Words can't do this box art justice.
Shoot those birds, Amagon. That'll teach 'em to fly on your island!
Nothing says fun like Amagon, amIright folks? Let's begin with semantics: what is an "Amagon" exactly? If your guess is a bunch of letters strung together, you're close! According to the official "Amagon" press release by American Sammy, it's a Marine who can turn into an Incredible Hulk-esque character (duh). Amagon is stranded on an island, and the only way he can get off of it, is, naturally, to destroy every single living thing on it. Good ol' "American" Sammy was aiming squarely for the mid-80's male audience with this game; people who loved their Stallone, Van Damme, and Scharwzenegger movies. But does it work, or does Amagon need to get his oily pectoral muscles out of our Nintendo?
Yeah, it's just an average side-scroller, with elements of Altered Beast, Adventure Island, and Contra. Altered Beast is a terrible game to rip off to begin with. No developer should have played that game on the arcade/Genesis and said, 'Yes, Sega's on to something with this whole shapeshifting thing!' Strangely, Amagon handles the transformation segments a lot better than 'the Beast' did, in part because Amagon can actually move fast unlike the Beast. It's the combination of cute mixed with guns that fails the game. The Adventure Island-esque enemies are cutesy and non-descript, and though they do attack you, is it necessary to use a gun? Even Sir Higgins used a hammer or boomerang. It doesn't particularly bother me in an ethical sense, but it's just kind of strange. The actual gameplay is similar to Contra, in that you're all guns blazing through the game, until you decide to shapeshift after getting the "strongman" power-up. One you have become AMAGON, LORD OF THIRD-WORLD ISLAND, you run amok with your fists, smashing everything in your path; no bird or tree varmint is safe. If you're Lord Amagon, you usually have about four to five hit points, but beware if you're cadet Amagon. The latter is the weakest Marine you've ever seen: one piddly hit knocks him down. Again, this worked in Contra when you're dealing with bullets, but when a bee launches his stinger bomb at you? Yeah, let me see your credentials, Amagon. For the record, I am trying to write the word "Amagon" as much as possible because there's a chance I'll never be able to use it outside of this review. Amagon!
Does Amagon ever reach the end of the island? Probably, but it's hard to care with the lack of personality embedded into the thick hollow shell that is the main character. Every technical aspect of this game screams average, from the bland graphics, to the weak enemy design, and the "cheery" music. The controls are serviceable, but it's not necessary for them to be. No one should play this game unless they're Amagon-curious, but unless you like Altered-Beast knockoffs, expect to be disappointed.
D+
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