Cyber Citizen Shockman 2 – A New Menace (Switch)

Powah Dunk | November 3, 2023 | Mini Review | No Comments

Cyber Citizen Shockman was a title we described as “A curiosity which leads into bigger things in the next title” and as luck would have it, that next title is here with Cyber Citizen Shockman 2 – A New Menace.

Cyber Citizen Shockman 2 – A New Menace was actually the only title in the franchise to release originally outside of Japan so for the few TurboGrafx owners this one may be a blast from the past!

The game follows on from the events of the original game around 2 years later, life has somewhat returned to normal after the defeat of the Dark Skull, that is until a new enemy appears and kidnaps Doc your friend Sonya. Cyber Citizen Shockman rises once again to take down this new mysterious alien foe.

The game has taken quite a graphical leap and looks genuinely quite nice for a 1991 title, with some fantastic animations and a more varied level design this title has a lot more going on than the original!

Rather than the original time focused map of the first game, Cyber Citizen Shockman 2 goes for the more traditional linear levels, stripping it somewhat of its originality but replacing it with much more competent and fun level design. Melee combat has also gone the way of the dodo giving this much more of a run and gun “Mega Man” feel. Finally there are “Shmup” style levels to break the stages up further, great efforts have gone into making this feel like a much more varied experience than the original and as with the original the full game is playable in 2 player co-op.

With extra features it’s the same deal as the original and so many other Ratalaika titles, you’ve got save states, display tweaks, a bit of bonus gallery content and a few cheats to help you when you’re struggling, it isn’t broken so it doesn’t need fixing.

Cyber Citizen Shockman 2 – A New Menace is still a rough game when compared to its peers but it’s more fun than the original and is worth the asking price if you’re a fan of TurboGrafx titles, Megaman clones or “Henshin” style media.