Danan: The Jungle Fighter is a 1991 action adventure game developed and published by Sega for the Master System exclusively in Europe. It follows Danan, a man raised in the outskirts of the jungle by an adopted father figure. The game depicts Danan's journey through the jungle in a bid to avenge his adoptive father's death by stopping the resurrection of an alien creature known as Gilbas. The gameplay sees the player traversing four timed side-scrollinglevels, occasionally exploring to find helpful items, until a boss is encountered.
Upon its release in January 1991, the game received mixed reception from critics, who praised its graphics and plot, but criticized the soundtrack and low difficulty. Mixed reactions were also given towards the gameplay, which was criticized as being very repetitive and dull as well as lauded for its short simplistic design by various video game publications.
Gameplay
Danan climbs a ladder to the upper level of the building. The HUD on the top of the screen shows how much health, time remaining, and score that Danan has.
Although levels are linear, they contain items that can be found by exploring,[4] such as time increasing clocks, knives which are required for progression and experience enhancing stars, which give Danan more health when enough are obtained. Another set of items that can be collected are animal symbols, which allow Danan to summon either an armadillo, an eagle, or a chimpanzee to his aid once enough are collected.[3] Depending on who is summoned, the animal can help Danan fight enemies, transport him to higher places, or restore his health.[4]
Synopsis
The game's levels take place in and around the tropics of the planet Gian,[5]:4 each of which are set in tribal villages, an enemy battleship, and an ancient shrine known as the Altar of Sacrifice respectively. The player controls Danan, a young warrior living on the outskirts of the jungle with a tribesman named Jimba who acts as his adopted father figure.[5]:4–8
Danan returns home from a hunting trip to find Jimba mortally wounded. Before succumbing, he tells Danan to seek the aid of a prophet, who tells him Jimba was killed by the Moralos clan because he possessed the Knife of Light; one of three sacred items said to have been used by the hero Aganan to seal the mantis-like alien creature Gilbas. The prophet gives Danan a second sacred item and asks that he investigate why Morolos clan village killed Jimba. After being saved from a trap by a woman named Linda, Danan arrives in the Morolos village where he learns that the clan was deceived by people from a battleship into clamoring for the return of Gilbas. The clan's war chieftain thanks Danan with the third sacred item.
Danan learns that the owner of the ship, Emperor Wolf, intends to resurrect Gilbas at the Altar of Sacrifice to bring about world domination and that his forces are already at the altar with the Knife of Light, ready to use a human sacrifice for the resurrection. There, Danan is unsuccessful in stopping Linda from being transformed into Gilbas, but does save her after battling him and sealing him there, deciding to guard the altar in order to stop him from being resurrected.
Danan: The Jungle Fighter received mixed reviews from critics. Computer and Video Games derided the game as dull and repetitive, stating that while the gameplay is fun in short bursts the overall experience is tedious.[6] Reviewers for Mean Machines remarked that the game did not try to be original and that its difficulty was very low, but highlighted its graphics for being interesting and the presentation for being well executed.[1]Sega Power praised the game, citing the graphics, gameplay, plot and unique animal summoning mechanic, although noted that the soundtrack was lackluster and the lack of continues was cumbersome.[8]Raze noted that the game borrowed much of its aspects from previous titles in the genre and found the soundtrack and gameplay repetitive, but did praise the graphics.[7]
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