Cocoron [Model TKR-8C]

Cocoron © 1991 Takeru.

Cocoron is a side scrolling platform game developed by Takeru. Tapir, an enigmatic blue wizard in spotted pajamas from the Dream World, sends the player on a quest to rescue princess Rua. But things quickly become more complicated and the player soon has to rescue other characters along the way, such as Santa Claus, the king of Trump castle and the blue fairy Cocoron. Tapir can manipulate people's dreams and this ability gives Cocoron an unique twist - the player can assemble his own character by combining one of the eight available heads to one of the eight available bodies (which both include several designs to choose from, resulting in literally hundreds of combinations! ). More than a mere physical appearance, each part also defines the character's attributes, such as his health, speed, how high he can jump and so forth. As a rule of thumb, heavier characters are slower than light ones, but have more health and resistance. There is also a list of eight different weapons to choose from (from boomerang to shurikens, umbrellas and music notes). They all come with different attack patterns and strength - some shoot straight whereas others fire along an arc or explode on contact. They can also be powered up, and collecting five power icons (symbolized by the weapon in use) upgrades the weapon to the next level (up to a maximum of five times). Colored eggs are scattered around each stage or left behind by defeated enemies - cracking them open release all kind of items, such as health, extra lives, weapon power-ups and colored orbs. The latter trigger special events - some power up the active weapon for a short amount of time, whereas others allow the player to control slides, grant him invincibility or refill his health bar. Cocoron features a world map and is divided into five different areas - the player is free to play them in any order and, interestingly, stages change in function of the sections he travels through. Finally, up to six different characters can be created and stored, and returning to the house at the center of the map allows to switch between them.