Super Hydorah’s new Rookie difficulty makes it easier to appreciate
by Amr (@siegarettes)
- Super Hydorah
- Developer: Locomalito, Gryzor87, Abylight
- Publisher: Abylight Studios
- Switch, PC
In terms of shooter homage, Super Hydorah is definitely one of the top players. Its blend of arcade influences and tributes to games like Gradius, R-Type and Turrican is as meticulous as it was in the original Hydorah release, and it continues play as well after its move to the Switch. What’s new in the Switch version is the addition of some quality of life features, like boss health bars, and the Rookie Pilot difficulty mode (both of which have been patched into the PC version now). These are small changes, but they make a huge difference in enjoying Super Hydorah.
In my original review of the game I said Super Hydorah brings both the joys of old shooters and their frustrations, and that still feels true. The weapon power up system is still punitive, requiring you to pick up several powerups before a weapon becomes more effective, and weakening you after every death. You still lose speed ups and power weapons when you die, creating a spiral of failure that’s harder to return from each time.
What’s changed is before you had to choose between faster movement, powerful weapons, and a protective shield, you now begin with three shields and the ability to reinforce them if you take a hit. So playing clean makes it easier to power up and bring a powerful arsenal to a boss to quickly take them down. And if you do get destroyed by the boss (which still happens very often) you’ll have a cushion to prevent you from falling into that failure spiral as quickly.
These small changes in Rookie Pilot mode helped me get through each stage more consistently, instead of feeling like I was grinding myself against a wall of pain to experience the next area. Super Hydorah became a new experience, one where I carefully weaved through impossible odds to build up an empowering arsenal and turned the tides against my enemy–until I crashed and had to struggle again. Which honestly is a lot closer in spirit to those arcade shooters it pays homage to. Dying turned the game into a tough spot that I could bring myself back from, rather than feeling like anything but a perfect run was pointless. It’s a drastic change in outlook that lit my fighting spirit.
With that newfound spirit I felt free to explore more of Super Hydorah’s other stages, and with that I found new weaponry, some of which changed the game entirely for me. In particular the Scort (escort hah) secondary weapon allowed me to not only duplicate my fire, but intercept bullets by having the two satellite ships follow on the opposite side I was moving. Basically, I could press backwards from where an attack was coming, fighting game style, to block. This became invaluable in certain stages where bullets rained from above and nothing but perfect positioning would get you through.
Mind you none of these changes make the game easy. Death still comes frequently and swiftly. I constantly felt on the edge of being able to manage the chaos and being overwhelmed by it. And post-boss fight deaths–where I’d get hit by an exploding boss’ blood or crushed in their implosion–still felt like jokes at my expense, but knowing a second victory was still in reach made it easier to take it with good humor.
Super Hydorah still isn’t as accessible as it could be, but these changes make it a much easier recommendation this time around. It’s a clear love letter to classic shooters, with tons of small details that anyone with fondness for those games will appreciate. Except this time you won’t need to love their all or nothing difficulty as well.