Neo Geo's videogame catalog has one of the best in the industry, there are many classic games that are remembered and honored today. When we talk about Neo Geo one of the most recognized titles and for which we always associate it to this brand is with Metal Slug or The King of Fighters, as many already know Metal Slug was a quite revolutionary game in the graphic aspect. Its graphic aspect is spectacular, with a huge amount of details on screen and a video game with an excellent humor. But within this great catalog there are games that have also been a little forgotten over the years and being a person who loves retro games, I feel it is my duty to give recognition to those games that are not so remembered today.
That's why today's Retro Review is about: Top Hunter: Roddy & Cathy.
Many games of the beat'em up genre have a very simple plot, because the main characteristic of this kind of videogames is to go through a lot of stages and defeat every enemy that is in them, that's why I like this kind of videogames so much because it doesn't take a very worked plot to be able to enjoy the experience that they can offer us.
Top Hunter: Roddy & Cathy does not escape from the format of "video game of the beat'em up genre with a simple argument" and despite that it is still a pretty good title, both mechanically and graphically. This title tells us the adventures of two bounty hunters: Roddy and Cathy, they are two of the best bounty hunters in the galaxy, so they have been hired to fulfill what is possibly the greatest mission of their careers and that is: to defeat an army of special pirates who have taken control of 4 planets. Our heroes will have to go to each of these planets, defeat each chief along with their respective armies, restore peace to each of the planets and thus be able to collect the great reward that lies behind these villains.
Top Hunter: Roddy & Cathy is one of the Neo Geo games with the best graphic quality, and just like its "brother" Metal Slug, Top Hunter: Roddy & Cathy has an exceptional graphic level, characterized by having a very impressive level of detail in its scenarios, from the minimum to the greatest. From the minimum, even details such as tree leaves, the stage floor and even the stones that we can see present a great level of drawing that would impress anyone even today. In addition to the above, the use of colors is optimal, creating scenarios that in many cases we could make a wallpaper of each frame of the game.
As we have several planets to visit each one of them has totally different designs, so that the design of these planets is quite original and maintain their own characteristics, therefore we will not find any similar scenario among the 4 planets that we can visit. Something quite characteristic with this beat'em up is that it has a background, that is, our character and also our enemies can move to a background of the stage where we can also fight, this way it gives a better feeling of depth, which together with its excellent graphics, makes the playable experience that is capable of creating Top Hunter: Roddy & Cathy is far superior to other titles that have this same mode, but perhaps its graphic level is not so good.
The character design is another point in favor of this great videogame, especially the design of the sprites the main characters as it is very good, they have a very solid design and they fit very well with the whole created universe. As for the design of the enemies, even though this game is a beat'em up and generally this type of videogames are also characterized by recycling the design of the enemies, they also have very good designs and they are also very varied, in fact, in each planet we go to the enemies are very different from the others.
The sound part of this game is not at all spectacular, but I can quite easily say that it is good enough to be included in this title. As I mentioned, the tunes of Top Hunter: Roddy & Cathy are not a marvel, but they are good enough to adorn the different scenarios we go to with our protagonists, besides that they also serve and are good enough to create an atmosphere according to the situation we are in. However, the sound effects that we will find in this title if they are better elaborated, the sound effects like explosions, shots or even the sound that we make when hitting an enemy are quite satisfactory and help a lot in the immersion of the adventure.
Video Author
Top Hunter: Roddy & Cathy is a full-blown beat'em up and for the connoisseurs of this genre there is not much to explain about the mechanics of this type of videogame, but in general terms, beat'em up are videogames where our main objective is to go through a series of scenarios plagued by different types of enemies, with different skills, resistances and attack patterns and defeat each one of them using the skills and strategies of our characters to advance to the next scenario and to finally defeat the final boss of each scenario, until reaching the final boss of the whole game, so, in simple terms it's a beat'em up.
As something classic in games of the beat'em up genre as we defeat enemies we will be able to obtain items that will help us along our adventure, as well as firearms, healing potions, also and as in Metal Slug we will be able to pilot robots or also known as Meccas that will help us to defeat enemies more easily, besides that it is quite amusing to pilot these machines. And as I mentioned at the beginning of Top Hunter: Roddy & Cathy scenarios have a background, in which we can access and attack from that one, collect objects or simply advance between scenarios. Top Hunter: Roddy & Cathy is a classic of the beat'em up genre that doesn't bring great novelties to its mechanics, but it is due to its excellent graphic section and its classic game mechanics, but optimal, it makes it a more than excellent game.
Top Hunter: Roddy & Cathy is a rather forgotten and little talked about title, even though it is a video game that stands out from other titles due to its excellent graphics. A highly recommended videogame that will give us some good hours of fun and that if we play it cooperatively makes it a very playable game.