Spark Man Longplay (Arcade) [QHD]

Game Info
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Developer: SunA Electronics
Publisher: SunA Electronics
Year of Release: 1989

Game Review & Impressions
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Released in 1989, Spark Man is yet another of arcade gaming's most baffling oddities. This side-scrolling run-and-gun shooter might look reasonable in still screenshots, but anyone who's played it will understand just how rubbish this is. The fact the game opens with a weird cutscene that's clearly meant to be some humorous interpretation of Michelangelo's "The Hand of God", except it involves some weird android being tickled on the nose, sets the scene for aptly for what is to follow.

The biggest influence by far is the RoboCop coin-op, with gameplay focused on shooting enemies on various platforms, not to mention level design and artwork paying more than just homage being paid to Data East's game. However, there are plenty of other influences on display here, including Green Beret/Rush 'n Attack, enemy designs that look suspiciously similar to those from Rolling Thunder, and level graphics bearing uncanny similarities to Bionic Commando and Bad Dudes Vs. Dragon Ninja.

Unfortunately, SunA also forgot to take anything that made those games fun into consideration. The gameplay is terrible, enemy placement and AI abysmal, and generally too difficult to be even remotely enjoyable. The end-of-level boss involving shooting a bunch of guys hiding inside an armoured triceratops is just utterly stupid, not to mention near impossible to beat. Spark Man is coin-op jank of the highest order and should never have been released commercially.

I guess, if anything, the fact it exists means I get to make a video about this total oddity some 30+ years after its release.

Chapters
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TBC

• #gaming
• #longplay