Successful gameplay formulas have been cloned since the days of the Atari 2600. It takes far less effort to copy a formula than create a brand new foundation. This is both a good thing and a bad thing. On one hand many of the greatest games of all times are clones of another. Final Fantasy is a good example; the developers used the basis for Dragon Quest and ran with it while introducing a lot of new ideas and concepts. Now, there’s a big difference between copying the formula and being a copycat. I’ve long heard that The Krion Conquest falls into the latter end of the spectrum. Reviewers everywhere have stated that this is a copycat of the original Mega Man titles, and I’m a huge fan of that franchise so I figured I would like this game. I was expecting a full dose of the blue bomber formula when I got my hands on this title, but unfortunately I was let down. There are some distinct similarities between the titles, but The Krion Conquest is its own title and plays very differently with a completely opposite flow from that other franchise. While that could be a good thing in this case it’s not; this isn’t a very good game to be perfectly honest.
Upon booting the game you’re given a brief introduction detailing the scenario. The year is 1999 (gotta love when the ‘future’ has already passed) and an army of robots from the so called Krion Empire has descended upon the planet Earth. Unwilling to surrender the inhabitants of our planet fought back, but are losing the fight. The last hope, a witch who has descended from the skies, sets out to defeat the mechanical army on her own. That’s the last mention you’ll hear of the story in-game, and I hear that the publishers cut out a lot of dialogue sequences when translating this one into English. Still, it’s unusual and pretty cool that the introductory sequence is drawn in anime style. Usually something like that would be cut out for the North American release. Either way let’s now get to the gameplay. Krion Conquest is a side scrolling action platformer. As the witch Francesca your goal is, as per usual, to reach the end of each stage. You have a side view of the action and can walk, duck, jump and fire bursts of energy from her wand. You have a life bar on the left hand side of the screen that depletes as you take hits, and falling on spikes results in an instant death and should you die you must start the level over from the beginning.
The main comparisons to Mega Man come in the form of Francesca’s various attack abilities. Pressing the start button reveals a menu wherein you can cycle through these and select which one you want to use. Your primary shot can be charged for a more powerful burst attack which can be fired both left/right and even up. Believe me when I say that’s a godsend. Next up we have a fire attack which summons a phoenix which destroys all enemies on-screen. This is devastating to foes, but costs four notches on your precious life bar to use and so you won’t be able to rely on it. Next is a freeze spell which encases enemies in ice. It’s decent but it’s far less effective than your standard shot. Then we have the ball which fires projectiles that bounce off of all surfaces. It definitely has its uses. Finally we have the broom. This is the mechanic most of the game is based on, and you’ll learn to hate it. I’ll go over it in more detail later on. What’s interesting is the fact that you begin the game with every single weapon and though several can be charged there aren’t any real upgrades to be found. What’s more is that there’s no level select; this is a very linear title and you don’t gain any abilities by defeating the various boss characters.
Another aspect which can be compared to Mega Man is the difficulty. Krion Conquest is a tough and unforgiving title. Your life bar drains rapidly as you’re constantly hit by enemy projectiles. At least most of your secondary weapons can be used infinitely, but I found the pace comes to a grinding halt each time a new enemy was in my way because I had to dodge their attacks while charging the primary weapon, and the boss fights…. They’re just so freaking difficult and often have chasms you can fall in with only small areas for you to stand. It’s frustrating, and while I’m not as good at these retro titles as I was when I was a kid I was eventually able to power through it. Thankfully the game isn’t too demanding as far as the platforming goes. That’s because one of your abilities often allows you to bypass a lot of these areas. This is the broom, and it’s going to be both your best friend and worst enemy at the same time. The broom functions like rush jet from Mega Man. It allows you to summon a broom which can move left, right and up. You control the direction it’s moving by pressing the attack button while facing the direction in question. Sounds awesome, right? Unfortunately it’s really not and you’ll discover this soon after firing the game up.
Unfortunately too many levels rely almost exclusively on the broom. This wouldn’t be so bad except you’ll have to dodge and destroy enemies while flying aboard it constantly. You can shoot your primary shot while riding atop the broom, and switching directions and shooting is the only means by which you can control it. You can move it left/right and up, but unfortunately ducking and firing causes the broom to disappear. This causes some major issues because if the broom touches any part of any platform then it disappears automatically. This means that if you don’t aim perfectly you have no chance to move downwards thus leading to your death by falling on spikes. It wouldn’t be so frustrating but almost all of the later areas depend exclusively on this ability. The Krion Conquest would almost be better labeled as a shooter considering how often you’re going to depend on it. It’s the biggest element of the game, and it just isn’t very functional to be honest. This will be the leading cause in unfair deaths while you play.
The Krion Conquest isn’t the prettiest looking game. In the beginning the enemies are pretty bland looking and small. Later on they become fairly impressive by system standards and actually animate nicely. The boss characters (especially the final one) are on point visually and look awesome in my opinion. That holds true for the most part at least. Francesca herself is super short and barely has any animation herself but she looks decently enough. At least, given the color scheme, she’s easy to spot and will rarely blend in with the environment. She even changes color when you change weapons and that is a pretty cool effect. My least favorite graphical effect is the transition moving from one area to the next. This is slow and plodding, and I wish it was instantaneous instead of the slow scrolling we’re forced to sit through. The soundtrack is a bit boring though. The themes fit each of the stages but it’s all a little boring for me. There’s certainly nothing iconic about the music in this game, but it fits and nothing is offensive here.
The Krion Conquest may have a few things in common with Mega Man (but really, what side scroller doesn’t?) but it’s definitely not a copycat. This game is its own thing, but unfortunately it just isn’t that good. The first few stages are the highlight, but when you’re relying on the broom ability through ninety percent of the levels it gets old super quickly. If you decide to pass on this game you won’t be missing out on much.
