Developer: Takeru Publisher: Sur de Wave Release: 05/03/91 Genre: Action
Cocoron is the type of game I would have appreciated later in the NES’ life. By the end of its run the NES library was overrun by licensed titles and formulaic sequels. Meanwhile original games like Kick Master and Shatterhand flew under the radar. Cocoron immediately grabs your attention thanks to its fun create a hero feature and setting. But behind that it is an accomplished platformer as well. This is the type of import gem I love to cover.
A mysterious individual has attacked the Dream World and kidnapped its Princess Rua. Tapir, a wizard from the Dream World, enlists the player to assist the kingdom. Why you ask? Because in the world of dreams you can be anything you can imagine and since you are a hero the limits are endless.
Cocoron takes its dream world and imagination seriously. Its biggest innovation is its create a character feature. The game prompts you to create a hero from a selection of parts. You will create at least seven heroes over the course of the game. You can customize three parts: head, body, and arms for weapons. Each category has eight parts to choose from and they span a wide variety. You can stick an alien head on a tank body with pencils for attacks. Or stack a ninja on top of a spring for a weightless protagonist who can jump to the top of the screen. With the exception of your weapon each part has weight and it affects your health, jumping ability, and attack power. The game does not leave you flying blind as there is a test environment before you leap into each stage which is really cool.
As cool as this feature is what makes it work is that at its core no matter what weird creature you assemble the game is competent. Your choices have a tangible impact on the general gameplay but not so much that it will permanently hamper your progress. How easy or hard the journey will be is in your hands. Certain parts are not very good in practice; the spring produces the highest jump but that becomes a liability in certain stages. There are combinations that can produce an OP protagonist. Tossing the hero head on the cyborg body creates a resilient hero with one of the longest life bars with high attack power. But ultimately the choice is yours.
The weapons system is interesting. There are eight weapons such as shuriken, pencils, crystals, and even flowers. Each of these weapons has five power levels and these upgrades are permanent and carry across characters. This is a wise decision as it would have been a pain to upgrade them every time you create a new character. It also helps some of the more situational weapons shine as they blossom at higher levels. Pencils for example are small and weak at first but grow bigger and more powerful at level three. The shuriken becomes game breaking at max level as it covers so much screen real estate. But some are lame and too troublesome to use. The crystals and their arcing throw and split explosion are too situational to use consistently. Of course your mileage may vary.
The world map provides access to five levels you can complete in any order. It sounds short but the game is actually longer than it appears. Each level has an entrance and exit. Once you defeat the boss the exit differs depending on the next location selected. The designers have done a good job varying these exits so that it never feels repetitive and offers new sights upon subsequent play throughs. If it sounds like a more advanced Mega Man it should; Takeru was started by the original creator of Mega Man. Those vibes are evident in the game’s platforming feel which means Cocoron has a solid foundation. If there is one criticism I have it is that the enemy variety is weak. The involved boss battles make up for it somewhat however.
While Cocoron may share some DNA with Capcom’s classic it does not share its difficulty. To an extent the challenge is in your hands. As I mentioned before the game remains accessible regardless of the monstrosity you create. Your weapons are weak initially but you can grind if you so choose to level them up. Every enemy drops an egg with items inside, most of the time life restoring hearts. Invincibility drops frequently as well. At max level almost every egg drops hearts so it is easy to remain topped off. The boss battles are the only point of contention but even that is relative. There is one platforming segment involving cacti that is annoying but that is the only trouble spot I remember. Platforming fans should have little trouble with this one.
In Closing
Cocoron is one of many import gems that should have been released in the West. Cocoron has high production values, a great hook, and solid gameplay to entice platform and action fans. Even though there is a fan translation it is not required to enjoy this hidden gem. I wholeheartedly recommend it.
