Summer Carnival '92: Recca

Famicom

1992

Naxat Soft

Let’s get one thing straight before we start: the chances of you ever holding a physical copy of this game in your hands are slim. Very slim. If you ever do find a copy on eBay, expect to pay around £200. Recca was originally given away as a prize at a carnival in 1992 in Japan, and as such, it’s super rare. Which is a shame, because if you’re the right kind of gamer, Recca will be everything you’ve ever wished for. Best find the ROM image sharpish and curse yourself for being in the wrong place 15 years ago.

Next point, even when you do source this, in whatever format, you’re not going to get far. Oh no. I doubt you’ll even get past the miniboss on the first stage for a few days at least. Recca is a horizontally scrolling shooting game, like Xevious. Unlike Xevious, everything is cranked up to 11. Within seconds, you’ll be swamped with wave after wave of suicidal enemies, lasers blasting from every angle, fighter ships flying out from below you, all on one screen. You won’t have any time to consider the games impeccable craftsmanship, and the simple fact that a game this intense shouldn’t be running on a humble Famicom. In a hail of bullets and strobe lights, you gaze dumbfounded at the game over screen.

Recca isn’t a game for casual gamers. It’s a game for the exceptionally talented, with only one goal: getting a high score. There’s no fancy combo work like the systems present in Radiant Silvergun or Ikaruga. If you can survive without loosing lives or using too many bombs, you’ll do well. If you flounder, you’ll be annihilated. In the boss battles especially, you’ll constantly be attempting to dodge into the tiny gaps in the next bullet storm, over and over again. As such, Recca is utterly thrilling throughout. No matter how good you are at shooters, even if you’re a bullet hell champion, you’ll be constantly tested. As you progress, you begin to find yourself automatically limiting the number of times you blink. Having your eyes closed for a fraction of a second results in instant death.

Recca pushes the Famicom to its limit graphically, and consequently, there are often glitches in the sprites in order to keep up the manic pace, but it doesn’t matter. The flickering actually works in the games favour, creating a dizzying, menacing and altogether exhilarating game world. The bleepy music is pretty funky too, and while it’s nothing memorable, it adds to the atmosphere perfectly. Its simplicity and old fashioned difficulty is perhaps best matched by the superlative Windows based shooter Famibe no Yosshin, but even that hardcore twitch fest doesn’t even come close to Recca in terms of ridiculous challenge. It may only be known of by a handful of people, and conquered by even fewer, but for shmup fans of all persuasions or simply gamers who appreciate the artistry and technical skill in milking this amazing console for all its worth, Recca is a firm choice. One to stick it on PocketNES.

Graphics: 7

Gameplay: 7

Music: 6

Experience: 8


Total: 28/40