Developer: Capcom Publisher: NEC Released: 1990 Genre: Action
As an early adopter of the Turbo Grafx-16 the pickings were slim initially. After the launch period releases were sporadic and unless you liked sports or shooters you were screwed. As a fan of action games and platformers I had my eye on any title that looked interesting. Tiger Road was one of the few action platformers in the first year and I looked forward to it as it reminded me of Ghosts ‘n Goblins. The comparison was sort of apt as they are both from Capcom but I digress. Sadly while Tiger road is a fine arcade port as a game it is too frustrating to bother with.
Tiger Road was originally released in the arcade in 1987. Despite its low-key status it saw a variety of ports to European PCs, from the Amiga to the ZX Spectrum. The Turbo Grafx version is a port but very different from the arcade. It redesigns many of the enemies and alters the level design, giving the game a cartoon appearance. Sadly it is not for the better as the promising beginning soon gives way to a game that is frustrating at best and absolute aggravating at its worst. It’s a damn shame as the system could have used more quality titles in the genre in the US.
Protagonist Lee has an axe by default that has decent range and power. Rather than an overhead chop you swing it a circle. With turbo on you can swing repeatedly, a crucial technique to boost power between levels and deal with hordes of enemies. There are two other weapons: a mace that has long range but is weak and a short range spear. Unfortunately neither option feels better than the axe and suffers from hit detection issues. Considering the number of enemies late in the game it is unfortunate you only have one real option.
These aren’t your only items. Aside from the standard health, invincibility, extra lives and screen clearing power-ups you have the chance to increase your powers by training in between levels. You can raise your life bar and more importantly earn the Tiger attack. This move sends a large tiger flying whenever you attack. It kills most enemies in one hit but sort of like Zelda is only available when you have near full health. Later you can gain the double Tiger attack which you would think would make the game easier but is damn near required to gain any headway in this massive beast. In some ways Tiger Road reminds me of Mitsume ga Tooru, an awesome Famicom game that everyone should play. Too bad this is not even half the game that one is.
Although Tiger Road plays nothing like Ghosts ‘n Goblins it shares the same ridiculous difficulty. The first two levels lull you into a false sense of security as they are median in terms of their challenge. Enemy mobs are well managed, the levels are not too long and the bosses have simple patterns. That changes at stage three. This is around the point the game goes bonkers and throws too many enemies on screen at once. Invincible knights who only stay down for a second or two before reviving appear more often and the hit detection issues become more apparent. Nearly every annoying platforming trick is here somewhere: knockback, conveniently placed pits, overpowered enemies, etc. While there are only five stages they become so long it feels like double that length, especially the final stage. Oh, that awful final level.
The last level is the longest in the game at twenty-two parts. It almost feels as long as the rest of the game by itself. Unfortunately that is not a good thing as it is basically a conglomeration of all the past levels and repeats itself constantly. To add insult to injury it even has the Capcom standard boss rush which I’ve never been fond of and is especially tiresome here. The boss battles drag on as is, redoing the previous four fights with nothing new is just awful. You have to kill the final boss three (3!) times with no break in between! The one saving grace is that you can save your game but in my opinion you are better off playing something else.
In Closing
Tiger Road has the elements to be a good game. But somewhere along the way it fell apart. Bad balance, terrible hit detection, and an unrelenting difficulty make Tiger Road a game you can easily skip. I wanted to like it but I can’t. Stay away.
