Reviews from

in the past


A generic 1942 style vertical shooter.

I've said before R-Type Final was my first introduction to shmups. What was my second? This. Played it on a fucking hideous plug-n-play with a bunch of weird Master System and Game Gear shit. Never was my thing in the past, and could never get 20 seconds in before dying, but my brother loved it. Coming back to it now, it's eh. It's that specific Master System brand of 'extremely basic and inoffensive'. A sludge smorgasbord of Aleste, 1942, Astro Warrior and Flying Shark with a safer difficulty curve but nothing to really set it apart. Definitely a 'play until you get bored' kinda game.

Feels like a Compile game in many respects, but it isn't. It's short and inoffensive, but does have a nasty bit of Gradius syndrome in the last two stages. Thankfully, there are infinite continues and enough powerups to assure you can recover and actually finish the game. I really liked the concept of having two little planes fighting alongside you, although "2" was really the only useful configuration for them as it's a diagonal shot.

Along with Raiden Project this was one of the first shoot em ups I ever played. I just completed it. I didn't die.