There's something oddly compelling about the world of Japanese gaming, be it your traditional JRPG or a super wacky shoot-em-up, there's always something interesting going on there. I've personally dabbled in japan-only titles here and there, and while some were good, others were absolutely fantastic. One in particular was the Cyborg Kuro-chan series, originally based off of a Manga about a cat turned into a cyborg and given a minigun. I was curious to see how that translated into game form, and I encountered something rather unexpected. Cyborg Kuro-chan - Devil Fukkatsu is an on-rail sidescrolling shooter where the goal is to get to the end of the stage while destroying background elements and collecting new weapons for your arsenal and dodging or shooting anything that gets in your way with high-speed shooting action, followed by a boss round at the end of the stage. The stages generally follow a 1-1, 1-2 etc. pattern similar to the Super Mario Bros series.

Graphics: 7/10. For Game Boy Color, it's hard to find something with high detailed sprites moving at a fairly fast pace, and it's especially hard to find it done correctly. This game however, executes this incredibly well making it one of the most visually impressive Game Boy Color games, possibly to rival Shantae. Most of the graphics stay true to the original manga which is impressive since the artist's style is very hard to recreate, especially in 8-bit form.

Sound: 10/10. Now, if there's one company that is known for being the absolute best at videogame music, it's Konami. Konami did a spectacular job with the music in this game, and sounds reminiscent of Castlevania. The music is fast-paced which is perfect for the gameplay and really gets you into the chaotic rampage mood. It's most likely of the highest quality music for the Game Boy Color. Another particularly interesting fact is that they somehow managed to put in a very convincing meow sound effect. The Konami Sound Team certainly outdid themselves with this particular game, that's for sure.

Addictiveness: 8/10. The thing about action games is, even though there's a storyline, you can replay it over and over again even if you already know the full story. This reflects in this game since there's many possibilities for item drops, strategies, or simply just see how fast you can beat the level. The replay value of this game is a bit limited because enemy patterns and stage obstacles don't change, but it makes up for it by having addicting destruction.

Story: 4/10. Now, this game IS in japanese. There are only a couple things I really understand about it, but it's enough to get the jist of the plot. I'm fairly certain that the plot is something along the lines of Dr. Go resurrecting the devil and then letting it loose on a rampage. From there, Kuro-chan and Mi-kun must go on a journey to put a stop to Dr. Go as well as the devil himself. Along the way the two encounter the anti-hero Matatabi, but he is promptly defeated. At the end of their journey, they must go to space and must stop Dr. Go from causing any more damage to the earth.

Depth: 3/10. Unfortunately, as an on-rail shooter, you're very limited to what you can do and where you can go. The only thing that differs from this is the weapon drop and customization feature. Otherwise, the game is strictly linear. Still, the weapon customization is quite nice. You can use a lot of different weapons with different powers, ranges, types of attack and the like. You also get a gauge I like to call the Chaos Gauge. When you fill the Chaos Gauge, you can press both A and B together to do a fast dash attack that increased the firing speed of your weapons, as well as lets you use a sword by attacking in midair.

Difficulty: 8/10. I've had a great deal of trouble with this game, mostly because of the fact that you have to memorize exactly where some things are in the game so you can avoid them. The bosses thimselves are hard to hit, and deal a ton of damage to you if you touch them. You do have invincibility with your dash attack, but that can only be a one-time use in boss battles usually. You will surely have trouble with this game if you aren't patient with it at times, but once you know what's where you can zoom through it as fast as you want. I still haven't beaten the final boss, though. It almost feels like none of my attacks do much damage at all, and his attacks are incredibly difficult to dodge. I wish you luck if you try this game.

Overall: 7/10. One of the better games I've played for the Game Boy Color, from one of my favorite series as well. This game wasn't disappointing at all, and was quite fun despite how many times I lost. The art is pleasant to look at, the music is absolutely wonderful, and the gameplay is quite good for Game Boy Color standards. I'd recommend this to anyone who likes wacky characters with big weapons in a really fast shooting game. Or if you just really like cats.