You have three different weapons at your disposal, and enemies ranging from smiling faces to pencils will come at you from all directions, so sitting at the bottom of the screen will lead to trouble with enemies sneaking up on you from behind. Developer: Alfa Systems Publisher: Face Trouble Shooter is not a very difficult horizontal shooter. The game alternates between top-down and side-scrolling stages, and while the top-down levels are decent, the game really shines with the side-scrolling. The backgrounds are still rather detailed and there is some decent sprite work. Also, in the Star Soldier tradition, secondary weapons are also available, such as multiples, shields and missiles. Weapons are pretty simple shot and bomb offerings that can be boosted with power-ups. on eBay Best Of Sega Saturn: Top 12 Games Of All Time. If you have a soft spot for cute-em-ups, this little gem should be high on your list to hunt down. Strong list with all the classics in there – good to see Gynoug/Wings of Wor – although you’re missing Ranger X. Can’t beat the soundtracks either, especially ThunderForce 3 & 4! PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16. Part 2 features the Arcade ports in the shmup library, Check out Part 2 featuring all the arcade ports, http://www.racketboy.com/guide/genre-guides. Power-ups can be obtained by shooting down special red spaceships. The reordering of stages also disrupts the challenge curve, contributing to the uneven difficulty. Your email address will not be published. You can choose between two different characters, each of whom have different weapon configurations. The game’s hit detection is extremely generous allowing you to brush up against the largest enemies without taking a hit. The Fire Armor projects arcs of flame and the Water Armor washes enemies away with waves of flying surf. The four elemental power-ups can be charged up to release an explosive blast; the main default weapon becomes chargeable after the first four stages are completed, which gives the player the game’s most powerful weapon. A time limit is given for each of the thirteen maze-like levels, and the goal is to find the Zodiac boss of the stage and defeat it before time expires. Required fields are marked *, Notify me of followup comments via e-mail. Some other fundamental changes to the game are the increased hitbox sizes due to your large, vertically-oriented characters and levels that vary from horizontal to vertical scrolling. I always looked at systems like the Saturn, Playstation, TG16, and the Dreamcast as being the primary resources for the genre. Sega's followup to the Genesis was a highly anticipated game console that had a rocky life and died a little too quickly.Between a disastrous US launch that alienated retailers and its exceedingly high price point, the Saturn almost seemed doomed from the get go. All the background, enemies and bosses now have a revised color palette and convey destruction and decay instead of their original bright and shiny countenance. Your ship does have a shield (aka energy bar) that reduces frustration when you make a careless mistake. Definitely a positive bonus to the game’s depth and replayability. PC Engine. PC-Engine SuperCD. This isn’t surprising, however when you consider that Hudson and had fine-tuned their formula and produced a shmup that is not only a technical masterpiece of gameplay, visuals, and audio, but it is also a fine mid-point of difficulty that makes it accessible but challenging for those looking to dive deeper into the genre. Post your triumphs and defeats here. To add to potential frustration, there are also teleports that have no indication of their destination. It falls short of great by being a bit monotonous and graphically average, yet really never fails anywhere else. However, by refraining from shooting you’ll notice a green flare at the tip of the ship — wait a bit longer and the ship will being to glow. Shop for Gley Lancer on eBay. Another solid entry to the Genesis/Mega Drive library of shooters! Some will find it easy after learning some strategy, but others could have a hard time filtering through its constantly-busy action. If you enjoyed the first game in the Download series, you should feel at home with the sequel as well. I also have a folder of curated game lists from different blogs and youtubers. Additional Credits: Thank to shmups.com, PC Engine Bible, VideoGameDen, 1CC Log, and Hardcore Gaming 101 for helping me to fill in some of the gaps in our knowledge of the PC Engine’s shmup collection in addition to providing some of the screenshots. The title comes recommended for that reason to collectors, if you are looking for a decent shooter for a rainy day you could do a lot worse. Neon Genesis Evangelion Shin Seiki Evangelion is a 26episode science fictionactiondrama anime series by … It’s one of those games that falls right in the middle of the quality Genesis shmups. Developer: Naxat Soft 1992 After the sixth level, you’ll be “treated” to a boss rush revisiting the first few bosses at a higher difficulty level. 1992 Secondary weapons are also available in the shape of homing missiles or rotating shields option, each with three upgrade levels each. While there are some significant changes here and there, it is still an intense shooter that builds off one of the best premises in the shmup genre. As with some better-designed shmups, there are parts of the level design that you must take time and care to navigate successfully, but in in Download, you can also touch the walls and use them for blocking during battle. The developers had no problem using the console’s color palette to generate some excellent looking visuals. While the TurboGrafx-16 struggled to find its place in the American video game market, its Japanese counterpart, the PC Engine, managed some solid success battling Nintendo and Sega. Make the most of your games and hardware with some creative ideas. The mechanized enemies in Soldier Blade can also be dismantled piece by piece and their subsequent attacks and patterns are affected accordingly. 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