Chippoke Ralph no Daibouken - Great Adventure of Little Ralph

 Settling my old debt once again with a PSX game that I played as a kid. There was this PSX Platformer that features the main protagonist got cursed by the enemy into a Child who sets for a journey of Hack and Slash adventure. When I had my Vita, I just got to know that particular game name was Chippoke no Ralph which was a Japan exclusive PSX game released back in 1999. Though good thing that I didn't purchase it on PSN back then. Recently I just got time to give my full attention for this game and I was in for a rude awakening because Chippoke no Ralph is definitely one of the more brutal Platformer on modern consoles. To save everyone's misery of playing this Retro Difficulty game, I will impart everything on my journey in This article.

 The premise of Chippoke Ralph no Daibouken is your standard typical JRPG trope where the world is overwhelmed by the threat of Demon Army. Being one of the most effective warrior from the human side, the main protagonist Ralph confront the Demon Army General only to be attacked with foul play with a curse magic that rendered him having a body of a child. In order to save her lover, Ruticia tried to buy Ralph some time by raining down magic attacks only to be kidnapped by the Demon General as she turns out to be a descendant from ancient bloodline which are crucial for the Demon Army world domination plan. Saved by a sentient Holy Sword, Ralph sets out a journey to save his lover in his diminutive condition.

 Chippoke Ralph no Daibouken is a traditional platformer game similar to Old school titles like Castlevania or Ghost and Goblins. In this game players control the boy hero Ralph overcoming many Deathtraps and Demon Army threats in order to save his lover and regain his old body. For a Platformer game released near the end of PSX lifecycle, Chippoke Ralph difficulty curve just doesn't make sense as Ralph easily dies within 1-2 hits and some of the Bottomless pit deathtraps can be very unforgiving. Not to mention the Powerups that Ralph can obtain doesn't help much when it comes to survivability thus fully demands the skill from the player side to make Ralph stay survive because Ralph can die from some horrible deaths. While Chippoke Ralph have some means to obtain extra life throughout the game, those Life extending resources are very Scarce and even got some deathtrap hurdles to overcome, So don't rely much on that either.

 Chippoke Ralph no Daibouken overall got 5 Stages available in the initial difficulty which are very absurd to be considered as "Easy". Then the player can also access 3 extra stages on Normal Difficulty complete with new Ending where Ralph have to travel on Flying Fortress which got some nasty 13 Death Chambers right before the Final Boss which is simply a torture if you don't play using Save states. All in all I don't think It simply worth the struggle for average players to waste time going through the absurd obstacles in the Normal route for the ending which is arguably inferior compared to the Easy route one.

Seriously with the assets that this game have, Chippoke Ralph could have been better off as a Metroidvania game because the sort of Hyper difficult platforming pretty much met its demise by the time of SNES era.

 Chippoke Ralph got assortments bosses to fight which are actually way easier compared to the Deathtraps that are spread out throughout the stage as long as you are patient enough with the attack patterns. By the end of the Normal route after laying waste all all of the Demon General, you will get to face the Mastermind of the Demon Army which is no other than a Megalomaniac Human 

 Apart from the insane platforming Difficulty, what sets apart Chippoke Ralph is that you got Fighting game segments on some boss fights. You got 2 of these Fighting Mode boss fights on Easy mode and extra 2 more on the Normal difficulty. Compared to the Stage Deathtraps, these bosses are relatively easy including the Final Boss as there means to cheese the fight as Ralph's QCB move is quite good at pressuring the boss.

 If you played the Easy mode, the game ends after you defeat the Demon General that Ralph faced in the prologue which Ralph successfully rescue his lover shown in gratitious fanservice and simply teleported back to their hometown.

 If the player somehow managed to finish the Normal Mode, Ralph still managed to save his lover albeit in more dramatic fashion as the stakes are made higher. Against all odds of certain death as the Death Fortress are blasted into the space, Ralph able to return safely with the help of his Holy Sword Companion which proceed to go into rest until the Evil threat rise once again. To be honest the effort required to unlock the Normal ending just doesn't worth it if you play this game in normal way.

 Overall Chippoke Ralph no Daibouken is low-mid tier platforming at best because it was a game product that was released way too late for its type. It is not exactly Kusoge but modern gamers won't be able to enjoy this game unless they are looking for some hardcore challenge and enjoyed something like Super Meatboy.