  Otocky
- ©1987 Sedic / Ascii / Digital Entertainmentオトッキー |
| Otocky
- ©1987 Sedic / Ascii / Digital Entertainment オトッキー |
      |
Oh, Otocky. Otocky
is one of the most creative Famicom games ever released, and
it's really quite
fun in a sublime sort of way. It's the sort of game you can
enjoy when you're just in the mood to relax and mellow out, almost like
a Famicom version of Katamari Damacy. Otocky was the brainchild of multimedia artist Toshio Iwai, who you might know as the designer of Electroplankton. As such, it's not exactly standard shoot-'em-up fare -- instead of a fast-paced action game, it's more a form of musical therapy. Mr. Iwai took a novel approach to the game design, centering it around the spotaneous creation of melodies. You can shoot in eight different directions, each direction producing a different musical note. A simple melody plays in the background, encouraging you to fire constantly and make your own little tune while you play. As you progress in the game you can pick up "A" capsules, which not only let you fire further or faster, but also change the instrument that plays your musical notes. The net effect of this is that you end up flying around, holding down the A button and pressing in different directions to come up with a melody of your own. Little enemies fly around and hop out at you, but they're really not much of a threat for at least five or six levels. The focus of the game at this point is to relax and have a fun time while collecting the musical notes you need to defeat the level's boss. Since this is Otocky we're talking about, the bosses aren't anything like Death Spaceships from Mars. Rather, they're giant, broken musical notes! When you meet up with one, your goal is to plug the holes in the giant note with musical notes of your own. Every now and then, a spiral of enemies will fly out of the hole closest to you. They're easy enough to defeat with a "B" capsule, a capsule which lets you fire a wide swath of bullets and sounds like a snare drum, so you don't really have to worry about them for the most part. After reaching level six or so, Otocky decides that it's time to get serious. The musical notes that you need to collect zip around at progressively higher speeds, more monsters appear, and some notes are even hidden in nondescript blocks that you need to fire around randomly to find. At this point the game becomes slightly more traditional, as it becomes important to fire carefully and really work to avoid being hit. Even so, it's likely that you'll find yourself humming along to the little tunes that you create as you blast the enemies and work your way to the bosses -- at least until the game becomes really difficult, starting at level nine. Luckily for serious Otocky fans, the game comes with a save feature that lets you continue where you left off or start at any level you've already beaten. The developers of Otocky knew that the game's main appeal would be in its music-generating quirkiness, so they've thoughtfully included a background music mode and a music maker. The background music mode lets you choose any level that you've completed and play through it without any enemies, while also giving you the ability to choose any musical instrument that you like. The music maker is set up like an old-style tracker, in that you have a series of different instruments that you can program to play a series of notes. Amusingly, the default setting for the tracker is to show notes in a do-re-mi format, with an option to change it to a more standard notation by pressing select. All in all, Otocky is more of a musical experience than a game. If it weren't for the adaptive musical soundtrack and different musical instruments to use, Otocky would be nothing more than a mediocre shoot 'em up. Fortunately for us, Otocky's creative musical twist gives the game an addictive, quirky edge that makes it worth your time. I recommend giving it a try if you're able to, if for nothing more than to see and hear the spiritual ancestor of Rez, Electroplankton, and other musical games in all of its 8-bit glory.  |
| Rating: Graphics:  - Graphically, Otocky fits in well with other
early Famicom games. There really isn't anything too remarkable
about the character designs or animation in the game, and it's actually
pretty blocky. Since it's an older title, this isn't compeletely
unexpected, though.Sound:  - Of course, Otocky
is going to get high marks for sound. The music is fairly
standard and would sound similar to other Famicom titles released
around this time, except for the fact that you can control it yourself!Control:
- The
controls are pretty basic, in that you just hold down A and press the
control pad in the direction you'd like to fire. The only problem
is that some of the powerup instruments fire a little too slowly.
This can make it frustrating if you miss a shot or two since you'll
need to wait a while to fire again. However, you could always
just avoid the slow intruments!Difficulty: - Otocky starts
out incredibly easy, but then turns into a real challenge as you reach
the game's later levels. You'll need to have fast reflexes and
more than a bit of luck in order to make it through the final stage!.Fun: - Whether it's by zapping flying
monsters or annoying your friends and loved ones with your boppy NES
tunes, you're sure to have some fun with Otocky. It's not
an overly engrossing experience, but it's a lighthearted game that will
keep you entertained and tapping your toes for a while. |
| Extras: Otocky Level 1 - Here's a sample of me randomly playing the first level of Otocky. Everything except the drum beat is produced by firing at enemies! Otocky Jam - This is an example of the kind of music you can make with the Otocky tracker. Well, an example of what I made, anyhow! I'd love to hear your Otocky jams too. |
