~ GEKISHA BOY ~
Irem
HuCard
1992
I spent my first few minutes with Gekisha Boy wishing that it played more like fellow crosshairs-based blaster Operation Wolf. While OW essentially allows players to fire away at will, GB requires them to make sure that its camera-wielding protagonist (who's
charged with taking photos of atypical sights and events) doesn't stumble into bouncing balls and other such crap as they try to "shoot" things and watch for "funny" stuff. I initially hated this element of the gameplay; and being that I'm an old grouch, I didn't find the
goofy/"offensive" moments to be nearly as amusing as everyone else seems to.
But the second half of the game gets pretty tricky: the obstacles make bigger nuisances of themselves, and it becomes more and more important to make prudent use of a limited film supply. I couldn't help but respect and enjoy the play style after a while.
And there's no doubt that Gekisha features good graphics and a nice variety of environments (haunted marshland, art museum, statue field, beach, ocean floor, slums, etc.).
Unfortunately, it concludes with a rather stupid "mini-game."
I'm glad I was able to get Gekisha on the cheap, and I'm glad it typically goes for a lot less than it used to. I wasn't thrilled with the adventure on the whole, though it did prove rewarding enough that I'm glad I got to experience it.
