Boy did this game give me some trouble on emulators. First I tried it via Autobleem. I had problems, but managed to make it to the second boss okay... before it crapped out every time by hard crashing. Then I tried Retroarch and it was even worse. I had considered giving up and moving on, but decided on downloading Duckstation and giving that a try.
Holy shit, Duckstation is a revelation!
It's so much better than Autobleem and Retroarch. Not only did Vanark run flawlessly on it, but it practically looked like a freakin' PS2 game with the 1080p resolution bump and whatever else was going on under the hood. Hell, I'm even tempted to go revisit all my PS1 favourites on that thing to see how improved they look. Needless to say, all future PS1 games will be played on Duckstation from now on.
Oh yeah, Vanark. Interesting game. The term 'hidden gem' gets thrown about with wild abandon these days, but in the case of Vanark, it certainly is... well... it's hidden alright! This game is obscure as hell considering it got a Western release and everything. No one talks about it, which is a shame as it's a pretty damn good 3D rail shooter in the vein of Panzer Dragoon or Starfox. And there's a nice bit of variety in these missions too, where sometimes you'll be granted totally free movement in an arena, or you'll be required to avoid hazards in the environment more than shooting down enemy ships. What separates Vanark from those games though are some brief (and very underdeveloped) adventure segments slotted in between the shooty shooty bang bang stuff. As the protagonist Shun, you can walk around the pre-rendered environment that is your mothership, complete with tank controls and fixed-camera angles, and... talk to people. And that's about it. Like I said - underdeveloped. It's a shame because the hub has a strong ambiance. There's a lounge room in particular, adorned with an aquarium and some atmospheric lighting, that looks absolutely gorgeous by PS1 standards. And this specific room is complimented by some of the finest smooth jazz I've heard in a video game. It's a true vibe.
https://i.imgur.com/RgpOS5R.png
But there's simply no good reason to visit this place other than to have it on in the background. It serves no role, and like most of the other locations in this hub area, is little more than an afterthought. The game is very short and can be completed in a single session if you're skilled enough (or abuse save states like I did), so maybe the adventure sections are a desperate bid to stretch out the campaign length a bit. But they're ultimately just a half measure. For a rail shooter that puts a fair bit of emphasis on story, Vanark still manages to be undercooked and underwritten, and really could've used a stronger emphasis on developing its lore and cast of characters. As it stands though, it's a perfectly competent Panzer Dragoon imitator with the best goddamn lounge room of its console era.
Holy shit, Duckstation is a revelation!
It's so much better than Autobleem and Retroarch. Not only did Vanark run flawlessly on it, but it practically looked like a freakin' PS2 game with the 1080p resolution bump and whatever else was going on under the hood. Hell, I'm even tempted to go revisit all my PS1 favourites on that thing to see how improved they look. Needless to say, all future PS1 games will be played on Duckstation from now on.
Oh yeah, Vanark. Interesting game. The term 'hidden gem' gets thrown about with wild abandon these days, but in the case of Vanark, it certainly is... well... it's hidden alright! This game is obscure as hell considering it got a Western release and everything. No one talks about it, which is a shame as it's a pretty damn good 3D rail shooter in the vein of Panzer Dragoon or Starfox. And there's a nice bit of variety in these missions too, where sometimes you'll be granted totally free movement in an arena, or you'll be required to avoid hazards in the environment more than shooting down enemy ships. What separates Vanark from those games though are some brief (and very underdeveloped) adventure segments slotted in between the shooty shooty bang bang stuff. As the protagonist Shun, you can walk around the pre-rendered environment that is your mothership, complete with tank controls and fixed-camera angles, and... talk to people. And that's about it. Like I said - underdeveloped. It's a shame because the hub has a strong ambiance. There's a lounge room in particular, adorned with an aquarium and some atmospheric lighting, that looks absolutely gorgeous by PS1 standards. And this specific room is complimented by some of the finest smooth jazz I've heard in a video game. It's a true vibe.
https://i.imgur.com/RgpOS5R.png
But there's simply no good reason to visit this place other than to have it on in the background. It serves no role, and like most of the other locations in this hub area, is little more than an afterthought. The game is very short and can be completed in a single session if you're skilled enough (or abuse save states like I did), so maybe the adventure sections are a desperate bid to stretch out the campaign length a bit. But they're ultimately just a half measure. For a rail shooter that puts a fair bit of emphasis on story, Vanark still manages to be undercooked and underwritten, and really could've used a stronger emphasis on developing its lore and cast of characters. As it stands though, it's a perfectly competent Panzer Dragoon imitator with the best goddamn lounge room of its console era.
3 Comments
Turns out I already downloaded Star Ixiom some while ago and plain forgot. Thanks for the recommendation though, I'll look into it.
Poor game doesn't even have a single review on this site. :(
Poor game doesn't even have a single review on this site. :(
Yeah it's one of those almost completely overlooked games. I wouldn't call it a "hidden gem" or anything, but it deserves more attention.
Ghost_Of_SAS
11 months ago