Coca Cola Kid

Having played through this game, I feel a bit jilted that my life of inhaling can after can of delicious Coca Cola hasn't yielded the same extreme results. I mean this kid is all over the place! This is as Gen-X as it gets, folks!

This is another in the long line of games I don't fully understand, for it was a Japanese only release. That really doesn't diminish the intense action at all, I just don't understand the plot. Could a No Fun Gestapo be plotting to rid the world of skateboards and Coca Cola? Is there a price on Coca Cola Kid's head? Could this be a light-hearted prequel to Marc Ecko's Getting Up? Unfortunately I will never know.

The caffeine junkie protagonist must fight his way through city-themed environments full of kung fu warriors and those pesky flying robots firing rounds from on high. Nearly everything in his path can be defeated with his earth-shattering kick. Said Kung Fu masters are no match for a pre teen hopped up on Coca Cola! If the basic attack doesn't get the job done, holding down on the D-pad while holding the attack button sends our hero into a sugar high which gives him amazing Dragon Ball-like powers that send him flying forward, destroying everything in his path. This includes large boxes, phone booths, larger, sturdier-looking boxes. Now, for a game that is supposed to be set in New York City, there sure are a lot of English phone booths to smash. Maybe they were on loan solely to be smashed. "Little Care I", says our hero.

The action is pretty cut and dry. The Kid controls very well, and should you fall in one of those obligatory bottomless pits every video game has, you can press against the wall and slide slowly down it. This gives you enough time to jump back and forth between the pit walls and regain your footing on ground. The only problem is that you must jump off THEN hold the D-pad in the direction you want to go. Pushing over before a jump will cause you to fall straight down. After some practice...well, you never really get used to that.

Between picking up can after can of Cola power to assist in your quest for whatever, to dishing out some serious punishment on the level bosses and minions, this is a decent action game that's worth at least a once-over. And while doing so, enjoy a refreshing Coca Cola product! Or maybe press your luck and knock back a Pepsi. I wouldn't recommend it, though.