First off I would like to say happy new year as this is my first game to play for 2023. Yes I know it's only been about 3 hours of the first year, I was too impatient to play it when I wake up. So now then on to my review.
Ah the Sega CD, I sure don't play you too much. Honestly if I knew Japanese I'd be more willing to try more of library as it's filled with many mysteries to me like how there a lot of RPGs made early into the life of it or how Compile once again were the only ones to release one game in 1996 for a dying console in Japan with Shadowrun. Though that's not to say every interesting game stayed in Japan. Keio Flying Squadron was one that miraculously came out in every region.
I can't really say how I first discovered this game, maybe it was that one Jontron video? I swear I don't even remember if he said anything interesting about this game. I remember Guru Larry once talked about this game and how the demo is broken in that you can just play the whole game thanks to the level select. Though I'm still pissed he made the game look bad thanks to awful clickbait thumbnail. Yeah yeah I know I get mad over the most pointless things.
About the game itself as it's your usual shmup that honestly isn't really as cute as one would think it be. Like yeah it's got some funny raccoons and stuff but it's nothing of the lengths of stuff like Parodius or Cotton. Not sure if I like Keio's design though, maybe that's a hot take.
This game is actually kind of limiting when it comes to weapons. You have two different shots and three different kinds of bomb like weapons. For a game made in 1993, it feels oddly limited. Like could they have not thought of another type of shot? Though I do like how your helper dragons are. They are like options in Gradius but you can have them sacrifice themselves to hit enemies. But it's just as easy as not shooting to get it back to help you. It's a nice risk and reward that I can appreciate.
Though unfortunately don't expect much challenge as while it's not the easiest in the world, it's also not too hard. I did play on Normal so maybe it's really challenging on hard mode but I wouldn't know. Honestly maybe it's because I need to do another run or something but there were a couple of times I died from something I couldn't react to. Also pro tip for anyone who picks this game up, make sure you don't let your ride get hit as it's the hurtbox. Keio will be fine if a bullet is overlapping her sprite.
Since this is a Mega CD game. They gotta make those cutscenes and yeah they are something. They were done by Studio Pierrot. You might know them for working on stuff like Urusei Yatsura, Creamy Mami, Yu Yu Hakusho, Tokyo Mew Mew, Super GALS, and many more. I don't know if they only did the opening and ending cutscenes but they are very grainy. Sadly the other couple of cutscenes aren't nearly as interesting or done well. The cutscenes are also the only time you hear English voice acting as oddly in game it's still in Japanese. The voice acting is certainly something yeah...
This game can be pretty fun, I know I've seemed a little negative but yet I can't help but appreciate the nice environments, the cool details like how Keio will look back as you go in reverse, and just the nice music. Some of it though kind of sounds hilarious and I'm not complaining. I also like how you don't die from touching stuff like the ground, does anyone else prefer that compared to dying from it? The graphics kind of flicker at times and even disappearing and unfortunately the game also has slowdown though it's not the worst I've seen.
Despite it's issues, it's still a pretty fun game that I would have loved to replay if I owned this back in that time. I'm kind of surprised the scores are kind of low for this game but I guess I could see why. Keio would get a sequel on the Sega Saturn in Japan and Europe but that one changed the gameplay up a lot. If you need some more shmup fun in your life. Give this game a try, one of the better games on the add-on.
Ah the Sega CD, I sure don't play you too much. Honestly if I knew Japanese I'd be more willing to try more of library as it's filled with many mysteries to me like how there a lot of RPGs made early into the life of it or how Compile once again were the only ones to release one game in 1996 for a dying console in Japan with Shadowrun. Though that's not to say every interesting game stayed in Japan. Keio Flying Squadron was one that miraculously came out in every region.
I can't really say how I first discovered this game, maybe it was that one Jontron video? I swear I don't even remember if he said anything interesting about this game. I remember Guru Larry once talked about this game and how the demo is broken in that you can just play the whole game thanks to the level select. Though I'm still pissed he made the game look bad thanks to awful clickbait thumbnail. Yeah yeah I know I get mad over the most pointless things.
About the game itself as it's your usual shmup that honestly isn't really as cute as one would think it be. Like yeah it's got some funny raccoons and stuff but it's nothing of the lengths of stuff like Parodius or Cotton. Not sure if I like Keio's design though, maybe that's a hot take.
This game is actually kind of limiting when it comes to weapons. You have two different shots and three different kinds of bomb like weapons. For a game made in 1993, it feels oddly limited. Like could they have not thought of another type of shot? Though I do like how your helper dragons are. They are like options in Gradius but you can have them sacrifice themselves to hit enemies. But it's just as easy as not shooting to get it back to help you. It's a nice risk and reward that I can appreciate.
Though unfortunately don't expect much challenge as while it's not the easiest in the world, it's also not too hard. I did play on Normal so maybe it's really challenging on hard mode but I wouldn't know. Honestly maybe it's because I need to do another run or something but there were a couple of times I died from something I couldn't react to. Also pro tip for anyone who picks this game up, make sure you don't let your ride get hit as it's the hurtbox. Keio will be fine if a bullet is overlapping her sprite.
Since this is a Mega CD game. They gotta make those cutscenes and yeah they are something. They were done by Studio Pierrot. You might know them for working on stuff like Urusei Yatsura, Creamy Mami, Yu Yu Hakusho, Tokyo Mew Mew, Super GALS, and many more. I don't know if they only did the opening and ending cutscenes but they are very grainy. Sadly the other couple of cutscenes aren't nearly as interesting or done well. The cutscenes are also the only time you hear English voice acting as oddly in game it's still in Japanese. The voice acting is certainly something yeah...
This game can be pretty fun, I know I've seemed a little negative but yet I can't help but appreciate the nice environments, the cool details like how Keio will look back as you go in reverse, and just the nice music. Some of it though kind of sounds hilarious and I'm not complaining. I also like how you don't die from touching stuff like the ground, does anyone else prefer that compared to dying from it? The graphics kind of flicker at times and even disappearing and unfortunately the game also has slowdown though it's not the worst I've seen.
Despite it's issues, it's still a pretty fun game that I would have loved to replay if I owned this back in that time. I'm kind of surprised the scores are kind of low for this game but I guess I could see why. Keio would get a sequel on the Sega Saturn in Japan and Europe but that one changed the gameplay up a lot. If you need some more shmup fun in your life. Give this game a try, one of the better games on the add-on.
FallenGrace
1 year ago