So this is the power of...
A pesar de la enorme influencia que atesoraban en sus inicios, el mundo parece haber dejado atrás a los shooters 2D tradicionales (shmup, o como quieran llamarse), ignorados abiertamente tanto por devs como por el gran público. Las razones pueden ir desde la "estanqueza del género", la percepción que se tiene del matamarcianos como si todos fuesen bullet hell (equivalentes al Kaizo de un Mario plataformas), la baja cantidad de propuestas con gran presupuesto a sus espaldas (¿acaso hay alguno que sea triple A?) y las nulas ventas de lo mismos. Pero precisamente este contexto, alejado de los focos y recluido en un espacio tan nicho y acotado, es el que ha llevado a sus fans a analizar escrupulosamente todo lo que hizo grande aquellos clásicos que recuerdan y preservar su legado. Hacerlo mejor, y reivindicar un estilo de juego que, no por pasado de moda, deja de ofrecer diversión a raudales. Este es el punto de origen de 'ZeroRanger', que durante 10 largos años provocó arduos dolores de cabeza a los finlandeses eebrozgi y ekko para manifestar su propia oda de amor al shmup tradicional. Huelga decir que es difícil de narices y casi impenetrable para el jugador más casual, pero destila una esencia jugable pura y concentrada tan genuina que difícilmente podría recrearse de otra manera.
Como contexto personal, admito que nunca se me han dado bien este tipo de juegos y mi expertise en la materia no es demasiado rico, de modo que no he llegado a completarlo para la redacción de esta reseña. Llegué a un punto que supuso mi extenuación a las infinitas barreras de nivel que compone el juego, pero no por ello es óbice para ignorar la ingente cantidad de maravillas y pequeños detalles que lo convierten en algo especial. 'ZeroRanger' es una obra fastuosa, de ritmo muy alto, difícil de procesar por toda la información que te lanza en un pequeño intervalo de segundos, pero con tanta personalidad en sus adentros que dejarse llevar por ella te deja en frenesí. El precioso estilo cromático que usa entre verdes y naranjas, blancos y negros, ayuda a distinguir claramente el furibundo mar de proyectiles de sus actores principales, pero aún requiere de grandes dosis de concentración para esquivar obstáculos y abrirte paso entre los enemigos. Es intenso hasta la médula, un non-stop de creatividad inconformista, que no da nada por hecho y necesita imperiosamente jugar con la perspectiva para que ninguna de sus escenas se sienta segura. No deja de proponer nuevos patrones de comportamiento, nuevas trayectorias imposibles a sus balas, secretos escondidos en cada rincón de su código interno, animaciones y efectos 2D sencillamente impresionantes.
Es la culminación wagneriana del sueño que System Erasure ambicionó de inicio, con sus ups & downs, sus excesos, bajones sentimentales, y todo lo que puede pedirse a un videojuego como medio de expresión. Es difícil ponerle más parabienes a 'ZeroRanger', pero desgraciadamente no es una obra de gran accesibilidad y para todos los públicos. Y es probable que la mayoría termine buscando un playthrough en YouTube para ver qué hay más allá del punto en el que se atascaron, porque sería imposible apartarse del juego sin dislumbrarlo en su dimensión real y completa. Será decisión tuya adentrarte en el interior de 'ZeroRanger' y exprimirlo en la medida que sea posible. Be warned, though: it's very difficult todo esto…
Como contexto personal, admito que nunca se me han dado bien este tipo de juegos y mi expertise en la materia no es demasiado rico, de modo que no he llegado a completarlo para la redacción de esta reseña. Llegué a un punto que supuso mi extenuación a las infinitas barreras de nivel que compone el juego, pero no por ello es óbice para ignorar la ingente cantidad de maravillas y pequeños detalles que lo convierten en algo especial. 'ZeroRanger' es una obra fastuosa, de ritmo muy alto, difícil de procesar por toda la información que te lanza en un pequeño intervalo de segundos, pero con tanta personalidad en sus adentros que dejarse llevar por ella te deja en frenesí. El precioso estilo cromático que usa entre verdes y naranjas, blancos y negros, ayuda a distinguir claramente el furibundo mar de proyectiles de sus actores principales, pero aún requiere de grandes dosis de concentración para esquivar obstáculos y abrirte paso entre los enemigos. Es intenso hasta la médula, un non-stop de creatividad inconformista, que no da nada por hecho y necesita imperiosamente jugar con la perspectiva para que ninguna de sus escenas se sienta segura. No deja de proponer nuevos patrones de comportamiento, nuevas trayectorias imposibles a sus balas, secretos escondidos en cada rincón de su código interno, animaciones y efectos 2D sencillamente impresionantes.
Es la culminación wagneriana del sueño que System Erasure ambicionó de inicio, con sus ups & downs, sus excesos, bajones sentimentales, y todo lo que puede pedirse a un videojuego como medio de expresión. Es difícil ponerle más parabienes a 'ZeroRanger', pero desgraciadamente no es una obra de gran accesibilidad y para todos los públicos. Y es probable que la mayoría termine buscando un playthrough en YouTube para ver qué hay más allá del punto en el que se atascaron, porque sería imposible apartarse del juego sin dislumbrarlo en su dimensión real y completa. Será decisión tuya adentrarte en el interior de 'ZeroRanger' y exprimirlo en la medida que sea posible. Be warned, though: it's very difficult todo esto…
ZeroRanger is probably one of the best entry to the genre but it is also very satisfying to veterans.
Great art style, great music, Nice Boss !
I don't want to say too much about this one, but I do encourage you to check this game out.
Just don't give up until the end and you're in for a treat
Great art style, great music, Nice Boss !
I don't want to say too much about this one, but I do encourage you to check this game out.
Just don't give up until the end and you're in for a treat
Por qual motivo os devs escolheram um "Shooter em up" e um jogo "Sokoban"? Não respondam, estou no aguardo de mais. "Maluquice/10"
I'm really not much of a shoot 'em up guy. Like people who aren't accustomed to a certain type of music and therefore think it's all the same since they can't hear the different nuances between songs, I feel like I play the same thing over and over again when I touch upon these games. That's obviously not really the case; games like Jamestown and UN Squadron are very different, but there is something about the very pure gameplay focus of these games where you're a tiny ship against a scrolling background, fighting other tiny ships in set patterns, getting similar power-ups and usually starting out with a finite amount of screen nukes that sort of makes most games feel a bit "been there, done that" to me and with that attitude I can't really see myself ever putting enough time into the genre to learn to appreciate its games' more subtle, individual charms. Guess I also just don't appreciate the gameplay loop as much as a good 2D platformer, another genre without much innovation.
Ikaruga was great, of course, but that's almost more of a puzzle game at times, and the 1CC took so long that it sort of burned away all goodwill I had for the genre for the foreseeable future. Until 2024, apparently. A close friend of mine has pestered me about playing ZeroRanger for years now and how amazing it is, so it was probably about time.
ZeroRanger is fine.
The color palette using only black, green, orange and white gives it a very striking look and generally makes the lighter projectiles stand out next to darker environments, while the soundtrack is about as good as it gets, striking a nice balance between the 8-bit aesthetic the game is going for, while also using more modern chiptune techniques (and a probably more audio channels as well.) When just looking and hearing ZeroRanger, it's close to a 5/5 experience to me, and it's so fascinating that it was made just by two finnish guys who like to make video games and, as far as I can tell, had never made a game like this before, and still knocks it out of the park so completely audiovisually. You see this and immediately think "yeah, this is exactly how a shmup (or STG, as the genre is apparently called by its more hardcore community) is supposed to look and sound", and yet it doesn't really look and sound like any others that I have played.
But still, ZeroRanger is just fine. Seeing someone else play it is fun, but going through it myself, I feel like I've done all of these things the game throws at me before. That's not even true because I haven't transformed my ship into a drill wielding mech in any other game, but that's basically just a power-up and not really as cool as it sounds (though I'm also kind of a mech hater so maybe don't take my word for it.) Most stages feel very familiar, the other power-ups as well. What is sort of novel is the story the game is trying to tell, but it's so obfuscated that it'd feel generous to even call it incomprehensible, and theming the game around buddhism and enlightenment is sort of cool, but I also feel like it's not really relevant until the true final stage, unlike Ikaruga where it's felt throughout the entire game. It has a second loop tied to the narrative as well which I guess some would find cool, but I didn't really find the game enjoyable enough to want to go through every stage again, but slightly harder.
That final point should, by the way, bring me to some fairly harsh complaints about the game suddenly having stakes at the absolute final boss after giving a very generous stage select for the rest of the game, but I honestly respect what developers System Erasure were going for, the cruelty of it, and how the game taught me here that true enlightenment is realizing that you can play a shmup however you want and tell its rules to fuck off.
Ikaruga was great, of course, but that's almost more of a puzzle game at times, and the 1CC took so long that it sort of burned away all goodwill I had for the genre for the foreseeable future. Until 2024, apparently. A close friend of mine has pestered me about playing ZeroRanger for years now and how amazing it is, so it was probably about time.
ZeroRanger is fine.
The color palette using only black, green, orange and white gives it a very striking look and generally makes the lighter projectiles stand out next to darker environments, while the soundtrack is about as good as it gets, striking a nice balance between the 8-bit aesthetic the game is going for, while also using more modern chiptune techniques (and a probably more audio channels as well.) When just looking and hearing ZeroRanger, it's close to a 5/5 experience to me, and it's so fascinating that it was made just by two finnish guys who like to make video games and, as far as I can tell, had never made a game like this before, and still knocks it out of the park so completely audiovisually. You see this and immediately think "yeah, this is exactly how a shmup (or STG, as the genre is apparently called by its more hardcore community) is supposed to look and sound", and yet it doesn't really look and sound like any others that I have played.
But still, ZeroRanger is just fine. Seeing someone else play it is fun, but going through it myself, I feel like I've done all of these things the game throws at me before. That's not even true because I haven't transformed my ship into a drill wielding mech in any other game, but that's basically just a power-up and not really as cool as it sounds (though I'm also kind of a mech hater so maybe don't take my word for it.) Most stages feel very familiar, the other power-ups as well. What is sort of novel is the story the game is trying to tell, but it's so obfuscated that it'd feel generous to even call it incomprehensible, and theming the game around buddhism and enlightenment is sort of cool, but I also feel like it's not really relevant until the true final stage, unlike Ikaruga where it's felt throughout the entire game. It has a second loop tied to the narrative as well which I guess some would find cool, but I didn't really find the game enjoyable enough to want to go through every stage again, but slightly harder.
That final point should, by the way, bring me to some fairly harsh complaints about the game suddenly having stakes at the absolute final boss after giving a very generous stage select for the rest of the game, but I honestly respect what developers System Erasure were going for, the cruelty of it, and how the game taught me here that true enlightenment is realizing that you can play a shmup however you want and tell its rules to fuck off.
Never really played a shmup or bullet hell but I found quite a lot of enjoyment from this one. The graphics and music are really cool and the gameplay is super fast paced and challenging. I especially loved mastering some of the bosses. Some of the storytelling was a little bit too obfuscated for my liking and the final level has an INSANE punishment that I do not agree with whatsoever, I'd be lying if I said this wasn't a really good game however.
The definitive answer to the question "What if Radiant Silvergun was good?"
this beautiful game made me love shoot em ups
🧐
Video game perfection. Could not have chosen a better first shmup experience.
Me atrapalhei no penúltimo nível e não foi 1cc, mas foi uma partida bem gostosa e satisfatória de qualquer forma.
I was surprised at how much I ended up enjoying and replaying this game. It's got some enjoyable and varied stage design with a solid number of challenging bosses, some great music and a unique art direction that only uses two colours: green and orange. What really makes this game interesting for me though is it's use of Buddhist themes that are woven into the gameplay. The developers make quite a bold decision with it towards the end, but it's one that works for the type of game this is.
It also got me interested in shmups single handedly, which must count for something.
It also got me interested in shmups single handedly, which must count for something.
Extremamente interessante, comecei a jogar pelas incontáveis referências ao conteúdo mecha e afins, mas o jogo não se baseia só nisso nem de perto. O jogo é um trabalho de perseverança, e que te ensina a realmente lutar pra completar ele, os continues são uma grande fachada, onde o jogo repetidas vezes mostra como eles são um utensílio fantasma, e que se você quiser realmente buscar o verdadeiro final do jogo, terá que se desprender desse utensílio.
O jogo faz com que você, de certa forma, valorize cada espaço e ambiente dele mesmo, analisando cada pequena coisa, porque o jogo te incentiva, quase indiretamente à isso. Fazendo assim com que você tire extremo proveito do jogo mesmo sem perceber.
Confesso ter um pouco de dificuldade com Shoot 'em ups, sou simplesmente horrível nesse tipo de jogo, mas esse conseguiu me prender de uma forma absurda, onde erros não me deixavam extremamente frustrado, mas sim motivado. Esse jogo é um constante aprendizado, e você praticamente estuda ele a cada vez que você joga, te dando doses incansáveis de conteúdo constantemente, de alguma forma.
Se você nunca jogou um Shoot 'em up, e tem algum interesse em começar a experimentar coisas do gênero, creio que esse jogo possa ser uma boa parte de entrada.
O jogo faz com que você, de certa forma, valorize cada espaço e ambiente dele mesmo, analisando cada pequena coisa, porque o jogo te incentiva, quase indiretamente à isso. Fazendo assim com que você tire extremo proveito do jogo mesmo sem perceber.
Confesso ter um pouco de dificuldade com Shoot 'em ups, sou simplesmente horrível nesse tipo de jogo, mas esse conseguiu me prender de uma forma absurda, onde erros não me deixavam extremamente frustrado, mas sim motivado. Esse jogo é um constante aprendizado, e você praticamente estuda ele a cada vez que você joga, te dando doses incansáveis de conteúdo constantemente, de alguma forma.
Se você nunca jogou um Shoot 'em up, e tem algum interesse em começar a experimentar coisas do gênero, creio que esse jogo possa ser uma boa parte de entrada.
Almost perfect. Just the ending went on for too long. After so many tries I wish that initial part of 2-4 was skippable. Also, If going for a 1cc run, these unskipable parts would be annoying.
Very much the "Dusk" of shmups, very hodge-podgey mechanically and presentation-wise. Which makes it the perfect entry-level shmup, personally it lacks the mechanical focus necessary to be truly enjoyable and memorable. I had fun with it but that's about it.
me consumiu algumas horas pra zerar, mas no final valeu a pena.
amo esse jogo!
amo esse jogo!
This review contains spoilers
Almost 20 minutes after completion as I am writing this review, my hands are still shaking. This is the single hardest game I have ever played (excluding player made levels) yet it is the best use of video game difficulty I have ever experienced. This was my first ever shmup game, and I went in completely blind. At first I was having an incredible time, amazing visuals, precise and fast paced gameplay, intriguing dialogue, and a really good soundtrack. I was getting through pretty quick with the use of continues, and didn't really think much of it. Continuing onward, the stakes kept getting higher, harder bosses, more deaths, but I was used to this sort of difficulty. At this point in the game it would seem like every boss you beat was going to be the last, and there were many tense moments yet awe inspiring and rewarding. I kept getting the chills in these sections and thinking to myself, "wow this game is insanely good!" But then after thinking it was finally over, the game threw another twist at me, and presented the true, actual final boss. This is what destroyed me. i spent probably 4 hours of attempts trying to beat it, until I finally did, but I had used all my continues at this point. Thinking the game was over, I was presented with a final choice, this time it seemed like if I went through and completed it, my efforts would've been rewarded to the fullest. The game told me I had one chance, but I didn't take it literally. This is where my only gripe with the game comes in, I don't have any issue with save deletion, I just wish that it would've been more clear that that risk was there. It could definitely be argued though that each player should experience this happen to them once for a full narrative experience, so I understand why the devs did it. I then spend pretty much an entire nother day getting all my continues back, and attempted the final boss again. This time I went in to the last section with 4 saves, and unfortunately still couldn't beat it. At this point I was genuinely furious and almost watched a completion of the ending, but I stuck through and gave it one more chance. On the third try, I had gotten a lot better and went in to the final section with 7 continues. While I was playing this I think it was the fastest that my heart rate has ever been, the stakes are just absurdly high. Finally I cleared the boss, but It was with no continues left, I was insanely scared that I wouldn't do it, but I just barely did, providing me with probably the most ultimately rewarding experience I have ever had playing a video game. At the end of all of this, I cant say that any other game has brought me this huge of a range of emotion, in fact I don't even think anything else comes close. The beauty of this, is that with a story similar to the likes of gurren lagann, about overcoming odds that genuinely seem impossible, this is a beautifully executed game, and probably the perfect genre to provide that experience. At the time writing this, while I was genuinely furious and ready to come raging into a review for this game upon the first save data deletion, I have now come full circle and understand that the game would not be as meaningful otherwise. Just like its heavy inspiration gurren lagann, this game presents themes about the boundless will of humanity, and does that by creating a game which genuinely places you inside an experience in which you literally are going against extreme odds to complete it. The shmup genre consisting of extreme tests of mechanical skill is an incredible way to do this. At the end of the day, ZeroRanger has struck me like no other game, and for that reason it might be my new favorite game of all time, but I will wait a bit before fully making that claim. Everything is done so well even down to the color scheme which I adore. Moving forward I will have to get more into the shmup genre because I had an amazing time regardless of the narrative functions. While this is going to be hard to recommend to many people because of its entry barrier, I would still advise anyone who is interested to give it a shot, and on the off chance that they stick all the way through, they will experience a game like no other.
The shmup gameplay is great, the pixel art is charming, and the music is hype. I played Void Stranger first, so I was expecting a little more out of its story, but it was still as creative and free-form as you would expect from them. I recommend playing without any spoilers.
Borderline perfect.
Ill always come back to play it just for the music. And the hidden story waiting to be uncovered.
This review contains spoilers
I just realized it's not Zero Ranger, it's Zer Oranger.
Anyway, this is what you get when you mix Thunder Force's spectacle and weapon system with the insane stories of Metal Black and Undertale. Then again, I haven't played many other shmups so the inspirations could lie elsewhere. It's very fun still.
I have say tho, Super Hydorah is still better.
Anyway, this is what you get when you mix Thunder Force's spectacle and weapon system with the insane stories of Metal Black and Undertale. Then again, I haven't played many other shmups so the inspirations could lie elsewhere. It's very fun still.
I have say tho, Super Hydorah is still better.
revivendo o terceiro impacto infinitamente até perfurar o ciclo de vida e morte com sua broca
lovely game although that last bit is not entirely worth the trouble and kinda soured it but still !!!!!good!!!!
Few games have made my heart beat faster than Zeroranger. My hands are still clammy as I type this. Endlessly exciting and beautiful. Zeroranger is one of the best indie games I've played.
dont even get me started on the music.
dont even get me started on the music.
I’m trying extremely hard to get STG-pilled lately, and I think as someone who is still largely unfamiliar with and bad at the genre the way ZeroRanger eases you in through slowly unlocking more continues and weapons is really great. The art direction and meta narrative elements helped spur me along even when the going got tough, and when I finally beat 1-4 I was feeling incredible. Once I started the next hit though I quickly found the friction to be a little too much for me to handle, I never quite felt like the weapons loadout I brought to a stage was optimal for every tough bit that awaited me, which I’m sure is an intentional design decision meant to force you outside of your comfort zone, but I could not hang in the end.
oh this is some good orange and green shit lemme tell you
Possibly THE most underrated game ever created
I don't have the skill to beat this but it's one of the games that I can give a high score to a game I'm unable to beat. A fantastic soundtrack with great moments that are quite impressive to see considering the graphic style and the, seemingly, small scale of it.
However, it's tough as hell and I don't have the skill to beat it even with the several checkpoints and continues you get.
However, it's tough as hell and I don't have the skill to beat it even with the several checkpoints and continues you get.
My favorite shmup, only play this Peak
Hypest Shmup Ever Made, played the same set of levels again and again and never got bored once, it is an insanely satsifying game. Good in every sense; looks, gameplay, music, and, the one thing that elevates it, narrative and themes, which is the thing I always felt lacks in most shmups and that truly keeps me engaged. Hard to decide between this one and Radiant Silvergun for my favorite shmup ever.
And yes, the true final boss rocks and you can't convince me otherwise.
And yes, the true final boss rocks and you can't convince me otherwise.