Chakan: The Forever Man was developed by Paul Hutchinson and published by Sega in 1992 for the North American and European market. The game is based on Thunder Mace, a comic book series by Robert A. Kraus that was created in 1986.
GAME DESCRIPTION
Chakan: The Forever Man for the Game gear was released on December 8, 1992 in the North American and European market. For an early release, it is considered a dark, wicked world of the monster that was not common until later in the video game history.
It is based on the comic book of the same name by Robert A. Kraus, with many elements, including Chakan himself, taken into account when the game was released on the Sega Genesis and the Game Gear.
Explained in the first person by Chakan himself, he is a formidable warrior that has been steeped in the darkest mysticism. His ego grew to incredible proportion, to the point that Death himself challenged him in a duel. With his arrogant nature, he accepted a duel against the being in order to get eternal life.
After a fierce fight, he won, but this somehow leads to his own doom as Death keep the promise with its own, twisted interpretation. Chakan is forced to wander in agony, haunted by the pain of Death’s victims. However, he can be freed to rest in peace if the beats of darkness are all destroyed.
Chakan start his twenty torturous lifetimes, spending his time in subterranean mazes of horror, killing fiends, demons and any dark entity in the supernatural world. Doing so will release him from Death’s curse and only then, he will find rest.
Chakan is a platformer. You start as him in some kind of cosmic world, equipped with his basic sword. This safe zone allows you to select one of the six levels available from the start. Each level represents an element:
On nightime levels, Jonathan will venture into a longer level, first confronting the brides on the second scene onward, and then fighting Dracula’s many forms.
- Portal I: Air
- Portal II: Earth
- Portal III: Water
- Portal IV: Fire
- Portal V: Ice
- Portal VI: Lava
The level can be cleared in any order, but there is also an optimal order since some items found in the level makes the other level easier.
Chakan can walk while crouching, roll and double jump. He can slash in front him, upward and in a swirling motion when in the air.
An important aspect of the game is the alchemy. In the cosmic world as well as all the level, you can find gray, black, yellow and green potion. When pausing the game, you can see how much you have of them as well as the possible combination you can do. There are 8 combinations :
- The horn: Summon Death, bringing you back at the cosmic world without negative consequence.
- The Hourglass: Slow enemies
- The scythes: Strikes all enemies on the screen (including bosses). Basic enemies will be killed in one hit.
- The confusion: Cause your control to be reversed. This alchemy negatively impacts Chakan
- The infinite symbol: Invulnerability for a short time.
- The eyes icon: Make you invisible, causing the enemy not to attack you. You can still be hurt if you are hit by the enemy that is deadly to the touch.
- The sword icon: Double damage
- The skull icon: Restore Chakan’s health.
During his journey, he will also come across upgraded sword that is stronger against a specific type of enemies. There is the fire, ice and lighting sword in the game. The lighting sword throw a projectile time each time Chakan swing with it.
Chakan : The Forever Man Playthrough
The playthrough use the original USA version of Chakan: The Forever man. The goal of the run is beat the game with the optimal level order without getting hit once, at the highest difficulty level. The secondary goal is to collect all the potions as well as the hidden three swords.
TAS tools were used in this playthrough.