Taking up the sword, our heroes Sonya and Arnold find themselves transported to a strange new world in Cyber Citizen Shockman 3. As the run-and-gun action continues across each colorful stage, combat lies at the heart of this 1992 platformer. Picking up where the previous Shockman games left off, players guide Arnold or Sonya through each lively level, hacking and slashing their way through pixelated foes.
Mastering the beam sword is key to making progress. With a quick swing, players can fall basic enemies, while holding the attack button charges a powerful projectile for tougher opposition. Varied environments, like futuristic laboratories and hellish landscapes, emerge as the adventure moves along at a brisk pace. However, the real tests await at each stage’s conclusion, where towering bosses put relentless pressure on players. From hulking machines to demonic terrors, these showdowns push limits with massive health pools and screen-filling special attacks.
Without a chance to catch their breath, it’s a constant offensive that proves to be the best defense. But perseverance and pattern recognition can eventually unlock victory. The challenge offers adrenaline and satisfaction for skillful play. Though the campaign flies by in an arcade-style blur, combat shines as the highlight that pulls players through each rollercoaster level of Shockman 3. Its energized swordplay spins a nostalgic retro thrill that still sparks enjoyment today.
Galactic Gambit
The developers of Shockman 3 took advantage of the CD format’s enhanced capabilities with this installment. Fully voiced cutscenes, now translated to English, advance the story in an enjoyably cheesy fashion. Our heroes Arnold and Sonya are relaxing on the beach, taking some much-needed downtime, when a huge alien vessel appears overhead. From the spaceship emerges the Princess, having come to establish her people’s control over the planet.
While the plot is nothing groundbreaking, following familiar narrative beats, the animated sequences bring it to a fun-loving life. Exchanges between the stock protagonists and cartoonish enemies generate laughs through their exaggerated delivery and antics. From demons to robots, the antagonists spring from the pages of early 1990s anime. Their introductory movie ensures each one leaves a memorably wacky first impression.
Naturally more expressive than the limitations of previous games allowed, the spirits truly shine in these story moments. But steps forward appear elsewhere too. Enemies and backgrounds receive visual polishes that take advantage of the enhanced color palette and detail permitted by CDs. Mechanical fortress interiors mesh steel grates and flashing terminals in a seamless sci-fi style. Post-apocalyptic hellscapes spawn embers and oozing lava amid crumbling cliffs.
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Even run-of-the-mill enemies stand out with unique designs, whether wooly attackers emitting snow flurries or insectoids scurrying en masse. Bosses multiply this effect to monumental size, becoming the dawn of new horrors with each dramatic reveal. The results stir retro enthusiasts and casual fans alike, letting this cult classic finally display its creative prowess for modern audiences to discover.
Power-Ups and Puzzles
Shockman 3 shakes things up with an array of interesting gameplay ideas, though few are fully realized. You take control of either Arnold or Sonya, mechanically identical aside from appearance. Standard attacks see your hero slice enemies with a beam saber, while holding the button charges a powerful shot. These base moves handle most regular foes, from scuttling insects to lumbering mechs.
Variety comes in bursts through special sequences. Early on, climbing into a mech lets you blast enemy formations from new heights—or depths—when a later level has you piloting a submarine. It’s a fun twist to strafe around immobile bosses from a vehicle’s protected interior, peppering them with explosives. Another stage places you on a magic train, jumping between carriages to collect passengers and battle robotic conductors.
The pacing hits the brakes occasionally for onboard shooting galleries too. While creatively constructed, their one-two punch rhythm demands split-second reactions, challenging all but the most precise players. Thankfully, numerous attempts and the ability to weaken opponents keep frustration manageable.
Boss encounters tend to be Shockman 3’s biggest spectacles, with characters exploding to gargantuan scale against vibrant animated backdrops. One sprints across a snowfield, shedding snowball-sized flurries with every step. Another summons swarms of shadowy skulls to harass while charging mystical attacks. Each challenge is unique, ensuring surprises survive repeated playthroughs.
Yet despite all these high points, most gameplay mechanics lack follow-through. The mech and train sequences arrive and exit too hastily, as do other abandoned concepts. Levels themselves progress through a series of disconnected vignettes rather than cohesive stages. Difficulty also swings erratically, from trivial regular enemies to hyper-aggressive end-of-level foes designed more to drain lives than provide a fair challenge.
With an elapsed time of under an hour, even for completionists, Shockman 3 feels more like a proof of concept than a finely tuned experience. Its menu of half-baked ingredients offers glimpses of a feast never fully prepared. Still, those flashes invite speculation about how much this series might have evolved given the chance to fully cook subsequent courses. Its unrealized potential marks a bittersweet end for these cult cyber heroes.
Unforgiving Challenge
Playing through Shockman 3, one thing really stands out: this game does not mess around. From the moment you start swinging that sword, enemies swarm in at a relentless pace. There’s barely a chance to catch your breath before a whole new mob is upon you. And don’t even get me started on those bosses. Some unleash wild, sweeping attacks that cover the whole screen. Others stay just out of reach, forcing players into a maddening game of cat and mouse.
It’s not that the challenge itself is unfair. There are certainly ways to overcome each fight if you learn patterns and time things right. But the margins for error are slim, and one small slip-up spells an instant game over. That’s where some of the enjoyment starts to fade. Dying often feels more frustrating than fun, with no checkpoints to fall back on. Each try must be done in one sitting from the very start of a level.
The life and continue systems don’t provide much relief either. Extra lives are scarce, and continuing dumps you straight back to the character you selected, no matter how far you’ve progressed. All that hard work is gone in an instant. It makes attempting trickier sections feel more like a chore than a test of skill.
Some may appreciate such strict difficulty, but it prevents many from experiencing Shockman 3’s unique stages and creative boss designs. With a bit more leniency—even just extending continues past single levels—more could enjoy the ride without tearing their hair out. As is, the shockingly brutal challenges may overshadow what’s otherwise a vibrant slice of retro platforming popcorn fun. A little less shock could have allowed more people to appreciate Man’s charm.
Outstanding Presentation For Its Time
Man, the folks behind this collection really went all out. The animated cutscenes are so well done for something this old—the scenes are vibrant and animated smoothly. You can really tell they put effort into bringing these characters to life. And don’t even get me started on the soundtrack. That synth really takes me back while also rocking some seriously catchy tunes. No doubt they pumped up the volume with that CD capability.
On top of it all, they loaded it with bonus features too. You’ve got your standard galleries of old box art and manuals that are always fun to flip through. But they also included tons of concept sketches and notes from the original creators. It was really fascinating to see their early ideas and how they evolved. One real gem is this bonus video showcase of fan art they had people submit back in the day. The voice acting as they narrate each piece is hilarious. I can’t believe some of those doodles even won prizes! It just puts a smile on your face.
It’s really impressive what they accomplished considering when this game came out. Most other titles from the time didn’t come close to this level of polish and extras. You can tell the developers poured their hearts into it. It definitely helps transport you back to the era. Even after all these years, it makes it easy to see why fans still passionately support this creative little series. A true testament to how far impressive presentation can take a game.
Conditionally Recommended for Shockman Fans
So, is Cyber Citizen Shockman 3 worth playing through? It really depends on what you’re looking for. If you’re a big Shockman fan who wants to complete the series, then I’d say go for it. You’ll get a kick out of seeing the characters fully voiced and animated in cutscenes for the first time.
But it’s definitely the weakest entry when it comes to gameplay. Things get really repetitive real fast since levels are so short. And man, are some of those platforming sections and boss fights brutal without saving states or cheating? You’ll die a lot, meaning restarting often from the start.
That said, core Shockman fans who can handle the difficulty may still get a charge out of hacking enemies such as Arnold or Sonya. It’s not the longest experience, but there’s some fun weapons like the charge shot you use. And co-op could spice things up if you’ve got someone to join in the pain.
If achievements or trophies are your thing, the multiple playthroughs required may also keep you engaged. Just be warned: some challenges can feel a bit grindy to unlock everything.
But if you’re mostly in it for tight controls, varied level design, and balanced challenges, then this one may just leave you feeling bored or frustrated more than anything. The brief runtime doesn’t help either in that regard.
So in conclusion, I’d say only grab it if you’re a real Shockman megafan desperate to see the conclusion. Otherwise, you’re better off skipping to another platforming brawler unless point-scoring is your primary focus.
Final Assessment
So in closing, Cyber Citizen Shockman 3 provides a glimpse of what could have been for the series had it reached western shores back in the day. With its fully voiced cutscenes and slick CD-quality presentation, you can see why fans of the Turbografx-CD stuck with the Shockman games. This third entry definitely shows how far the characters and visuals have come.
That said, it’s really too brief an adventure to stand out, even among its peers on the system. You’ve cleared the whole shebang in under an hour, even taking your time. And some of those hair-pulling difficulty spikes feel like they belong in a game twice the length. Boss battles in particular overstay their welcome, with massive health bars begging you to take a few cheap hits along the way.
It’s a shame because there are flashes of fun ideas, from the mech suit levels to the shooting segments. But these concepts never get fully explored before the story’s over. The lack of variety among the stage locations and foes also holds it back, especially considering how wild some of the cancelled boss designs looked.
Still, die-hard Shockman fans will find things to appreciate, from the fully-voiced cutscenes to tackling both difficulties for full trophy/achievement completion. And hey, at least it’s not as brutal as the first two! The cheap deaths do lessen the magic a bit, though.
In any case, we ought to thank publishers like Ratalaika for resurrecting these overlooked series. Without their work producing inexpensive digital versions, plenty more RPGs and run-and-gun games would be lost to history. At the very least, Shockman 3 offers curious players a quick look at what the Turbografx was playing host to in 1992. And who knows, maybe some will be inspired to seek out arguably stronger entries in the franchise too.
So in summary, it was a competent but all-too-fleeting adventure held back by some rough difficulty. Fans will find things to enjoy, but newcomers may want to start elsewhere in the series. Thanks to Ratalaika, though, for shining a light on this overlooked slice of gaming history.
The Review
Cyber Citizen Shockman 3: The Princess from Another World
While Cyber Citizen Shockman 3 offers a glimpse at what made the series memorable for PC Engine devotees, it simply does not last long enough to achieve greatness. The slick production values and flashes of creative concepts are appreciated, but not enough to outweigh repetitive action and unfair difficulty. Overall, it serves as a competent yet all-too-fleeting reminder of its origins, failing to stand out despite obvious technical enhancements. Worthy of curiosity for dedicated fans, but newcomers may find better entries to experience this overlooked franchise. In the end, Shockman 3 feels like a curio rather than a classic.
PROS
- Fully voiced cutscenes and dialog in Japanese add production value.
- A variety of ideas, like mech levels and shooting segments
- Glimpse into the overlooked PC Engine library
CONS
- Way too short, at under an hour, to fully explore concepts
- Difficulty is punishing and unfair rather than challenging and fun.
- Bland-level/enemy designs compared to concept art
- There is little reason to replay after a brief campaign.
