Since its debut in 1991, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, colloquially known as the SNES, has showcased a seemingly endless roster of side-scrolling shooters. A good number of these, it must be said, were bland, frustrating and repetitive. Yet alongside the ranks of the disposable and the merely serviceable, there were a few titles that were made for the ages, and Konami's "Cybernator," from 1992, is surely among them.
Set in a war-torn future, where two supra-national powers are locked in a struggle for fuel sources and control of the moon, the game assigns you the role of Jake, a soldier in the Pacific States Marine Corps. The setup is nothing you haven't seen before, but it serves as a solid backdrop for a brilliantly realized futuristic twitch-shooter. As you take control of your Federation Assault Suit, a mech that appears to have been built out of refrigerators, you can’t help but feel right in the action. Enemy robots spray gunfire in every direction, while giant explosions periodically fill the screen. It’s frantic, but in a good way. In the early 1990s, this was about as close as you could come to experiencing a full-scale mech war.
It only takes a few minutes to get comfortable controlling the Suit. Though you might initially think that Konami should have employed a targeting system similar to the one used in "Contra," you’ll see the logic of the controls once you’ve completed some of the stages set in mid-air.
Meanwhile, the ability to block enemy gunfire may not sound like much, but it adds quite a bit of depth to the gameplay. Unlike other shooters, where you’ll dodge wildly or take constant damage from your foes, here you have the ability to raise your shield and take a slightly defensive approach. The fire-block-fire mechanic works well and allows you to pace yourself and conserve energy. Additionally, all of your firepower is upgradeable, giving you the option to experiment and level up your favorite weapons.
The graphics aren’t exactly impressive, but were more than adequate for their time. It’s also worth mentioning that the framerate holds up fairly well, considering all of the action onscreen. The music, which was later released as a separate CD soundtrack in Japan, fits the tone of the game perfectly. A few of the tracks are 16-bit classics; you might even catch yourself humming them after playing for a few hours.
Above all, what separates "Cybernator" from so many other shooters is variety. The missions don’t all mesh together in repetition. At one stage you’ll be on the assault, plowing through enemies on the ground, while at others you’ll be falling through the atmosphere or rocketing through space in zero gravity.
The game has some frustrating aspects, however. For the most part it's quite difficult, and when you die -- which happens a lot -- you have to start again at the beginning of the level. The lack of a password system makes this even more displeasing.
Still, "Cybernator" is one of those games that lends itself to hours of continuous play, which means that as far as minor annoyances go, you'll pretty much have to suck them up. You have to master the game in order to complete it, and it's varied and addictive enough that you'll probably find yourself doing exactly that. "Cybernator" might not have the same impact today that it had in 1992, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t still a blast to play. No pun intended.
