SHIN JINRUI - THE NEW TYPE
(Adventures of Dino Riki)
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新人類 THE NEW TYPE
©1987 Rix Soft
©1987 Hudson Soft
Release: 1987-02-10 (¥4900)
Cartdridge RES-SG
Shooter/vertical
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Released in America as
ADVENTURES OF DINO RIKI
( NES-SG-USA )
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Shin Jinrui (aka Adventures of Dino Riki in the west) is a
vertical/overhead shooter developed by Hudson Soft and published by
Rix Soft. The game is set in prehistoric times and tells the adventures
of a courageous young caveman, and his voyage through a dangerous world populated
with dinosaurs and other apex predators. As he begins his adventure, the caveman
relies on small rocks in order to defend himself against the various enemies
coming his way. However, this default weapon is very limited and, thankfully,
can be upgraded as the game progresses. Some elements of the scenery are
destructible (such as flowers, pots or skulls) and reveal
all kind of special icons. Most of them give the player various advantages
in battle - Power icons, symbolized by a closed fist, progressively
upgrade the main weapon into stone axes, boomerangs and finally
flaming torches, boots speed-up the player, hearts increase
the player's available life to a maximum of eight hearts, meat refills
life, Stars destroy all enemies on screen in a flash, and Diamonds
boost the player's score. Two secret icons are also available throughout the
game, and can only be revealed by shooting at the same hidden and invisible
locations multiple times - the bird gives the player little wings and
the ability to temporary fly, and the Riki icon turns the player into
a large wrestler with considerable powers. Shin Jinrui features four
different levels (the last one being a combination of the first three level
themes and bosses) and is single player only.
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It is rather interesting to notice that Shin Jinrui actually features
the popular Japanese wrestler Chōshū Riki (長州力, picture on the right, from his real name
Mitsuo Yoshida). Back in 1987, when the game was released, Chōshū
had just returned to the major professional New Japan Pro Wrestling
promotion. It is anyone's guess as to why Chōshū Riki was selected
to endorse the game - maybe in an attempt to launch a brand new character
franchise, in a way similar to Takahashi Meijin (known as
Master Higgins in the west and endorsed by Toshiyuki Takahashi).
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Teaser text copied from the American version:
In prehistoric times, where ancient dinosaur
creatures ruled, the adventures of Dino-Riki began.
A courageous and intelligent
young man, Dino-Riki, is determined to establish
mankind's future in this violent age.
Dino-Riki must explore and fight his way through
deserts filled with quicksand, sinking lotus swamps,
dark caverns and deep canyons.As Dino-Riki begins
his adventure, he is armed with a shooting weapon
that will change and progress from rocks to axes,
from axes to boomerangs, from boomerangs to fiery
torches, by collecting . There are many hidden items
that will help Dino-Riki to increase his strength ,
life , fly like an eagle , one that will change Dino-Riki
to "Macho-Riki" , the ancient warrior, and many more.
Dino-Riki will need all the ancient knowledge and items he
can find before facing the dinosaur bosses: Tyrannosaurus,
Pteranodon, Monster Fly and Giant Cobra.
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Click on picture to enlarge |
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Add your Pov here !
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Honestly, I have mixed feelings about Shin Jinrui. The overall
execution is undeniably solid and the game is actually fairly unique.
Shin Jinrui oozes charm throughout, features great colorful graphics
and a very catchy soundtrack. The gameplay and controls are also a treat,
and the caveman is very responsive... well, that's as long as you don't have
to jump on a platform. Read on. The first thing that hits you is how
unbalanced the difficulty level is - there is no learning curve, and the
first stage (and its frustrating nenuphar/lily pad jumps) will crush you
without any remorse. That's it, 'platform jumping' is the most frustrating
move in the whole game, and is simply utterly broken. Moving platforms don't
carry you with them, and you'll fall through them countless times. Then
Shin Jinrui only features three level environments (swamp, desert
and mountainous), and the massive forth stage simply recycles them to death
(including bosses and enemies!). Shin Jinrui's insane and unfair
difficulty really killed the experience for me. Here is another rather unique
and refreshing game idea stuck inside an unbalanced and really unfair game...
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