These days I’m surprised whenever a failed three volume still garners a 24 episode anime. So I shouldn’t have been so surprised to learn that a legit hit from Akira Toriyama would spawn its own miniature cottage industry. Go Go Ackman was serialized one chapter at a time irregularly but still proved popular enough spawn various merchandise. Video games were part of that equation and unlike the typical Bandai junk this first outing is actually good and makes an easy purchase for importers.
The similarities to Dragonball’s Trunks cannot be denied. That may just be Akira Toriyama’s art style at play but it goes deeper than that. Both characters are mischievous at heart except in Ackman’s case it goes a little further than that. You see Ackman actually kills people to take their souls and sell them to the Dark Lord for cash. That general concept plays in to the game’s plot. The angel Tenshi has hatched another scheme to kill his rival Ackman, this time enlisting the aid of a higher angel.
When you break it down Banpresto milked Go Go Ackman for all it was worth. They put out three Super Famicom games and one Gameboy title in a two-year period which is nuts. And this is all based on a one volume manga!. That they got so much mileage out of so little says a lot about the central conceit of the series. Despite the dark undertone (you are collecting souls after all) the game has a comedic tone overall. Understandably none of the games were released overseas but it doesn’t matter. They are platformers, what little story is fluff. Just stay the hell away from the second game.
Ackman is a pretty versatile platform hero all things considered. He has a variety of hand to hand moves such as a jump kick, sweep kick, and mean punch. The platform staple butt bounce is also accounted for and allows you to kick flattened enemies into others. For long distance attacks he can wind up a mean sonic boom as well. It is a bit strange that although he has both his gun and sword strapped to his back both aren’t usable without a power-up. I suppose it would have made an already easy game that much shorter but I digress.
At first glance Go Go Ackman does not do anything different than most typical platformers. That first impression would be right. However that doesn’t matter in the long run as it succeeds by being an accomplished game all around. The level design is fantastic, full of variety and unique situations. The frequent forced scrolling segments are both fun and challenging as most hazards are telegraphed in advance. More importantly most stages feature branching paths that are wildly different for replay value. It doesn’t have the cadence of a Treasure game (nothing does) but there are also plenty of boss battles to liven things up as well.
The only catch is the game is both easy and short. Ackman begins with a small life bar but by collecting souls can upgrade it to five bars. At this point you have to go out of your way to actually die. Life restoring hearts are plentiful and most enemies die in a single hit. Even the bosses have extremely simple patterns to follow although they do present the only real challenge in the game. At just five moderately long levels Go Go Ackman falls on the short side. The branching paths do offer some incentive for replay value but you’ll be left wanting more.
As a late 1994 release Go Go Ackman looks pretty great. Nearly every backdrop is dripping with 3-4 layers of scrolling and matches up well with similar late era releases. Because the series isn’t set in any one time period it draws from everywhere. You’ve got modern machines like jet packs and cars alongside demons, gangsters, and the undead. Yet somehow it all makes sense. Akira Toriyama’s unique art style is carried over into the sprite design and looks ripped from the page. Unlike the sequels this first title draws all of its inspiration from the manga, with cameos from select characters. The playful banter between Ackman and Tenshi is at the heart of the game and they really nail his character. The lone sore spot is the music which is completely forgettable.
In Closing
Considering the state of most video game adaptations of anime and manga Go Go Ackman turned out pretty well. It lacks originality but more than makes up for it in fun and variety. The language barrier is nonexistent but there is a translation patch for those that want to follow the dialogue. While unnecessary it does add to the game’s charm.
