A hidden gem.

Did you know the Sega Saturn had over 1000 games released on it? You wouldn't think so as they were primarily Japanese only releases with the western markets only received a quarter of that number. Fortunately in something I have spoken about before, fan communities are doing the work a lot of the companies either won't or can't, in bringing these games English patches so players years later, (25 in Bulk slash's case) can still enjoy them or experience them for the first time. Now I'm really highlighting this for the review because of the effort the fan base went to here is a step beyond what is normally done and the reason why. You see not only did the group translate the English text, create an English manual for it but they actually hired/found actors for an English dub of it. Aside from being genuinely impressed with the work and dedication on display. It's actually kind of needed due to the fast paced action and gameplay design along with your chosen navigator.

The premise of the game is very much like a Gundam storyline. An, intergalactic war, a military coup with you at the centre. You play the role of Chris Dooley a pilot for the S.D.F fighting to stop the coup but you aren't alone with your Manageable Intelligent Support System (M.I.S.S.), aka your navigator. There is one on each level that are hidden in most cases and will give different endings depending on your bond with them in how long you use them for etc. . It's a very arcady feeling shoot 'em up set in 7 Stages with a little flexibility in which order you play them in. Each level has different objectives, a couple are just to destroy targets, an escort mission, a bomb delivery level, infiltrating bases etc. and as part of that the navigator is pretty much necessary. The tagline in the translated manual is:

"Her voice is your only hope"

Now while an exaggeration, she will talk to you at a press of a button with an icon directing you to your target. The patch makers felt doing this with subtitles and playing at the same time wouldn't have been as useful and I agree. A quick "behind you!" to direct you the way you need to go or where a threat is while wrestling with the controls goes a long way, and wrestle I did initially. This is coming from someone who grew up with the system but I'm simply used to more precise control systems now and it really took a while to get back into the groove. Once I did though I was flying, firing landing and attacking to my hearts content.

The visual aesthetic is great, like just check out the opening cinematic and music. If that doesn't appeal to you walk away now. It's got this 80's / 90's vibe running through it's core and the English fandub voices match it extremely well. Not every voice is quite a winner for me but when I showed the patch trailer to a friend they said the voices matched 90's dubbed gaming perfectly like it could have launched like that and been believable and compared with titles like Burning Rangers at the time? I see his point.

He also said the game looked awesome. You know what? Having played it, he was right. It is awesome.

+ English fan work is kinda bonkers.
+ Game is legitimately a fantastic time.
+ Music, art and action are a delight.

- Controls are clunky to get used to initially due to Saturn limitations.