It's been a little over two weeks since the last Retro Review I published and, in addition to procrastination, my old enemy, I was also a little away from retro video games because I caught up with several series and movies that I had on hold for quite some time and still I have many things to see. But anyway, that is an irrelevant topic for this post, because this time I will talk about a video game set in Egypt, an arcade game of action, platforms and Egyptian gods. A very entertaining game, with many moments of action from start to finish and with a very catchy atmosphere.
Today's Retro Review is about: BIG KARNAK.
The story of this game is worthy of being an arcade game, as it is so classic and cliché that the only thing that varies from other similar games in the setting. BIG KARNAK is the classic game where we must save the loved one of our protagonist, which by "surprise" is a princess (WOW I did not expect it at all), but anyway. The princess has been kidnapped by the god Osiris himself, who is the monarch of the Underworld, therefore, our hero and protagonist must embark on the adventure of his life, where he will have to travel through numerous places, fight with classic creatures of Egyptian mythology, Egyptian gods and in the end, face the one who has snatched the love of his life to our protagonist, Osiris.
BIG KARNAK is a game that really looks pretty good and managed to capture all the mystical essence and all the Egyptian mythology, both in the scenarios and the enemies that we will find. The general coloring of this game stands out a lot, with many striking colors that complement each other very well on screen, creating contrasts that look great on screen. In addition to this game has a good variety of places to which we can go, each of them achieving a very good atmosphere, with which just by seeing it a few seconds, we will know that we are in ancient Egypt, by the cliché and typical that are some decorations and scenarios, it is really quite good.
The enemies also have a good variety, especially the final bosses, which have spectacular designs, each of them representing some ancient Egyptian god. The pixel art, not only of the scenery, which as I mentioned is quite new, but also of the enemies and (I repeat again) of the final bosses is outstanding, each of them with their characteristic elements, elements and details that make them stand out on their own.
The music in this game is pretty good, in my opinion, I really enjoyed listening to the MIDI melodies provided by this game, it is a very lively music that fits quite well with the theme, setting and situation of the game, as well as with all the action that we will live in this adventure. Just by listening to the first few seconds of the main melody of this game, I was already shaking my head to the rhythm of the music. On the other hand, the sound effects are a bit more classic and do not stand out too much, but they still achieve their purpose in an excellent way.
BIG KARNAK is a classic arcade game of action and platforms, so it maintains many of the main characteristics of games of this style, with its pros and cons, but in the end it is still a game that entertains quite a lot with what it proposes. The control is extremely easy, with just a few buttons for which our protagonist will be able to perform the pertinent actions to advance. After completing this game, I went to see some Speed Runs, as this is something that is almost always something with any game that I complete, it is something that is quite entertaining to see how people are able to do this kind of things. And while I was reading the comments of a video on YouTube I could see that many people agreed in mentioning that BIG KARNAK has many similarities with the classic Ghouls 'n Ghosts, and it is quite curious because my first impression when playing BIG KARNAK was not that, but that it was a pretty classic action game, but after seeing those comments it was impossible not to see certain similarities in the mechanics and gameplay.
Throughout the mission of our protagonist for the rescue of his beloved, he will face a large number of enemies of all kinds, enemies from Egyptian mythology and other typical enemies in general, each of them will be a challenge to eliminate, but especially the final bosses of each stage, which correspond to an Egyptian deity, therefore, the challenge to eliminate them will be even greater. Our protagonist will have at his disposal a series of different weapons to use, being of great help to advance in an easier way. There will also be some moments where we must solve a puzzle, but this being a purely action platform game, these puzzles will not be very difficult, they are just elements to fill in a little in the gameplay.
BIG KARNAK is an action and platform game quite classic, but entertaining. A game of the arcade era which its aesthetics, art and Egyptian setting is what makes it stand out, due to the good work in pixelart and recreation of elements of the time of the pharaohs.