Pocky & Rocky (SNES) - (Hard | Pocky | No Death | Longplay)

Hello again folks! This time it's another great Taito Natsume title, Pocky and Rocky! Promised a friend about a year ago that I'd beat pocky and rocky and so I did.
Surprisingly this is a sequel to the original arcade game back then, the plot this time is a mysterious being named black mantle has hypnotized all the youkai and both our shrine maiden and her raccoon companion, Rocky must save them. Thanks to clues given out to the Youkai they've rescued, they eventually arrived at the forbidden castle to face off with the mastermind of this incident aka Black Mantle.
Gameplay is pretty straight forward, it's a top down shooter where you fend of numerous amounts of japanese mythological creatures. It's got a bit of a futurisitc setting too since there's literally lightning floors when face off with what I think is dracula at the castle.
Not much else to say really, the difficulty is pretty balanced. Your choice of weapon can either be the Ofuda (leaves for rocky) or the Flames for more power. Really though the Ofuda's at max level are all you need because it's already broken. You can even deflect projectiles too with your Gohei (rocky's tail if you play as him.) The power ups you get are pretty random though, this is if you, in this case the best drops would be either the Komainu or the Charm that let's you absorb hits.
There's even recovery items making each stage more doable, just sucks that only the only way to get an extra life is if you hit the basket the first boss is holding, even then, given your arsenal. 3 lives is already enough for a casual playthrough of this game.
The graphics and music are very much Natsume, I love the overall japanese vibe the ost has and the graphics are very colorful.
Really don't have much to go on here, it's an almost flawless game in my eyes. The difficulty only ever bends once you've reached the final stage/facing off with black mantle.
If you've the fair but serious challenge Natsume titles are known for especially during their NES days, then Pocky and Rocky is a must play!
If you like my runs be sure to check out the group I'm in if you want to see us play more good ol fashion retro games!
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