Bimini Run
System: Genesis
Release Date: February 1991
Developer: Microsmiths
Publisher: Nuvision Entertainment
Genre: Shoot ‘em Up
Do some island hopping in order to save your sister and stop a mad man in Bimini Run! The hero of our story, Kenji O’Hara likes fast cars, fast boats, and fast women. He’ll be able to hop in his high power speed boat and show off his skills, because the evil Dr. Orca has kidnapped his twin sister! It’s up to Kenji and his best friend Luka to blast an unending supply of enemies, radio towers, and watch towers as they put an end to the Doctor’s machinations.
Press and hold Up in order to make the boat accelerate. Left and right steers and the boat feels floaty, as you would expect it to. You’re outfitted with three different weapons. Button A launches the bazooka. It doesn’t say so in the manual, but you can hold Button A down to launch the bazooka farther. Wish I would have realized this much earlier… I died a lot running into islands trying to get close enough to hit them. Button B shoots at surface level and is useful for taking out enemy boats and other water based creatures. Button C shoots into the air and takes out helicopters and flying creatures.
You’ll hear a friend on the radio often and when you do, pressing the Start Button will bring up some instructions on what to do next. In this pause menu, you can also get a look at the map of the level and a more precise map of your immediate area. This will mark enemy boats, helicopters, and buildings you can destroy.
Levels have some sort of objective that must be achieved, whether it’s shooting a specific enemy, destroying towers, or finding the right house. This is easier said than done, as enemies are constantly shooting at you, you’re constantly running ashore when trying to blow things up on the beach, and they’ll even try to ram you. You’re given a number of lives to start that decrease as you get hit. But if you’re not careful, you’ll run out of gas and have to start all over, regardless of the number of lives you have left.
As you try to find Dr. Orca’s hideout, you enter the Bermuda Triangle, which disables your radar. Instead, you follow the mermaid named Marlyna as she sings her siren song. Sea creatures galore seek to stop you from reaching your destination, but as long as you don’t get to close to her or shoot her, you’ll be fine.
Graphics: 3.0
I think the graphics from the sprite scaling to the water movement, and the backgrounds are really well done.
Sound: 2.0
The music is alright and the sounds don’t annoy too much.
Gameplay: 2.5
Driving the boat and shooting works as intended. It doesn’t feel like there’s much depth, though.
Difficulty: 2.5
You get a generous number of lives and a reasonable number of continues to go along with it. There are going to be a number of cheap deaths, however.
Fun Factor: 2.0
It’s fun enough for what it is, but it’s something that I’d expect as a single level to switch up from another style of game, rather than an entire game.
Overall Rating: 2.4
Bimini Run earns a C+. I usually don’t care for behind the back shoot ‘em ups, but this one worked well enough that I think people would get enjoyment out of it.