Top Hunter: Roddy & Cathy | |
---|---|
Developer(s) | SNK |
Publisher(s) | SNK |
Producer(s) | Eikichi Kawasaki |
Designer(s) | M. Matsuda Y. Hashimoto Yasumi Tozono |
Programmer(s) | Data Tada Imasa.F Sho Chan |
Artist(s) | Chikara Yamasaki Eri Koujitani Hirolin Hajime |
Composer(s) | Akihiro Uchida Masahiko Hataya Toshio Shimizu |
Platform(s) | |
Release | |
Genre(s) | Action, Beat 'em up, Platformer |
Mode(s) | |
Arcade system | Neo Geo MVS |
Top Hunter: Roddy & Cathy [lower-alpha 1] is a side scrolling arcade beat 'em up platform game developed by SNK for the Neo Geo in 1994. [1] [2] [3] [4] It was also released on the Neo Geo CD, and the Wii Virtual Console. The game has been re-released as part of SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1 , on May 1, 2008, and in the ACA Neo Geo series on PlayStation 4 on January 10, 2018. Its development team consisted of former Irem staff members. [5]
It was one of the few Neo Geo games to be dubbed "the 100 mega shock", due to the cartridge being just over 112 mebibits. This was large for the time, at over twice the size of the largest SNES cartridge ( Star Ocean , with 48 mebibits). Later cartridges would routinely top 100 megabits so the branding was dropped.[ citation needed ] This was also referred to as a precursor to Metal Slug because of the cartoonish graphics and the robotic vehicles, which are very similar to the Slugs.[ citation needed ]
The gameplay style is similar to and inspired by Double Dragon , The Combatribes , Joe & Mac and Spinmaster . The player, as Roddy (the second player plays as Cathy), must navigate through the area, collecting items, killing enemies, and defeating a boss at the end of each stage. [6] The characters can also execute special moves, done by moving the joystick in certain directions and pressing the attack button, similar to Street Fighter and The King of Fighters fame. Similar to Fatal Fury , Top Hunter features a plane-jumping system: the game field is divided in two lanes between the background and foreground, which the player can jump between at any time to attack enemies or avoid traps. The two fields are not always at the same elevation and one of them may be blocked off at certain points.
The game is split into four planets: Forest, Ice, Wind, and Fire. Depending on what stage is picked first, the layout of the stage will change. For example, if the player picks the Ice world before the Forest world, the Forest world's beginning layout will be different. After completing all 4 worlds, the player is taken to the final stage, where they must rematch with the four bosses and battle the game's antagonist, Captain Klapton.
Players can change various settings such as game difficulty, and also reproduce the atmosphere of arcade display settings at that time. Players can also compete against each other from all over the world with their high scores. [7]
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (February 2020) |
The galaxy's top bounty hunters Roddy and Cathy are sent to put a stop to a colony of galactic pirates called the Klaptons who threaten and plunder the cosmos. Four high-ranking members of the Klaptons have taken control of four elemental planets. Big rewards are offered for the captures of Sly, Misty, Mr. Bigman and Dr. Burn. The top hunters battle their forces and destroy the commanders' war machines but they all get away. In the Last Hunt, Roddy and Cathy will have to battle in Captain Klapton's Mothership, defeat the four commanders again and take care of the captain once and for all.
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (February 2020) |
"Top Hunter: Roddy & Cathy" was initially launched as an arcade title in 1994, drawing attention from players for its cooperative gameplay and striking visuals. Following its success in arcades, SNK released the game for the Neo Geo console, allowing players to experience the adventure at home.
Over the years, "Top Hunter" has garnered a dedicated following among retro gaming enthusiasts and fans of classic arcade experiences. Its inclusion in various Neo Geo compilations and digital platforms has preserved its legacy, ensuring that players can continue to enjoy the game's unique charm and action-packed gameplay.
Aggregator | Score |
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GameRankings | (Neo Geo) 73% [8] |
Publication | Score |
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Edge | (Neo Geo) 5 / 10 [9] |
Electronic Gaming Monthly | (Neo Geo) 7 / 10 [10] |
Famitsu | (Neo Geo) 24 / 40 [11] |
Consoles + | (Neo Geo) 86% [12] |
Hobby Consolas | (Neo Geo) 92 / 100 [13] |
Hobby Hi-Tech | (Neo Geo CD) 8 / 10 [14] |
Joypad | (Neo Geo) 92% [15] |
MAN!AC | (Neo Geo) 69% [16] |
Megablast | (Neo Geo) 75% [17] |
Mega Fun | (Neo Geo) 84% [18] |
Neo Geo Freak | (Arcade) 8 / 20 [19] |
Play Time | (Neo Geo) 85 / 100 [20] |
Player One | (Neo Geo) 77% [21] |
Superjuegos | (Neo Geo) 91 / 100 [22] |
Video Games | (Neo Geo) 75% [23] |
VideoGames | (Neo Geo) 7 / 10 [24] |
In North America, RePlay reported Top Hunter: Roddy & Cathy to be the sixteenth most-popular arcade game at the time. [25] On release, [26] Famitsu scored the Neo Geo version of Top Hunter a 24 out of 40. [11] The four reviewers of Electronic Gaming Monthly gave it a 7 out of 10 average. Two of the reviewers criticized that "the difficulty, even on the hardest setting, is still way too easy", allowing players to breeze through the game very quickly, and thus making it a poor value given the high price of Neo Geo cartridges. However, all four felt that the game was very enjoyable for its brief length due to its numerous techniques, outstanding graphics, bizarre bosses, orchestral music, and ability to move between the foreground and background. [10] Spanish magazine Superjuegos, in its 31st edition, scored the game with a score of 91 out of a maximum of 100, highlighting the graphic work especially with the level bosses and the two planes that the game has. [22]
Aggregator | Score |
---|---|
GameRankings | (Switch) 80% [27] |
Publication | Score |
---|---|
Eurogamer | (Wii) 7 / 10 [28] |
IGN | (Wii) 7.0 / 10 [29] |
Nintendo Life | (Wii) [30] (Switch) [31] |
MAN!AC | (Wii) 6 / 10 [32] |
Top Hunter: Roddy & Cathy has been met with mixed reception from retrospective reviewers.[ further explanation needed ]
In 2014, HobbyConsolas identified Top Hunter as one of the twenty best games for the Neo Geo AES. [33]
The Neo Geo, stylized as NEO•GEO and also written as NEOGEO, is a ROM cartridge-based video gaming system released on April 26, 1990, by Japanese game company SNK Corporation. Designed as both an arcade system board and home video game console, the Neo Geo was marketed as the first 24-bit system; its CPU is actually a 16/32-bit 68000 with an 8-bit Z80 coprocessor, while its GPU chipset has a 24-bit graphics data bus. It was a very powerful system when released, more powerful than any video game console at the time, and many arcade systems such as rival Capcom's CPS, which did not surpass it until the CP System II in 1993. Neo Geo hardware production lasted seven years; it was succeeded by Hyper Neo Geo 64.
SNK Corporation is a Japanese video gaming and interactive entertainment company. It was founded in 1978 as Shin Nihon Kikaku by Eikichi Kawasaki and began by developing coin-op games. SNK is known for its Neo Geo arcade system on which the company produced many in-house games and now-classic franchises during the 1990s, including Aggressors of Dark Kombat, Art of Fighting, Fatal Fury, King of the Monsters, Metal Slug, Samurai Shodown, The King of Fighters, The Last Blade, Twinkle Star Sprites, and World Heroes; they continue to develop and publish new titles in some of these franchises on contemporary arcade and home platforms. Since the 2000s, SNK have diversified from their traditional arcade focus into pachislot machines, mobile game development and more recently character licensing.
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