Hands down my favorite shooter to star an actual character (as opposed to a ship) that isn't Air Zonk. Hardcore fans of the genre will probably roll their eyes at some of the "euro" aspects of the game's design, such as the inclusion of a health bar and shops in between levels, but the rest of us should have no problem enjoying the game.

One particularly interesting aspect behind the game (besides its unique theming and heavy metal soundtrack) is that you're allowed to pick which order you want to take the stages on in. I also really liked the idea of a melee-based attack on top of your regular projectiles. It works similarly to how it does in Metal Slug in that you'll whip out your sword and slash enemies if they're close enough in range. Sometimes, this attack deals even more damage than just firing away, and you can even use this to cheese some of the bosses if you so desire.

The only real disappointment here is that there are no officially licensed tracks. That's not to say what is present isn't amazing, because it is and suits the game really well. But, I am saying it would have been really cool to have some Metallica or Iron Maiden tracks in the western localization considering this was a CD-based game and (at the time) there was a big push to show off what the medium could do.