Retro Review: Cyborg Justice

The brawler genre had a lot of classic entries in the 16-bit era and quite a few clunkers. Mixed in the middle are a few games that tried to innovate or didn’t have the graphics of bigger titles. Cyborg Justice fits squarely into the last of those categories. My friend and I spent hours mastering the quirky controls and myriad of techniques needed to clear the entire game. We would fight over certain robot parts and laugh at ripping off the enemies arms, and then using it against them.

Developed by Novotrade and published in 1993 for the SEGA Genesis, Cyborg Justice opens with a spaceship crashing into a mining colony. The pilot’s brain is salvaged and transplanted into a cyborg body. An attempted memory wipe fails and you quickly attempt to escape. You are then prompted to choose a combination of arms, body, and legs to aid in your escape. The game is a side scrolling 2D brawler that features single or two player cooperative story mode, and a duel mode where you fight to the death.

Dr. Frakenstein, I presume

In story mode, you scroll to the right being harassed by a missile if you meander too long. Enemies typically arrive two at a time. The game features a very an aggressive AI that can be difficult to deal with, especially to the uninitiated. This is a game with a somewhat unorthodox control scheme, and when you couple that with pressing enemies, it can lead to an early exit.

The atypical control scheme is a result of the possibility of removing an arm. This can result in a robot tug of war, before ripping the arm off and slapping it on yourself. There are a variety of arms such as a clenched fist, rotating buzzsaw, and a flame spewing torch. Once you free an arm, you can tear off their chest piece and either install it, or use it to gain health. The final piece of this cyborg jigsaw puzzle is the opponent’s legs. Each part comes in different styles with varied attributes.

That is where most of the fun in the game lies. As the cherry on top of the Cyborg Justice sundae, certain body parts can only be obtained by pilfering them from your foes.

Let’s not be normal

On the normal mode, Cyborg Justice consists of 3 stages which have 3 sub stages each. To see the true ending to the game though, you must play on hard which adds 2 more stages and a final boss. If you want to see those end credits, you have to earn it through hard work and perseverance.

The graphics are not the best the brawler genre has ever seen, but they suffice well enough. Colors are a little muted with only a small color palette. They do seem to suit the nature of the game. Still it is a little odd that the developers choose yellow, red and blue over grey, silver, and black. Also, there aren’t any splashy effects that fill the screen. Enemies are mostly comprised of the same body parts which doesn’t lead to a varied cast. What is there is animated well, which is needed when you slam a robot into the ground, rip his arm off, or punch him till he explodes in a fireball.

Cyborgo Justice‘s control scheme is one of the main barriers of entry. It is a complex series of button holds and directions, sometimes with small input windows or time to preform certain maneuvers. Even ripping off parts takes some getting used to. I suspect that’s why this game struggled to find an audience. I implore you to struggle through, as the varied body parts and usage really were novel at the time. Instead of flashy moves, this game really relies on the interchangeable parts and the satisfaction of using parts of the enemies against them.

Missed oppurtunities

I truly feel like this game never quite got what it deserved. Sega never gave it a massive marketing push, even if they had some impatient gamers would have been scared off by it complex controls and lack of flashy graphics. All of that aside, the old adage is still true, that great graphics do not a great game make. It hasn’t been rereleased in many places either, so you’ll have to dig out that Genesis and dust off that cartridge slot.

While I wouldn’t necessarily call Cyborg Justice a GREAT game, it is a very good one. It is a game that will require you to struggle and learn it complexity. Call it an old school Dark Souls if you will. You will run into tough enemies that will punish you with their aggressive behavior and exploit every loophole. If you take the time to learn what it wants from you, it will reward you with a brawler unlike most of the genre.

Final Thoughts

It’s not Streets of Rage 2, but Cyborg Justice certainly isn’t Maximum Carnage either. Give this one a shot. Just expect a steep learning curve. While not a graphics powerhouse, Cyborg Justice is an innovative brawler featuring some great ideas and great two player fun once you get past the learning curve.