A solid horizontal shooter with decent visuals and gameplay. Controlling both of the characters as a way to move around your firepower works pretty well, but it's bizarre that there's no two player option.
I've been wanting to play the Trouble Shooter series for years (or Battle Mania as the series is called in Japan.) due to it's overall premise. It's a bit of a parody of the shoot 'em up genre in some ways though it does try some mechanically interesting ideas with it.
You control two combat operatives called Madison and Crystal who have been hired to save a kidnapped prince. Both characters have jet packs and blasters as basic gear and in between each level can select between 4 special weapons for their packs. This power up is their super attack essentially, (like a bomb in other shoot 'em ups) that after use recharges to fire again like it's an 80's powerpack. There are a variety of choices from lightning waves, missile barrages and lasers. If you don't like one then you can change it on the next mission to find one you like most though I found some more useful than others but that did also vary by level.
The main weapons they carry don't change, Madison fires little blue balls whilst Crystal carries a blaster that rapid fires some kind of orange arc beams that seem really powerful. You can get a few basic power ups that strengthen their attack, (In Maddison's case expand her cone of fire) and some speed ups, health ups and slow downs as well as one option turret that flies along firing with you. Overall the upgrades are limited and will mostly come down to your choice of special weapon. So load outs and power ups are pretty limited but where Trouble Shooter is interesting is that Crystal is more like an invincible option that follows you rather than a playable character. Only Madison actually takes damage and with a push of a button you can have Crystal flip 180 to start firing backwards to cover the rear if needed or have them both face forward for a full frontal barrage.
It's a really neat little idea to have it as a flexible use mechanic and what got me so interested in the series in the first place but it's just so bizarrely underused as a mechanic. Some enemies come from behind occasionally and a couple of bosses move around making it useful but it just doesn't feel like the game is designed around it enough and the limited weapons and lack of equipable load outs for each character compound that further. The level designs occasionally use it like in the second level with buzz saws coming from both directions as you travel down an underground base shaft which I liked and one boss in particular utilised it more than the others. Speaking of levels the game has 6 short stages even for a shoot 'em up and there seems to be little variety between playthroughs and it's on the easy side.
Though I enjoyed playing this quite a bit I was hoping to like this game more than I did overall. On the presentation front it has some decent music Stage 5 theme especially stood out as action packed and upbeat when I played. I like the visuals with chunky colourful sprites, paralax scrolling, level settings and anime character portraits during scenes. The mechanics and story writing though leave it as a good overall experience but it could have been an amazing one. So a good game but with missing potential as a final verdict.
I hear the sequel takes the idea and amps it up to 11 so I look forward to trying that.
+ Nice visuals and music.
+ I like the cover art of two sci-fi aerobics instructors, haters be damned.
+ Two characters with left or right shooting options is neat...
-...but severely underutilised.
You control two combat operatives called Madison and Crystal who have been hired to save a kidnapped prince. Both characters have jet packs and blasters as basic gear and in between each level can select between 4 special weapons for their packs. This power up is their super attack essentially, (like a bomb in other shoot 'em ups) that after use recharges to fire again like it's an 80's powerpack. There are a variety of choices from lightning waves, missile barrages and lasers. If you don't like one then you can change it on the next mission to find one you like most though I found some more useful than others but that did also vary by level.
The main weapons they carry don't change, Madison fires little blue balls whilst Crystal carries a blaster that rapid fires some kind of orange arc beams that seem really powerful. You can get a few basic power ups that strengthen their attack, (In Maddison's case expand her cone of fire) and some speed ups, health ups and slow downs as well as one option turret that flies along firing with you. Overall the upgrades are limited and will mostly come down to your choice of special weapon. So load outs and power ups are pretty limited but where Trouble Shooter is interesting is that Crystal is more like an invincible option that follows you rather than a playable character. Only Madison actually takes damage and with a push of a button you can have Crystal flip 180 to start firing backwards to cover the rear if needed or have them both face forward for a full frontal barrage.
It's a really neat little idea to have it as a flexible use mechanic and what got me so interested in the series in the first place but it's just so bizarrely underused as a mechanic. Some enemies come from behind occasionally and a couple of bosses move around making it useful but it just doesn't feel like the game is designed around it enough and the limited weapons and lack of equipable load outs for each character compound that further. The level designs occasionally use it like in the second level with buzz saws coming from both directions as you travel down an underground base shaft which I liked and one boss in particular utilised it more than the others. Speaking of levels the game has 6 short stages even for a shoot 'em up and there seems to be little variety between playthroughs and it's on the easy side.
Though I enjoyed playing this quite a bit I was hoping to like this game more than I did overall. On the presentation front it has some decent music Stage 5 theme especially stood out as action packed and upbeat when I played. I like the visuals with chunky colourful sprites, paralax scrolling, level settings and anime character portraits during scenes. The mechanics and story writing though leave it as a good overall experience but it could have been an amazing one. So a good game but with missing potential as a final verdict.
I hear the sequel takes the idea and amps it up to 11 so I look forward to trying that.
+ Nice visuals and music.
+ I like the cover art of two sci-fi aerobics instructors, haters be damned.
+ Two characters with left or right shooting options is neat...
-...but severely underutilised.
Replayed and felt about as unenthused about it as I did god knows how many years ago. Very novel use of self-referential humor, but screws the pooch everywhere else. Reminds me of a Turbografx game - one parts for the fugly anime sprite art, another for the 'oh god please buy our game it has anime girls please please we're sorry we didn't make any gameplay, we're sorry, please give us money'
If my PFP didn't give it away, I definitely enjoy the Battlemania/Trouble Shooter series so I'll probably be a bit biased.
This first installment is about as campy as it gets. The art style (clearly anime inspired) isn't exactly as polished as other Sega Genesis classics and it is full of fourth wall breaking, which is something I've always enjoyed in any sort of media. I was expecting some sort of crude or sexual humor because this is a game from the 90's with a female lead (and distinctly Japanese to boot), but fortunately, the dialogue during the cutscenes manages to keep it classy.
The gameplay itself borrows heavily from Capcom's Forgotten Worlds, but drops the multi-directional aiming in favor of a support character (named Crystal) who can fire in front of or behind you with the tap of a button. I like this idea quite a bit, but the level design sparingly compliments it. You can take advantage of the fact that this character does not take any damage whatsoever and really lay the smack down on the second and fourth bosses by positioning Crystal correctly, but that's about it. Oh well, at least the core shm'up gameplay is fun enough if nothing groundbreaking.
I'd also like to point out that this is a very beginner friendly shm'up, and one of the first I played when having a fling with the genre while my dominant hand was in a cast and I was somewhat limited in the kinds of games I could play. You do not die in one hit as the game works off a hit point system. The scoring system is pretty generous with handing out extra hit points and although you can be insta-killed by being sandwiched by the screen (sort of like sonic), there's really only one part in the game where this might screw you over on a first playthrough.
Trouble Shooter Vintage (the sequel) is miles better, but this is still well worth playing if you want something breezy and cheesy to kill a few hours with.
This first installment is about as campy as it gets. The art style (clearly anime inspired) isn't exactly as polished as other Sega Genesis classics and it is full of fourth wall breaking, which is something I've always enjoyed in any sort of media. I was expecting some sort of crude or sexual humor because this is a game from the 90's with a female lead (and distinctly Japanese to boot), but fortunately, the dialogue during the cutscenes manages to keep it classy.
The gameplay itself borrows heavily from Capcom's Forgotten Worlds, but drops the multi-directional aiming in favor of a support character (named Crystal) who can fire in front of or behind you with the tap of a button. I like this idea quite a bit, but the level design sparingly compliments it. You can take advantage of the fact that this character does not take any damage whatsoever and really lay the smack down on the second and fourth bosses by positioning Crystal correctly, but that's about it. Oh well, at least the core shm'up gameplay is fun enough if nothing groundbreaking.
I'd also like to point out that this is a very beginner friendly shm'up, and one of the first I played when having a fling with the genre while my dominant hand was in a cast and I was somewhat limited in the kinds of games I could play. You do not die in one hit as the game works off a hit point system. The scoring system is pretty generous with handing out extra hit points and although you can be insta-killed by being sandwiched by the screen (sort of like sonic), there's really only one part in the game where this might screw you over on a first playthrough.
Trouble Shooter Vintage (the sequel) is miles better, but this is still well worth playing if you want something breezy and cheesy to kill a few hours with.
This one is actually fine too. You should play this one too. Forget what you’ve been told by others on www.backloggd.com about the gameplay loop, I have played it myself and I am pleased to announce that the gameplay loop is neither janky nor mid, but rather just fine. Don’t let the fifties sci-fi mass market paperback-ass cover put you off, either. If you like the sequel, you might like this one too!
I might be getting old because every game that's short, sweet, has good music, and makes me laugh is a good one in my book.
What sets Trouble Shooter, or Battle Mania, apart from others is its comedic tone, which reminds me of old animes such as Dirty Pair or Excel Saga. Bosses are very silly but actually well designed, and every level feels unique in its own right.
The sprites are a bit too big for my liking; the music is fine, but the percussion instruments are a tad loud and won't let you hear the melody clearly. Stage 3 I also think could have been better handled since there's no way to know where you're supposed to go and I had a couple of cheap deaths: very trial and error. But other than that, I enjoyed it quite a bit, and I can't wait to play its sequel.
What sets Trouble Shooter, or Battle Mania, apart from others is its comedic tone, which reminds me of old animes such as Dirty Pair or Excel Saga. Bosses are very silly but actually well designed, and every level feels unique in its own right.
The sprites are a bit too big for my liking; the music is fine, but the percussion instruments are a tad loud and won't let you hear the melody clearly. Stage 3 I also think could have been better handled since there's no way to know where you're supposed to go and I had a couple of cheap deaths: very trial and error. But other than that, I enjoyed it quite a bit, and I can't wait to play its sequel.