For my first game logged on here, I figured I'd go back and beat a game that I started decades ago but could never finish due to having little experience with shmups at the time.
I went ahead and did this one without the code for Retroachievements, although I did do one run with save state practice (ESPECIALLY for stage 3) before taking the training wheels off and doing a "hardcore" run.
I've got to be honest, it wasn't a fun experience for the most part. Yes, the aesthetic and music are wonderful- stage 2's music literally gives me chills with how much of an earworm it is. That being said, even though you respawn where you left off just like in Thunder Force 3 (which is a far superior game imho), the dreaded "Gradius syndrome" is in full effect here. (If you die, you lose everything and might as well just shut the damn game off or fly your ship into the walls in order to start the stage over and rebuild)
Even from stage 1, there are traps that can and will kill you if you don't have prior knowledge of them. Walls that completely block off your path with no way through, odd veiny structures that materialize right in the middle of the playing field when you're likely trying to avoid a billion other things (referring to stage 4), and of course those massive arcs of fire from stage 3 that give minimal warning and take up half the screen. To reference Thunder Force 3 again...this game is basically that cavern stage with the bouncing rocks and shifting terrain but stretched across a 30 minute gauntlet.
Ironically, all of the bosses are pathetically easy and can (for the most part) be taken out even with just the pea shooter and a little preservation. I almost laughed at the end of stage 3 because I expected the giant dragon head to be this grueling ordeal considering the stage itself took me almost an hour to route (without dying) but no- he just shoots out an easily avoided projectile. Even the last boss (who I'm assuming is what the american cover art is depicting) is a pushover.
For the sake of finishing a game I barely got to stage 3 on as a kid, I'm happy i finally got around to it. That being said, I'll be sticking with Compile and Technosoft shooters moving forward. A killer soundtrack and great visuals can really only carry a game so far and, sadly, Life Force just doesn't hold up on what should actually matter in a game to me.
I went ahead and did this one without the code for Retroachievements, although I did do one run with save state practice (ESPECIALLY for stage 3) before taking the training wheels off and doing a "hardcore" run.
I've got to be honest, it wasn't a fun experience for the most part. Yes, the aesthetic and music are wonderful- stage 2's music literally gives me chills with how much of an earworm it is. That being said, even though you respawn where you left off just like in Thunder Force 3 (which is a far superior game imho), the dreaded "Gradius syndrome" is in full effect here. (If you die, you lose everything and might as well just shut the damn game off or fly your ship into the walls in order to start the stage over and rebuild)
Even from stage 1, there are traps that can and will kill you if you don't have prior knowledge of them. Walls that completely block off your path with no way through, odd veiny structures that materialize right in the middle of the playing field when you're likely trying to avoid a billion other things (referring to stage 4), and of course those massive arcs of fire from stage 3 that give minimal warning and take up half the screen. To reference Thunder Force 3 again...this game is basically that cavern stage with the bouncing rocks and shifting terrain but stretched across a 30 minute gauntlet.
Ironically, all of the bosses are pathetically easy and can (for the most part) be taken out even with just the pea shooter and a little preservation. I almost laughed at the end of stage 3 because I expected the giant dragon head to be this grueling ordeal considering the stage itself took me almost an hour to route (without dying) but no- he just shoots out an easily avoided projectile. Even the last boss (who I'm assuming is what the american cover art is depicting) is a pushover.
For the sake of finishing a game I barely got to stage 3 on as a kid, I'm happy i finally got around to it. That being said, I'll be sticking with Compile and Technosoft shooters moving forward. A killer soundtrack and great visuals can really only carry a game so far and, sadly, Life Force just doesn't hold up on what should actually matter in a game to me.