Chiki Chiki Boys (Genesis) Playthrough - NintendoComplete

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2018Nov 22

A playthrough of Sega's 1993 action-platforming game for the Sega Genesis, Chiki Chiki Boys. Chiki Chiki Boys for the Genesis is a port a classic Capcom arcade platformer that was released back in 1990, but you might know it better under the name the arcade game was released with in North America: Mega Twins. I have no clue why they named the US Genesis port the same as the Japanese arcade game, but they did, so I guess name recognition wasn't a priority for whatever reason. Strange name aside, Chiki Chiki Boys was one of the early anime-style platformers Capcom created for their CPS-1 hardware, somewhat similar in nature to Willow, Nemo, and Magic Sword. Like many of Capcom's arcade platformers of the time, it carefully balanced action, platforming, and RPG elements to give it more depth and longevity than the typical arcade title, it featured simultaneous 2-play co-op action, and it showed off Capcom's typically stellar attention to polish and detail in its graphics and music. And check out that awesome Mega Man "inspired" boss battle at 30:05! Someone seems to have really liked Guts Man! :) And even though it arrived a solid three years after the arcade game, the Sega Genesis adaption is thoroughly impressive and surprisingly faithful to the original. To begin, you chose which of the Mega Twins (err... "Chiki Chiki Boys") to save the world as - the brothers have slightly different abilities - as well as the order in which you'd like to conquer the earlier stages. The gameplay is smooth, solid, and simple, but it is demanding. Killing enemies and finding hidden caches of coins will allow you to purchase upgrades to your weapons and life gauge, and you'll absolutely need them. As cutesy as the game looks, the challenge level climbs at a fairly stiff rate throughout. It is a load of fun, though, and I really enjoyed learning the stages and improving my technique as I worked my way through. The only real downer is that the Genesis version axes the 2-player mode. I certainly understand why the compromise was made, but it was a bit of a shame to see the feature left on the cutting room floor. The graphics and sound are pretty amazing on the Genesis. The Genesis was always known for its quality arcade ports, and Chiki Chiki Boys fits it nicely. Though it has been cut down a bit to run on the weaker console hardware (fewer colors, the levels have been "chunked" into smaller segments, and some small details are missing), it looks incredibly close to the original arcade game. The art direction is distinct, sharp, and super colorful, the animation is fluid, and the entire thing runs at a great clip, typically without signs of slowdown or flickering. I do have one small gripe, though: the aspect ratio is weirdly off. In lifting the sprites directly from the arcade game, they appear to not been scaled from their native resolution. The problem seems to be that the CPS-1 displays at 384x224 on a 4:3 monitor. Since the Genesis only displays 320x224, the 1:1 pixel representation results in sprites being stretched much wider than they appeared on the arcade game. Like I said, it's a small gripe, and this probably was the best option to keep the graphic detail as close a match as possible to the original. You probably won't notice unless you really scrutinize it, anyway. In closing, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Chiki Chiki Boys to any fan of Capcom platform games. The game is criminally underrated, and deserves another shot. And this Genesis port is an excellent way to play it - arcade ports don't get much better than this. As good as Marvel Land was, this one beats it. _ No cheats were used during the recording of this video. NintendoComplete (http://www.nintendocomplete.com/) punches you in the face with in-depth reviews, screenshot archives, and music from classic 8-bit NES games! Visit for the latest updates! / 540091756006560 / nes_complete