#stg
#stg
By Amr (@siegarettes)
“You will see the birth of new lives” with these dramatic words you’re sent off into the cosmic sea of G Darius. Flying through landscapes of oceans, prehistoric forests and psychedelic space, G Darius gives the impression of a struggle against time and evolution. All of this is backed by a score made of distorted vocals, crowd sounds, industrial percussion and swelling choirs that would almost feel at home in a horror game.
The drama comes to a climax with the capture system, which not only allows you to capture enemies for new weapons, but also mini-bosses, with both enabling you to engage in spectacular laser duels with stage bosses.
The only letdown in the package is the HD transfer, which is certainly sharper, but lacks the extensive gadgets found in other M2 releases.
G-Darius may not be the revelation advertised, but its cosmic landscapes still deliver quite the journey.
by Amr (@siegarettes)
Coming from the gluttonous feast that was Chronicle Saviors, Another Chronicle EX is like showing up to a banquet and only being served an appetizer. Chronicle Saviors, the previous port, sported both a port of the ultrawide arcade game as well the titular CS mode, with a brand new campaign formatted for 16:9 widescreen, new songs, and an upgrade system, as well as extensive DLC support with shooter crossovers from other companies.
Another Chronicle EX is more or less a straight, no frills port of the arcade game, with the previously missing event mode restored, and the new ship from Chronicle Saviors added. None of the M2 gadgets have been added, and no concessions have been made for the 16:9 presentation, save a not so useful zoom function.
At almost the same price as Chronicle Saviors, Another Chronicle is charging full admission to eat another party’s leftovers.
by Amr (@siegarettes)
R-Type Final 2 is a game banking on the poor memories of its returning players. It’s been nearly a decade and a half since the release of the original R-Type Final, plenty of time to forget the details of its melancholy goodbye to the genre. A premature goodbye as it turns out, with the last decade seeing a surge in the popularity of the genre, and R-Type Final 2 acting as a celebration of this fact, declaring the happy return of a genre favorite. For many, that’s a triumph in itself. Getting behind the controls of Final 2’s extensive arsenal of ships is a joy that will carry the experience. But come armed with clear memories, and all its flaws cast harsh reflections through the haze of its brilliant lights.
by Amr (@siegarettes)
Originally developed by DICE for the Amiga and Genesis, Ultracore was recovered and released as part of the launch of the Analgoue Mega SG, a high definition Genesis hardware clone. It remained exclusive to the system, only playable by purchasing expensive, niche hardware. Alongside a physical release from Strictly Limited, Ultracore is finally available to the wider public on Switch and PS4 as a standalone title.
Despite picking up the Mega SG on release, I never played Ultracore, aside from the times I accidentally picked it from the home menu. My reasons were the same as why I never played the release of Super Turrican-Director’s Cut on the Super NT: I’m simply not fond of the European style platformer-shooter hybrids. But with the new Switch release, and after enjoying the PS4 release of Gunlord X, I decided to give this one another chance.
by Amr (@siegarettes)
No matter what half of the Darius Cozmic Collection you start with, it’s impossible to get away from the feeling that it’s only part of a whole. That was true of my time with Cozmic Collection Console, which not only felt incomplete without the arcade games that gave it context, but even lacked key console entries itself. The arcade collection feels even thinner–giving you what’s basically a few variations on three games. But even with the smaller lineup it’s clear which of the two collections is the headliner here. Between the novelty of the absurdly wide playfields, the previous lack of arcade accurate ports and the iconic soundtracks, the Cozmic Arcade Collection easily makes a case as the best of the two parts.
by Amr (@siegarettes)
It’s hard not to feel underwhelmed by Thunder Force AC. Based on the arcade version of Thunder Force 3, and releasing after the much flashier SEGA AGES release of Thunder Force 4, AC can’t help but feel less polished, and incomplete. Despite its significance in preserving a rare arcade game, the changes made for the game don’t always result in a better game than the console title it’s based on, just a different one.
Unlike other titles like Columns II or Tant-R, the original console version isn’t included either, which is a shame, given that its previous AGES release on the 3DS never made it out of Japan. Together Thunder Force 3 and AC could have felt like a complete package, giving players a chance to not only play a hard to find arcade title, but directly compare it to its console counterpart. Without it, Thunder Force AC feels slim alongside the other AGES titles.
by Amr (@siegarettes)
Take the elaborate bullet patterns of modern STGs, give them to adorable fantasy monster girls, then combine them into a fighting game and you get Maiden & Spell. A niche within a niche, Maiden & Spell is part of a line of surprisingly varied shooter-fighting game hybrids, following in the mold set by G-Rev’s Senko no Ronde. As you might expect from a combination of such obsessive niches, Senko no Ronde was a maximalist game, one with highly detailed mechanics and obtuse nuances that required serious effort before you could begin to understand what you were playing.
Compared to its contemporaries, Maiden & Spell is stripped down, focused on immediate communication. It turns an intimidating genre into an inviting one, one you can show to your friends and immediately have them understand.
by Amr (@siegarettes)
Compiling six shooters from developer Psikyo, Shooting Stars Bravo follows an evolution in their philosophy of creating shooters. Shooting Stars Bravo is split between two series: the mythical Japanese themed Sengoku Aces, and the colorful fantasy of the Gunbird series. Each series follows a similar trajectory, with a no-frills first entry, peaking at the second, then going to wildly different places with the third. They each get to that point in unique ways, with wildly varying results.
