Cyber Citizen Shockman 2: A New Menace Review: The Superior Sequel

I remember how excited I was to dive into the world of Cyber Citizen Shockman when I got the chance to review the original game. Released in 1989, it was a time-loss retro adventure that experimented with many elements from classic game series. And while it was a really interesting historical oddity, it wasn’t fun as an actual game experience. So it’s amazing how much of a difference a game originally released some three years later could make. Put simply, Cyber Citizen Shockman 2: A New Menace is the superior game in every possible way. Not only is it fun to actually play, but it reinvigorated the series so dramatically that I’m now eager to check out other entries from Shinyuden in the future.

Cyber Citizen Shockman 2 still features our unfortunate heroes, Arnold and Sonya. I say unfortunate because they’re clearly in an abusive relationship with a demented Doc who refuses to return them to their human forms. Despite his promises, they’re still bionic badasses. Which, as it turns out, is fortunate since a new threat quickly reveals itself. Called the Ryho Empire, this group is armed with powerful technology, biological monstrosities, dangerous robots, and more besides. Their goal is to destroy Earth’s erstwhile defenders, AKA Arnold and Sonya.

The Invasion of the Ryho Empire

While the plot isn’t groundbreaking, it’s a huge step up from the garbled mess of the first game. I decided to play the most recent, translated version available of the game, but there’s also the original Japanese as well as the home console version included for those interested. What I most enjoyed about the plot this time around was how diabolical Emperor Ryho was, and how determined he was to get his way. He’s a satisfying villain, and that’s something the first game very much lacked. Also neat is that our heroes now have rivals. Their counterparts are the two Shockman Shades, named Theta and Mu. In my single-player outing, the masculine Theta was bound and determined to be the one to destroy Arnold. I can only assume that the same goes for Mu when Arnold and Sonya team up in two-player mode.

Fight For Your Life

One of the best things about Cyber Citizen Shockman 2 is that they ditched the pointless sword for pure projectile attacks. This fares very much like in the Mega Man X games, and you can fire bullets or charge up for a more powerful, but still pretty narrow, charged shot. There are also items you can pick up to use Turbo attacks. I’ll be totally honest; I’m not sure what the point of those is. The digital manual says some foes can only be hurt by Turbo, but I never encountered that. Furthermore, the manual doesn’t actually do a good job of explaining how to use them, and I often unleashed my Turbo attacks accidentally, only to find that it hadn’t damaged any enemies on screen. Definitely perplexing, but thankfully, that’s the only real weak spot in the sequel’s combat.

Besides running around and pew-pewing, Shockman 2 also features Shmup sections where you’re traveling in a sub or flying through space blasting ships. These are a lot of fun and a good break from the traditional platforming. My only complaint is that they seemed to feature zero health refills, making them substantially more difficult to get through. Thankfully, much like in the modern release of the original game, here you can use save states, as well as fast-forward the dialogue and even use cheats.

Bold, Beautiful Bosses

Unlike the last game, I truly found the boss battles in Cyber Citizen Shockman 2 to be challenging and rewarding. There are 12 bosses arrayed across the game’s nine stages, and not only do they all look dramatically different, but they all fight in unique ways. There are bosses that could have come out of the R-Type series, monstrous biological freaks that stretch to grab you. There are others that would fit in well in Ninja Gaiden, giant humanoids that attack you with fire and lightning; there’s even one that gave me flashbacks to Contra III, trapping you in an enclosed space while firing upon your ship. But my all-time favorite is a boss composed entirely of bubbles. You’d think he’d be a pushover, but this was one of the more challenging early bosses in the game, and it was bursting with personality.

Unruly Rival

While there’s a lot I enjoyed about the bosses, I have one complaint. The bosses in the last third of the game get ridiculous, forcing you to expertly weave between platforms, obstructions, and even giant pits while fighting them. And then there’s the battles against your rival, Theta. The easiest way to describe them is to compare them to fighting against Proto Man, just on steroids. Not only does Theta duck and jump to avoid your standard shots, but he’ll also summon huge bursts of energy to home in on you. And that’s just the first time. The second time, he used a completely unavoidable attack repeatedly. Though I avoided using cheats for most of this adventure, I had to turn on invincibility both times I faced Theta, and one time I had to use the “one hit kill” cheat, since, for whatever reason, my buster decided to stop firing. This forced me to rewind, face Theta again, and get ruthless.

Visually, Cyber Citizen Shockman 2: A New Menace is pretty gorgeous. Not only is the pixelated artwork varied and attractive, but there’s a lot of personality, too. If that isn’t enough, you can play with the shaders and other visual features to make it look like a game from another era. What really impressed me was the outstanding musical score. It’s just wonderful, and probably a good reason for that is that it was composed by Koji Hayama of Mega Man ZX Advent. Honestly, the only thing I missed from the first game was the cartoony world map screen. Otherwise, this sequel is honestly better, however you slice it.

The Future Is Bright

It’s rare for a sequel to be better than the original. It’s even rarer for it to so eclipse it that they feel like completely different species. Nevertheless, that’s the magic trick that Cyber Citizen Shockman 2: A New Menace pulls off. It’s a beautiful retro adventure full of great artwork and amazing music, with lots of accessibility options to make it a bit easier. While the goofy story is nothing to write home about, it’s a great adventure and a tribute to a lost era of Japanese-only videogames. If you’re a fan of game history or just enjoy platformers, be sure to check this one out.

Final Verdict: 4/5

Available on: Nintendo Switch (reviewed), PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Series X|S; Publisher: Ratalaika Games; Developer: Shinyuden; Players: 1-2; Released: September 22, 2023; ESRB: Everyone 10+ – Fantasy Violence, Mild Blood; MSRP: $5.99

Editor’s note: The publisher provided a review copy to Hey Poor Player.