Decap Attack
System: Genesis
Release Date: September 1991
Developer: Vic Tokai
Publisher: Sega
Genre: Action
Get ready to fight off some fellow undead in Decap Attack Starring Chuck D. Head! The sinister Max D. Cap has turned the weird creations of Dr. Frank N. Stein into his own personal army. Dr. Stein also created you. The head on top didn’t get put on right, but the other head in your chest seems to work alright. D. Cap has broken apart the island into seven pieces. You’ve been sent on a mission to defeat Max and put the islands back together as one. Can you get through all seven worlds and save the day?
The main gameplay is reminiscent of a couple of Vic Tokai’s other platformers, Psycho Fox and Kid Kool. Psycho Fox was alright, but I didn’t like Kid Kool, the momentum movement mechanic was a chore. It’s not bad here. You still need to get up to speed, but it’s easier to stop and control direction changes. Chuck’s head emerges from his chest cavity to punch with Button B. If you happen to have found your skull, you now have a projectile. Any enemy that touches it takes damage. It’s awesome to have the skull, but if you get hit, it’s long gone.
You have multiple hit points indicated by the hearts in the upper left corner. Getting hit generally takes half a heart away, but some enemies hit harder. Enemies are all around and can be defeated with either an attack from the head, or by jumping on them a few times. Some enemies are naturally armored and must be attacked with the head. There are a couple of enemies that I felt had some odd hit boxes and could get hurt because of that.
Hidden in statues around each level are a number of items for your use. There are six different potions that do things from making you run faster to increasing your reach and more that I didn’t mess around with. The potions aren’t really necessary at any point, but I did occasionally use them on bosses. You occasionally find Chuck’s head or hearts that replenish a hit point. There are also coins that get used at the end of the island in order to get bonus potions and lives. Twice, I found items that increased my maximum hit points, which was welcome.
Levels are all similar, but do have some variations. Some levels have underwater portions that have enemies that can be difficult to target. Some levels have you climbing up or descending to the exit. There are even a couple auto side scrolling levels. These try to catch you behind breakable blocks. The third stage of each island has a boss battle that are all pretty easy. Even if you are able to defeat the boss, you are required to find a special item before you can move on to the next island. When you finally take down Max D. Cap, you get a special surprise from Dr. Stein.
Graphics: 3.0
Sprites are interesting and there are a lot of colors to differentiate things on screen.
Sound: 3.0
Music and sounds are solid and enjoyable enough.
Gameplay: 3.0
The momentum based movement is more natural this time around and levels are designed well.
Difficulty: 3.5
You’ll gain plenty of lives if you collect everything you can and levels are mostly on the easy side.
Fun Factor: 3.5
I had a swell time with Chuck D. Head and I’d help him become a human again if I had to.
Overall Rating: 3.2
Decap Attack earns a B+. I was worried when I saw it was similar to Psycho Fox and Kid Kool, but they got it right this time around.