Shmups galore!

Finally! I was starting to get worried about my recent lack of posting. "Recent" is probably not the right word, it's been a long time since I was posting here regularly. You see, my problem is that, with so many systems, I can't dedicate myself to all of them at the same time. Instead I usually focus on just one for a couple of weeks or so and then move on, eventually repeating the cycle. Now, the time of the Saturn has come again.

Having sort of a renovated interest in shoot 'em ups, or shmups to facilitate, as you can see in my blog, I decided to try out what the Saturn has to offer. And apparently it has a lot! After the good experiences I had with Psikyo's games, I decided to start with the games they released for the Saturn, and so far I'm not disappointed.

This sort of spiritual sequel to Capcom's classic 1942 (which is about to get a really good-looking remake on Xbox Live Arcade) let's you control a plane in some pretty crazy aerial dog-fights set in an alternate WWII theme, complete with trips into the outer space later on (I shit you not, the last bosses are...oh, I don't want to spoil it for you). It basically plays like any other shooter, and unlike Zero Gunner for example, it has no special gimmicks. You shoot, dodge glowing shit that kills ya, and pick up power-ups that strangely have exactly the same icon as in a lot of other Psikyo's games. It's as direct and simple as shmups get.

Of course this is a lot of fun, but if you've already played a lot of other shmups and you're looking for something different, you most certainly won't find it here. It also ends pretty quickly and there's no unlockable goodies or extra game modes. There's just some sort of gallery mode as an extra that let's you gaze at 3D renderings of the planes while listening to some guy speaking in Japanese. Talking about Japanese, this is one of those games that never made it out of Japan, so if you're interested you'll have to import it.



On the plus side the graphics are particularly nice, and even thought they don't exactly push the limits of the Saturn, they're very enjoyable. Also, as with many Psikyo games (and this is why I love those guys) it has difficulty modes for virtually anyone, although they kind of make fun of you by calling the easiest setting "monkey"...

Anyway, overall I liked this game, but being a Japan-only release and such a short game, it's hard to recommend it unless you find it really cheap. At the time I'm writing this play-asia is offline so I can't check out their prices, but judging from ebay it gets quite expensive (the PSX version is a lot more cheaper, but we don't want to play 2D games on it, do we?). So, if you're an absolute shmup maniac or a collector, go for it. Otherwise, if you have a modded Saturn just burn it (it's definitely worth the CD-R) or, if you don't, just play it on MAME. See? You got plenty of options to try it out, so there's no excuses no to play this game.

I have another game to talk about but I think I'll do it in a separate post, don't want to overload you with a giant post. Stay tuned! :)