Wrath of the Black Manta
Reviewed by Randy Jones
Hmm...Wrath of the Black Manta. This game is arguably one of the
worst ever made for the good old NES. I remember how I used to
play this game when I was a little kid, and how I used to think
to myself, "Man, this sucks." So, for old time's sake, I decided to
whip out my old NES and see just how bad Wrath of the Black Manta was.
Graphics 3 out of 10
Yup, the graphics are terrible. They function all right (a door
looks like a door) but they are extremely ugly and pixelated.
Even for the NES, these graphics are inexcusable. Oh yeah, did I
mention that the graphic designers decided to make only two types
of enemies? You have one stereotype bad guy in a blue suit with a
blue mustache, and then you have another stereotype bad guy who
looks the exact same, except that he was a red suit and a red
mustache. Big deal.
Music and Sound 2 out of 10
There isn't much music to speak of in Wrath of the Black Manta,
but I can assure you that it sucks. The music honestly reminds
me of something a middle school student made by accident in a
basic music synthesis course. Take it from me, you'll want to
play this one with the volume turned off.
Game Challenge 10 out of 10
Why is this game so hard, you ask? It gets such a high difficultly
rating because it is impossible to control your character (he's the
generic-looking Ninja dude in the purple suit). And even if it would
be possible to have some minute amount of control over the Black
Manta, it wouldn't matter at all because the enemies all take cheap
shots at you. Oh yeah, and let's not forget about the little "hints" the
game gives you. It really helps to find a piece of paper that says,
"Shoot to the left of the pipe to find a secret door." It is especially
helpful when there is no pipe to be seen anywhere.
Game Play-Fun
This is where the Wrath of the Black Manta really shines. Game Play?
Fun? There is no such thing in this game, unless you consider running
around a poorly-drawn, generic environment taking cheap shots from
enemies fun. Banging your head against the wall is more fun than
Wrath of the Black Manta.
Frustration
The frustration level is high. Very high. When you can't even manage
to do something as simple as jump in the air, you get very angry very
quickly. If you are not frustrated by this game, I would suggest that
you seek professional help.
Replayability 1 out of 10
The only reason I gave this game in a 1 for replayability is because
you might want to come back and play this game from time to time
just to laugh at it. Playing it again to try to win it is out of the
question due to the insane difficulty level and confusing game concept.
Game Value 7 out of 10
This game is worth about $10-20 used. Because it is so bad, you
could probably find it for much less. If you find Wrath of the Black
Manta for a decent price, I would suggest you buy it. That way you
can see for yourself just how bad this game is.
Overall
Buy this game, play it once, and marvel at how this game got past
Nintendo's quality control. Then take a large, blunt instrument and
smash it into a thousand pieces. You'll be surprised how good it will
feel to do that.