I love finding hidden gems in gaming. Most of the time that term is reserved for lesser known indie titles but there are so many relatively unknown titles still in the retro gaming sphere, some from extremely well known companies or series. Many of these I am still only just discovering even on platforms I grew up with when they came out as they may not have released in my country or not been as visible. Most recently I've been delving more into Shoot 'em ups on the original PlayStation. I had no idea there were so many good ones as I didn't play the genre much then. Games like Omega Boost, Einhander and Gradius Gaiden to name a few. This has led me onto Gamera 2000, a game never released outside of Japan, a licensed Kaiju title with the blandest logo cover ever. It's understandable why it's so overlooked, but it shouldn't be.
Firstly, and I really need to cover this first is that this game is just hilarious, though for all the wrong reasons. Whilst I listed above this is a Japanese only release, one has to wonder if it was always planned that way. The menus are all in English which is fairly common for Shoot 'em ups but all the cutscenes are also in English.
They are also live action mixed with CGI
Not a single person in that has ever acted before is the impression I got and I love it. It's so bad, it goes into good. It does however make it extremely import friendly.
Between some missions you get a mini hub of your character in a control room or parked up you can interact with people or items for extra scenes before starting the actual missions. There are around 8 missions in total and there is a good variety to them from city landscapes, archipelagos, underground bases etc. Visually it looks surprisingly great. It has that PSX era chunky 3D look and although some scenery does pop in with the draw distance I was actually really impressed. Colourful detailed and it plays very smoothly.
For most of the game you play using a fighter jet but there are a couple of levels where you change up to a red speedster bike zooming through the forest. Fortunately due to how the game was designed it doesn't get frustrating avoiding trees or anything. Regardless if on ship or on bike the game essentially runs on rails and is extremely reminiscent of Panzer Dragoon with the left stick controlling both aim and some limited movement to avoid attacks whilst auto traveling. Using L1 and R1 rotates the camera at 90 degree angles into different quadrants around your ship to change your firing direction giving you 360 degree combat scenarios. You have 3 weapons at your disposal, one is just either your ship guns (or your squad mate on the bike rapid firing a pistol) You can do charge lock on targeting multiple enemies or weak points which does nothing....from you. You are actually highlighting them for your giant flying turtle buddy Gamera who then launches large fireballs at those targets as he is traveling alongside you. The last move involves the titular Gamera again where you build up a charge bar. As you do Gamer starts spinning around like a Beyblade with his arm and leg hole thrusters blasting away. Let go and he spins flying full force at nearby enemies dealing constant damage.
There is no other way to describe this game but as one that is just better than the sum of it's parts. The visuals are great, the 90's electronica is surprisingly a jam, the cutscenes are so badly acted it's like a straight to TV 80's sci-fi yet scenes with Gamera do almost look like 60's Claymation at times and all of that whilst playing like Panzer Dragoon.
This is a legit good game that sadly will be forgotten by many. If you have a spare hour or so I highly recommend just giving it a try just for something a bit weird from a by gone era.
+ Gameplay holds up well.
+ Good music and visuals.
+ Cutscenes are hilarious....
- ...yet pretty cringey.
- Game feels a little basic.
Firstly, and I really need to cover this first is that this game is just hilarious, though for all the wrong reasons. Whilst I listed above this is a Japanese only release, one has to wonder if it was always planned that way. The menus are all in English which is fairly common for Shoot 'em ups but all the cutscenes are also in English.
They are also live action mixed with CGI
Not a single person in that has ever acted before is the impression I got and I love it. It's so bad, it goes into good. It does however make it extremely import friendly.
Between some missions you get a mini hub of your character in a control room or parked up you can interact with people or items for extra scenes before starting the actual missions. There are around 8 missions in total and there is a good variety to them from city landscapes, archipelagos, underground bases etc. Visually it looks surprisingly great. It has that PSX era chunky 3D look and although some scenery does pop in with the draw distance I was actually really impressed. Colourful detailed and it plays very smoothly.
For most of the game you play using a fighter jet but there are a couple of levels where you change up to a red speedster bike zooming through the forest. Fortunately due to how the game was designed it doesn't get frustrating avoiding trees or anything. Regardless if on ship or on bike the game essentially runs on rails and is extremely reminiscent of Panzer Dragoon with the left stick controlling both aim and some limited movement to avoid attacks whilst auto traveling. Using L1 and R1 rotates the camera at 90 degree angles into different quadrants around your ship to change your firing direction giving you 360 degree combat scenarios. You have 3 weapons at your disposal, one is just either your ship guns (or your squad mate on the bike rapid firing a pistol) You can do charge lock on targeting multiple enemies or weak points which does nothing....from you. You are actually highlighting them for your giant flying turtle buddy Gamera who then launches large fireballs at those targets as he is traveling alongside you. The last move involves the titular Gamera again where you build up a charge bar. As you do Gamer starts spinning around like a Beyblade with his arm and leg hole thrusters blasting away. Let go and he spins flying full force at nearby enemies dealing constant damage.
There is no other way to describe this game but as one that is just better than the sum of it's parts. The visuals are great, the 90's electronica is surprisingly a jam, the cutscenes are so badly acted it's like a straight to TV 80's sci-fi yet scenes with Gamera do almost look like 60's Claymation at times and all of that whilst playing like Panzer Dragoon.
This is a legit good game that sadly will be forgotten by many. If you have a spare hour or so I highly recommend just giving it a try just for something a bit weird from a by gone era.
+ Gameplay holds up well.
+ Good music and visuals.
+ Cutscenes are hilarious....
- ...yet pretty cringey.
- Game feels a little basic.
2 Comments
@Spinnerweb - This is so true. The internet was less everywhere back then to boot so even knowing what was coming was through the mercy of magazines or word of mouth. Definitely a different time.
Spinnerweb
4 days ago