''Somer Assault'', known as ''Mesopotamia'' in Japan, is a

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 and published by

Atlus is a Japanese video game developer, publisher, arcade manufacturer and distribution company based in Tokyo. A subsidiary of Sega, the company is known for video game series such as ''Megami Tensei'', ''Persona'', ''Etrian Odyssey'' and ''Trau ...

in 1991 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 ...

. This side-scrolling

action game An action game is a video game genre that emphasizes physical challenges, including hand–eye coordination and reaction-time. The genre includes a large variety of sub-genres, such as fighting games, beat 'em ups, shooter games, and platform gam ...

features an unnamed pink

Slinky The Slinky is a helical spring toy invented by Richard James in the early 1940s. It can perform a number of tricks, including travelling down a flight of steps end-over-end as it stretches and re-forms itself with the aid of gravity and its ow ...

object/creature as the protagonist which can fire bullets from its sides, jump, and slink along walls in its quest to stop an evil sorceress. The title is a play on the word

somersault A somersault (also ''flip'', ''heli'', and in gymnastics ''salto'') is an acrobatic exercise in which a person's body rotates 360° around a horizontal axis with the feet passing over the head. A somersault can be performed forwards, backwards ...

, as the Slinky somersaults around the stage while assaulting enemies.

Gameplay

The Slinky is able to move along the floor, walls, and the ceiling by slinking along them; it can also make a short jump to move between walls and platforms to slink to a different section of each stage. The Slinky is also equipped with a machine gun that fires from both sides of it to take out the myriad of enemies swarming in each stage. The player is given several hit points which can be increased with power-ups, several lives should the player die, and unlimited continues. A time limit is given for each level, and the goal is to reach the

boss Boss may refer to: Occupations * Supervisor, often referred to as boss * Air boss, more formally, air officer, the person in charge of aircraft operations on an aircraft carrier * Crime boss, the head of a criminal organization * Fire boss, a ...

of the stage and defeat it before time expires. Players are asked to enter their date of birth at the start of the game. This causes one boss to fire power-ups as gifts rather than damaging shots (for example, entering a birthday of April 27 will cause the

Taurus Taurus is Latin for 'bull' and may refer to: * Taurus (astrology), the astrological sign * Taurus (constellation), one of the constellations of the zodiac * Taurus (mythology), one of two Greek mythological characters named Taurus * ''Bos taurus ...

boss to fire power-ups at the Slinky rather than damaging shots).

Plot

The story (existing in the export version only) is presented in a short prologue sequence at the game's start. "In a time and world not of our own", the evil Sorceress uses her dark powers to summon twelve powerful minions, each of them representing one

Zodiac The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north or south (as measured in celestial latitude) of the ecliptic, the Sun path, apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. ...

sign, and sends them to conquer the world. The Slinky has to battle through 12 stages of enemies, destroying each Zodiac boss along the way, in order to reach the Sorceress herself and put an end to her plot. On the final stage, the player must defeat all of the bosses in succession before facing the Sorceress. After she is downed, her body explodes and a battle commences against three enemies resembling the Slinky and called "The Mimickers". When they are destroyed, "The Creator" appears as the real end boss.

Reception

Kyle Knight of

Allgame RhythmOne , previously known as Blinkx, and also known as RhythmOne Group, is an American digital advertising technology company that owns and operates the web properties AllMusic, AllMovie, and SideReel. Blinkx was founded in 2004, went publ ...

called it an "odd" but "fun and innovative game. Shooter purists might cringe at the premise, but more open-minded gamers who don't mind a bit of a learning curve will find a rewarding gaming experience." The game's player character was ranked #9 in the

GameSpy GameSpy was an American provider of online multiplayer and matchmaking middleware for video games founded in 1996 by Mark Surfas. After the release of a multiplayer server browser for the game, QSpy, Surfas licensed the software under the GameS ...

's "Top Ten Lame Lead Characters" list by Kevin "Fragmaster" Bowen.

References

External links

*
''Somer Assault''
at

gameFAQs GameFAQs is a website that hosts FAQs and walkthroughs for video games. It was created in November 1995 by Jeff Veasey and was bought by CNET Networks in May 2003. It is currently owned by Fandom, Inc. since October 2022. The site has a databa ...

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