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Funkmaster V Reviews
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7800 Rank: Unranked
Genre: SHMUP
Awards: None
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Moon Cresta! Totally Devoid of Moons... and Crestas! |
Pros:
11 Different Rounds Per Level, This Port Features Enemy AI Code Direct from the Arcade
Cons:
Extremely Difficult, Takes too Long to Power Up Your Ship to Its Final Level |
Grandpa, Tell Me The Story of How a Flying Pagoda Saved The Universe Again |
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Overview: I have a love/ hate relationship with Moon Cresta. But first things first, Moon Cresta for the 7800 is a port of an interesting, but hard to get into, early 80's arcade game that wasn't as flashy as Galaga or as easy to understand as Space Invaders.
It's a very challenging space SHMUP... and that's an understatement. MC was not a popular American arcade game, but it was successful in Japan and was the genesis of a pretty lengthy series of Arcade and Home console games that mostly share the name "Cresta" or "Terra" in the titles (or sometimes, both). One sequel even had an anime cartoon tie-in. The main gimmick for the entire series, including Moon Cresta, is powering up your ship by combing other ships (or pieces of ships- POS for short) into bigger and badder space weaponry.
Graphics: Moon Cresta's arcade muse is from 1980, so the graphics in this version are not going to be ground breaking. The game still looks fine, but I miss the glittery disco stars and funky colors on the main ships featured in the arcade version. Enemy ships are large, and there is some variety with the sprites, although the enemy ships/ obstacles get more rudimentary as the game goes. The 7800 version has less flashy colors but on screen words, menus, and option screens look good. The hero ship is an odd looking fella, but its important to remember that there are three segments to its final form. But even when the ship is fully assembled (very tough to do, btw) it looks like a weird Asian temple or concrete yard art.
Sound: TIA sound is used here, as this game was released in 2010. The hero theme, lasers and explosions all sound fine, but there is an irritating enemy ship ditty/ noise that repeats that I could live without.
Gameplay:
If you have played Galaga, Space Invaders, Planet Smashers, Astro Blaster, UniwarS... you get the gist: Pew Pew Pew in the cosmos- allll night long. This SHMUP's main gimmick is the constant struggle you face to combine your ships/ segments into one kick ass looking space pagoda. The enemy ship movements are violent and determined on kamikaze destruction. These bastards start off pretty close to the ship, by the way... how about a mint, ALF? They spin like ballerinas on crack, and they do a good job ramming your ship right away and causing space vertigo. Most video games hold your hand for at least 15-20 seconds before they start their attempt to eat your quarters, but Moon Cresta immediately hits you in the face with a lead pipe and starts kicking your rib cage while it makes eye contact with your crying mother. Oddly enough, the first 2 rounds are the most difficult of a level. Levels consist of 11 rounds, including two docking missions. After the 4th and 8th round, you have the chance to dock with another segment of your ship for bonus points. BE CAREFUL YOU ASS! You can screw up and blow up a ship if you crash trying to dock. Combining ship parts gives you more firepower (but makes you an easier target to ram), and each section has unique distinctions. Your ultimate goal is to combine these three sections, but if a ship/ segment gets destroyed as you play, you then pilot the next section in the sequence and the previous one is lost for good.
Section one, (or Section I, for you Roman numeral fanatics), is a tiny section... it's hard for the aliens to hit, but it features one measly laser shot and piloting it is reminiscent of painfully deliberate shooters like Space Invaders or UniwarS. Section two is the best section. It is also small, and it features dual laser cannons that are perfectly spaced out. Section 3 is ridiculously fat (like your mom), and it's dual cannons are so wide apart its hard to dial in accuracy. When combined, you can mow down the bad guys with up to 5 laser shots on the screen at once. If you are good enough to survive the first 9 rounds of a level without losing a segment and docking properly, you then use your new super space concrete lawn art for only a measly 2 rounds on the easiest part of the game: shooting jelly rockets... or sex toys... or whatever these things are. After wrecking the adult book store's space-wares... TA DA... you start over at round one with only one segment again. Boo.
Interpretation: Wanna be impressed? The game's programmer Bob Decrescenzo (Pac Man Plus) used the actual arcade code to program the enemy ships. He didn't imitate the code, this IS the behavior of the arcade computer AI. Pretty cool. Still, I miss the funky colors of the arcade version, especially the stars, but I dig the easier docking mode in the 7800 version better than its arcade momma.
Value: Value will vary wildly with Moon Cresta per person. The game is challenging... and you may dig that. But you may think the game is so hard, that you do not wanna play it for more than 30 seconds before throwing it out the window. The game is too weird for my liking, although I do jive with its in-game funkmaster jargon: "Right On!" and "Far Out!" There is a two player option, but that game mode is broken up into alternative turns as opposed to having co-op or competitive gimmicks like the 7800 versions of Frenzy, Asteroids, or Centipede. Thankfully, Bob included 3 difficulty levels for space cadets or star admirals who dare to tread.
Overall: 11 Different rounds of space shooting action are here for those who wanna dance the SHUMP dance of Moon Cresta... which oddly features no moons in the game (and very few crestas). If your goal is to try to clear a level with all three sections of the ship in tact, this challenge alone may tickle your Atari bone enough to justify the purchase. It's tough to do, even on Easy Mode! But to me, the reward for all of that work is not worth it at all. Compared to 7800 space shooters like Sirius, Plutos, Xevious, and Scramble, this game takes too long to get out of the gate to rock n roll. One good thing about Moon Cresta is that it turned me onto the "Cresta" series, where Terra Force is a helluva good arcade game that features horizontal AND vertical lazer blastin' action each level. If you like slow paced, older SHMUPS like Space Invaders, UniwarS, or Astro Fighter, you will consider this as another feather in the cap of the Prosystem pew pew pew scene.
Other Reviews:
Brett Weiss Words: 3.5 out of 5
I would like the thank Atari Age for the use of screenshots for this review. You can purchase the game in the 7800 store section of AtariAge.com
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