For the first time since 1996, Cannon Dancer, a forgotten arcade action platformer, has been given new life on Xbox, PS4/5, and Switch thanks to ININ Games.
If the similarities remind you of Strider, Kouichi Yotsui, Cannon Dancer’s designer, also worked on Strider. Both games feature high action and a playable character that acts with a fierce passion, can grip walls and ceilings with tremendous upper body strength, has a difficulty factory that is designed to steal all your quarters, and a psychedelic visual appeal. Yes, this is a mid-90s arcade game alright.
Set is a dystopian future, an evil sorceress is trying to control the world so of course the only one that can save the day is a badass martial arts fighter who uses his kicks as a way to solve all of his problems.
Just like the other Ratalaika Games ports of classic games, Cannon Dancer is packed in the same overall interface and newly implemented qualify of life features. Save states, rewind, some screen filters and boarder options are all welcomed editions to any classic game. Newly implemented, the devs included a force feedback system and included special abilities that are toggleable from the main menu in an attempt to curb some of the difficulty: double jump, invincible while jumping/attacking/sliding, and an auto attack option. Be warned, even with these features, the game is still nails hard. Also, if you want to earn Achievements, you’ll need to play on the original mode.
As this game was designed to be a quarter muncher, it is loaded with cheap enemy placement, bosses that have too much health, and some blind platforming segments. Unfortunately, there is a fair amount of jank and even Achievements popped at awkward times (the first Achievement that popped was the “get all other Achievements” Achievement). It is welcomed that both the English and Japanese versions are included, there is a brief torture scene that is pretty badass, and a unique boss encounter that ends thanks to the main playable character’s high intimidation factor (the boss walks backwards into a sword, killing him).
Cannon Dancer is far from perfect but holds up today if you go into it knowing it is a tough arcade game from the mid-90s. The newly implemented features are most welcomed for a modern release and Strider fans will undoubtedly get the biggest kick out of it, pun intended.
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By: Zachary Gasiorowski, Editor in Chief myGamer.com
Twitter: @ZackGaz
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