Top Hunter - Roddy & Cathy (NGM-046)

SNK Neo-Geo MVS cart. published 31 years ago:

Top Hunter - Roddy & Cathy (c) 1994 SNK.

Top Hunter: Roddy & Cathy is a horizontally-scrolling beat-em-up for one or two players who take on the role of the galaxy's top bounty hunters, Roddy and Cathy, who are sent to put a stop to a colony of galactic pirates called the Klaptons, who threaten and plunder the cosmos. Four high-ranking Klaptons have taken control of four elemental planets and big rewards are offered for the capture of Sly, Misty, Mr. Bigman and Dr. Burn.

The game's action takes place on two plains, with players able to jump between the foreground and background at will. This switching mechanic is integral to getting through some parts of the game. In addition to standard jump and attack mechanics, both players have the ability to extend their arms outwards. This ability can be used to grab items and enemies, some of which can then be thrown. The arm can also be extended vertically upwards, allowing players to pull themselves up onto ledges, pull items down to them, or pull handles to trigger events, such as dropping rocks onto enemies.

Each stage has several collectables to be found, including health, weapon power-ups and extra time. At certain points during a stage, players may come across a Mecha; this is a bi-pedal mechanical walker that gives players more power. The mecha also has limited health, however and the player will be forced out of it when it starts flashing.

Top Hunter: Roddy & Cathy is split into four planets: Forest, Ice, Wind, and Fire and players can choose which planet to tackle first. Depending on what stage is picked first, the layout of that stage will change. For example, if the player picks the Ice world before the Forest world, the Forest world's starting layout will be different.

After completing all four worlds, the player is taken to the final stage, where they must fight a rematch with the four bosses before the final battle with the game's antagonist, Captain Klapton.

- TECHNICAL -

Runs on the SNK "Neo-Geo MVS" hardware.
Game ID : NGM-046

Players : 2
Control : 8-way joystick
Buttons : 3
=> [A] Punch/Arm stretch/Throw objects, [B] Jump, [C] Change planes

- TRIVIA -

Released in May 1994.

The game borrows plenty of ideas from many of SNK's most popular fighting games at the time of its release. The two-plane stages were first used in "Fatal Fury - King of Fighters", also Roddy & Cathy feature special moves that fans of "Fatal Fury - King of Fighters" and "Art of Fighting" are sure to recognize.

Mashing the attack button will make Roddy and Cathy go into a combo, with Roddy eventually letting out a flurry of punches, while Cathy does a Hyakuretsukyaku/Lightning Kick move. Doing a quarter-circle forward motion and hitting the attack button precisely will make the player do a Ko'ouken (or a hadouken with one hand) attack, while doing a shoryuken motion will make the player do a shoryuken/koho attack. The player can also do Terry Bogard's power wave as well.

Pony Canyon / Scitron released a limited-edition soundtrack album for this game (Top Hunter - Shisekai Gakkyoku Zatsugidan - PCCB-00157) on July 21, 1994.

- STAFF -

Producer : Eikichi Kawasaki
Planners : Yasumi Tozono (Tozono), M. Matsuda, Y. Hashimoto
Front Designers : Tatsuya Shinkai, Khozoh Nagashima, C.A.C. Yamasaki, Mikarin Nishida
Back Designers : Hirolin Hajima, Munk Etoh, Kaori Kusunoki, Eri Kohjitani, Oda Nobunaga
Programmers : Carib, Shochan, Imasa. F, Data Tada
Sound : Yoko, Jojoha Kitapy, Shiba Pooh, Akky, Masahiko Hataya (Papaya), Toshio Shimizm (Shimizm)
Designers : Nao Q., Lolie Nishioka, K. Kinoko, Mohko Hung
Special Thanks : James Hove, H. Tanaka, Miyagami, STG Oyaji

- PORTS -

* CONSOLES:
[JP] SNK Neo-Geo AES (june.24, 1994) "Top Hunter - Roddy & Cathy [Model NGH-048]"
[JP] SNK Neo-Geo CD (Sep. 29, 1994) "Top Hunter - Roddy & Cathy [Model NGCD-048]"
[US] Sony PS2 (may.05, 2008) "SNK Arcade Classics Vol.1 [Model SLUS-21724]"
[US] Sony PSP (may.05, 2008) "SNK Arcade Classics Vol.1 [Model ULUS-10338]"
[KO] Sony PS2 (may.29, 2008) "SNK Arcade Classics Vol.1 [Model SLKA-25424]"
[US] Nintendo Wii (jul.29, 2008) "SNK Arcade Classics Vol.1 [Model RVL-P-RNCE]"
[EU] Sony PSP (Oct. 17, 2008) "SNK Arcade Classics Vol.1 [Model ULES-01105]"
[EU] Nintendo Wii (Oct. 31, 2008) "SNK Arcade Classics Vol.1 [Model RVL-P-RJZP]"
[EU] Sony PS2 (Nov. 21, 2008) "SNK Arcade Classics Vol.1 [Model SLES-55232]"
[JP] Sony PSP (May. 21, 2009) "SNK Arcade Classics Vol.1 [Model ULJS-193]"

- CONTRIBUTE -

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