Ultra Toukon Densetsu - No Death Clear

After watching Shin Ultraman a couple of weeks ago (great movie), I wanted to play some Ultraman games. Banpresto released some for the arcade in the early 90s, and one of them is a beat 'em up called Ultra Toukon Densetu. Roughly translated, I guess the English title would be "The Legend of Ultra Fighting Spirit". Of course I had to play it eventually. This isn't the greatest game. Its quality really depends on which character you play as, though. Naturally, I would've preferred to use Ultraman instead of Taro, but Ultraman really sucks. His charge attack is weak, his combo is slower and gets interrupted more frequently by bosses, his running attack is a takedown grapple - which isn't too bad, but it's not nearly as useful as Taro's knockback - and even his bomb is less useful. Taro doesn't have any of those problems, and he makes this game a lot more fun to play. Though I still wouldn't recommend this to anyone but Ultraman fans. The pixel artwork is fantastic, but that's by far the best thing about this game. Nothing else is particularly good, and the "soundtrack", if you can even call it that, is downright awful. The no death clear can be a little challenging. If you don't bomb when you're in a bad spot (which is practically any time you're surrounded, since you can't walk through enemies), or let a boss sneak in an attack, you can die before you know it. Some of the enemies can kill you in one combo, in just a couple of seconds. Still, it's not that hard once you have some strategies down. One quick note: Redking seems to be bugged in this game. Sometimes when they appear, they'll be completely invincible until you either bomb them, get hit, or make them whiff an attack. It can be dangerous to try and bait them if you're low on health, because they hit really hard. I figured I'd mention that in the off chance anyone else ever plays this game. Lol. Played via MAME. 0:00 Intro 1:27 Round 1 4:06 Round 2 6:14 Round 3 10:22 Round 4 16:03 Round 5 21:03 Round 6 28:56 Ending & Credits ----- Beat 'em Ups (e.g. Final Fight):    • Beat 'em Ups   2D Action (e.g. Metal Slug):    • 2D Action   STG/Shmups (e.g. Dodonpachi):    • STG Replays