Super Hydorah (Playstation 4)

Horizontal
Checkpoints ON
1 Difficulty level
12 ~ 21 Stages
Ship speed by icons
- - - - - - -
Developed by Locomalito / Gryzor87
Published by Abylight Studios / Limited Run Games in 2018

In 2010 a freeware shmup called Hydorah caused a very good impression among orphans of the golden age of horizontal shooters, especially those who never relinquished their love for everything about Gradius. A very respectful homage and a worthy evolution in its own right, Hydorah reminded players of how good it felt to play a game that was truly crafted to convey the wonders of cruising through alien environments to defeat yet another threat to the galaxy. A rare treat indeed in the world of independently developed video games.

Fast forward seven years, and developers Locomalito and Gryzor87 teamed up with a professional publisher to deliver an expanded and tweaked version of the game suitably baptized as Super Hydorah, made available for all main platforms of the time. The iteration for the Playstation 4 ditches some of the previous PC traits, such as the option to play the game in an easier setting, and while it does not include any HD treatment whatsoever the 16/32-bit styled graphics still look as gorgeous as they can be, duly matched by a magnificient atmospheric soundtrack.

It doesn't take long for seasoned players to see that this game is a love letter to everything about Gradius. From the basic look of the ship to the stage introductions that resemble those from Gradius Gaiden, Super Hydorah includes several bosses and stage designs inspired by the franchise, many of them also infused with details from other classic horizontal series and games such as R-Type, Darius, Hellfire and even obscure titles such as Rayxanber. It's a feast to the eyes of veterans, and for that alone a experience that sounds particularly special for all old timers.

Prepare your weapons and start your engines: Super Hydorah arrives!
(courtesy of YouTube user and co-publisher Abylight Studios)

 

The structure of Super Hydorah is based on a map that defines the stages to be played. It's possible to beat the game by playing a minimum of 12 stages, yet in order to see the best ending you need to mandatorily get through 4 specific stages in a total of at least 16 levels completed in a single credit. The "Delta Lance" ship is visually very similar to the Vic Viper from Gradius and starts out with a single pea shot, but for each stage won a special weapon (or an extra life) is given as a reward. Firepower is composed of primary and secondary weapons (fired with button ×) and a special attack with limited use (fired with button ○). At the start of every level you need to equip the ship with the available options in the arsenal, upgrading primary and secondary weapons during the stages if they're used for the first time.

As you progress through the levels two types of items will appear when a specific carrier is destroyed. The first one is the power-up for the main weapon, which cycles between green (primary) and red (secondary). It takes 10 items to max out the power for each one. Surplus power-ups are worth 100 points each. The second item type cycles between speed-up (blue), 1-hit shield (purple) and special attack (orange). It's possible to amass up to 3 speed-ups and 3 special attacks, and for each of these items in excess you'll get 500 points (shield too). Finally, the heart gives you an extra life.

Each stage is divided in one or more combat zones where you advance in enemy territory or need to confront a boss, and it goes without saying that a good weapon selection is essential to make the path easier in any given level. Since it's impossible to change your arsenal once the stage starts, the worst thing that can happen is making bad choices and dying repeatedly during a boss fight. After all, each death takes away two upgrade points of each weapon, one speed-up and all special attacks you have in stock. At least Super Hydorah isn't one of those games where the odds are insurmountable, so the overall idea is that practice eventually makes perfect. And a perfectly played level with no hits taken gives you a max bonus of 6.000 points – if you're also able to collect the "secret" in it, that is.

Secrets are mostly special spots in the levels that are revealed if you fly over them, yet in certain cases they will require some patience to be uncovered. Waiting for a particular attack pattern to appear, for a particular wall to disintegrate or, in a very particular case, use a special weapon previously taken as a key to advance. Since this information can easily be found online, I won't get into more detail on it. In any case, secrets aren't really necessary for players to reach the best ending. Collecting all secrets in a single run merely unlocks a special achievement, that's all.

All-out shooting action in the Galactic Inferno stage

From the initial scramble of the Outer Wall to the final battle in Meropticon, a full run tackling all levels takes around one hour and a half, yet everything is so diverse and engaging you probably won't notice that while having a mother lode of fun, either solo or in a 2-player co-op campaign. On the subject of stage order and weapon choices there is of course plenty of flexibility. In the first half of the game lasers are excellent when combined with "scorts", which are the closest you'll get to the options in common Gradius lore even though they behave as a mix between the auxiliary appendixes from Thunder Cross and X-Multiply. Later on vulcan and homing definitely serve as good replacements for them. As for special attacks, if you decide to carry "light" (obtained in Rubinia) a bonus of 2.000 points will be applied for every surplus special attack item instead of the regular 500 points.

Speaking of bonus points, good consideration was given to the scoring system in this game. There's absolutely no way of milking boss projectiles, for instance. Replaying stages isn't allowed, and the more you die the less bonus you get when a stage is completed. It is possible, however, to milk certain levels by dying just before the stage ends in order to restart the checkpoint. Since the assortment of extra lives is quite high, that's certainly the best strategy for those who'd like to reach scores that are close or above one million points. Pilot ranks are given at the end of the stage based on your score, ranging from Cadet at the start of the game to Captain once you surpass the mark of 500.000 points.

In order to get the bad ending of Super Hydorah, players must not complete any of the four stages that have the so-called Hydorah seeds (Dunarys, Path of Scylla, Underground Base and Black Gate). By beating these levels you'll then achieve the good ending. Both of these endings allow the use of continues. That said, a Hero ending is reserved for those who are able to beat the game with no continues while destroying all Hydorah seeds, which means beating the stages mentioned above on your way to the 1CC. The homage present in this one will certainly warm the hearts of shmup veterans.

Aside from the regular campaign, the PS4 version of Super Hydorah also comes with a mini-game mode called Robot Chase, which requires 2 players to be enjoyed. The 1CC score I got below is in the last screen of the Hero ending in the main game. I did die a handful of times, but I did no checkpoint milking whatsoever.