Rating: 4.7/5
When you think of Capcom, what almost always comes to mind immediately is their penchant for fighting games like Street Fighter and platformers like Mega Man. What is oftentimes overlooked, however, is their collection of groundbreaking shoot ‘em ups (SHMUPS) like Side Arms, Aero Fighters, Gun.Smoke, and 1941. In the 80’s and 90’s, SHMUPS were a cornerstone of the Capcom lineup, particularly in the arcades. One of their more unique entries was Forgotten Worlds. For a lot of reasons, FW really stood out from the pack. First and foremost, the game doesn’t take the standard approach by having the player pilot a space ship, jet, or other vehicle; you fly around as an upright-oriented human (reminiscent of Space Harrier) while a weapons satellite orbits around you (a bit like R-Type). The 2-player simultaneous co-op game provides for 360 degree rotation of your character so that you can attack incoming threats from all directions. In a way, FW also conjures the feeling of games like Robotron in that your movement and aim are controlled independently. This allows for some tricky maneuvering and multi-dimensional offensive strategies. The second item of note is that Forgotten Worlds takes place in some of the most beautifully drawn environments in SHMUPS history. Each level derives its theme from a specific concept or cultural element. You begin in a steampunk level with giant moving gears, venting steam pipes, and assortment of brass paraphernalia. Later, you explore worlds which resemble ancient Egypt, Asia, and the like. I remember playing this game to death at a 7-Eleven in Bethlehem, PA as a kid. I dumped way too many quarters into that machine. Later, Forgotten Worlds would be ported to a little-know console called the NEC TurboDuo. The TurboDuo was NEC’s ramped-up version of the Turbo-CD, a CD-ROM add-on peripheral for the TurboGrafx-16 and the first of its kind in the world of video games. Despite being ported to several systems of that era, the TurboDuo version was essentially flawless. Everything was intact from the arcade coin-op including the amazing soundtrack and somewhat unintentionally comedic digitized voice. Again, all of the little touches in FW are what make it so memorable…the shop girl who will sell you items, weapons, and game tips…the multi-directional scrolling (even diagonal!)…the mammoth stage bosses who sometimes occupied the entire screen. When Forgotten Worlds was being developed for the arcades in 1988, it was allocated a budget of $5 million. That was an unheard of amount in that time and can be argued that it’s still pretty bold even by 2016 standards. Nonetheless, Forgotten Worlds was a niche hit. Some die hard SHMUPS gamers found the adjustment hard when adapting to the relative complexity of the controls while others embraced the challenge. It’s a bit sad that Forgotten Worlds never received a sequel, spinoff, or remake. Personally, I would absolutely LOVE to see a modern day redux of the game similar to what was done with Strider on the PlayStation 4. Who wants to help me start a petition?!?
You also need an emulator to run this game. To grab one quickly, please check out our PCECD emulators section.