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Review
Game Type: Overhead-View Shooter
Very much within the bounds of the average shooter formula. Fly
around, dodge bullets, shoot back.
Gameplay: 90/100
All I need to do to covince many shooter fans to buy this game is
mention it was developed by Compile, the group that brought us the
almighty Zanac and Space Megaforce. By and large the game lives up to
expectations, too, with a nice powerup system and decent gameplay. There
are four types of main shots, each of which can be powered up several
times. These can be used simultaneously with any of four additional
powerups - twin options (which mimic your current weapon), full fire (which
is a different and more powerful version of your current weapon), shields,
and homing missiles. Many of the weapons were later seen again in Space
Megaforce. The weapon systems aren't quite as fancy as Megaforce's but
they still leave plenty of room for experimentation. A couple of the
weapons are a little too powerful, though. It's possible to get through
early stages just by grabbing shields and parking yourself in a corner.
If you don't abuse your abilities, though, the game is quite playable.
Graphics: 60/100
Here's the only area the game flops in. It's not that the look is
especially bad, and in fact the graphics are quite colorful. But the
designs of your ship and the enemies are awkward and the animation could
be a lot better. The not-quite-overhead-view angle doesn't quite work,
either. And that intro! Retch! Almost decent graphically but not quite.
Sound: 70/100
I'm not sure the grainy voice samples when picking up powerups were
necessary, but aside from that the sound and music are decent. Far from
outstanding audio but it gets the job done.
Overall: 90/100
If it only had the graphic appeal of the other Compile shooters
(except for M.U.S.H.A. of course), I would like this game a lot better.
But the gameplay is fairly good, and even though it's no Space
Megaforce the weapon system is much deeper than almost any other shooter.
For that I can heartily recommend it to any shooter fan.
Codes
- Extra Lives and Bombs
- Avoid shooting the Stage 1 boss and eventually he will leave. You
will receive 16 lives and 36 bombs.
- 30 Continues
- At title screen hold Select and press Run. Continue holding Select
until Stage 1 starts.
- Sound Test
- During intro hold Select and alternate between pressing L and R
quickly until Sound Test screen appears.
- Debug Mode
- At Sound test screen press 1, 2, and then press Select repeatedly
at a moderate rate (it may take a few tries) until a graphic appears.
You can now select any number from 00-FF in the Sound Test. Choose any
of the following and press Run:
00-09: Start on that stage (including hidden Stage 0)
81: Very few enemies appear and you can have many multi-bodies
- Higher Difficulty
- During intro hold Select and alternate between pressing 1 and 2
quickly (or use Turbo) until Difficulty Select screen appears
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