"Ultraman Towards the Future" on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a game that is quite controversial, and definitely received its fair share of criticism and applause. So here I am throwing in my two cents. While I was generally pleased with "Ultraman" on the SFC in Japan, I am not at all please with its US counterpart. The game, first of all, has no story. I can understand why "Ultraman" has no story, since it is the first attempt at these types of slow fighting games, but why not this one? It came about a year after the original, so why hasn't it improved at all? The controls are where I give up on this game. It shares the same control scheme as the original, which is fair enough, but the enemies move so many times faster than Ultraman Great (the Japanese name), you become ill-equipped to deal with these unfair challenges. This forces you to jump all around and cleverly dodge everything these enemies throw at you, which would be fine in a game like "Ultra Seven", a true sequel to "Ultraman" on the SFC, which fixes all these problems and adds a control scheme that is easy to use. In that game, many characters move faster than you as well, but with those fluent controls, dodging them is no longer such an issue. "Ultraman Towards the Future" however, uses the same control scheme as "Ultraman" which makes it practically impossible to dodge as the game demands. When in the original, all a player needs is to tank hits and roll forward to grapple, this sequel demands high velocity dodging, a feat that cannot be done without weeks of concentrated practice and repeated failures. The music, like in all of the Bandai "Ultraman" games, are superb, and the graphics don't deviate too much from the original. "Ultra Seven" was definitely a better improvement on those grounds. Replayability is an issue, as it get monotonous after a while. While the original "Ultraman" had a FPS stage at the very end, with character dialogue as in the TV show (IE Mephilas), this game has nothing to back it up, which makes it a game you replay only when you have worn out your copy of Kamen Rider, Ultraman, and Ultra Seven. While I am going to be lenient once I review Ultraman, this game gets nothing. It is a sequel that barely improves the original, and in fighting games, that is key. There are no improvements to the graphics, and it seems like a step backwards for no inclusion of other game play modes. It is jam crushed between the two pieces of bread that is Ultraman and Ultra Seven, using the controls of Ultraman, and the enemy movements of Ultra Seven. It does not fit well for a fighting game at all. Play at your own risk. You will be frustrated 8 out of 10 times. "Ultraman Towards the Future" on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a game that is quite controversial, and definitely received its fair share of criticism and applause. So here I am throwing in my two cents. While I was generally pleased with "Ultraman" on the SFC in Japan, I am not at all please with its US counterpart. The game, first of all, has no story. I can understand why "Ultraman" has no story, since it is the first attempt at these types of slow fighting games, but why not this one? It came about a year after the original, so why hasn't it improved at all? The controls are where I give up on this game. It shares the same control scheme as the original, which is fair enough, but the enemies move so many times faster than Ultraman Great (the Japanese name), you become ill-equipped to deal with these unfair challenges. This forces you to jump all around and cleverly dodge everything these enemies throw at you, which would be fine in a game like "Ultra Seven", a true sequel to "Ultraman" on the SFC, which fixes all these problems and adds a control scheme that is easy to use. In that game, many characters move faster than you as well, but with those fluent controls, dodging them is no longer such an issue. "Ultraman Towards the Future" however, uses the same control scheme as "Ultraman" which makes it practically impossible to dodge as the game demands. When in the original, all a player needs is to tank hits and roll forward to grapple, this sequel demands high velocity dodging, a feat that cannot be done without weeks of concentrated practice and repeated failures. The music, like in all of the Bandai "Ultraman" games, are superb, and the graphics don't deviate too much from the original. "Ultra Seven" was definitely a better improvement on those grounds. Replayability is an issue, as it get monotonous after a while. While the original "Ultraman" had a FPS stage at the very end, with character dialogue as in the TV show (IE Mephilas), this game has nothing to back it up, which makes it a game you replay only when you have worn out your copy of Kamen Rider, Ultraman, and Ultra Seven. While I am going to be lenient once I review Ultraman, this game gets nothing. It is a sequel that barely improves the original, and in fighting games, that is key. There are no improvements to the graphics, and it seems like a step backwards for no inclusion of other game play modes. It is jam crushed between the two pieces of bread that is Ultraman and Ultra Seven, using the controls of Ultraman, and the enemy movements of Ultra Seven. It does not fit well for a fighting game at all. Play at your own risk. You will be frustrated 8 out of 10 times. |