Cannon Dancer – Osman (NS) - Review
by Evan Norris , posted on 16 April 2023 / 2,652 Views
It would be odd to find a video game enthusiast unfamiliar with the game Strider, the legendary side-scrolling action-platformer Capcom launched in arcades in 1989. Yet even die-hard players might come up empty when faced with the name Cannon Dancer, or, as it's known outside Japan, Osman. A spiritual successor to the beloved Strider, Cannon Dancer is one of the rarest arcade games of the 1990s, a title previously destined for obscurity. Thankfully, publisher ININ and developer Ratalaika Games have pushed the game back into the spotlight with its first ever console port: Cannon Dancer – Osman.
Like Strider, Cannon Dancer is a 2D side-scrolling action game with cinematic sensibilities. Players control an acrobatic assassin named Kirin, or Osman depending on the region, on a quest to destroy the evil slaver Abdullah, a sorceress intent on world domination. The story, filled with sudden betrayals, inexplicable supporting characters, and confusing segues, is borderline incomprehensible, so don't worry if you can't follow along.
Narrative isn't the point of the game, of course. It's all about action and spectacle. And, on those terms, Cannon Dancer is one of the most memorable arcade games you'll ever play. Indeed, the moment-to-moment gameplay is spectacular, thanks to Kirin's flashy, silky-smooth movement and offensive maneuvers. Players don't have an abundance of moves at their disposal — Kirin can attack with a flurry of kicks, slide, jump, and perform a limited-use "fatal attack" — but they all chain into each other in an incredibly rhythmic way. This is a title that earns the name "Dancer".
Furthermore, there's a wonderful fluidity to how Kirin navigates each level. He can hang under and vault over platforms with ease, run down steep slopes, and grip onto curved walls effortlessly, allowing for smooth vertical movement.
All of this takes place in several jaw-dropping locales, many based on a fascinating steampunk Arabian aesthetic. There's the futuristic, high-tech city of Agadan; the sun-baked Cabil Desert; the churning, azure Indian Ocean; and several more. The game's production design is simply phenomenal, with models, backgrounds, animations, and sprite work that will routinely blow you away. In short, Cannon Dancer is a work of art.
Regrettably, it's also greatly unbalanced, in terms of difficulty. For much of the game — stages one through four — Cannon Dancer gets close to an acceptable challenge level. Kirin has only three health points and is vulnerable to even the lowliest of enemies, which makes the smallest mistakes deadly, but at the same time the game graciously allows restarts at the spot of death, instead of sending players back to some checkpoint. In addition, while bosses can dispatch Kirin rather easily, a single fatal attack (limited to three uses per life) will typically take roughly 80 percent of a boss' hit points. While this is a life-saver, it unintentionally takes the fun away from boss battles.
Things start to get much harder in stage five and then go completely off the rails in the sixth and final stage. It's in stage six that the game, for the first time, installs checkpoints, forcing players to fight through the same gauntlet over and over again. When you couple that with swarming enemies and four straight boss fights before the final boss encounter, it all becomes untenable. Cannon Dancer is a game undermined by its own stinginess — no doubt a product of its quarter-munching medium.
Luckily, Ratalaika's re-release accounts for this steep difficulty. It provides several optional "enhancements", including double jump, invincible jump, invincible slide, and invincible attack. If those aren't enough, you can also activate several cheats like unlimited fatal attacks and invincibility. Finally, as with all recent Ratalaika ports and collections, the game boasts save states and a rewind feature. In other words, you will absolutely be able to complete the game, no matter your skill level or amount of patience. It just might feel like you didn't earn it.
The developer has also split the game into two modes: Standard and Challenge. The former mode allows rewind, save states, cheats, and enhancements, but disables all achievements. The latter mode is designed to replicate the original arcade experience, with only a single credit. Even Challenge mode allows up to two enhancements, a clear sign that the unadulterated game is not for the faint of heart.
Aside from these special features and modes, Cannon Dancer – Osman offers mappable controls, a single wallpaper, Ratalaika's trademark CRT filter, and a few display options. You can also play the game in the Japanese original Cannon Dancer or the international Osman version, although apart from subtitles they're indistinguishable. The studio missed an opportunity to add more bonus features to this console port, such as an art gallery, developer commentary, or online leaderboards, and to spruce up the main menu, which comes off as spartan. As it stands now, this release feels like a step back from Ratalaika's recent work with the Turrican and Wonder Boy properties.
Because of the lack of supplementary content and the game's short running time (with enhancements activated and unlimited continues you could complete the game in approximately 30 minutes), the value proposition of Cannon Dancer – Osman is rather low, particularly for more casual fans. For hardcore arcade connoisseurs, however, there's always the option to try for a one-credit run, which would extend the game's replay value considerably.
Once an artifact of the 90s arcade scene, Cannon Dancer has a second chance to prove itself courtesy of Cannon Dancer – Osman. The base game is one of the boldest, prettiest, most audacious arcade games of the era, even if it's eventually undermined by a late-game difficulty spike. Fortunately, that difficulty is mitigated by the re-release's added enhancements, cheats, and save states. If you're an arcade enthusiast or gaming historian, consider picking this one up. If you're less motivated by high scores and one-credit clears, however, you may wish to invest your money elsewhere.
This review is based on a digital copy of Cannon Dancer – Osman for the NS, provided by the publisher.
