Post by soop on Jul 20, 2018 9:15:10 GMT
Yikes! Tough one today.
Magical Chase. In Turbo Grafx format, it's regarded as the holy grail of that system. The Japanese version also rose to be quite pricey about a decade ago, presumably from people who wanted to lie to themselves that they technically had a complete US collection, or just a fear that the train was leaving the station. What we have is subject to debate. Some claim it's one of the best games on the system, some claim that it's overpriced trash, but honestly, the truth is somewhere in the middle. It's clearly not a game that you'd drop £300 on a whim, you could buy far superior games for that money. But if you just wanted to play it on your everdrive? Well it's a really good game. The plot involves a witch who needs to send demons back to the book she accidentally released them from. It's largely unimportant (this is a shooter after all), but it's a nice change from the usual "aliens are attacking/save humanity" plot you usually see. The first thing you'll notice, is that the game is visually very impressive. Bright, bold colours, detailed backgrounds, and multi layer scrolling. But how does it play?
The game controls very well, and it has a fairly unique option control system that's key to mastering the game. The two stars that trail you can be maneuvered very precisely to shoot in different directions, and can lock in place. This has the unfortunate side effect of making the last boss very easy, but I think that's kind of a nice payoff. The enemies you kill drop gems that you can use in a shop to upgrade your firepower - another touch I love, and the last thing to note is that you have a generous health meter that can be topped up via power ups.
Super Star Soldier is probably my favourite Soldier series game. Obviously the plot is blah blah blah ALIENS, but this is one of the purest arcade-style shooters on the system in my opinion. It looks incredible, and the amount going on would be overwhelming at times if not for the sheer amount of screen clearing death you're capable of generating. The power up system is brilliantly simple: 4 weapons, each with three levels of power, along with things like homing missiles. There's also a subtle advantage to choosing the right weapon for the right sections. Music is some of the best on any HuCard in my opinion. Where this game really gets it right, is taking everything good about arcade shooters, and reworking it to a home system. It's not an incredibly difficult game, the fun comes from the variance in stages, and the thrill of what comes next.
Also, power ups are not sparse. This game doesn't fall into the trap of restarting you at a checkpoint with peashooter just before a boss. It never punishes you, it wants you to play. Against it, some of the backgrounds could be a little more detailed, but to its credit, it's an early release. I'd say this game lacks very little for what it is, a thoroughly enjoyable vertical shooter that never makes you want to scream in frustration. I've sat down and played through as far as I can get for a whole afternoon, getting a bit further each time, and I've loved every minute.
Magical Chase. In Turbo Grafx format, it's regarded as the holy grail of that system. The Japanese version also rose to be quite pricey about a decade ago, presumably from people who wanted to lie to themselves that they technically had a complete US collection, or just a fear that the train was leaving the station. What we have is subject to debate. Some claim it's one of the best games on the system, some claim that it's overpriced trash, but honestly, the truth is somewhere in the middle. It's clearly not a game that you'd drop £300 on a whim, you could buy far superior games for that money. But if you just wanted to play it on your everdrive? Well it's a really good game. The plot involves a witch who needs to send demons back to the book she accidentally released them from. It's largely unimportant (this is a shooter after all), but it's a nice change from the usual "aliens are attacking/save humanity" plot you usually see. The first thing you'll notice, is that the game is visually very impressive. Bright, bold colours, detailed backgrounds, and multi layer scrolling. But how does it play?
The game controls very well, and it has a fairly unique option control system that's key to mastering the game. The two stars that trail you can be maneuvered very precisely to shoot in different directions, and can lock in place. This has the unfortunate side effect of making the last boss very easy, but I think that's kind of a nice payoff. The enemies you kill drop gems that you can use in a shop to upgrade your firepower - another touch I love, and the last thing to note is that you have a generous health meter that can be topped up via power ups.
Super Star Soldier is probably my favourite Soldier series game. Obviously the plot is blah blah blah ALIENS, but this is one of the purest arcade-style shooters on the system in my opinion. It looks incredible, and the amount going on would be overwhelming at times if not for the sheer amount of screen clearing death you're capable of generating. The power up system is brilliantly simple: 4 weapons, each with three levels of power, along with things like homing missiles. There's also a subtle advantage to choosing the right weapon for the right sections. Music is some of the best on any HuCard in my opinion. Where this game really gets it right, is taking everything good about arcade shooters, and reworking it to a home system. It's not an incredibly difficult game, the fun comes from the variance in stages, and the thrill of what comes next.
Also, power ups are not sparse. This game doesn't fall into the trap of restarting you at a checkpoint with peashooter just before a boss. It never punishes you, it wants you to play. Against it, some of the backgrounds could be a little more detailed, but to its credit, it's an early release. I'd say this game lacks very little for what it is, a thoroughly enjoyable vertical shooter that never makes you want to scream in frustration. I've sat down and played through as far as I can get for a whole afternoon, getting a bit further each time, and I've loved every minute.