Adventures of STOP PLAYING THIS GAME! STOP PLAYING THIS GAME! STOP PLAYING THIS GAME!

Ah, The Adventures of Dino-Riki. It seems like only a few months ago that I wrote about you whilst discussing the vital topic of NES throwing-axes. And what was my conclusion, from my limited, naive exposure to your gameplay? Well, allow me to reproduce the key quote below; in regards to every hit downgrading your weapon-boosts and speed-boosts, I said the following:

"Perhaps they should just have the cartridge punch you in the face or ignite your NES system every time you get hit, and be done with it."

but then I humorously added, "(Did I mention I now want to find a copy of this game?)"

Well, skip ahead 6 months and...

sadly, I found a copy.

And...my initial impression was correct. In fact, the longer I played the game, the more I felt like the game was giving me one unambiguous message:

It's beyond my power to write the novel it would take to detail all of the sucker-punches this game throws your way, so let's just go throught he highlights in outline form:

So many power-ups so soon,
- but so easy to get bumped & knocked back down
- & not accumulate,
- like the worst "Feast or Famine" power-up shoot-em-up games
- Powered-up or no, you have to be shooting every second...even though you only get auto-fire after about 4 shooting power-ups.
Worst jumping mechanics this side of Temple of Doom and/or every 3-D platformer
- little sense of how far a jump goes
- slippery footing / lightning-quick leaps
- twitch-and-fall pit edges
- jumping does NOT dodge bullets, doesn't reliably dodge ground-based enemies
- Pits! Moving Platforms! MOVING PLATFORMS WHICH YOU HAVE TO ACTIVELY WALK TO STAY ON TOP OF!
BAD DESIGN...
- The Continue option re-starts you at the last sub-stage you got to...WHICH BECOMES A CURSE! (You have to re-play the same rock-hard sections without enough power-ups to survive)
- Bosses...EASIEST part of the game
but most of all...sooo many "STOP PLAYING THIS GAME!" moments:
- power-ups that you haven't yet picked up BLOCK YOUR SHOTS (as do lots of background thingies)
- Pits! (see above)
- Enemy patterns designed to screw you:
  - right after you survive a horrible challenge -- a new wave of enemies comes from the bottom of the screen, cutting across the middle of the screen with no warning...
  - or raining down from the top of the screen
  - NEVER RELAX, ONLY MEMORIZE!
- DON'T TALK TO ME ABOUT THE 'CIRCLING BALLS' ENEMIES! Ok, they are designed to kill you, period. To survive their homing-in-and-killing-you behavior, you need:
  1. Already-powered-up weapon. And not just ONE power up, you better have Level 3 or 4.
  2. Luck (that a less-than-normal number of them spawned)
  3. Or, several hit-points to throw away