Normy's Beach Babe-O-Rama (Genesis) Playthrough - NintendoComplete
246A playthrough of Electronic Arts' 1994 license-based platformer for the Sega Genesis, Normy's Beach Babe-O-Rama.
After Greendog, I felt that something else vaguely summer-themed was in order. Especially since a few days ago we had snow flurries. Seriously. It's May.
But anyways, Normy's Beach Babe-o-Rama was based on Keith Robinson's weekly comic strip, Making It. You play as Normy, "one son of the beach" (groan) according to the back of the box, who's chillaxin' on the beach when a UFO swoops down and kidnaps his harem of homely hotties. While Normy's standing there frozen in a WTF stupor, the beach suddenly transforms into a toxic waste dump. A random seagull informs him that he's a hero and gives him time-traveling sunblock, and after doing his best Peter North impression in applying the splodgy substance to his face, Normy finds himself magically whisked away to New Jersey circa 65 million BC. (Not The North Pole. Sorry if I misled anyone there. And if you don't get it, consider yourself lucky).
Normy finds himself confronted with all manner of ill-tempered, prehistoric things like dinosaurs, cavemen, and heat-seeking volcanic eruptions. He can choose to fight them with whatever he happens to find lying around, like a mallet that fires a spring-loaded boxing glove, or he can sprint - at speeds that would make Sonic jealous - either straight into, or over and away from the enemy. Once he reaches the end of an area, he'll save one of the kidnapped girls and, like a ginger Dr. Sam Becket, leaps to another time and place to save the next wayward soul.
The concept is neat. I like the idea of being able to choose my own pace in a game, but the balance here feels a bit off. Normy's regular walking speed is that of a leisurely stroll, which is to say that it is somewhat less urgent than these circumstances might call for. The alternative is Normy's sound barrier-shattering dash - you get a limited amount of dashing power that slowly recharges after its used (a lot like the dash in Tiny Toon Adventures: Buster Busts Loose on the SNES), and each time you use it, you shoot like a rocket across the screen. The sense of speed is great, but the likelihood that (unless you've memorized the levels) you won't be able to do it without falling straight into a bottomless pit makes it fairly frustrating to use. Neither option is ideal, as I'm sure you've already surmised.
Despite that, I had fun with the first half of the game. The graphics look really nice with their distinct comic style and bright colors, the sprites are sometimes funny with their animation, and unlike a lot of games of its era, every level has its own unique set of enemies. The controls are sloppy, but the earlier stages are forgiving enough to make them tolerable.
But by the time you hit stage five, good luck. You end up finding yourself pinned between unavoidable hits on both sides fairly often, and way too many enemy placements are meant to blindly knock you into insta-kill pits. The game gets pretty unforgiving by the end, and it usually feels more unfair than it does challenging.
I really wanted to like Normy's Beach Babe-O-Rama, but unfortunately, its gameplay has aged even worse than its name.
I much preferred Greendog.
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
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