Konami Wai Wai World (NES, 1988)

• 8 playable chars that you can switch between on the fly after rescuing them (each with their own ammo-based sub weapon and ability; Konami Man and Girl can fly and shoot (the latter's shots go through enemies but at a slow rate of fire), Mikey can fit into some smaller paths, Simon has longer reach+can throw boomerang crosses (3 on screen at a time), Goemon can open item containers/chests+attacks diagonally upwards, Fuuma+Moai+King Kong can break certain blocks and the latter two have a strong melee attack)

• Can exit levels where you entered them

• Character info menu (door 1 at homebase)

• Pretty frequent checkpoints (unlimited continues, each char functions as a life when it comes to restarting from a checkpoint)

• Partially non-linear (level select screen (6 levels)*, can't get far into the Fuuma or Moai levels without King Kong nor the city level without Mikey, after beating these (by rescuing the character in each) you unlock a shooter level

• Maze levels (have to find a key and rescue a playable character in each level)

• Can heal and resurrect at the homebase however the latter costs 100 bullets per char - leads to some grinding

• Pretty frequent health drops from enemies (enemy drops disappear quickly), Separate health bars for each char

• Password save feature

• There are hidden warp points leading back to the homebase/lab but finding them is a matter of trial & error and they only appear in some levels

• No dodge or block moves - some unavoidable damage

• Death pits here and there

Some notable cons:

• *However you can pretty much only proceed through the Goemon and CV levels at first as you'll need to rescue the other characters to be able to get past obstacles in other levels - if you don't have the right char/ability you'll have to backtrack to the beginning of the level again. You can beat the CV-themed level but it's pretty hard and you can't open the item containers yet. Can also do the Goonies-themed level but part of it is hard in a really tedious way without ranged attacks or Simon (CV)

• Too much backtracking - there should've been a visible teleporter to the level exit when rescuing a playable char at least

• Kind of tedious level design at times (flat surfaces/corridors and frequently spawning+kind of spongy enemies that you can't just avoid)

• No level maps

• Repetitive level design compared to CV or Goonies 2

Gameplay (camera scroll hack) - Video Review - Mini-review

Influenced by: Goonies II, Castlevania II, Getsu Fuuma Den, possibly Mega Man

Influenced: Possibly Strider (NES), Castlevania III, Wonder Boy III, Ufouria