Cyber Citizen Shockman 3: The Princess From Another World

If you must only play one Shockman title, I have to say Shockman 2 is still the pinnacle of the series. But, if you find yourself enjoying the first couple, then absolutely jump into Cyber Citizen Shockman 3. It’s short, it’s sweet, and it’s the perfect end to a trilogy of titles that I fell in love with. I hope there’s a chance we may see a fourth to help revive the series, but, if not, this is the ideal spot to end the adventures; with Tasuke and Kyapiko on the beach, outrunning insane aliens.

It's great that we can complete our collection but Cyber Citizen Shockman 3: The princess from another world is still one clunky game.

Though a rerelease can be a good opportunity for old games to come back, Cyber Citizen Shockman 3: The princess from another world isn't one of the best examples. It may even have some positive points, like the visuals and emulation resources, but the original game is so limited that the novelties aren't enough. I recommend it to the fans of the franchise and/or platformers, as well as trophy hunters.

Still, if you’re looking to close out the Shockman series, love PC engine platformers, or just want a co-op action game to play through without much fuss, this is still a solid one that’ll serve a good half hour or so of your time. It’s just a shame, since aspects of the second game could have been greatly expanded here to make Shockman 3 the ultimate entry in the series, but as it stands, you just have an easygoing game that ends right before it can ramp up.

Cyber Citizen Shockman 3 is fun at times, mainly thanks to its goofy sense of humor and fun cutscenes and characters, though the basic hack and slash combat paired with inconsistent and often brutal difficulty grows stale quickly. Still, the levels are varied, ranging from city skylines and industrial buildings to demonic underground lairs, and the ever-changing enemies help keep the player's attention throughout its seven short levels. Cheats and bonuses help provide a bit more bang for the buck, but for only $6, there's enough here to justify picking this game up and killing an hour or two.

Shockman 3 will not appeal to everyone, but I liked this game. The gameplay formula is very simple and probably hasn’t aged as well as other entries in the series. However, with its over-exaggerated anime presentation and tight controls, I had an absolute blast with it. Easy to recommend to fans of the series or retro gamers. But if retro is not your thing, you can give this one a miss. Still, for a low price point, even the curious should consider giving this a go just to see how great the PC Engine CD was.