Once a year, during Halloween, a gate between our land and that of the fairies opens. All fairies must get back to fairieland by 11:00 p.m. or they will be doomed forever. The Jack Bros. are three of these fairies. One of the brothers has so much Halloween fun on Earth, he loses track of time. Pixie, the good fairie, helps our character by showing him a shortcut to his home. Of course, on this path full of adventures, a few tasks lie ahead.

That's the story to our game, so far. At the beginning, you have to choose one of the three Jack Bros. as your character. Each one has his own weapons and special attacks. You start with three special attacks, which can be replenished by collecting items.

Jack Frost attacks with snowballs. His special attack is the ability to freeze his enemies. Mr. Frost has an average movement and a weak attack, but has a very rapid fire rate.

Jack Lantern throws fireballs. His special attack weakens each enemy on the screen by absorbing some of it's energy. He has average movement, average attack and a good rapid fire.

Jack Skelton (Jap. version: Jack Ripper) has for his defense a knife. With his special attack, he can kill every enemy on the screen. Since his only weapon is a knife, his rapid fire is weak. To compensate for this, he has the strongest special attack and good movement.

Having decided on a character for yourself, your way back to the world of fairies leads through 6 Levels, which are divided into areas. Pixie is available for advice. The main goal is to pick up all keys in each area in order to reach the next lower level. The keys and the exit are displayed on your radar. If you succeed in fighting all the way to the bottom of a level, you will meet an Area Boss.

The Gameplay has a top-down, 3/4 view. Both your character and his environment are large and clear, making them easy to see. There are many enemies which will, of course, try to stop you from reaching your home. In the beginning, there are only simple skulls, which can be killed with a single shot. Later on, you have to deal with bomb laying figures and huge, unbreakable snakes, which can only be moved out of the way. The main challenge of the game is time. At the beginning of each level, you have a time limit. When you are touched by an enemy, you lose time. How much depends on the enemy and current level. You can also increase the remaining time by collecting time bonuses. If you run out of time, you must continue from the beginning of the level in which you died. As another bonus, you can collect things like invincibility, double speed and, as previously mentioned, special attacks. You must be prepared for every trap. For example, there are: fire spitting skulls, and nails that come out of the floor and walls which will squish you to death if you aren't fast enough.

The music turned out very well. It motivates you and goes well with each level. One of the best VB soundtracks, ever.

Only criticism is the length. For experienced gamers, it probably won't take more than two hours. Also, it's really irritating being forced to restart each level from the beginning, especially in the higher levels. It makes it hard to keep playing.

Result:
Atlus presents a fun game. The level design, story and sound are all very well done. The downsides are the short play time and low replayability. Nevertheless, it is worth buying.

Author: DrAetzn

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KR155E