Decap Attack Review

Decap Attack is a game from the early 1990s that was released by Sega. It was actually released in Japan as an entirely different game, Magical Hat Flying Turbo Adventure, but they brought it to the United States with new characters, level design and graphics. I guess they thought that a decapitated mummy with a head in his stomach is more appropriate for American audiences.

The main gameplay mechanics are straightforward and recognizable to any platformer fan. You can jump on enemies to kill them, although you have to do it three times in order to pound them into the ground (even when they’re in mid-air no less). You can throw your stomach at them as a melee attack. Overall, there is nothing revolutionary in terms of gameplay.

The goal of the game is to reach the end of the level without dying. To do that you need to get through each platform area as fast as possible without dying. You can temporarily “float” in the air by repeatedly pressing the jump button. The farther you go in a given direction, the faster your character gets. This is required to reach hard-to-reach ledges.

The game is pretty difficult. You get a tiny amount of health and only three lives to work with. In that respect, don’t expect to get through on your first try. At the same time, some of the levels give you the feeling that you were cheated a life as the controls do not always cooperate the way you want them to. In closing, Decap Attack a fairly standard platformer that I would not go out of my way to play. It is relatively enjoyable, but does not do enough to add to the genre that would make it worth buying.