A seemingly perfect replica of the Taito 1991 coin-op that has to be seen to be believed. It's a pretty simple affair but hugely fun to play - especially with two players - and if Channel 4 ever decided to do a "top 10 weirdest videogames of all time" this would surely be in the top 3; probably behind some offerings from the late Bill Williams (of Necromancer fame).
A cartoon-ish side scroller where you play a character who traverses strange colourful places bopping even stranger adversaries on the head with a magical stick, the playability is spot on - it's enormous fun coshing the various bizarre foe over their heads as they march towards you in droves. Once you've done this, little animals of various sorts are freed and flee to live a happy life somewhere - one presumes. Simple, but with all the hallmarks of a Taito zany and colourful classic such as the wonderful Liquid Kids - it's very much set apart from other games.
Some of the enemies, bosses, and things in the background are about as bizarre as it possibly gets and you find yourself eating through all the continues to find out what the warped minds at Taito have got waiting for you from level to level. A special mention has to be made to your "panic button" - the thing in videogames that you save for that moment when you're in a sticky situation. In Pu Li Ru La, instead of something so boring as an explosion going off and the screen shaking, you are treated to such things as a stampede of animals accompanied by a frenzied bongo arrangement annihilating your enemies as they rush past; a microwave oven that falls from the sky and opens to reveal a man in a purple mask and purple underpants who rolls your enemy into a ball of wool and then cooks them in the microwave (yep - you did read that right); and my particular favourite - a strange smiling camp pink gingerbreadman-like figure that dances and flits around the screen at 100mph to a monged piece of music and then hastily buggers off leaving you to rub your eyes in disbelief at what you just saw.
Maybe a little short - but you'll keep coming back to it because of its playability, weirdness and surprises. A brilliant game and one for those who like things a bit different, who are down on realism, and believe Pu Li is how videogames should actually be. Thank you Taito.
Review by Dave Harvey.
Brand new, sealed. ACTUAL ITEM PICTURED.
Double CD case so shrinkwrap sealed rather than cellophane sealed with a tear-off strip.
Note that we only ever crop our photos. We never enhance/retouch them!
A cartoon-ish side scroller where you play a character who traverses strange colourful places bopping even stranger adversaries on the head with a magical stick, the playability is spot on - it's enormous fun coshing the various bizarre foe over their heads as they march towards you in droves. Once you've done this, little animals of various sorts are freed and flee to live a happy life somewhere - one presumes. Simple, but with all the hallmarks of a Taito zany and colourful classic such as the wonderful Liquid Kids - it's very much set apart from other games.
Some of the enemies, bosses, and things in the background are about as bizarre as it possibly gets and you find yourself eating through all the continues to find out what the warped minds at Taito have got waiting for you from level to level. A special mention has to be made to your "panic button" - the thing in videogames that you save for that moment when you're in a sticky situation. In Pu Li Ru La, instead of something so boring as an explosion going off and the screen shaking, you are treated to such things as a stampede of animals accompanied by a frenzied bongo arrangement annihilating your enemies as they rush past; a microwave oven that falls from the sky and opens to reveal a man in a purple mask and purple underpants who rolls your enemy into a ball of wool and then cooks them in the microwave (yep - you did read that right); and my particular favourite - a strange smiling camp pink gingerbreadman-like figure that dances and flits around the screen at 100mph to a monged piece of music and then hastily buggers off leaving you to rub your eyes in disbelief at what you just saw.
Maybe a little short - but you'll keep coming back to it because of its playability, weirdness and surprises. A brilliant game and one for those who like things a bit different, who are down on realism, and believe Pu Li is how videogames should actually be. Thank you Taito.
Review by Dave Harvey.
Brand new, sealed. ACTUAL ITEM PICTURED.
Double CD case so shrinkwrap sealed rather than cellophane sealed with a tear-off strip.
Note that we only ever crop our photos. We never enhance/retouch them!
