Developer: AlfaSystem Publisher: NEC Release: 1990 Genre: Shooter
I freely admit that I did not give Cyber Core a chance back in the day. The box art did it no favors but you can say that about almost all Turbo Grafx-16 games. I went for Side Arms instead. But revisiting the game now I find it to be pretty good despite my initial misgivings. I know, I know, never judge a book by its cover and all that jazz. You will forgive me; with so many shooters on the Turbo Grafx they all start to blend together. You need something exceptional to stand out and Cyber Core lacks that. Instead it succeeds by nailing its mechanics and pacing.
Let’s get to why I ignored Cyber Core for so long, the graphics. This is an ugly game. The insectoid theme should allow for diverse settings and enemies and the game makes good on half of that equation. The enemies are a weird bunch for sure and are some of the strangest insects you have seen this side of Honey I shrunk the Kids. In addition the variety is fantastic as the game introduces new ones up until its finale. But the environments are so bland they almost lose their impact. Seriously I have seen NES games with more thought put in to their surroundings. Coming from Blazing Lazers and R-Type you cannot help but be disappointed. This game does not make a good first impression at all.
But luckily the gameplay makes up for it. Cyber Core is essentially Dragon Spirit with a bug theme. The protagonist Rad Ralph is a half human/half insect hybrid who merges with his ship the Chimera to battle the hyper insect threat. Your ship has a primary cannon and bombs for ground based targets. Its most useful ability is to mutate into four different forms depending on the colored egg collected. One egg will always grant a spread shot. Two eggs will mutate the ship into a larger form with a unique and more powerful weapon. Three eggs of the same type will change you in to a behemoth that can blanket the screen in projectiles. It also makes your bombs more powerful but not to the same extent.
The different forms are cool. Red turns you into a butterfly with a ripple laser. Green is a mantis that fires sickle blades covering your flank. For blue you become a beetle with a five-way spread that covers most of the screen. The hornet comes from yellow eggs, complete with the most powerful weapon, the triple laser. Power comes with a price however. At maximum power you are a large target and move slower. In the later levels this is a detriment. But aside from the strength boost you get extra health. Normally your shield maxes out at three points. But for each new form you can take an extra hit. At full power you can sustain seven hits. It is almost mandatory for the late stages as the game goes bonkers. Luckily Cyber Core is generous with power-ups so it is easily achievable. Keeping it is another matter entirely.
The action in Cyber Core is measured. Like Dragon Spirit and Xevious it alternates between ground and aerial targets. It does not quite manage it as well as those games as it is not always clear which is which. While the game is certainly not pretty they pack it with a variety of set pieces. The journey starts overseas as you deal with water striders, moths, and flies before moving to the ruins of civilization. Next you fly through a forest and desert to reach the hyper insects underground lair. It is here that you find their mothership, a technological fortress protected by its strongest creatures. The designers went to town creating the various insects populating the game and despite the lacking art style is one of its greatest strengths. To see all of it will take some skill however.
Initially the difficult curve is relatively smooth. Although I dislike the various speed settings (they are either too fast or too slow) they at least work with some finesse. Staying powered up is easy and despite the bosses being bullet sponges their patterns are simple. The last few stages however become so insane it is clear someone did not want gamers to finish the game. The density of enemies and ridiculous number of bullets becomes flat out unfair. The last level is egregiously bad at this and I cannot believe was released like this. The spike puts a damper on the fun in the game in my opinion. You will need nerves of steel and an insane amount of patience to see this one through and I do not know if it is worth it.
In Closing
Cyber Core is a much better game than I initially gave it credit for. Although it is ugly the intensity of the gameplay more than makes up for it. This one is solid overall. That being said there are still a truck load of shooters on the Turbo Grafx-16 that I would recommend first. That is not a knock against the game however, just the reality of the stiff competition it is up against.
