Reviewed and only available Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X/S, Playstation 4/5 and PC. Released by ININ Games – Release on April 13th 2023. Physical releases for Switch and Playstation are available on ININ Games.
“Osman” (named “Cannon Dancer” in Japan) was a spiritual successor and unofficial sequel to “Strider”. It hit the arcades back in 1996 and, although it had some success in Japan, it failed to meet expectations overseas. Gathering some cult status, it has now found its way to modern consoles. But can it live up to its cult status? Let’s find out.
A Dystopian Martial Arts Adventure
The story takes place in the late 21st century dystopian world where the Earth is under the control of a single federal government. It’s here where Abdullah, an evil sorceress, wants to take over the world by causing widespread terror and panic. As a player, you take control of Kirin, a cannon dancer, who is a martial arts specialist and mercenary. Kirin will face several enemies and bosses who have a personal vendetta against him. Personally, I couldn’t make heads or tails out of why everyone wants a shot at you, but then again, that’s not why you play these kinds of games. It’s all about gameplay, leaderboard placements, and cramming that next coin in the slot to give it another shot, especially with an Arcade Hall game like this. And that’s exactly where my first con for this game comes up. With Arcade Hall games, you would expect a nice leaderboard where you could show off how good you really are at the game. Although there is a chance at the end of a run to fill in your name for the leaderboard, the leaderboard itself is nowhere to be found in the menus. I know this is a port, but why keep the option for it if you’re not even going to use it?
Unique Attacks and Challenging Bosses
The gameplay, on the other hand, is as great as you could expect from a fighting game. Kirin has two ways to fight off enemies. Your basic backflip kick can be upgraded up to 5 shadow duplicates of yourself by picking up power-up vessels. These duplicates stay wherever you started your first attack and keep attacking there for several seconds before vanishing. Your second is a special attack that can only be used if you have a corresponding bar left. This is a real lifesaver when you are battling a boss. Most times this special chips off one-third of a life bar, so you want to save your specials for these encounters. A downside to this is that boss battles lose all form of difficulty and challenge. I found myself stacking up those specials or just letting myself die (cause you start with all 3 bars when you respawn) so I could “cheat” myself around those bosses. Boss battles are fun and give just enough change in combat to keep the game fresh.
Enemies are thrown at you in all forms, from simple foot soldiers or giant robots to flying totem pole heads, all unique in their own way. The further you progress, the stronger enemies get. Every time you die, you will lose a shadow and thus attack power. In the first few stages, you won’t really notice any difference, but around stage 4, you will start noticing a significant difference when you’re down on power. Stages are beautifully animated and take you on a trip through a futuristic city, a desert, the open seas, and eventually an all-out battle above earth. It fits perfectly with the ridiculous weirdness this game has to offer.
Accessibility Features and Short Gameplay
Osman’s console port comes with several accessibility features, including filters and upgraded graphics, save states and offers the option to play the game in either Japanese or English. The game features both a standard and challenge mode, each with accessibility features like extra lives (up to 8), automatic fighting, and double jumps. In standard mode, players can also use cheats like invincibility mode, unlimited health and power, and more. To prevent the game from becoming too easy in challenge mode, players can only choose 2 options to enhance their experience. Personally, I only used the enhancements for extra lives, and I still had 5 left when I reached the end (you gain extras upon reaching a certain amount of points). That’s where my second con comes around. The game is short! Very short, to be honest. I managed to reach the end of the game in about 30 minutes. And turning on any of the accessibility features doesn’t help this in any way. Of course, this isn’t a problem if you play this in an arcade hall, but on a home console system, it is a major letdown in my opinion. I would have loved to see the developer put in an extra level or 2 or maybe an extra hard difficulty setting or new game mode to extend the length and replayability a bit more, considering that two of the original developers worked on this port. But a man can only dream. The soundtrack and sound effects are just what you could expect of a game like this and fit perfectly with the style.
"Osman/Cannondancer is not for everyone. But if you have a soft spot for retro games, in general, you're going to be in for a treat. The lack of a global leaderboard is a big con, and the game could have done with a few more extras, like an extra game mode or higher difficulty setting for replayability. Overall, it is a nice package, and it's the first time this cult classic is playable outside arcades."
