ACA NEOGEO Top Hunter Roddy & Cathy

Genre: Action-Platformer / Arcade

Players: 1-2 Co-Op (Local), Online Leaderboards

.

Review:

Top Hunter Roddy & Cathy is an Arcade-style Action-Platformer released in 1994 in arcades and on the NEOGEO home console, with a port to NEOGEO CD in 1996. This modern release sees the game coming to Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch in 2017 with a port to PlayStation 4 in 2018.

With a name like Top Hunter Roddy & Cathy, you might expect this game to be about deer hunting in the American wilds or something like that, but in actuality this is a fairly cartoony Action-Platformer (with a focus mainly on the action) about a pair of intergalactic bounty hunters tracking down space pirates on different planets.

I was really delighted by how refreshingly original this game is, not playing quite like anything else. The game I was reminded of the most was the Nintendo 64 game Mischief Makers, as your character’s main form of attack is a pair of stretchy arms you can use to pummel and grab enemies, then toss them at other enemies. However, this game has a lot of interesting game mechanics, like a foreground and background you can hop to, occasional mechs you can hop into, rings to tug on to unlock hidden secrets, and a nice variety of unique enemies. Plus, there’s some good co-op here too.

It’s not all good news, though. As I mentioned, the platforming leaves something to be desired, the game wasn’t always responsive to commands, bosses can be particularly tough, and this is definitely one of those games that, were it still in arcades, it would be munching down quarters at a fast pace (the ACA NEOGEO release has unlimited continues). However, overall I found this to be a delightful surprise.

This release of the game includes a new “Hi-Score Mode” that challenges players to score as much as they can in one run before seeing a game over screen. There is also a new “Caravan Mode” that does much the same, but with the limit being five minutes. In addition, this release of the game includes both English and Japanese versions, and gives players a decent array of options, including various display options, sound options, challenge modifiers, button mapping, and online leaderboards.

In the end, Top Hunter is a game that I think could definitely be considered a hidden gem of the NEOGEO lineup, and it has aged fairly well compared to many of its contemporaries. This is a unique co-op Action game with a lot of personality, and while it has some rough edges, I think that it’s well worth seeking out.

tl;dr – Top Hunter is an Action-Platformer with a focus on the action where players play intergalactic bounty hunters hunting pirates on different planets. This is a fairly unique game with some clever gameplay mechanics, good cartoony action, and solid co-op play. It’s a bit rough in places, but overall this is a fun romp well worth trying out.

Grade: B

^{You can support eShopperReviews on Patreon! Please click HERE to become a Sponsor!}

^{This month’s sponsors are Jamie and His Cats, Ben, Ilya Zverev, Andy Miller, Homer Simpin, Johannes, Francis Obst, Gabriel Coronado-Medina, Jared Wark, Kristoffer Wulff, and Seth Christenfeld. Thank you for helping to keep the reviews coming!}