Kame no Ongaeshi: Urashima Densetsu / Xexyz (FC) (1988)
Developer: Hudson

Review by Faididi and Co.

Hump the princesses (and maybe the crane), not the turtle

Story: Average

In this sci-fi fantasy twist on an old folktale, Urashima (or Apollo in the exported versions of the game) does far more than just help a turtle. He's an intergalactic hero who travels to different island worlds to save their cute princesses from the invading forces of an evil tyrant. Despite the story's unusual choice of inspiration, the plot is nothing special, and there's not much of an ending.

Gameplay: Below Average

Hudson's Kame no Ongaeshi: Urashima Densetsu (Xexyz) is a combination of an action platformer and a space shooter. Our hero will fight through 12 stages, each of which consists of multiple areas. During the platformer scenes, Urashima jumps and shoots his way past enemies and other obstacles. During the side-scrolling space shooter scenes, he uses a blaster and a bomb launcher that could've been borrowed from Taito's Darius.

The problem is that Urashima Densetsu feels more like two separate games hastily slapped together than it does a proper hybrid. Although our hero can find 4 different weapons and a few other types of power-ups in the action platformer areas, those items don't carry over to the space shooter areas. By the same token, the goods acquired in the space shooter parts are for use only there.

A more serious issue is the crappy level design, and that applies to both modes. The first area's exotic landscapes are a lie, because they don't represent the repetitive mechanical fortresses that turn almost the entire game into a forgettable blur. The space shooter scenes also contain false exits that can force Urashima to repeat sections of the current area, which is annoying as hell.

Controls: Below Average

The unreliable jumping controls make small leaps difficult to perform consistently, leading to a lot of frustration during the platformer scenes.

Graphics: Below Average

As already mentioned, the game's initial appearance hides the true shoddiness of the graphics. The fortress backgrounds for the bulk of the stages are bland and dull, while the hero himself is clearly missing a few frames of animation. Whenever Urashima looks up, for example, he appears to be in the middle of walking.

Audio: Average

The sound effects are decent, but the tunes are brief and unmemorable.

Overall: Below Average

Urashima Densetsu does a lousy job at combining action platformer and space shooter elements. Its level design sucks, its controls are sloppy, and its visual effects look like a rush job. This is a particularly poor showing after Compile's Guardic Gaiden (The Guardian Legend), which has been released half a year earlier but perfectly integrates colorful exploration and space shooter action, all without throwing in garbage like false exits.