Arcade Archives Youkai Douchuki

Genre: Action-Platformer

Players: 1-2 Alternating (Local), Online Leaderboards

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Review:

Youkai Douchuki, elsewhere rendered as Yōkai Dōchūki, is an Action-Platformer released in 1987 in Japanese arcades. This modern release sees the game coming to PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch in 2022.

Youkai Douchuki has players taking the role of a mischievous kid who apparently the gods decide to punish by sending to (the Japanese mythological equivalent to) hell. This leads to a game that has you fighting various creatures and Japanese demonic… things… using what I can only guess is a yo-yo.

The core gameplay here is pretty good, and reminds me of classic Action-Platformers like the Ghosts ‘N Goblins games, and there are even a few amusing little fourth wall-breaking moments, like secret areas literally hidden behind the HUD. Unfortunately, all of this good stuff is counteracted by one consistent problem that makes it pretty much impossible to enjoy the game – this game is constantly spawning enemies, some right near you, at times requiring multiple hits to destroy and too fast to dodge. This pretty much guarantees that you’ll be taking damage with no way to prevent it.

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.

Overall, I feel like Youkai Douchuki is a game that could have been quite good, but it is absolutely ruined by the relentless onslaught of unavoidable enemies. This makes for a game that refuses to stop abusing the player no matter what they do, and I don’t think anyone is going to want to put up with that for very long before they go on to play something else.

tl;dr – Youkai Douchuki is an Action-Platformer that has some surprising old-school charm and a few clever ideas… but it ruins all of that by constantly throwing enemies at you that you can neither destroy nor dodge, resulting in a game you’ll quickly sour on. Skip it.

Grade: D

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