PepsimanVsJoe talks about random games.

This Data East action-platformer is...well you know what? Maybe I just shouldn't waste my time talking about it.

Caveman Ninja is...obsolete. It's one of those times where a company makes a game that is better than its predecessor in enough ways that gamers may as well forget the original ever happened. Why play Caveman Ninja when you can play...Spin Master? Yep that game with the two dudes from Dashin' Desperadoes. It's like Data East decided they wanted a replacement. They saw the appeal of SNK's MVS hardware and figured their games would get a lot more exposure. Caveman Ninja lived on, although it was stripped of its original identity and subsequent sequels featured slightly to very different types of games (such as the arcade sequel that's actually a Bubble Bobble/Snow Bros. kinda dealie).

Other than that I don't know what else to say. Maybe I'm just not a fan of the concept. Dinosaurs are cool certainly but cavemen? Nope. Ninjas fighting dinosaurs will forever be an awesome idea, so game developers should stick to that. I see a game about Cavemen I already expect them to fight dinosaurs, so it's not really interesting. Sure you can call Joe & Mac a couple of Cavemen Ninja, but I wouldn't buy it. They don't have the style, the weaponry, or the moves. Thus they don't really have the credibility. I hate to be such a demanding person over a 15 minute piece of disposable entertainment but c'mon, show me a little respect here.

It's like half the time when Data East makes a game they don't actually "get" what they're supposed to be going for. Their protagonists tend to be losers who sound like jerks and have zero sense of style. They get involved in problems I couldn't care less about and face off against villains who I wouldn't waste a quarter to see dead. The more I play of their library the more I understand why I don't recall them in the same breath as the likes of Sega, Capcom, Konami, Taito, or even the lesser-knowns like Seibu Kaihatsu and so on. Data East just isn't any good at producing memorable characters in my opinion. Okay strike that there is World from the Magical Drop series....but...well..yeah...let's just leave that alone.

What it comes down to is that the only aspect I can judge Data East games on is the fundamentals of what makes a good game. Mechanics, design, identity, all that other important stuff. In that regard I still don't see the point in bothering with Caveman Ninja, just because its every aspect is completely unremarkable. Nothing stands out, nothing impresses, everything is solid to the point of absolute mediocrity.

At least something like Trio the Punch has the whole "oh god its a horrific train crash in slow-motion" aspect going for it.