Rakshasa(1988) - UFO 50 Diaries 1 - Game 38
The game starts and you are dead on the floor. Your spirit rises from you and a spinning token of some sort looms above, guarded by a skull. Flying into the token causes you to get up and the game actually begins. Rakshasa wastes zero time making an impression by showcasing its unique respawn system which makes you cheat death before you can even begin. Every death causes there to be more obstacles to face and more tokens to collect until it becomes extremely difficult to keep going.
When you are alive Rakshasa is an action platformer that is most similar to Ghosts ‘n Goblins, but with the medieval fantasy swapped out with Indian mythology. Playing as village chief Jangi who bears a strong visual resemblance with Data East’s Karnov. You move at a slow set speed with no momentum at play coupled with jumps with set height and no mid-air control. On the ground you can shoot your staff either straight ahead or diagonally upwards, and in the air you are also given the option to shoot diagonally downwards. Your staff’s shots have very short range, but you can charge your staff for a faster longer reaching shot. Your slow stiff movement and limited attack range is matched with a game full of constantly respawning basic enemies and a vast array of tricky monsters. And all it takes is a single touch to send you back to the afterlife, which luckily you aren’t bound by. With how slow you are you can’t afford to depend solely on your reactions, you have to think about the situation around you and know when to hold your ground and when to press forward and move. Oftentimes going slow and steady is the best way to go, but staying in one place too long will have you overwhelmed overtime as enemies keep spawning in, and on top of that the timer is just short enough that you have to keep an eye on it. You most likely will never time out but you can get surprisingly close, and if you care about score you get a sizable bonus from left over time.
To help you overcome this there are 3 different weapons you can get for your shot. A strong fire shot with solid range, a homing shot, and a short range spread. I found fire to be overwhelmingly the most reliable option due to its damage and range, but the homing isn’t too bad either. Green eggs containing a familiar are hidden around stages, grabbing one gives you another free hit and it will hover over secrets. Knowing where secrets are is vital to seeing the end of Rakshasha so smart players will start memorizing and looking for these spots even when they don’t have a familiar. Hidden secrets often contain bells, which remove a death counter making it easier to revive. And when you do die the game is nice enough to clear away all enemies around you so you have a fighting chance to get your bearings, but it also clears away all items which can really hurt when a bell or shot upgrade is on screen. And you will want to avoid death not just because reviving gets harder every time, but because you lose your shot upgrade. And reviving isn’t the only thing that gets more difficult, each death counter makes the game harder. Some enemies get stronger, and the basic filler enemies that spawn will start aggressively spawning the long ranged variants. Enemy spawns and their patterns are dynamic enough that you can’t get by on pure memorization, even after getting good enough to beat the game I still would get hit on stage 1 replaying it. You cannot let your guard down, Rakshasa demands your attention.
Outside of Rakshasa’s mechanics the visuals and atmosphere really sell the game. The opening stage starts with sounds of rustling leaves and bird chirpings, a surprising ambience considering the chiptune limitations. The gray stone contrasts with the lush greens of the jungle nicely, the depth of the backgrounds showing more forest and village temples makes the levels feel real and never hurts with the visibility of the actual platforms. It takes until the first midboss for the music to kick in properly, which is the type of flair and showmanship that you most likely wouldn’t find in an authentic 8-bit game. The music kicking in on the second half of the stage is somehow sinister, mysterious, and calming at the same time. The music continues to be a highlight of the entire game, setting its foreboding and strange tone that pairs quite well with the methodical difficult gameplay. The enemies and imagery throughout the game is striking, you don’t need to know a thing about Indian mythology to feel the culture and influence.
Rakshasa is one of many wonderful games in UFO 50, and it gets some benefits from being a part of it. Like many games in UFO 50 it feels about a stage or two shorter than a normal release would be. But this helps make the game approachable and conquerable in a way that its main influence Ghosts ‘n Goblins never is. At a brisk 3 stages that roughly only take 10-20 minutes to clear, anyone can see the ending of Rakshasa without having to devote an absurd amount of time. It only took me around 3 hours of play to get the cherry clear. It is a wonderful little game full of great ideas, a striking setting, and rock solid fundamentals. Fire up the LX-III and go cherry that bad boy.