Bravoman - Punch people in the face from 50 feet away!

As a weird guy, it's only natural for someone like me to be drawn to weird games. Games that are just so crazy, that it will make it a normal person's head hurt just trying to comprehend it all. So when it comes to games like Bravoman, I'm drawn to it like a fat kid on cake. Is this game truly amazing? Not entirely, no, but it trumps many with an absolutely amazing super hero. A hero who makes a shocking return in "Namco X Capcom" and yet hasn't made a single appearance since.

This game was originally released in Japanese arcades in 1988 by Namco. This game is simply too much awesome for America, but they made a Turbografix-16 port in 1990 to be released overseas with a simply amazing English translation. Bravoman is your traditional "tokusatsu"-styled hero among the same veins as the Power Rangers or Kamen Rider. The evil Dr. Bomb is making a horrible "end of the world"-type weapon, and it's up to insurance salesman-turned-superhero Bravoman to save the day! Now why is he called Bravoman? Because he always yells out "BRAVO!" when he attacks! Why does he say "BRAVO!"?  I have no idea.  His powers enable him to punch and kick things from across the screen with stretchable limbs, it's like an action title where you play as Street Fighter's Dhalsim, except you can't set things on fire.

As far as mechanics go, this game is very simple. You simply run to the right of the screen while punching whatever that might get in your way. The controls are a bit wonky for game made in this era, so you really need to learn the limit of your limits quickly if you want to survive later on. At the end of the level you'd run across your sidekick known as "Lottery Man" who is simply a robot with a unicycle, usually saying "Hey Bravoman, want to eat?" and throws a couple onigiri your way. If you're so inclined, you can be a complete dick and punch the living daylights out of Lottery Man much to his own annoyance. Do it enough and he'll just appear in the next stages only to taunt you, but eventually he'll forgive you because that's what bros do, they forgive one another.

Bravoman has a cute little theme that you hear in the first level and in jingle form at the end of each level. Other than that, the music isn't particularly noteworthy as I can't even force myself to remember any of the game's tunes. Graphics aren't much to look at either, but for a 1990 game it was pretty great especially since I was still play NES games during this time! At the very least, Bravoman has a great running animation, he truly looks like he's moving with a purpose.

It's not touched upon much in this blog entry, but this game is seriously bizarre. I'd love to talk all the weird stuff you'd find, but it would actually be a lot funnier if you ran into the hidden jokes by yourself (Try punching the telephone booth!). Your head would probably explode in confusion, or you might end up laughing your ass off like I did. As mentioned before, Bravoman teamed up with fellow obscure videogame heroine Wonder Momo in the game "Namco X Capcom" which was released only in Japan. With a much more updated art style, he still remains goofy-looking badass who can throw a mean punch. If you grew up on modern video games I really wouldn't recommend this title to you, it requires some precision and the gameplay hasn't particularly aged too well. But if you're aching for something truly different, then go ahead and try out Bravoman!