210. Warpman (Namco, Famicom, 1985)

Warpman is the sequel to 1981 Namco arcade game Warp & Warp, and is also the first Namco-published Famicom game that is not just a port of an arcade game. Gameplay in Warpman is more or less the same as its arcade predecessor: you are warping between 2 types of levels destroying aliens.

The first level type has you walking around a mostly empty arena shooting enemies who constantly spawn until you defeat a certain number. The second type has you laying bombs like in Bomberman, though the arcade original actually predates even the earliest Bomberman title by 2 years.

Warpman differentiates itself by adding an extra life system. Special enemies will occasionally run from one corner of the map to another while carrying a letter. If you defeat them and collect all the letters to spell "EXTRA", you receive an extra life. And even more crucially, while Warp & Warp repeated the same 2 levels indefinitely, Warpman actually has different level layouts for its 2 level types, so the novelty doesn't wear off immediately.

Still, I can't find a ton to enjoy about Warpman. The gameplay isn't terrible but it's also extremely basic. And even though they at least look & sound a lot better than the 4-years-older original, the graphics and sound are respectively boring and a little grating.

2/5, Very basic arcade action