''Shockman'' (known in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

as is a 1991

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

developed by Winds and released exclusively for the

TurboGrafx-16 The TurboGrafx-16, known as the outside North America, is a home video game console designed by Hudson Soft and sold by NEC, NEC Home Electronics. It was the first console marketed in the fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth genera ...

. It was released in the United States in 1992, making it the only game in the ''Kaizou Choujin Shubibinman'' series to be released outside Japan.

Plot

''Shockman'' takes about two years after the original ''Kaizou Choujin Shubibinman''. Arnold (Tasuke (太助) in the Japanese version) is no longer a student and works as a cook in a local restaurant. Sonya (Kyapiko (キャピ子)) remains a student. Since the fall of the Dark Skull, Doc has constantly suspected that another invasion was coming sending Arnold and Sonya on searches for the new invaders although never finding anything. However, one day, after Doc is kidnapped, Arnold and Sonya find out that an alien empire led by Ryo is planning to take over the world. Also, two other villains have appeared with similar powers to Arnold and Sonya. They are dark Shubibinman (シュビビンマン) named Jeeta (ベータ ''Bēta'') and Mue (ミュー ''Myū''). Arnold and Sonya must now rescue Doc, stop Ryo from taking over the world, and avoid being killed by Jeeta and Mue.

Gameplay

''Shockman'' plays very differently from the previous title. Swordplay has been eliminated and is replaced by a ranged weapon much like

Mega Man ''Mega Man'', known as in Japan, is a Japanese science fiction video game franchise created by Capcom, starring a series of robot characters each known by the moniker "Mega Man (character), Mega Man". Mega Man (video game), The original game w ...

's Mega Buster. The world map, upgrades, and hostages have also been removed from the game. There are also now two side-scrolling shooter stages. Additionally, jump control has been altered.

Release

The game was released in Japan on April 27, 1991. The third game in the series, a 1992 release for the

TurboGrafx-CD The TurboGrafx-16, known as the outside North America, is a home video game console designed by Hudson Soft and sold by NEC Home Electronics. It was the first console marketed in the fourth generation, commonly known as the 16-bit era, thoug ...

, was slated for release in North America in August 1993 under the tentative title ''Shockman 2'', with Turbo Technologies, Inc. as the publisher and

Working Designs Working Designs was an American video game publisher that specialized in the localization of Japanese role-playing video games, strategy video games and top-down shooters for various platforms. Though the company had published many cult hits, i ...

handling the translation. However, this release was later cancelled. ''Shockman'' would be re-released on the

Wii Virtual Console A virtual console (VC) – also known as a virtual terminal (VT) – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some Unix-like operating systems such as Linux, BSD, illumos, Unix ...

worldwide throughout 2007. It was released in the 2010s for the

Wii U Virtual Console A virtual console (VC) – also known as a virtual terminal (VT) – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some Unix-like operating systems such as Linux, BSD, illumos, Unix ...

. It received a release for the iPhone in 2011, through an app called "PC Engine Gamebox", which included several other PC engine titles.

Reception

On release, the Japanese gaming magazine ''

Famitsu formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the fo ...

'' gave it a score of 21 out of 40. ''

Nintendo Life Gamer Network Limited (formerly Eurogamer Network Limited) is a British mass media company based in Brighton. Founded in 1999 by Rupert and Nick Loman, it owns brands—primarily editorial websites—relating to video game journalism and other ...

'' gave it a 6 out of 10.

References

{{Masaya Games 1991 video games Hudson Soft games Masaya Games games Multiplayer and single-player video games Platform games TurboGrafx-16 games Video games developed in Japan Video games featuring female protagonists Virtual Console games for Wii U Virtual Console games