Cadash is perhaps better known as an Arcade multiplayer action RPG, of which there aren't too many of outside of Shadow over Mystara and Gauntlet. It did receive a well acclaimed TG16 port, though, which appears to be quite faithful to the original cabinet, at least compared to the Mega Drive version. I haven't got MAME set up to make an informed case for or against it, so I'll give Taito the benefit of the doubt.
Though this first week was intended to get a few obvious TG16 staples out of the way, with a cursory explanation of why they won't be covered in detail, Cadash is one I might be reconsidering later on. That's if I ever figure out how to stop dying, I mean. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
Keeping Up With the Cadash-er-ings (I'm Really Sorry for This One)
Welcome to Cadash! But first! Our feature presentation: BAAROGUE, The Evillest Ovine Since Black Sheep.Ruthless kidnappings are the worst kind of kidnappings! Also, the princess is incongruously anime compared to the rest of the game's presentation. Not to get too victim blame-y, but if you go around looking too anime of course you're going to get ruthlessly kidnapped. Deerzar."... This would be their Final Fantasy." *rousing music swells up*Love that logo. Very "Shadow of the Beast" (though this might pre-date it, since both are from 1989).Anyway, I'm going to go for the Rogue. Because someone decided the Rogue should be a Ninja. I'm not going to argue.Well, this is a Taito game, so...Of course, this has the (beneficial?) effect of making the King sound like Wolverine.I'd better cap this opening speech. It might be important.Nah, forget it. I'm a Ninja, not a historian.The yellow gate here is a hint that the game has a bit of an open-world flavor to it. I'll need a key to get past it, but there's no telling how far into the game it is. (Yes, I realise there were portentous locked doors in starting castles since the first Dragon Warrior, but just give me this, will you?)This is more like it: the chatty NPCs have been replaced with these puke green raspberry monsters as we head into the first dungeon.The enemies get progressively uglier as you descend, but they don't get much harder. Yet.These skeletons are the first real threat down here, since you need to get past their shield. Enemies have the unfortunate tendency do that instant respawn thing that was so much fun in Ninja Gaiden - where simply passing the same pixel on the stage creates another one.Thank you, expository future corpse. I always feel bad for listening to what these people have to say just to have them die immediately after. If I had the foresight, I'd plug my ears and carry them to the nearest hospital.Bub the Ninja did quite well against this Black Pudding boss, despite having almost zero hit points going into the battle. Unfortunately, the boss decided it had had quite enough of using predictable patterns that allowed me to skillfully dodge most of its attacks, and just ate me instantly.I'm not letting this game beat me that easily. Enter Bob the Wizard.I realised which button was the talk button, so now I'm boning up on as much information as possible before jumping back in. Maybe one of these people will tell me how to find more curatives.Nope, just information about the joystick lever. A lever is a weird thing to call it, right? I mean, even beyond the whole "fourth wall breaking" part. At least they didn't try to stay in character and call it your "magical control wand".The Wizard doesn't start with any spells, I don't think, but then I later discovered that the spellcasting has a trick to it. You have to hold down the attack button, and then let go when the desired spell appears over your head.Of course, none of this magic is any good against skeletons for some reason, so I went back to the stick.At least I was able to hit the skeleton down this slope. The ninja just threw stars over its head.These goddamn spiders! They web you, which acts both as a poison and as a means to slash your movement rate in half. How cheerfully obnoxious of them.
I forgot to cap it because I was too busy hating the universe and everything that exists within it, but Bob met an unfortunate demise on the following lava rock bridge trap before the boss and with him dies any motivation to keep playing. For now.
Cadash does have a certain proto-Dark Souls appeal to it, however, by the way it makes those first few experience levels come quick and easy: you get the sense with a little more patience and a bit of grinding, I'd be powering through that first dungeon and finding my way to a town where I might be able to upgrade my weapons/magic and buy a few herbs with all that gold I keep picking up. As a result, I don't feel like I'm quite done with this game, for better or worse. I'll put a big ol' asterisk next to it on the "TurboMento Maybe?" list.
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