Chew Man Fu

With a name like Chew Man Fu I was expecting another corny, but enjoyable, platformer for the Turbo Duo. What I actually got was a corny, but enjoyable, puzzle game, and quite a good one at that. Actually, I first encountered this game with the Japanese moniker Be Ball, which suggested some sort of bizarre Japanese sports game. Either way, I was pretty sure I was going to have a good time.

Whichever name you prefer, or if you'd rather make up a name (I like to call it Captain Sparky's Sexy Lolo-a-Go-go) this is a puzzle game which maintains a feel akin to games like Adventures of Lolo. The objective is to roll large shimmering spheres around the screen and eventually place them atop a square of the same color. The spheres are green, blue, red, and black, and in addition to rolling them around the play area they can be launched across the screen to utterly obliterate the enemies that stand between you and the creepy, constantly angry old man that awards points. The overall look is very reminiscent of puzzlers such as Lolo, with a colorful, childlike presentation that masques the ever-increasing difficulty. I just love it when developers conceal a sinister creation with a veneer of cute.

You can definitely tell when a game was shipped straight from Japan with very few adjustments in regard to the language barrier. After completing the first level, creepy-angry old man dispenses the gem, "Chew's hatchetmen are cutthroat killers, but they can't dance like you". I've decided that will be the epitaph on my headstone when I leave my body behind. I have no idea who these mysterious "Hatchetmen" are, but I wanted to destroy them all the more after receiving such high accolades for my dancing abilities. How creepy-angry old man knew I had dancing fever is not for me to understand, but he hit the nail on the head. The enemies are primarily animals; hedgehogs, gorillas, and turtles, and nary a hatchet to be found.

This is but a scant few Turbo Duo games I own that supports multiple players and an additional "Dodgeball" mode to boot, which greatly increases its replay-ability. If you've a penchant for puzzlers this one should deliver. Let your inner Lord of the Dance free and destroy some hedgehogs!