes highly recommend...Oh, before I move on, I should probably let you know that it's also a port of a Japanese game called Magical Hat Flying Turbo Adventure which has totally different graphics, music and level design..with only the gameplay remaining similar...

And just one more question...How exactly did Chuck come to have a head in his torso anyway? Isn't that a bit odd? Well, thankfully Nigel Kitching gave us the answer when he did the Decap Attack strip that appeared in Fleetway's Sonic The Comic in the nineties.....

Oh, and even if you don't have a Megadrive/Genesis you can play the game on modern consoles and PC by picking up one of the various Sega Megadrive Collections, which come with loads of other groovy games too! So now you've no excuse not to play.....well.....unless you don't own any of them either......