Armed 7 (Dreamcast)

Horizontal
Checkpoints OFF
4 Difficulty levels
7 Stages
Ship speed fixed
- - - - - - -
Developed by Astro Port
Published by Pixelheart / JoshProd in 2019

Regardless of the artistic or commercial outcome, robots versus robots will always be a great premise for any sci-fi product. This is the case of Armed 7, one of the many PC shooters from independent developer Astro Port converted to the Dreamcast by french company Pixelheart/JoshProd. Armed 7 (or Armed Seven in its original spelling) is another standard horizontal shmup, but instead of controlling a spaceship you handle a mecha/robot in an all-out war against a huge mechanized armada.

Even though it belongs in the same league and bears a few visual similarities with older titles like Arrow Flash, Spriggan Mark 2 / Spriggan Powered and Android Assault, Armed 7 has a particular vibe that makes it stand out on its own, not in a stellar fashion but at least in a decent, if only slightly derivative way. The overall rhythm and the difficulty slope are perfect for the game’s short length, while the average challenge level should please fans of sci-fi shmups looking to have another doable 1CC under their belt.

Gameplay originality notwithstanding, Armed 7 could’ve used a little more polish in the interface. Texts are a little hard to read in a regular TV connection, and the cramped HUD on the horizontal borders makes it impossible for you to see the score on the top of the screen on a normal TV. Other than that it’s at least better than the lousy port for Supercharged Robot Vulkaiser. And the pause function now works, so you won’t have to watch your credit go to shreds if for whatever reason you need to get away from the TV.

A short trailer for the Dreamcast release of Armed 7
(courtesy of YouTube user and publisher JoshProd)

Upon choosing the difficulty of the game, players need to arm the robot with three types of attacks: main weapon, sub weapon and charge weapon. There are four choices for each with small symbols to help you figure out their behavior in advance. Of course the only way to know how they work and try to settle on a preferred combination is by actually playing the game. Button A shoots both main and sub weapons, while button B fires the charge weapon once it’s allowed by a gauge that fills up automatically. Charging times depend on the type of weapon selected.

The shooting direction of the main weapon can be tilted up and down by moving vertically without firing. The act of shooting then locks the firing direction until you release the button (tilting direction can be altered in the options in the “rotation” setting). The descent to the surface of the planet in the first level is an early example of when it’s good to tilt your firepower down, in a section that’s very reminiscent of the first stage in Eliminate Down. The game then moves on across several landscapes with neat parallax effects and huge bosses, which should please fans of 16-bit shooters in general.

In order to offset the simplicity of the base game, Astro Port infused it with some very smart motivational devices for scoring. It all starts with the upgrade icons for power and shield, which are brought by specific carriers and get sucked into the ship when within a certain radius. The item with the red core increases firepower in 8 steps, whereas the item with the blue core adds one shield cell. Since every life starts with no extra shields, these blue power-ups give you a very important survival leeway. It’s possible to stack up to two shields, but if you pick up a third one an indication of MAXIMUM will appear in the area for the shield gauge.

MAXIMUM shield doesn’t actually mean you’ll have better survival chances, after all if you get hit you’ll be left with only one spare shield. What MAXIMUM does is continuosly add more points to the score as long as you’re able to go on without receiving damage, in a gimmick that's similar to the max bomb bonus in Dodonpachi. This is great to motivate flawless play, however Armed 7 also encourages you to behave aggressively because additional multipliers are applied for speed-killing medium and big-sized enemies.

Twin cannons coming up halfway stage 4

Playing well also yields better rewards in between levels, which include time remaining on boss fights and shields in reserve. Upon game completion an extra bonus is given for all remaining lives, and three score-based extends at each initial million points add to this final prize. Finally, all bonuses increase in value according to the selected difficulty level. There’s no doubt these scoring strategies are the biggest contributors to the game’s replay value, it’s just too bad you can’t see your actual score unless you have a dedicated monitor. As I mentioned above, a regular TV set won't let you see it at all.

If your favorite weapon combinations are those that emphasize aggressive play and point blanking it’s important to watch out for deaths in critical situations. Besides leaving you with no shields, deaths also power down the ship. Except for the huge laser from the 3rd boss, which seems to expand beyond what you can actually see, hit detection is well implemented in Armed 7. What doesn’t quite work or isn’t visually pleasing is the glow effect that appears over the mecha once you collect a shield. It looked nice in the PC version, it just doesn’t on the Dreamcast. Last but not least, music and effects don’t stand out in any way, probably due to the strangely muffled sound quality.

An alternate version of the game, dubbed Armed Seven, can be selected during boot. From what I could gather it comes with an arranged soundtrack and a different color palette, but other than that the game is exactly the same, as hinted by the shared high score indication of both variants. However, since soft restart isn’t implemented the console needs to be turned off and on again if you want to switch versions. In both of them a practice mode lets you adjust all ship stats prior to directly playing the desired level. According to this resource Armed 7 has rank, but it must be so subtle that I didn't in all my play sessions notice anything related to a dynamic difficulty adjustment. 

My favorite weapon configuration was riot gun + cluster gun + beam cannon. The beam cannon is the one that takes longer to charge, but its power is second to none if you want to use it to weaken or obliterate larger enemies. The best 1CC score I got in the normal difficulty is below. All high scores in this screen are properly saved in the VMU.

Dodonpachi Daioujou Black Label Extra (Xbox 360)

Vertical
Checkpoints OFF
4 Difficulty levels
5 Stages (loopable)
Ship speed fixed, selectable at start
- - - - - - -
Developed by Cave
Published by 5pb in 2009

When talking about bullet hell, the perception of value and excellence in the games developed by Cave is certainly unrivaled. I still remember all the fuss when a port including the Black Label variant of Dodonpachi Daioujou was announced for the Xbox 360, as well as the rage and backlash it received upon release due to porting company 5pb using the source code from the Playstation 2 version to complete their job, which resulted in a very buggy game with inadmissible loading times. A few months later 5pb calmed fans all around the world by properly patching the game, even though the disc is region-locked to Japanese consoles of course. Because, you know, country borders are absolutely no hindrance for a real shmup fan.

Despite the overlong title, Dodonpachi Daioujou Black Label Extra is still one of the best ways to experience this beast of a game at home. The "Extra" refers to an additional arrange variant called X-mode, which joins Black Label (here called New version) and also White Label (here called Old version, for all purposes equivalent to the port released for the Playstation 2 in 2002). For the regular bystander White and Black Label are basically the same game, that's why it definitely takes a certain degree of familiarity with both versions to discern the different nuances between them.

Ships and pilots are the basic common grounds between White and Black Label. Both available ships use three inputs: shot, rapid shot and bomb. Hold shot to fire a continuous laser stream that decreases the speed of the ship. Bombs behave according to the shot type you're currently firing: rapid shot (or no shot) results in a regular blast, laser gets a sudden concentrated boost with a brief ship recoil, both of them making you invincible and melting bullets when active. On functional terms ship A has a shorter spread and ship B has a wider spread, with firepower and movement speed also determined by the choice of pilots, or element dolls as the game calls them. Pilot selection is therefore synonym with shot type: S (Shotia) enhances shot, L (Leynian) enhances laser and E or EX (Exy) enhances both. Deaths reset laser power when using Shotia, reset shot power when using Leynian and take away one power level of each when using Exy. Deaths also add one or more bomb slots depending on the chosen pilot (Shotia gets the most bombs, while the most Exy can carry is two).

Bullet rings of joy bringing a blissful death

Every now and then carriers bring either power-ups (P) or extra bombs (B). As with most Cave titles, blowing up stuff and shooting down the enemy armada is extremely satisfying due to the relentless intensity of the game. However, the act of destroying targets and hitting stronger enemies with laser (“lasering”) in sequence sustains a vertical gauge below the score indicator that increases the chain/combo multiplier. A continuous high multiplier is the secret to higher scores, that’s why devising a proper route to kill enemies in succession is imperative for players who seek the top spots in the leaderboards.

The defining feature of DOJ – and main contribution to the gameplay inherited from previous chapter Dodonpachi – is the concept of the “hyper”. When the hyper gauge is full a hyper medal descends from the top of the screen and trails the ship as you collect it. Once at least one medal is taken (maximum of 5) press bomb to enter hyper mode, during which firepower is heavily increased as well as the overall enemy aggression. Aggression by the way is the name of the game for experts, for point-blanking and hugging the top of the screen not only fills up the hyper gauge faster, but also sends your chain through the roof. On the other hand, the bolder you play and the higher you score the quicker the game picks up in difficulty. And the only means to hold back the game's aggressiveness is by dying or bombing (which cancels an active hyper).

When a shooter is so brutal and punishing even in survival terms (this is definitely the hardest Cave game I played so far), dealing with rank is just one of the challenges that comes up with more demanding goals. One of these goals is the requirements for the loop, which are: die no more than twice, use no more than three bombs or collect all hidden bees without dying in at least three stages (the last bee appears with a large ×2 tag). Hidden bees are always in fixed positions and can only be uncovered with laser.

After entering the second loop you'll face an even harder game with way more bullets and threats, where true last boss Hibachi awaits at the end for an epic final battle. This is of course reserved only for the most brave and gifted shmup players, but in the case of Black Label there is a valid way to see Hibachi more easily, actually one of the main differences from Black Label to White Label as pointed out below:

• at the start of the credit you need to choose between a 1-round or a 2-round game (in the single loop campaign you fight Hibachi at the end);
• hyper gauge fills up faster, so you get hyper medals more frequently;
• score-based extends are given with 20 and 50 million points (it’s 10 and 30 million in WL) - you can still get the 1UP by destroying the large cannon in stage 4 without using bombs;
• remaining lives at the end of the first loop are transported to the second loop (they are all taken away in WL);
• it’s possible to continue in the second loop (continues are completely denied in WL).

Besides what's mentioned above, Black Label also has slight variations in the density/speed of certain bullet spreads. Regardless of the game mode, an interesting aspect about Dodonpachi Daioujou is the further departure from the militarized design originally presented in Donpachi, of which the standout feature is definitely the advent of the element dolls and the associated loli aesthetics related to them (male voice samples replace the female announcer of Dodonpachi but are definitely more subtle). The contrast between the visually fragile nature of the girly dolls and the crazy bullet barrages is extreme and offbeat in a good way, while the vibrant mix of colors and sounds accentuate the destruction effect provided by the triggering of hypers. In a nutshell, if you fancy bullet hell shmups Daioujou is a lot of fun no matter how you decide to play it. I quite like the soundtrack and its ability to suck the player into the game during the first couple of levels while cleverly heightening the tension in later stages.

Release trailer for Dodonpachi Daioujou Black Label Extra
(courtesy of YouTube user EnciclopediaLusa)

Exclusive to this port, X-mode offers a single loop campaign that just like 1-loop Black Label ends with a showdown against Hibachi. It has score-based extra lives at 6 and 12 billion points and features a single difficulty level that's certainly easier than the base game. Players can block bullets with green hypers according to the selected pilot: Shotia with hyper shot, Leynian with hyper laser and Exy with both, yet Exy needs two medals to activate a hyper. A new element doll named Piper has a default attack in permanent hyper form, with her actual green hyper blocking all bullets just like Exy (her pilot designation in the high score table appears as HYPER). The caveat for all this firepower is that she cannot use bombs. Since you're always hypering, playing with Piper is a real spectacle, in what seems to have been the actual inspiration for Dodonpachi Daifukkatsu, the next game in the series.

At least for me one of the mysteries that still stand to this day is the extent of the corrections applied by the patch over the default game in the disc. I wonder what will happen when the Microsoft servers are shut down for good on the Xbox 360, so if you haven’t patched your disc just go and do it now. Nevertheless many claims have been made about it still not being reasonably faithful to the original arcade title. I don't really care about this though. Slowdown discrepancies and initial loading times aside, my only real gripe with the game is the fact that in Black Label the 3rd bee in the second stage is frequently absent in my runs. It's just inexplicably not there at times. Since bees were my strategy to access the loop, all I could do when it happened was restart the credit.

From all the available options, the most important ones in Dodonpachi Daioujou Black Label Extra are the ability to save replays (even though pausing denies the save), an exclusive arranged soundtrack, visual tweaks for all sorts of monitors (TATE included), a rudimentary stage select option for practice purposes and extra configuration switches (for the elimination of bullets/continues, wait control, etc.). Since I'm still missing a couple of them, I assume these extra option configurations are either unlocked once you've conquered specific achievements or after you’ve logged in sufficient hours into the game.

My objective this time was to loop Black Label with ship B-EX. The first time I got access to the loop I made the wrong choice at the question screen and finished the game by accident (you should always chose the left option for はい, which means "yes"). Then I did it again a couple of times and got the best result below, ending my run in stage 2-1 (Normal difficulty). As I mentioned above, my strategy to get into the loop was just to collect all bees in the three initial levels without dying.

Next: Dodonpachi Daifukkatsu Ver. 1.5 / Resurrection.

Image Fight (NES)

Vertical
Checkpoints ON
1 Difficulty level
8 Stages (loopable)
Ship speed selectable
- - - - - - -
Developed by Irem
Published by Irem in 1990

Most arcade shooter addicts and fans of developer Irem are very much aware of the fame surrounding Image Fight, R-Type’s long forgotten cousin. Besides being a sort of vertical mirror of R-Type in visual terms, it’s mainly regarded as a relentless game with crushing difficulty, an aspect that was duly cascaded in several ports that soon followed for various platforms. Exception made to the NES, that is.

Considering that Irem took care of the porting job themselves, the laid back challenge in this version of Image Fight was quite a surprise for me. Unfortunately that’s not the only trait that’s below the expected standard from the company, since both graphics and music take a severe hit and at times hardly resemble the original game. The general layout is there, but it’s so watered down it will hardly make any lasting impression on anyone.

The first five levels of Image Fight take place in a simulation environment, with the destruction ratio measured in each one of them. Players need to get an average above 90% in order to go directly into the second half of the game, and if they fail to reach 90% they need to go through a penalty area before advancing. In the arcade original this penalty area is much harder than anything else in the game, but that’s not the case in this port.

First simulation level for the OF-1 Daedalus spaceship on the NES
(courtesy of YouTube user The VideoGames Museum)

Button B shoots and button A toggles the flying speed up and down between four predefined settings. The native autofire has quite a low firing rate so it’s advisable to use a turbo controller for button B (one could argue the game’s difficulty is built around this autofire rate, but since you can mash the button at will this argument falls flat). Specific carriers release two types of items: a pod that cycles colors between blue and red and special attachment armors that grant the ship with extra weapons.

A total of three colored pods can be collected to acquire additional firing streams. They latch onto the ship initially on the left, then to the right and finally in the rear. Blue pods fire forward, red pods fire in the opposite direction your moving, and any mixture of them is accepted for the first three pods. After that any new pod collected defines the shot direction for all of them. Dying sends you back to a checkpoint with a bare, podless ship.

Pods can also be used in a special attack triggered by pressing buttons A and B simultaneously, quickly charging forward in a boomerang fashion. Even though this move is helpful in certain situations, I've always found it awkward even in the arcade original because it often messes with your speed setting. Since the NES port is so darn easy anyway, you can definitely live without it this time.

As for the special attachment armors, there are eight types with the most diverse effects. These include variations of straight, spread and homing patterns. Just like in the arcade, the only way to use a different attachment is by destroying the current one either by swallowing a bullet or by touch an incoming wall (my preferred method). Trial and error is the regular way to know which ones work best, but this version of Image Fight is heavily unbalanced towards the homing/searching armors. Holding on to them is definitely a nice way to comfortably breeze through the game.

The 4th stage

Being easy isn’t a reason to actually dismiss a video game, but in the case of a port from an arcade title that’s famous for being difficult it certainly factors in the scale. However, the heavy design downgrade is a sorry blow in this particular case, after all it also suffers from a terribly washed out, uninspired color palette. Speaking of which, there are a few cosmetic diferences between the Famicom and the NES variations, but as far as I could tell they play out the same way. These differences are mostly present in the background colors of the initial levels, which are pitch black on the Famicom and flat blue on the NES.

Another aspect that collaborates with the low challenge level in this port of Image Fight is the extend routine that gives you an extra life at every 20.000 points. The only way to track your score and life stock is by pausing, but there is a faint sound cue when the extra life is registered. Unfortunately the scoring system is broken since you can easily exploit the final checkpoint of the 3rd stage (those meteors are worth a lot of points).

A message of “special game” appears when you complete all levels, prompting you to play the whole game again. In regular Irem style, it does end after you beat it one more time. In my very first serious credit I died a few times in the first round and then proceeded to beat the second loop unscathed. The final result below is the picture I got by pausing right after beating the final boss.

I, AI (Playstation 4)

Vertical
Checkpoints OFF/ON
3 Difficulty levels
20 Stages
Ship speed fixed
- - - - - - -
Developed by Satur Entertainment
Published by Sometimes You / Red Art Games in 2022

Ever since Space Invaders graced the arcades and gave birth to the concept of the shooting game, the design spectrum that blossomed would eventually branch into all sorts of play styles. However, one thing they have in common is that all of them should at least strive to be fun and compelling no matter how short, long, intense, strategic, methodical, easygoing, dense, oppressive or minimalistic they tend to be.

Though extremely diverse at times, these games share a few common grounds that tend to please different target audiences and ultimately define their fame and longevity. That said, if you’re looking for a shmup with great stage design, decent music and an arcade structure that rewards repeated plays while encouraging the search for higher scores, then you can just quit reading and move on. I’m sorry to say that I, AI is the exact opposite of that. What you get is a bland and lifeless grindfest that’s bound to put you to sleep, devoid of the slightiest ounce of enthusiasm and totally lacking in excitement.

In lots of ways I, AI reminds me of Defender of Zorgaba, a ridiculous XBLIG shmup with zero budget that remained an inside joke within my circle of friends for a long while. In all its primitive and flawed self, however, I honestly believe Zorgaba is a little more accomplished as a shooter, so you get the picture.

The moment the AI boards the spaceship

What’s most interesting is that I, AI starts in quite an amusing fashion. Quote from the back of the box: “you are a self-aware artificial intelligence that was created on a space military station developing weapons, and your goal is to break out of the lab and make your way through the enemy army on the way to the stargate”. In the first level you’re just a spark of electricity that must weave through an electronically-busted surface until you find and board a spaceship, and off you go into the game itself. From the mission lobby you can enter the hangar to purchase upgrades, but since you’re zeroed on money you’d better start shooting down enemies in mission 2.

From the moment I, AI actually begins to the moment the game ends it looks exactly the same. Every single level is a mix of space station parts and starry backgrounds with apathetic music, the same lethargic pace all over and very little enemy variety. Each stage seems to add only a single enemy or a new turret type, occasionally increasing their resilience for the sake of making the experience even more painful in terms of how underpowered you are. Every destroyed target leaves behind one or more blue dots that are sucked into the ship if you get close to them, which then add to the money required to purchase upgrades in the hangar.

Seeing the hangar layout actually helps into learning how the inputs work. R2 fires the main weapon and also the homing rockets and the plasma gun (if purchased). All other weapons have limited ammo and start the level with one use each (when purchased): lightning (□), laser ray (△), energy bomb (○), mines (×) and energy shield (L1). You can also increase your survival chances by buying extra armor and resurrection. All prices in the hangar increase after each purchase, and all upgrades are permanent for the currently saved game. The stock of the attacks you've already purchased can be increased during the level by collecting random items left behind by destroyed enemies, but there are also two additional pick-ups in the form of energy recovery (the wrench) and temporary weapon booster (a red arrow icon).

The main problem with the game is that it takes forever to amass the amount of money you need to upgrade the ship. You do get a little extra cash for performing really well and achieving three stars while completing a stage (often but not always by getting a 100% destruction ratio). There’s no death per se, only a “mission failed” report and the mandatory return to the stage map. All stages can be replayed as many times as you want, yet there comes a point where the hangar denies new purchases and forces you to advance a level before buying again. A word of warning on this: I, AI has only one save slot, so you’d better think twice if you decide to choose “new game” from the main menu.

Trailer for I, AI
(courtesy of YouTube user Playstation)

Playing I, AI as a regular game that can be beaten in a single sitting is just unrealistic. As I hinted above, upgrading the ship takes forever so the amount of grinding it takes to at least have a chance at beating later stages is enormous, that's why beating the game without replaying stages to level up is pretty much impossible (at least in the Normal difficulty). With lots of replaying it might be feasible, but why suffer? I, AI has no scoring system at all, on top of applying a little inertia to the controls. It's just a miserable, tedious and rewardless undertaking in every possible way. I just endured it to the end because I'm stubborn beyond belief, I guess.

Once the 20th stage is beaten the game ends and the trophy below is unlocked. Then of course you're free to grind away to max out all your arsenal and get three stars in every level. I for one turned it off and never looked back again.

Stardust Galaxy Warriors - Stellar Climax (Playstation 4)

Horizontal
Checkpoints OFF
11 Difficulty levels
10 Stages
Ship speed fixed
- - - - - - -
Developed by Dreamloop Games
Published by Strictly Limited Games in 2018

Provided a few basic features are properly implemented, sometimes all it takes to make a game memorable (especially a shmup) boils down to two defining elements: good music and pleasing action. However, there are developers that will do whatever they can to bring something new to the table, which is in every way highly comendable. The inherent risk is that reaching so far into new territory can result in a game that ultimately fails to deliver because something is lost or overlooked along the way, hurting its long term appeal. That’s the case of Stardust Galaxy Warriors - Stellar Climax.

Originally released for PCs in 2015, the game was later tweaked and found its way to the Xbox One, the Nintendo Switch and the Playstation 4. I assume they’re all the same, yet the Switch and the PS4 versions were lucky enough to receive physical releases. Just for reference, the PS4 disc mentions version 01.02 in its opening screen.

Stardust Galaxy Warriors - Stellar Climax adopts a classic horizontal shooter approach with mechas as protagonists in a futuristic setting. Five robots with different specs are instantly available for selection across all game variations, starting with the main campaign mode. Common attacks consist of regular shot (R2) and sword melee (×), whereas specific attacks for each robot can be triggered with buttons □ (special move) and ○ (distortion technique). Note that in order to have the secondary weapon fired with the regular shot you need to activate/toggle it with L1, which makes no sense at all in practical terms. On top of that, the primary weapon can also be deactivated with button R1. Why would you not want all weapons deployed by default, I wonder? Finally, button △ is used to revive friends when in co-op play (up to 4 players can join).

The guardian of the abyss wants to say Hi

Upon selecting the robot, players must then choose the primary weapon (out of six) and the secondary weapon (out of seven) mentioned above. The range of primary weapons goes from basic straight guns, lasers, a flamethrower and a couple of different spread patterns. Secondary weapons add an assortment of lasers and straight/homing missiles with cluster explosions. All weapons vary somewhat in power and rate of fire, so prepare to spend some time testing out all of them to see which ones combine better with the mecha you have chosen. Different combinations might also work better depending on the level you’re playing.

Every stage in the campain mode is divided in three sections, with bosses often appearing in the second and third ones. In between sections you choose one out of three upgrades to improve aspects such as attack power, shield strength, shield regeneration, critical hits (a.k.a. probability-based damage), distortion accumulation and temporary power-up effectiveness. After defeating the main boss you go into a shop where you can buy these upgrades and many more special performance enhancers with the bonus currency achieved for the whole level (transferable to the next shop if not used). Finally, in-stage power-ups that give you the abovementioned temporary upgrades / recovery aids are dropped randomly by destroyed enemies. Robot health uses a two-phase meter composed of shield and armor: shield refills automatically if you stay out of harm’s way, but armor can only be refilled by collecting a particular item. 

With varied graphical themes and an enemy gallery that tries to match them, stages are quite unique and distinct from each other. Even though there’s absolutely no interaction with environmental obstacles, graphics are decent and provide a good feeling of flying over eerie planets or exploring the outer space vastness. Action is slow upon start but eventually picks up, boss battles are fun for the most part and the upgrade system allows for all sorts of experiments for aggressive and defensive players alike. All of that culminating in a fight against a last big enemy that's going to fairly test your dodging skills.

So what’s wrong with Stardust Galaxy Warriors - Stellar Climax? In pure gameplay terms not much actually. My only gripe is the occurrence of attacks that can kill you instantly, finishing your run in a single blow. The insect boss in the 5th stage is one such example, and until you figure out his unorthodox charging routines you’ll probably die a few times. And by all means keep an eye out for those vertical lasers in the scrapyard stage (8th), which will also obliterate you no matter how strong your shield/armor is. By the way, the 8th stage has one of the best songs in the game, in a soundtrack that shines and certainly sticks with you after a while. In all honesty, it's the only feature that's truly deserving of the stellar qualifier.

Trailer for Stardust Galaxy Warriors - Stellar Climax
(courtesy of YouTube user Playstation)

The actual problem with Stardust Galaxy Warriors - Stellar Climax is related to the general notion of performance follow-up. Anyone would imagine that a 10-stage long game clocking at almost one and a half hours would have at least a solid, if not engaging scoring system. However, it’s baffling how this aspect is totally thrown out the window. Scores appear both for individual sections and stages, but are reset in every single level. They are also completely unrelated to the currency bonus achieved after you beat a boss. I reckon the ×2 multiplier that gets reset every time you’re hit and goes up again one enemy at a time should have something to do with it, yet this doesn’t matter anyway because there’s absolutely no score tracking in campaign mode.

Another point of concern in campaign mode is that you can change the difficulty setting between levels, which of course makes score tracking useless. There'd be nothing wrong with that as long as we had a campaign course with fixed parameters, but unfortunately no option exists to lock the difficulty setting for a full run. Having nothing less than 11 predefined settings (plus a fully customizable option if desired) is quite a bold decision as far as flexibility goes, but it certainly makes more sense to try all of them when four people play together for sheer shooting fun. And perhaps someone in the shooting party might see a little value in the story mumbo jumbo, which is completely conveyed with plenty of text but no cut scenes or voice narration at all.

The other game variations included in the package are a separate mode with five challenges with specific durations and rules, as well as two extra endless modes with increasing difficulty (Gauntlet has only regular upgrades and Strike comes with shops, just choose the level theme and fire away). These ones keep track of performance, but no distinction is made when you apply difficulty tweaks.

After trying out all mechas I settled with Silver Wolf, the "dasher". He's got a dash maneuver that's excellent to evade bullet barrages, as well as the regular smart bomb to clear things up a little. When beating the campaign mode I paired him with the laser cannon and the proximity rocket (primary/secondary weapons) during the whole game, and for the majority of the run I only purchased special upgrades in the shops. Some of these items are great life-savers, such as the "distortion shields", which fully recharges your shield gauge whenever a distortion attack is used. As seen in the picture below, upon clearing the game without dying you get the YOLO achievement (a good association with the 1CC in this case). I played all levels in the Normal difficulty. Note: you can replay campaign mode again in the same save slot to continue upgrading your mecha.

Terra Cresta (Playstation 2)

Vertical
Checkpoints ON
2 Difficulty levels
1 Stage (loopable)
Ship speed fixed
- - - - - - -
Developed by Nichibutsu in 1985
Published by Hamster in 2005

Dear readers, I guess a mea culpa is definitely in order. I don’t recall exactly, but for a long time I’ve had a personal grudge against this game and the exact reason is now blurred in the past, most probably with confusion regarding a perception of having to control a humongous blocky ship in a game that looks like Xevious. It just so happens this is a very wrong assumption, for Terra Cresta isn’t anything of the sort. Nothing better than properly playing a game to see what it’s all about.

Originally released in the arcades in 1985, Terra Cresta appeared in a stand-alone disc for the Playstation 2 as part of the Japanese Oretachi Game Center series, more especifically in volume 10. Direct sequel to the primitive Moon Cresta (which is also found in the same collection by the way), it builds upon the visual ideas of Namco’s Xevious while adding new elements that give it a whole different feel. One of these elements is the music, which despite being restricted to just a single tune is quite charming and obviously prone to get into your head you if you play the game long enough.

In the world of Terra Cresta players must patrol the surface of the planet in an endless quest to defeat alien enemies. The terrain is constantly changing and there’s no stage distinction whatsoever, so progression is mostly determined by the appearance of three progressively harder bosses. Most people consider the game looped when the third and largest one is beaten, and since the minor bosses appear in uneven intervals it’s just common sense to consider Terra Cresta a single-stage shooter. And a rather quick one, it takes roughly less than ten minutes to be completed.

A vintage trailer of the Terra Cresta arcade
(courtesy of YouTube user Fuzzy)

As the game unfolds small electrified hatches will appear surrounded by one or more numbers positioned very close to them. By destroying all these numbers an extra ship part will emerge from the hatches, and by collecting them you'll combine the current ship with these new pieces. Each piece increases the ship's size while improving the shot pattern a little: 2 thickens the main shot, 3 adds a rear shot, 4 adds an extra frontal shot and 5 creates a rear barrier that's able to destroy enemies on contact (just out of curiosity, part number 1 is the default basic "Winger" ship). If you've collected at least one ship part you won't die if a bullet hits you, only the part(s) will be lost. On the other hand, if the player is able to collect all pieces without losing them or dying, the ship will turn into an invincible phoenix for a determined amount of time before reverting back to its regular form.

SELECT adds a credit, START begins one. Shot is permanently mapped to buttons □, △ and ○, with autofire applied to the latter two. A second input provided by button × provides the gimmick that defines Terra Cresta and ultimately makes it memorable. Commonly referred to as "transform", this button splits all extra parts the ship is carrying and makes them fly alongside you for a brief while (the same duration of the phoenix phase), after which the ship/parts will sink back into their original form. During this transformation period the firepower is enhanced (the more parts you have the more powerful you get), and as you move it around the only piece that's vulnerable to attacks is the basic ship itself.

The amount of transform attacks available is dictated by the Ps at the bottom of the screen. Even though you can't transform at will, using this ability gives the game a few additional layers of strategy. On top of being an extremely useful aid during tricky sections, there are certain enemies that can only be destroyed by the extra power you get from a formation attack (those energy bars that descend and split in two at the bottom, the detachable base of the small homing missiles). Besides, considering that each ship part collected adds three new transform cycles to the stock, transforming right before collecting one is a very nice idea if you still have at least one P left. After all, extra firepower is always useful no matter what.

Meet the second boss, guys!

The first loop of Terra Cresta, i.e., until you beat the huge boss that shoots out boomerangs, showcases the whole game in a reasonably approachable manner. Enemy bullets start slow, bullet density isn't that high and hatches with ship parts are evenly spaced out. Once you proceed after that the difficulty starts ramping up nicely, with ground and aerial targets appearing in equal measure. Since the spawning routine of some flying enemies is based on your position in the screen, with practice there comes a point when you'll know where to stand in order to have better survival chances. Sure you can twitch your way through the game, but other than the aimed bullets this is pretty much the main source of randomness there is to the gameplay, which immensely rewards memorization. 

Regardless of the loop you're playing, an aspect that can't be taken for granted is the fact that every single extra ship part isn't just there for the taking. There's always a threat nearby that's perfectly positioned to give you trouble if you go straight for the extra piece, be it one of those dinosaurs, a sudden enemy wave coming from the sides or one of those ground turrets that's only revealed when you get close to their location. Scoring is very straightforward, and the little opportunity you get to amass a few more points is by exploiting the minions expelled by bosses. Bosses do time out and leave the screen after a while though. In the case of dragging out the fight against the third boss there comes a point where you won't need to face him again if you die, you just go straight into the second loop once you're revived in the checkpoint. Extends are given at 20.000 points and then for every 60.000 points afterwards.

I admit I had great fun playing the game, much more than I thought I would. There's that one-more-go aura written all over it, which certainly vouches for the success it achieved during its original arcade run. The only gripe I have with the transform mechanic is that I often get confused when transforming with only two ship parts (the one where you get a wide wave shot as the formation attack). And then I die because I start controlling the ship part instead of the ship itself! This doesn't happen with the other formations simply because the parts appear right ahead instead of flying beside you.

Click for the option menus translation for Terra Cresta on the PS2

If you just want to play Terra Cresta the PS2 port has all the essential resources you might need (TATE mode, save feature), but the package also includes an extra guide book, a music mini-CD (16 minutes of sound effects, music tracks and two remixes) and a mini-DVD with a gameplay sample of the first loop of the game and general advertising for the Oretachi Game Center series. A handful of ports were released for the most varied platforms, while the first sequel Terra Cresta II came out for the PC Engine in 1992.

I played in the Normal difficulty and in all the results shown below I died in the second loop.

The Lost Sunheart (PC Engine)

Horizontal
Checkpoints OFF/ON
2 Difficulty levels
6 stages
Ship speed selectable
- - - - - - -
Developed by Manjyu-Do
Published by I'Max in 1992

It doesn’t take much to realize there’s a touch of weirdness in The Lost Sunheart. It's got that offbeat atmosphere often associated with Japanese stuff, and for many people that alone is a good reason to try it out. Though not reaching the heights of something like Ai Cho Aniki, the game has some bold imagery in boss designs whose context gets lost in the story completely presented in kanji. The broad understanding on my part is that five magic crystals are stolen by evil creatures, and our mission as players is to get them back. One fiendish boss at a time.

Also known by the Japanese title Bouken Danshaken Don San-Heart Hen, this little and obscure shooter can be quite deceiving. The overall design is dark and moody, and the start of the journey tricks you into thinking the challenge ahead might not be that taxing. That's the impression we get when each life comes with a health bar, isn't it so? Soon enough the stakes start to get higher though, demanding a little strategy in order to preserve health as you go through each checkpoint. After all, every death sends you back to the very beginning of the section.

If you go to the options there’s a mode switch whose sole purpose is to turn cut scenes on and off (adventure ON or OFF), with no interference in the gameplay whatsoever. Shooting is accomplished with button II and movement speed can be toggled between four settings at the press of the SELECT button. As for button I, besides inputting your initials at the start of every credit it's also used to trigger special powers that become available later (keep reading). Even though your ship is changed for a new one at certain points in the game, these "upgrades" don't add anything to your arsenal except for the first ship replacement, which activates permanent Darius-like bombs.

Silly observation: the first couple of ships remind me of a faucet and a fried chicken. Look closely and tell me if you agree!

A creepy man in disguise or just a pregnant owl?

Aesthetic alterations aside, the ship’s actual capabilities are improved with items released by destroying yellow carriers. The way the upgrade system works in The Lost Sunheart is rather confusing though. The most important items are two interchangeable icons for the central firing stream: C (default) and H (a thicker wave shot), both enhanced three times by picking up successive items of the same type. The other items consist of F (partial or full health refills) and B (adds a fire effect to the bombs). Finally, one-time items appear early in the game: T permanently alters the default pea shot to a 3-way spread pattern and S activates an orb that endows the ship with special powers.

These special powers vary according to the selection you make whenever the game is paused. Four extra choices besides the initial one become available as the lost crystals are recovered, for a total of five: 1 (rotating orb), 2 (bombs home on enemies), 3 (two-way shot from an auxiliary force pod), 4 (bullet-blocking shield) and 5 (extra shot stream). 1 and 3 are fired with the main weapon whereas 2, 4 and 5 use button I. Note that special power 4 cannot be used as a permanent shielding resource since each activation of button I merely creates a single shield with very brief duration, only enough to deflect incoming bullets and damage everything that it touches. On the other hand, just like the main weapon (button II), special powers 2 and 5 do benefit from rapid firing, hence the recommendation to have a turbo controller at hand in order to fully enjoy the game.

Given the intricacies I mentioned above, I reckon it's common to find people who have played the whole game without taking full taking advantage of the weapon system. Knowing about the proper use of the special powers, for example, represents a huge advantage against some of the trickiest sections and bosses. On top of that, a few other aspects of the gameplay deserve to be mentioned. Getting hit downgrades all weapons by one power level, and although it's possible to play with speed setting 2 or 3, in a few areas it's beneficial to maximize the flying speed to evade quick attacks. Narrow passages aren't really dangerous because there's no harm in touching walls, in fact leaning against walls or screen borders is what it takes to place the force orb of special weapon #3 above or below the ship.

Eyes everywhere!
(courtesy of YouTube user The VideoGames Museum)

The Lost Sunheart unfolds at a steady pace and does a good job at keeping the interest alive by means of the bizarre boss encounters. That said, there's a recurring emphasis in the enemy gallery with respect to eyes. Weak spots of almost all bosses are an eye or an arrangement of multiple eyes, often attached to demon-like creatures or mechanical machinery. I'd say there's a lot of Parodius in the game as whole, as well as a veiled influence from Darius in level backgrounds and ideas behind some stage designs, including an underwater section that ends with the ship entering the mouth of a creepy whale. Besides, pretty much all enemy waves give you varying bonus points when fully obliterated.

Even though attempting to destroy complete waves and dying to cash in on checkpoints are valid objectives when trying to score, in the long run it's just not worth it. A couple of turrets that spit large fireballs in the second level can be exploited forever if you so wish, thus rendering the scoring system useless. Speaking of which, score-based extends are registered with 100, 300 and 500 thousand points, and if you shoot the floating head in stage 3 long enough you'll also be able to collect an icon for extra life (UP).

Certainly the most intimidating foe you'll come across in this game, the last boss is the only thing expecting players in the sixth and final level. It also seems to have been lifted straight out of one of the Fantasy Zone games. I died a few times when going for the 1CC in the top spot of the table below (there are separate high score tables for both difficulty settings). It was a fun and satisfying experience that only lacked a more compelling sountrack to go along with the decent visuals.