great game ???
tell me.. is anybody else having problems with area 3 ???
it starts normaly.. i see enemys. i destroy them,, and then the stage just loops without anything happening..
tried it in both mozilla, chrome and IE ,, samething happen ..
help
similar to the regent
the enemies remind me of androids called the Regent, the destroyed the race that created them and they are trying to rob all the planets of their resources, the thing thats different is that the regent have slightly better technology. however its hard destroying these enemies with this DESPICABLE, INCAPABLE, 2 BIT EARTH SHIP! this would never happen with us and the Regent, why humanity?
Mediocre
The levels were rather uninteresting and repetitive with no obstacles other than enemy ships. That's fine in games like 1943 or Twinbee where there's tons of bullets to dodge and loads of powerups to collect, but since none of that is going on here, it leads to a very boring experience. No one level really stands out here as well- especially with the same music. Every level of every Gradius game is extremely memorable and, ergo, can be mastered through repeated playthroughs.
The art style, though intricate, seems very flat and sterile. A lot of games in this genre aim for bolder colors and higher contrast on the foreground objects to not only make the game more visually appealing, but also to make hazards more noticeable. None of the ships (including the player's) were animated aside from the thrusters.
Music was okay, but did not loop smoothly and got repetitive quickly. I eventually had to mute it and put the awesome Xexex soundtrack on ;).
Lastly, the hit-box on your ship is, in my opinion, far too large (the Vic Viper's in Gradius V was like, one pixel in the cockpit). Pulling off some extreme maneuvering through enemy fire is half the fun in a game like this, and it's neigh impossible with the hit-box as large as it is.
Having played a lot of the old-school shmups, (my favorite genre of video game) this one was just 'O.K.' Wasn't terrible, but doesn't really stand out.
It was pretty freakin' nice
The game was well polished and didn't feel too cheap and the bosses were fun to fight. It had a nice retro style, with a nice bit of challenge. I finished the game after about 50 tries on a couple different levels (mostly on the 2 black hole levels; it took me a bit to realize all I needed was anitmatter cannons to win).
+ Overall pretty fun, and a couple of "Oh snap" moments made it interesting.
+ The final boss was one of the most interesting bosses I've fought since I played Sin & Punishment (Wii Virtual Console port).
+ It was challenging, without being too challenging. It was between the difficulty of a typical Newgrounds shooter (easy), to something like Gradius (hard). Not too hard, not too soft.
+ Multiple weapons to choose from...kinda. Most of them were just variations of others, with the exception of the homing missiles, rubber bullets, and relentless rifles. And once you got to the end, there was only one thing to choose from, and that was the only thing you could use without raising the difficulty.
- Some (read: A lot) of the enemies were really freaking annoying.
- The ships popping up from behind or rushing in suddenly (like the drill boss) made things really stupid. This was countered by the levels being kind-of short, though, so I don't consider this to be a real issue.
- The last point made in "+" above.
Last, thing. This isn't freaking Ikaruga. It isn't Touhou, or Gradius. If you think this is hard, play any of those 3 games and videotape yourself so I can see the results. Either you start literally crying, or your balls grow on the spot. Either way it will be pretty amazing.
4 out of 5
Very nice overall, but some of the enemies were frustrating enough for me to take a point off. Too many deaths at the hands of enemies that pop out and do 100 damage without me being able to react. Unless I did the level before.
Classic
The timing of this release was perfect. I was in just the mood to play an old school top down shooter. I love the added RPG elements you gave to the upgrade system.
My only hangup is the straightforwardness of the game play. While the boss fights have their own nice puzzle feel, the higher levels were loaded with more enemies rather than utilizing creative mechanics like the light mines to greater effect.