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A playthrough of Sega's 1992 license-based action-platformer for the Sega Genesis, Chakan: The Forever Man. Played through on the hard difficulty setting with the best ending. Following that, I show the bad ending, seen if you die during the final boss fight, at 1:36:18. Chakan: The Forever Man is one of those games that people tend to immediately dismiss because of its reputation for being insanely difficult. Until awhile ago, I was one of those people. I'm not usually deterred by the promise of a challenge, but the few times I ever bothered to try to play Chakan, I was thoroughly put off by the graphics and the strange potion-mixing system, and in finding it so unappealing to begin with, I saw no reason to even try to play what is known as one of the hardest games on the Genesis. But I know how to admit when I'm wrong, and this is one of those times. After giving it a proper chance, I can now see why this game has a cult following of sorts. Chakan: The Forever Man is awesome. (Is Chakan an alias for Chaka Khan? Hmm...) Has anyone ever read the comic it's based on? I never knew there was a comic before doing a bit of research on the game, but I have to say that I'm curious if it's as badass as it seems like it would be. Chakan's story is a wonderfully twisted take on the “pride before the fall“ trope. He's a warrior that, having bested every opponent he's ever faced off against, grows cocky as he searches for an opponent that can truly test him. And who better to challenge but Death himself? Chakan agrees to Death's terms: if Chakan wins, he will be granted immortality. If he loses, he's going to be Death's slave forever. After a long battle, Chakan is ultimately the one that comes out on top. Death, however, has one last trick up his sleeve: while does give Chakan eternal life, Chakan is also now cursed to wander alone forever unless he can purge all evil from the world. Then, and only then, will he be granted the peace of death that he comes to long for. What an amazing dark setup for a 16-bit game from 1992! It really lends the game a refreshingly adult tone. Chakan allows you to decide the order in which you tackle each of its elemental-themed worlds, and the stages hold both potions and weapons that have to be collected to progress. Somewhat like a Mega Man title, some stages that have obstacles that can only be surmounted by using a specific tool, so while it's not totally linear, it's not quite as freeform as it first appears. You also gain access to spells that provide a wide range of effects - some give you improved jumping abilities, while others can protect or heal - but these all require specific combinations of different color potions to activate, and as you might imagine, the better spells require the harder-to-find potions. I didn't find much need for them for most of the game, but they certainly help scaffold the challenge a bit if you find yourself struggling. The gameplay itself is fairly unique. Chakan has a double jump, he can attack in all eight directions, and if you hold down the attack button, he can hold his weapons in place - very useful when fending off flying/charging enemies and in striking sweet poses. The huge levels can become a bit labyrinthine as you get further into the game, but they never get so complicated that maps become necessary. A lot of patience is, however. Chakan has the teeth to back up its reputation as a *very* hard game. Enemies like to swoop at you when you least expect it, and many times you'll find a stage prematurely ended because you ever so slightly miscalculated a jump. It's not impossible by any measure, and the game gives you unlimited lives, but it will take quite awhile before you finally see your way through to the end. I was a but disappointed by the presentation, though. The cutscenes and the character designs look great, but much like Sega's Batman Returns, Chakan: The Forever Man's graphics suffers badly from the Genesis's limited color palette. The machine does bright, cartoony colors well, but the selection of available hues is lacking at darker end of the spectrum. As a result, everything that should be “dark“ ends up a dithered mess of green and purple. Yuck. The music, on the other hand, is pretty damned good, especially given that its using the Gems driver. I have to say though, I still find myself laughing when I hear Dhalsim's elephant entourage trumpeting at the Sega splash screen. Overall, if you aren't afraid of a challenge, I can't recommend Chakan highly enough. It has its flaws, sure, but it's more than unique enough to warrant an investment of your time. It might have taken me a long time to warm up to it, but once I did, I had an absolute blast with it. Happy October! :D _ No cheats were used during the recording of this video. NintendoComplete () punches you in the face with in-depth reviews, screenshot archives, and music from classic 8-bit NES games!
