Racket Attack
PUBLISHER: Jaleco
DEVELOPER: TOSE
RELEASE DATE: Apr. 15th, 1988 (JP), Oct. 1988 (US), Mar. 24th, 1994 (!) (EU)
Racket Attack is the NES’ second tennis game (after Nintendo’s own Tennis), Jaleco’s second NES sports game after Bases Loaded, and perhaps most importantly, features a character named Brofsky, who looks like an eternal frat boy. Don’t let his unkempt appearance fool you, though. My guy knows how to handle a racket.
I’d love to say that the aforementioned facts are the least interesting thing about Racket Attack, that the game is a ball-swatting tour-de-force, the likes of which move the genre – nay, the entire sport – forward. Alas, Racket Attack is just a tennis game, albeit one with an enormous character roster.
Long before Mario Tennis Fever crowded the courts with nearly forty Mario fan favorites like Piranha Plant and Nabbit, Racket Attack gave us sixteen players to choose from, eight men, eight women, all heart. Every player has one specific strength and… weakness? The manual says all the players have strengths and weaknesses, but the player profiles in the game list vague descriptions like player Gibbco’s “Fast A Foot – Net Play.” What does Fast A Foot, mean? Does Gibbco know? I’m not too clear about Net Play, either; isn’t tennis itself just net play? Other descriptions are a little clearer like player Horn’s “Powerful Serve” or Spohn’s simple, but effective “Volley.”
Whatever these descriptions may mean, you’ll be pleased to know that the three characters I played as – Brofsky (naturally), Horn, and Gray – felt no different from each other. They’re all a little slippery. They all hit the ball about 70% of the time. They all look ridiculous. Perhaps if I put in the hours and worked my way through matches against every opponent, I could sense subtle, but important differences between Orchler and Jansco. But Racket Attack doesn’t warrant that type of fervor, frankly. Brofsky might be a hero on the court and at keggers, but the game he stars in is your standard 8-bit tennis experience, no more, no less.
C-
Seicross
PUBLISHER: FCI
DEVELOPER: Nihon Bussan
RELEASE DATE: May. 19th, 1986 (JP), Oct. 1988 (US)
Unlike many early arcade ports, Seicross has a legitimately weird story. Seems two races, the Petras and the Basrah were getting along just fine on the planet Colura - until they weren’t. The Basrah decided to be jerks and attack the peaceful Petras and drive them underground. Interestingly, the goal of Seicross isn’t to get revenge on the Basrah. Rather, you’ll be rescuing as many of the Petras as possible who are still left above ground with a cannon-equipped motorbike, affectionately named “Gilgitt Petras.”
The Basrah wasted no time in building a sorta functional overworld that completely hates the Petras. In addition to the Basrah having their own motorbikes and coming against you, you also have to deal with weird plants, fossils, energy cannons, etc. Some of these attack you directly, while others are stationary objects that will kill you if you run Gilgitt into them. Your best course of action is to shoot continuously, pick up your Petras homies, and make it to the end of each level unscathed. Gilgitt has an energy bar that slowly whittles down, but thankfully, the Basrah or some other benevolent beings leave more than enough energy replenishment on the ground.
There’s not much to Seicross, which is to be expected for an arcade port from 1984, but what’s here is surprisingly engaging. In fact, I’m not entirely sure why the game works as well as it does. It is a shooter, and I do love some old-school shooting action, but the focus is predominantly on points, which I don’t normally care about. Shooting things for points, collecting captive people for more points at the end of the level; points, points everywhere, so let’s all have a drink. The six supposedly unique levels (which repeat randomly after level 6) all feature similar enemies and terrain. Your motorbike, Gilgitt Petras only has one weapon power-up, and to be fair, it’s a banger. Still, I take a step back and look at Seicross objectively and I’m not sure why it draws me in. Then again, video games are either enjoyable to play or they’re not. Maybe I just need to stop worrying and love the bomb.
B-
Really unique look to Seicross, quite striking, thanks for sharing!
Both of the games you reviewed this week have weird names: Brofsky, Gibbco, Petras, Basrah. I can't tell for sure, but I think they made up these names.... 😁