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The Firemen (SNES) Review

The Firemen (SNES) Cover
The Firemen (SNES) 1994

In the last article I covered Human Entertainment’s game that we got here in North America in SOS, Today we’ll be covering one of their other games that didn’t get a release here in The Firemen but only was released in Europe and Japan and I’m not quite sure why that was. It’s definitely got more action than the other firefighter game released on the Super Nintendo in the Ignition Factor.

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The Firemen (SNES) 1

There are some pretty surprisingly complex controls on display here, you press Y to shoot upwards, B to spray the ground, X throws a grenade that can be thrown that explodes almost like a giant water balloon.

The Firemen (SNES) 2

At certain points in the game you have to crawl under fire by pressing and holding the A button, Keep in mind you can’t use the hose while doing so. If you hold L or R you can strafe which was extremely useful to not having to keep turning around and this really opened up the gameplay for me.

The Firemen (SNES)3

Oh and at first if you notice that the text is taking way too long, pressing the select button will speed things up for you.

You have your buddy Danny who goes through the stages with you. I always through the firemen was actually a coop game but this is just a computer and you can’t actually control him. Do you find it strange that he’s the only one that can open a door while I’m stuck carrying around the big hose? And he must be wearing the most flame retardant suit I’ve ever seen. Nothing is stopping him from barreling into flames with his axe while I sit back.

The Firemen (SNES)5

The storyline is simple, the year is 2010 civilization has progressed very little in the last 20 years? At a Christmas Party in a chemical company a fire starts by the chemicals and we’ll you and Danny are sent out to extinguish it and stop a massive explosion.

It’s a fairly linear experience for the most part. You’ll see on the mini map that there are some variations where you can rescue the people who are knocked out from the fire. This is indicated by the pulse meter that will get faster almost like the game Marco Polo. Rescuing a civilian will give you back most of your health.

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I liked the way that the screen transitions took place, going under a passageway brought up a giant circle that let you easily see where you were going.

There we’re a few things that made the firemen unrealistic. First, there was no limit to how much water could be used. You could be going throughout the room just... Yeah I’ll stay away from that joke.

The Firemen (SNES)7

Next there are bosses in this game. Yeah they were cool and all but really? You’re telling me firefighters go into burning buildings, rescue a bunch of people and have to fight the boss at the end that’s dancing around you while you extinguish them?

That’s not to say that this is bad in any way since I really enjoyed the approach ability of the Firemen, Just remember to set your expectations that this game is more on the arcade side than anything.

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There’s also a ton of different patterns you have to recognize. The firemen is definitely a tough experience with only two different difficulty modes to select from. But once you find out each of the patterns where you have to duck under these fireballs or shoot downward at these patterns of fire spreading everywhere it get’s a bit more manageable. The game really gets tough in the later stages when the building floor gets knocked out. I do wish that there was a password system that you could use to play through the later stages of the game but sadly there’s just a sound test and expert mode.

The music was really upbeat which was surprising for a game where you’re a firefighter. I did find it a bit of a drag whenever you’re low on health that the meter will just keep beeping until you either find your next refill or take a death.

The Firemen 2: Pete & Danny (PSX)
The Firemen 2: Pete & Danny (PSX)

If you’re looking for a top down shooting game similar to Smash TV, you’ll want to check out The Firemen on the Super Nintendo. There’s also a really neat Japan only exclusive for the PS One that’s worth taking a look at if you’re into this type of gameplay.

RetroKingPin

RetroKingPin

Passionate gamer and nostalgia enthusiast. Journeying through the pixelated realms of retro video games, unearthing forgotten gems and sharing the joy. Join me on a nostalgic adventure! 🎮✨