You play as one of two swordsmen- er, boys-which you can christen with your own 4 letter name (one of those intangibles that slipped by Joe, I suppose). After this formality has been taken care of , you get to chose from three areas with differing elevation distinguishing each. Chose round one and you off on a jolly little romp above & then underground, each with pastels that literally leap right into your face. Choose round 2 & your character dons scuba gear & dives into the wild blue, fighting fish of all shapes & sizes. Round 3 takes you into and above the clouds & pits you against a surprisingly versatile two-headed dragon. Finish them all. & those of you who had picked normal or hard to get travel through more strange & exhilarating locales, with bosses like Caracula (the vampire in the boxers) & Benrasp (a man made entirely of pea-that's as in the green veggie- who sics a squad of demented beans after you). Beat them all and face off against the vile clown Rophotman in a duel to the finish. End of story.

Wait! I'm not REALLY finished! What separates C2 Boys from others of its ilk are those famed Capcom touches which Sega's programmers adapted perfectly when they translated this for home use. Nothing seems compromised, a far cry from today's normal fare on this tortured system. The graphics are almost PERFECT-very very well drawn with just the right shades of colors; not too watery but not outright garish. as a result, you feel immersed in the game, a trek through a jungle FEELS lush & mysterious; you can almost feel the world blowing through your hair in the aerial scenes; you can nearly smell the musty aroma in the caverns. Effective graphics? oh yes.

The music is brilliant as well, although it admittedly does suffer from the constraints of the Z-80A chip in the Genesis. The sound programmers went for a high tech, mystical feel which fits any & every situation (highly intense & dramatic in boss fights, while relatively easy going in the appropriate areas precisely. Problem is, some of these tracks become grating & repetitive in their way to fit the mood ( the Rophotman selection will literally give you a headache), but nevertheless very inspired. One track sounds suspiciously like John Williams'' famed Spielberg tunes (y'know, the ones that hide the fact that Speil has no actual movie-making talent?)-something I was quick to note the second I heard it, so you pretty much get it all here.

The gameplay is here C2 Boys suffers. it's very limited, numbingly straightforward, & slow-paced. Kids won't mind this, however, as the pace is more or less set for the younger set & they won't be needlessly confused over extra options. For the adult crowd, the game can be set to hard where it becomes more than menacing enough for anyone's tastes. The control is easy to use and responsive; very important for any game, despite its target audience.

When all is said and done, C2 Boys packs in enough fun for younger players without leaving the older ones out in the cold. It's a Capcom design; how could it? Pick it up if you see it cheap or I'll be forced to remove the logo from my caricature (& keep the electron microscope jokes to yourself, OK?!)