Triggerheart Exelica (Dreamcast)

Vertical
Checkpoints OFF
3 Difficulty levels
5 Stages
Ship speed fixed, start selectable
- - - - - - -
Developed by Warashi
Published by Warashi in 2007

Is a shooter with a unique gimmick always a worthy experience, even if this gimmick isn't unanimously approved by everyone? Tricky question, yes. Triggerheart Exelica's claim to fame, for example, is the ability to capture enemies and throw them around as you please, only abiding by the elementary rules of rotational momentum. Many games had already used the same idea of grabbing enemies for a defensive or offensive edge, but this one takes the concept to a whole new level, much beyond what was done in titles like G Darius, Gaiares or Macross - Scrambled Valkyrie.

Ported roughly a year after its arcade debut, Triggerheart Exelica was the second to last official release for the Sega Dreamcast, coming out just a few weeks before Karous. Packed with three game modes (Arcade, Story and Arrange), configurable controls, practice mode, TATE and save function, the game was also available in regular and limited editions, the latter in a DVD case including a soundtrack CD and an extra art booklet.

The story here is trivial and a bit convoluted as usual. Suffice it to say players are able to choose from two sexy sisters that must battle inside advanced mecha suits through five increasingly tough stages. Exelica fires a spread pattern, while Crueltear has a straight shot and moves a little faster. Besides shooting, they can also activate bombs and latch onto any enemy with an anchor/spear. Extra bombs (B) and power-ups (P) appear from specific enemies in the level. Just two power-ups are enough to maximize their firepower, however the more you play the more you realize that regular firing isn't as effective as the ability to use the anchor, especially in the last couple of stages.

Playing Triggerheart Exelica for the first time
(courtesy of YouTube user Random Gaming Moments)

 

By destroying enemies gold flocks/medals are generated for collection. If you let go of the shot button these will be automatically sucked into the character, adding to a medal count and a multiplier. Using captured enemies to destroy other enemies cashes in this multiplier in exchange for points and even more medals. Medals increase in size and value if they're left floating on the screen, so it's always best to hold the shot button for a while. You lose 30% of your medal count if you die, and 15% if you collide with a harmless obstacle, such as those originated during boss fights.

Anchoring and throwing enemies requires some basic steps: grab the target with the anchor, draw it close by pressing the shot button, keep shot pressed as you spin it around either left or right and release the anchor button to throw the enemy in the intended direction. Besides the direction you can also control the speed of the spin with the shot button, but if the captured enemy isn't moving it will explode it you let go of the anchor button. Finally, the larger the anchored enemy the longer it takes for you to take control. Those that can't be captured (such as ground targets or bosses) will still be latched onto so that you can inflict damage by firing. Once the enemy is thrown it will not only hit whatever lies ahead with destructive power, but also convert all bullets in its path into gold medals.

One thing is definitely true about Triggerheart Exelica. Being able to reliably control the anchoring mechanic is easier said than done. I'd say that fully understanding and using this mechanic is the shmup equivalent to striking decent forehands or backhands in tennis. It takes practice and it takes time. And on a bad day it can destroy your ability to play, let alone win. There is an alternative to make it less cumbersome though: a switch in the options called "autospin" makes enemies rotate automatically after being captured. Note however that by activating autospin you lose the ability to use enemies as static shields (by avoiding to spin them with the shot button).

Another important aspect of the game is how it treats boss confrontations, in what's normally referred to as V.B.A.S. or "Variable Boss Attack System". All bosses have multiple phases, which evolve according to your current number of medals. This means that if you don't have enough medals boss fights are abbreviated. The only boss whose forms do not depend on the medal count is the last one. On the other hand, if you have at least 3.000 medals by the time you beat the last boss phases in stages 1 and 3, a secret character named Faintear will appear and prolong the fight. It goes without saying, but extended boss fights allow for a lot more opportunities for scoring.

 

Exelica taking to the skies in stage 3

Even though I like Triggerheart Exelica's soundtrack, I'm not a fan of the thumpy choice for impact sound effects. As for the game's aesthetics, they're decent but the graphics could've certainly used a little more detail. While the cinematic transitions help to keep a dynamic flow, which is often interrupted by bulkier enemies that cause the scrolling to cease, the game is generally built upon a fine balance that gives you a constant flow of aerial enemies to use as shields or projectiles. But what if someone doesn't want to use the anchor at all, I wonder? Could you beat the game? I believe this is virtually impossible. Denying the use of the anchor could be done until stage 3, but once you enter the drone field of the 4th stage you won't get anywhere without throwing those huge blocks around.

The extra game variants add even more spice to the original Arcade mode. Story mode is identical to the Arcade, but makes you confront Faintear in stages 1 and 3 regardless of your medal count. She also appears halfway the final level. A bonus of Arrange mode is that finishing the game with no continues lets ou see a more optimistic ending than the sad one from Arcade mode. Arrange mode, on the other hand, has more bullets and more medals to collect, doing away with the multiplier. All modes share the same thresholds for extra lives at 50 and 100 million points.

I was able to get the 1CC in Arcade mode in the Normal difficulty, playing with Exelica with default controls (no autospin). I can't say I was having good fun all the time though, mostly because the varying efficiency of my touch with the anchor mechanics often ruined my runs in the most awkward ways. I might return to the game in the Playstation 2 port Triggerheart Exelica Enhanced, which has the distinction of allowing you to play with extra character Faintear.

Detana!! TwinBee (PC Engine)

Vertical
Checkpoints OFF
4 Difficulty levels
6 Stages (loopable)
Ship speed by icons
- - - - - - -
Developed by Konami
Published by Konami in 1992

The only home port of the chapter that redefined the series into a full blown cute'em up franchise, Detana!! TwinBee brings to the PC Engine the multitude of colors of the arcade game while toning down the difficulty for the most part. My statement above stems from the fact that Detana!! is actually the first arcade sequel to the original TwinBee, after several intermediate entries for the NES and the Game Boy. Although the previous games did have some cute elements, they were hardly set in stone as to their overall tone. That's why I believe Detana!! to be the start of the second and better phase of the franchise as a whole.

Living up to its alternate title Bells & Whistles, the game continues to build upon the colored bell mechanics to provide a very specific kind of shmup rush, which mixes survival and scoring against a backbone defined by dynamic difficulty. Even though the punishment for dying is still remarkable, especially in the final levels, it's certainly a more easygoing and approachable experience than the arcade original for a series or reasons. Reduced hitbox and bullet count, less fierce rank progression and extra lives (1UPs) to be collected from specific ground targets are some of them.

The only real compromise besides the expected graphical and musical downgrade is the absence of the sixth level of the arcade original, the one that takes place in the desert landscape. Other than that, everything about the gameplay is duly preserved and remains the same.

Japanese rooftops protruding above fluffy clouds in stage 5

 

Basic inputs are very simple and work with shot in button II and bomb drop in button I. Just like in Xevious, bomb drops are used to hit ground targets. By holding shot you can charge and release a powerful attack that pierces everything and inflicts damage. Powering up is mainly achieved by hitting bells released from clouds and taking the colored ones. At every five hits the bell changes color to a different one other than yellow, in an ongoing sequence with the following order: white (twin shot), blue (speed-up), green (trailing options), red (shield barrier), purple ("solidifies" your options, making them able to cancel bullets and deal aerial damage), black (speed-down) and back to white. You can't have red and purple simultaneously, and if you already have a particular item the corresponding bell in the sequence will be yellow.

The secret to a better chance of survival is to use the first batch of clouds in the very first level to power up as fast as you can. At least two speed-ups are needed, as well as twin shot and options. Extra upgrades can be applied by collecting the ground bell, which gives you a three-way shot for the main character, and by releasing and "docking" with GwinBee, the third mecha besides TwinBee (player 1, piloted by Light the boy) and WinBee (player 2, piloted by Pastel the girl). Firepower is increased when united with GwinBee, especially the charge shot. The only downside is that the hitbox increases twofold, and GwinBee will be lost if hit.

A final detail about the hitbox is that you can lose one or both arms of the character, thus affecting its ability to drop bombs. If both arms are lost an ambulance item will cruise the screen for you to repair them, but note that this only happens once in each level. If the arms are once again lost you'll be unable to drop bombs until you die or reach the next level.

Speaking of scoring, the formula is rather simple. Just collect successive yellow bells. Once the initial ones are taken (four), all others will be worth 10.000 points provided you don't let any of them fall down the screen. Juggling bells for points can be tricky if you're not fast enough, particularly in the second half of the game since enemies start coming down more aggressively and in greater numbers. Finally, you also get extra score by collecting fruit released from ground targets, and 1.000 points are awarded for most of the aerial enemy waves you're able to completely wipe out. 

Intro and first stage of Detana!! TwinBee on the PC Engine
(courtesy of YouTube user The VideoGames Museum)

It's no secret I was never much of a fan of the concept behind the TwinBee series. However, amidst forests, skies, rivers, mountains and ravines, there's no denying that the action in this version of Detana!! TwinBee is finely tailored to the console format both in terms of fun and difficulty. There's just one glaring exception: the final boss. For some odd reason, that creature is even harder than its arcade counterpart no matter the rank situation when you get to him. No only does he spit a lot more bullets, but he also takes a longer beating to finally go down. This crazy difficulty spike is definitely unexpected and uncalled for, and sort of taints the general appreciation of the game.

Regardless of the above, one of the nicest aspects of the PC Engine port of Detana!! TwinBee is that it allows co-op play, a feature that's often well regarded in console adaptations. I admit the game might have a different kind of charm when played with a friend, as long as both players are able to come to grips with the inherent greed associated with bell manipulation.

I played with Light/Twinbee (player 1 side) in the Normal difficulty and reached stage 2-1 with the final score below. The second loop is a lot harder than the first, and unless you have some proper practice chances are the adventure will come to an end right there and then.

The next title in the series is another console game, the amazing Pop'n TwinBee for the Super Famicom, which was later followed by the final arcade chapter TwinBee Yahho!.

Darius Alpha (Playstation 4)

Horizontal
Checkpoints OFF
1 Difficulty level
16 Stages
Ship speed fixed
- - - - - - -
Developed by Taito / M2
Published by Strictly Limited Games in 2020

Those who've been around long enough certainly know at least a little about the Taito long-running franchise where you fight all sorts of marine creatures in outer space. Besides several impressive arcade titles, in the good old days Taito was also very keen on delivering ports and even original games to home consoles. One way to know some of the best of them is by getting hold of the Darius Cozmic Collection Console, a compilation released for the Playstation 4 (and the Nintendo Switch) that packs six console classics and some variations thrown in for good measure. Of all the included games, however, the one that most people will certainly be more curious about is Darius Alpha.

A promotional version of Darius Plus released in 1990 for the PC Engine, Darius Alpha was a mail-order exclusive, obtainable only by sending in a pair of coupons found in the manuals of Super Darius and Darius Plus. Only 800 copies of the HuCard were produced, making it one of the rarest and most expensive HuCards ever made. Sure you could resort to emulation, but what about experiencing the game in full glory as ported by the nice fellows from M2? For those who value the idea of playing it on a real console, it sounds irresistible.

Considering both Darius Plus and Darius Alpha are included in this compilation, it's only natural to play the former and then Alpha, which works as an arrange version of sorts. That's what I'd recommend you to do if you haven't been exposed to the HuCard games yet, after all Darius Alpha is a boss rush where you fight all 16 bosses from Darius Plus in succession.

Is Tough Spring perhaps the 2nd degree cousin of My Home Daddy?

Although devoid of much animation, all bosses are quite large and menacing, often moving all over the screen as they try to hit you with all sorts of attacks, from bullets to lasers and even homing fireballs. Most of them can be beaten with simple strategies, but some do require precise positioning and dodging so that you can successfully avoid damage. By default, button × fires the main shot/missiles, ○ drops bombs and either □ or ∆ provide rapid shot for both inputs at the same time. Power-ups are granted automatically after each boss fight, making all three weapons (missile/shot, bombs and shield) evolve equally. Provided you don't die, the first form of shot (missile) is used against three bosses, the laser is used against seven of them and with wave shot you get to face the six final creatures. Dying strips you off all power-ups in the current upgrade level, which can be aggravating at whatever stage you are. There are no extends and no continues.

Visually and musically the game owes a lot to Darius Plus, which in turn did a decent job in adapting Darius to the home format of the PC Engine. Backgrounds consist only of that otherworldly cloud formation shifting colors as stages unfold, and the music changes as per the original main game. However, for a glorified arrange mode exclusively built upon bosses, it's just a bit disappointing that you don't get to see the names of those giant creatures prior to the fight, just like in future chapters of the franchise. Extra points are obtained by destroying some of their parts (fins, tails, arms), as well as by prolonging the fight so that those spinning timeout cubes start appearing. It's a very risky strategy though, simply because in Darius Alpha these cubes are (or at least seem to be) much more aggressive.

Playing Darius Alpha on the Playstation 4 has some minor advantages over the original HuCard. It looks great since in default conditions the game runs in Supergrafx-compatible mode, which supposedly makes colors more vivid and eliminates the occurrence of sprite flicker (not that much of a problem in the original game actually). There isn't much in the way of those fine gadgets that became the trademark of M2, but they at least included a vertical indicator named "boss navigator" that shows your progress as you beat game bosses in succession.

Release trailer for Darius Cozmic Collection Console
(courtesy of YouTube user and digital publisher ININ GAMES)

The interface for the game selection screen in Darius Cozmic Collection Console is top notch, providing valuable information on all included games in the English language. In the case of Darius Alpha three extra modes exist besides the Normal game (in Normal mode button L1 initiates the 4-minute time trial mode, serving as the SELECT button from the PC Engine original). Both the normal and time trial courses, in addition to an extra full game time attack mode, can also be played separately if you wish to get your best results into the online leaderboards. For these it's also possible to save and upload your game replay, as well as download any replay available on the leaderboards. In-game functions can always be accessed by pressing either R2 or L2.

My time revisiting Darius Alpha was short but intense. I hammered the game for one evening until I got the clear with the end result below, defeating final boss Cuttle Fish in my very last life. It was great and straight-to-the-point fun, the kind that never gets old no matter how old we get (or feel). 

Takotan (Playstation 4)

Horizontal
Checkpoints OFF/ON
2 Difficulty levels
8 Stages
Ship speed fixed
- - - - - - -
Developed by Joseph Calabro
Published by Red Art Games in 2021

Dear fellow shmuppers, especially those who are fond of everything Parodius or Gradius, beware. This game is a trap. Down to the game's name, on the outside everything about it screams Takosuke the Octopus, a major character in the long-running comedic franchise created by Konami. I actually wonder how the devs could actually pull off a stunt like this, but considering the Konami of today couldn't care less about its IPs it's no wonder such aberrations are allowed to exist. Suffice it to say that apart from the visual similarities there is absolutely nothing here that serves as a throwback to Parodius or poor Takosuke.

Takotan hit the gaming scene in several platforms at around the same time, and considering it was even released for the long dead PS Vita my guess is that it was actually developed from the ground up for this particular system. All other versions then probably followed. Also released as Octonaut in some other platforms, it's a simplistic widescreen cute'em up where the main character is a golden octopus on a mission to save planet Earth from an alien invasion. The opening animation hints at the fact that Takotan/Octonaut is actually a kaiju, much like similar humongous creatures such as Godzilla or Mothra.

Given its relatively friendly visuals, it's astonishing how little fun you can have with this game. You shoot with button × and activate the last collected weapon with button □, while also having the ability to dodge by quickly retreating to the background with button ○. A new stage always starts with 1.000 points of health/shield, allowing players to take lots — and I mean lots — of damage before dying. The game practically doesn't want you to die, but if by any chance you happen to bite the dust Takotan will be respawned at the start of the level or the start of the boss fight.

Release trailer for Takotan on the Playstation 4
(courtesy of YouTube user and publisher RED ART GAMES)

On top of granting a huge amount of shield energy, Takotan also gives you health refills every now and then in between weapon items. Unfortunately, of all 12 weapons available only the 3-way shot (scatter) is actually useful. All other weapons are either stupidly cumbersome or just underpowered to the point you can't even destroy a single turret, and with no power-ups in sight it's just foolish to relinquish 3-way. Not even the "invincible" item is worth a damn since it prohibits you from shooting while denying any damaging power whatsoever. Finally, as if dying wasn't such a hard thing to do, you can also run into extra lives to prolong the agony.

But hey! Do you feel the need to lose even less health? Just turn Assist to ON at the start screen and off you go!

Anyway, the remainder of the items that appear from destroyed waves and enemies are crystals, which as they get hit increase in value from 100 to 500 while shifting colors from green to yellow, red, pink, pinkier and then back to green. Naturally, crystals are one of the main sources of extra points. The other scoring device consists of destroying enemies in succession to make the score multiplier increase up to a maximum of ×10. The problem with this mechanic is that most of the time it's impossible to sustain the maximum multiplier simply because the game has too many empty sections. Some stages are pretty much just obstacle fields devised to make use of the background dodging maneuver.

In a nutshell, the gameplay in Takotan is a catastrophe of wrong choices all over. It severely lacks any sense of balance in weapons, stage design or scoring. What was supposed to be simple and easygoing is just incredibly boring, with zero potential for a minimum sense of drive or excitement. When will devs realize that cute design and decently drawn sprites for bosses aren't enough to make a game? Let alone one that blatantly steals and dillutes ideas without any sort of expansion whatsoever? Sorry, but the background dodging thing doesn't cut it.

The boss from stage 5 (The Outpost)

The irregular duration of levels is also a noteworthy aspect of why the game seems a real chore to play. The 4th stage, titled "the stars", seems to take forever to complete, and depending on which weapon you have boss fights might drag even more than they normally do. On the other side of the torture spectrum, a special mode called Panic gives you only a 1-hit shield and instant death afterwards, in a harder setting of sorts that's nigh impossible due to the idiotic way weapons are implemented. Finally, in Custom mode you can adjust everything you want about the gameplay, such as fixing weapons, eliminating weapon choices, selecting stages, etc.

In trying to get more information to share with you fine readers I ended up beating the game one more time, as you can see from the leaderboard table below. If you want to do the same, i.e. have your name immortalized in this mighty colorful screen, be warned you'll have to endure the game to the end since it's impossible to input your initials unless you do so. Oh yes, just like in any other hobby suffering is sometimes inescapable. The good news is that life goes on and there are lots of games around the corner waiting to provide much more fun than things of this sorry caliber.

Star Hunter DX (Playstation 4)

Horizontal
Checkpoints OFF
3 Difficulty levels
6 Stages
Ship speed fixed
- - - - - - -
Developed by 1CC Games
Published by Strictly Limited Games in 2022

First title developed by 1CC Games, Star Hunter DX originally came out in 2021 for all mainstream platforms, and was soon granted a physical edition in tandem with the second shmup from the same developer. Aptly titled Star Hunter DX & Space Moth Lunar Edition, the bundle came out for the Nintendo Switch and the Playstation 4, with the latter obviously being my console of choice in the case of this particular game.

Horizontal bullet hells aren't really frequent in the world of shmups, and Star Hunter DX helps to fill this void with honest, undeniable gusto. It makes excellent use of the widescreen format while completely focusing on gameplay rather than graphic excellence. Graphics are, in fact, the short end of the design here, and do not live up to the capability of a system like the Playstation 4. They get the job done, but the ship sprites are almost as hideous as the box art, for example. You won't see any fancy effects at all across increasingly difficult stages filled with lots of color and all sorts of bullet types and bullet patterns.

The heroine of the game is a lady called Luna Starr, a former space pirate turned bounty hunter. She's one of the three pilots the player can use, but in order to access the other ones you'll first need to reach stage 3 (unlock CAT-99) and stage 5 (unlock Edgar). They're featured prominently in the art design and their ships have quite unique characteristics. Inputs include rapid shot, laser shot, bomb and bullet time activation, fully customizable in the options as you so wish. In a nutshell, this is pretty much the same input configuration found in many Cave titles such as Espgaluda, which serves as the most obvious inspiration for the more straightforward gameplay of Star Hunter DX.

Behold some beautiful circular patterns of doom

 

Even though the screen seems too cluttered with information, it's actually not that hard to grasp how the game works. The act of hitting any enemy fills up the score multiplier meter located at the lower left of the screen up to a maximum of ×8, a number that drops slowly if you're not hitting anything. By grazing bullets you fill up the meter below the life stock display, and when the meter is full you recover one bomb, in a maximum of three bombs that can be carried at any given time (the three white dots below the ship also serve the purpose of displaying your current bomb stock). Finally, by killing enemies or nullifying bullets with the bomb you collect small blue crystals that fill up the "bullet time" round meter around the ship. When this meter is half full or more you can enter bullet time mode by pressing the dedicated button, slowing down all enemies and bullets. All bullets fired by destroyed enemies are then turned into gold crystals whose size and value are directly proportional to your current multiplier.

Bullet time is a resource that serves all kinds of players/pilots since it's useful both for survival (slower bullets) and for scoring (gold cubes get!). However, every time you come out from bullet time mode either by the expiration of the bullet time meter, by pressing the bullet time button again or by dying, the score multiplier is reset to 1. Therefore, the main challenge for score chasers is finding the best moments to activate bullet time and cash in your multiplier with the maximum amount of bullets on screen. Allowing enemies to live long enough while avoiding their bullet curtains is key, and the thrill of doing it is the basis of the game's underlying appeal.

In-game items include the power-up (P), maximum power-up (MAX), floating astronauts (which give you some points and fill up a good chunk up the bullet time meter) and extra lives (1UP). The extend checkpoint for the appearance of an extra life depends on the chosen difficulty level, and for Normal (Bounty Hunter) it stands at 6 million points. The gauge below the score display indicates how far you are from getting your next extend.

Star Hunter DX has arrived
(courtesy of digital publisher and YouTube user Chorus Worldwide Games)

With six levels of good length and variety, Star Hunter DX is a no-brainer for those who enjoy weaving through dense bullet clouds. Bullet density increases steadily as the game progresses, but there's a remarkable difficulty spike when you enter the quartz city in stage 4. This is the only level with obstacles, and to safely get through it a good strategy for crowd control is needed if you don't want to be overwhelmed. Astronauts in this level are also trapped inside walls, but can be rescued by touching them with the ship's canopy or downright bombing to safely get through solid matter. By the way, bomb behavior is a little different here: its effect is restricted to a close radius and not the whole screen, which means you need to get relatively close to the target if you want to inflict actual damage.

At its core, the game also has some intricacies that will only become clear with repeated plays. Using rapid shot is the best way to fill and maintain the multiplier maximized, so tapping rapid shot is sometimes really useful if you want to keep enemies alive, especially in bullet time mode. Another feature of bullet time is that it also makes health bars appear for every single enemy on screen. It's possible to prolong boss fights by triggering their espape pods, which is achieved by destroying all their initial armor (white color parts) while in bullet time mode. Not only does it provide more opportunities for scoring during the battle itself, but it also gives you better end-of-stage bonuses. Besides boss fight performance, these bonuses include extra points for average multiplier, gold collected, astronauts rescued, grazing effectiveness and life stock.

And then there's the matter of choosing the ideal character. Luna is naturally the most balanced of the three, with faster speed when using shot and lower speed when using laser. CAT-99 is the opposite, yet he comes with the most powerful rapid shot endowed with homing ability, an ideal choice for beginners. Too bad he flies too fast when using his weak laser. As for veteran pilot Edgar, he's got the strongest laser with very slow speed while being weak and too fast when using rapid shot. Playing with both CAT-99 and Edgar might be fun, but they certainly require much more knowledge to be properly used in the long term. Fortunately there's a practice mode that allows all sorts of predefined settings for proper training. There are no online features whatsoever.

Thanks to the solid scoring system, well-balanced gameplay and a relatively decent soundtrack, Star Hunter DX is definitely bound to please all sorts of audiences. Despite the somewhat cheap graphic design, it's an engaging game that makes you want to come back for more. I only came across one functional issue: if you get very far into the credit or use the practice mode for a long while, in your very next playthrough the performance of the game degrades considerably and everything moves a lot slower than usual. The only remedy I found for that is closing the game and booting it again from the main menu.

There were still lots of improvement gaps in my strategies for Star Hunter DX, but I'll take the 1CC score achieved below with Luna in the Normal difficulty (Bounty Hunter). I still don't know how the game compares to Space Moth Lunar Edition, the other title in the package, but I expect to find out soon.

Metal Stoker (PC Engine)

Arena
Checkpoints OFF
3 Difficulty levels
7 Stages
Ship speed fixed
- - - - - - -
Developed by Face
Published by Face in 1991

When done right, unscrolling arena shooters do have the potential to be engaging experiences. We've come a long way since T.A.N.K. and Commando, some of the most recognizable forefathers of this particular branch in the shooting genre. The glut of cheap imitations that followed and are still being made to this day unfortunately diluted and eventually killed the appeal of these types of video games. They're either too generic or too cluttered with influences from other genres, especially the ones of the pedestrian type. At least from my limited perspective, military tank-based games fare a little better though.

For home consoles Metal Stoker is a clear example of an honest and decent take in this subgenre. It's not outstanding in any way and it doesn't come off as crisp or energetic as Mega Drive's Granada, which came out a year earlier, but gets the job done and delivers a good level of variety in the stage design. It's also possible to glimpse both in the graphics and in the soundtrack some of the creative spark seen in Hani in the Sky, the only other shmup made/published by developer Face for the PC Engine. In my opinion the background music for stages 3 and 4 are definitely standouts. And just like the game of the flying haniwa, Metal Stoker is yet another example of a shmup that has no scoring system.

Without scoring and the consequent push for a killing spree and without any sort of timer to put pressure on players, this game is perfect for those who prefer to move about carefully and at their own pace, be it in tight maze-like environments or in open space areas.

Meet the boss of stage 6

Players take the role of a female pilot immersed in simulation combat across several areas connected together in individual stages. In each of these areas you must guide a tank and destroy a particular set of enemies to proceed, from simple static generators to specific enemy flocks or a series of mid-sized captains and bosses. It's nothing complicated, except for a few sections where you must navigate through corridors with fast moving drones or find your way out of an energy barrier maze. Shooting is accomplished with button II, whereas with button I you lock/unlock the shooting direction of the tank. By pausing it's possible to choose one of the five weapons available (once they're firstly acquired), and by pressing SELECT you trigger a special attack that consumes one power level of the weapon that's being currently used.

Each life comes with four energy/shield units shown at the top right corner of the screen. With every hit the energy goes from green to yellow, red, blinking red and then a life is lost (fortunately with no downgrade to the firepower). Item containers are scattered around the stages and reveal either energy/shield refills or power-ups for any of the five weapons in the game. Besides the default vulcan shot there's also laser, mines, sonic barrier and homing missile. All of them except for the vulcan need to be activated with the first power-up before being available for selection with the START button. Then all further power-ups upgrade the weapons individually up to five power levels.

It goes without saying, but handling the resources in Metal Stoker is easily done by avoiding to take damage. However, this is even more important for the extend mechanics because if you take an energy refill item with a full energy gauge (green) you'll get an extra life instead. Extra lives are also granted after completing stages 3 and 6, whereas the energy meter is fully refilled whenever a new stage begins. Apart from that, memorization is important in order to not get lost in the action during those levels with a large number of targets found through warp gateways. The number of mirrored sections is a bit excessive but in the end I guess it helps to understand the flow of the game faster. Most of the time indicating arrows show where you need to go, often accompanied by scratchy voice fragments that remind you of the early voices from Mega Drive games.

Your assignment begins now
(courtesy of YouTube user The VideoGames Museum)

While I did get through Metal Stoker without recurring to special attacks, the ones related to the mine dropper and the sonic barrier are actually quite useful, unlike the weapons themselves which are pretty much useless. The special attack for the mines make you hover in place so that you can avoid enemy fire and pummel away whatever lies below. As for the sonic barrier, it makes the tank invincible for a good while, hence allowing you to ram into enemies and make them have a taste of their own medicine. More than the 4-hit shield special of the vulcan, they're certainly a great way to deal with bosses that tend to corner you.

All in all, the joy of playing Metal Stoker might be a feeble one, but the game is a valid diversion within the shmup library of the PC Engine. It's just a pity that players don't have any sort of metrics to measure their mighty performances. However, should you fancy a tougher challenge there's always the possibility of getting access to a hidden menu with a special code that allows you to change the default difficulty: during the start screen with the buzzing effect press I, I, II, II, ←, →, ↑, ↓ and SELECT four times, then press I + II at the same time.

For posterity, below is a photo of the moment of revelation in the game's story. During the end credits you get to know that you were not in a simulation environment after all. It was all real, as is our neverending thirst for more shmupping adventures, which I must now quench by moving on to my next assignment. Cheers!

 

Radirgy (Xbox 360)

Vertical
Checkpoints OFF
3 Difficulty levels
5 Stages
Ship speed fixed, selectable at start
- - - - - - -
Developed by Milestone
Published by Klon in 2014

When most people thought the definitive set of Milestone shmups was restricted to the Nintendo Wii and its Milestone Shooting Collection 2, a short-lived company named Klon got the rights to the games and released them all for the Japanese Xbox 360 in a compilation named Sakura Flaming Archives. It's got HD ports of Chaos Field, Radirgy, Karous, Illmatic Envelope and Radirgy Noa (not to be confused with the standalone Radirgy Noa Massive release), and just like its Wii counterpart represents a great way to get to know the works of Milestone in a single hub of shooting fun.

Even though Sakura Flamingo Archives gets lots of online criticism due to some reported instances of slowdown and a disappointing set of extras with poor interface screens and very few options, of which the lack of TATE for the vertical titles is always mentioned, my feeling is that this widespread disapproval is highly unjustified. The games look gorgeous on an HD screen, so TATE isn't really a thing if you can afford a large TV set. Sure, save functions are basic and don't allow replay recording, but that's perfectly fine for five straightforward arcade ports, which can be accessed from the main screen menu by selecting Revision mode. All inputs are configurable and extra game variants such as Mixture mode and Death mode add a little more flair for Milestone fans.

 

So on to Radirgy, the shmup with colorful cell-shaded graphics, second Milestone game and also the first one to present a series of gameplay elements that would be reused or reworked in their later releases. Having played the Dreamcast and the Playstation 2 versions a long time ago, I obviously had an idea of what to expect, yet I did come across something that made the experience a little harder: the absolute lack of slowdown. And this, my friends, is a much more legitimate criticism than the ones outlined in the paragraph above.

Ukiha shopping mall ahead

Radirgy comes with three basic ship/mecha configurations at the player's disposal, generally named after the shots they're able to fire: wide shot, 123 laser and bubble shot. Once the shot type is selected you can press left and right to choose between three fixed flying speeds (2 stars for slow, 3 starts for medium and 5 stars for fast), thus having nine fixed combinations of shot + speed. A skippable tutorial is shown and then you take off from an exploding building in a mission to rescue your kidnapped father with the aid of a friend who communicates by email messages at key points in the levels. By the way, Radirgy is actually a short for "radio allergy", a health condition of the female protagonist who is allergic to radio waves. 

The game requires the use of three buttons to be played: shot, sword and ABSnet activation. A fourth resource, the shield, appears automatically at the tip of the ship if you refrain from shooting, deflecting all shots that touch it except for lasers and flames. Shot and sword can be used at the same time, but then shot power and reach are reduced. By hitting and destroying enemies you get blue pills that refill the ABSnet gauge at the bottom of the screen, but doing it with the sword fills it faster. If the gauge is full you're entitled to use the ABSnet attack, a force field that surrounds the mecha and makes it temporarily invincible while automatically sucking all nearby items. On the other hand, green pills fill up the multiplier gauge at the top of the screen by cancelling bullets with the ABSnet and damaging enemies or deflecting bullets with the shield.

A multitude of items is released by destroying carriers, turrets and enemies. The aerial ones consist of shot power-up (a green square, get 6 for max power), instant ABSnet recharge (a purple diamond), point tokens (small and larger blue triangles), 25% multiplier boost (yellow upside down triangle), a bullet changer (pink upside down triangle) that converts all on-screen bullets into point tokens, and extra lives (bright green squares that drop down from the top of the screen when you score 8 and 20 million points). With the exception of the extra lives, all of them can be juggled with the sword, an action that might change them into other item types. Ground items appear from destroyed turrets and only give you a few points, but they're also part of a great secret that very people know of. I didn't until now, so go read this outstanding strategy page if you want to know more about this and many other deeper aspects of the game.

With a fixed scrolling pace and a steady increase in the number of enemies and bullets fired, Radirgy is finely balanced for survivalists and scorers alike. You can either save the ABSnet for the busiest parts of the stages or abuse it to boost the multiplier from ×2 (default) to ×4, ×8 and ×16 (max). The multiplier gauge self-drains if you're not able to generate a continuous stream of green pills.

A very important feature here is that you can't be hurt by any enemy (ground or airborne), only by their bullets. Speaking of which, refraining from shooting to use the shield is mostly advantageous against bosses and mid-bosses that spam thick, almost undodgeable bullet clouds. That said, crowd control is the single most important strategy for survival since the more enemies you have at a single moment the more bullets you'll need to dodge (and the more pills you'll get when using the ABSnet). Soon enough you'll also notice that every enemy type or wave will only spawn after the previous one has been destroyed or left the screen.

A flower splash on your Xbox 360
(courtesy of YouTube user Chinopolis)

Radirgy starts slow, but by the time you get to the last couple of levels things get so hectic that you'll be pretty much forced to optimize enemy wave kills and spam the ABSnet attack in order to survive real bullet hell. Finding the rhythm to the game's enemy spawning routine is the key, as well as watching out for those stray bullets that tend to catch you off guard and drain your life meter (or battery, as some put it). Panic and lack of attention to the ABSnet gauge is often the worst enemy against bosses and bulkier enemies. Every time you get hit, for example, a series of items including a purple diamond will bounce off the ship, so the best action is to instantly stop using the sword so that you can collect the diamond to recharge and activate the ABSnet. I lost count of how many times I was fried by the last boss because I didn't stop slashing. At least you're not powered down after being hit.

I consider Radirgy to be a fun game, yet I reckon it's a slow burner for most people. And while it lacks the drive and energy of Chaos Field's music, I'm very fond of the laid back techno soundtrack. Bumping up the volume does wonders! As I mentioned above, this port is completely devoid of slowdown, that's why I think it's the hardest version out there. Enemies and bullets will engulf you if you're not on top of your game. Other than that, there are very brief stuttering moments when some of those mail messages pop up on the screen, but they do not affect the gameplay at all. Finally, there are no special game modes for Radirgy here, such as those seen in the Playstation 2 or the Gamecube ports. 

Once I got reacquainted with the game I went with the combo of 123 shot + medium speed, which I still feel is more natural for my play style. However, I'll concede that in order to get the most out of the game you really need to select the fastest speed. I played in the Normal difficulty and got the final result below, having collected only 85% of the ground tokens.

The sequels – or pseudo-sequels – developed for Radirgy over the years are a real mess. The list includes Radirgy Noa, Radirgy de Gojaru!, Radirgy Swag and Radirgy 2, and I expect to tackle at least one of them in the near future.