Gaming Memories- Resident Evil: Part IV

Hello dear readers, welcome once again to game room. Today I'll finally be concluding something I started months ago and have been desperately meaning to finish- my wonderful retrospective of the Resident Evil franchise.

These will probably contain spoilers, so if you’ve never played any of the Resident Evil games, go play them right now. And then come back.

Part 4

Next up was the legendary Resident Evil 4, which turned the entire series on its head and altered the core concept of what a Resident Evil game could be. It proceeded to throw out the window many elements of the survival horror genre in favor of more action-oriented sequences and flashy gameplay; gone was the subtle, creeping and atmospheric experience of its predecessors and in its place was something that felt a little more like Rambo mixed with Dawn of the Dead. There are certainly some horror elements sprinkled in which I’ll discuss shortly, but for the most part it is a flat out action game.

The story follows fan-favorite Leon Kennedy in his first starring role since the second game (if you don’t count Gaiden, at least). Now working for the U.S. government, he is dispatched on a top secret mission to locate and rescue the president’s daughter, who has been kidnapped by a mysterious group somewhere in Europe. However, it turns out this group is actually a highly dangerous cult bent on releasing an ancient parasite called “Las Plagas” that turns people into mindless slaves and also happens to create horrific monsters as well. Also thrown into the mix are some old and not quite dead friends named Albert Wesker and Ada Wong, who are after a sample of the Plagas in order to revive the now-defunct Umbrella Corporation.  

RE4 definitely did something right in bringing back Leon, one of the most popular characters of the entire series. 

The graphics are well enough, though not quite as on point as those for the remake or 0, which were on the same console. The biggest changes RE4 brought to the table however were not so much in the stylistic changes, but in the alterations made to the gameplay. The fixed-camera, tank-control schema of the all the previous games (save Survivor, Dead Aim and Gaiden) was abandoned entirely and in its place was a new over-the-shoulder 3^rd person POV. There’s also a good deal of diversity in the gameplay, from the various boss battles to certain action sequences in which you’ll have to input the correct button combination that flashes quickly on the screen before you die in some horrible way. It does quite well for the game, but it was most definitely a departure from what we expected out of a game with the title “Resident Evil”. And I think that sums up my general feelings toward RE4- don’t get me wrong, it’s still a great, fun game that I’d play over many, many other games any day, but it just represents the point (in my mind, anyway) where Resident Evil slowly started sliding away from its survival horror roots and changing into something different.

Again, none of this is to say that I don’t get any enjoyment out of playing it, or that it even doesn’t have some pretty tense moments reminiscent of the good old survival horror days. For example, one part that sticks out in my mind the most is the part where you find yourself in the bottom of a dungeon area, playing as the defenseless Ashley in order to solve a puzzle. Upon doing so, you’ll be immediately ambushed by giant, axe-wielding suits of armor that had previously been standing still as you fiddled with the puzzle- a pretty scary moment. Another moment is when you must go up against the regenerators, which are big, gangly B.O.W.s that can actually stretch their arms out to grab you from far away…AND can regenerate their limbs unless you destroy specific parasites embedded in their bodies by using an infrared scope on the sniper rifle. The buildup to the first encounter with one of these nasty guys is done very well, once again evoking the survival horror spirit of the original games.

The regenerator encounters definitely injected some much needed horror into the game, which was much appreciated by me.

In sum, I do really enjoy RE4 for what it is, though I have to raise an eyebrow when people claim that it’s the best of the entire franchise. To each their own I suppose, but in my humble opinion, it doesn’t even come close to original classics.

As I mentioned previously, RE4 represents the point at which the series started really changing into something different. And if RE4 were the link somewhere between with elements of both survival horror and straight up action, then Resident Evil 5 didn’t even really try to be anything more than a purely action-driven shooter.

The first Resident Evil game on the next-gen Xbox 360/Playstation 3 consoles, RE5 follows in the footsteps of its predecessor not only in being largely driven by action, but in bringing back fan-favorite characters for a 3^rd-person POV adventure. The story follows Chris Redfield, now working for an anti-bioterrorism group called the BSAA (hell if I know what it stands for and I’m too lazy to look it up). He’s received intel on a possible bio-terrorist organization in Africa, and travels there to meet another agent named Sheva Alomar in investigating. And here is where RE5 once again changed things up, and to my knowledge, all games in the series have followed suit since then: there’s a huge emphasis placed on co-op play in this game. There’s literally no option for single player- you’ll either be playing with someone else or an AI partner. And that’s fine, I understand that this is the direction all games are pretty much heading in, but it still didn’t really sit well with a Luddite like me. 

Not to mention, there just wasn’t that much of a reason to make it an essential feature of the gameplay. Nonetheless, the game is very similar to RE4 gameplay-wise, as well as with the various action sequences and weapon upgrade system and whatnot. In that sense, it is a fun game. But then you have the more ridiculous moments like Jill, who has suddenly (and obviously, I might add) been shoe-horned into the plot, being mind-controlled by some kind of gizmo attached to her chest. Oh, and she also has super powers too for no reason. Also, the new virus (now called Ouroboros or something) can turn anything into a gigantic, pulsating mound of flesh with spikes and tentacles. And Chris punches a boulder into lava.

Yup, this is part where RE5 jumped the shark.

Look, I know the series has never really been grounded in realism since the start, and even the concept of Mr. X in 2 was kind of pushing the limits to what I might feasibly accept, but RE5 just took it to a completely different level. I liken it the recent string of Fast & Furious sequels- it’s basically like a big, flashy cartoon and you just have to take it for what it is. And for the record, that doesn’t really make either of them any more artistically credible.

Anyway, I do enjoy RE5, much the same way that I enjoy RE4. However, I feel like I would’ve enjoyed it a lot more if it was called something else other than Resident Evil. When I think “Resident Evil,” I think of the classics. I think of zombies, T-Virus mutant monsters, and most of all, horror. It’s like comparing the original Night of the Living Dead to a movie like World War Z.

RE6, however, I think can wholeheartedly say that I just did not enjoy whatsoever. 6 arrived far past the point of me having hope that the series would go back to what made it so great in the good old days, but despite that I still decided to pick it up out of sheer curiosity, and also because I had just bought a PS3 and the only game I had for it was Metal Gear Solid 4 and I wanted to feel more like I was justified in buying it.

Anyway, this will honestly be a bit of a half-assed review because I don't really remember much of it, but that's just it- I really didn't think any of it was all that memorable whatsoever. So the story is split into three different acts, each of which following a different set of protagonists: Leon and uh…a girl I don’t remember and once again am too lazy to look up, Chris and his military partner Piers, and, get ready for this one, Wesker’s son Jake and Sherry Birkin. Yes, that annoying little girl from the second game that we all forgot about now all grown up . Now, it may just be me, but I really felt like they were scraping the bottom of the barrel when they started rolling out long forgotten characters and long lost son clichés like that. I mean, hell, why don’t we bring back Ark Thompson from Survivor while we’re at it?

The plot for all of the characters converges around Ada Wong, the mysterious spy woman who should’ve just stayed dead in 2 but keeps getting caught up in the plot of every game, and a new virus that has been developed called the…C-Virus. Yep, just oozes creativity. The previous two games at least got a little original with it, what with the introduction of Las Plagas and Ouroboros, but again, I felt like they were getting pretty desperate at this point. 

The primary thing that made me hate this game much more than 5 was not the action-driven gameplay, not the absurd plot, but the controls- unlike the previous games to this point, I thought the controls were dreadfully bad. It’s one thing to have a mediocre game, but when the basic playability of it is compromised by poor controls, that really leaves a bad taste in your mouth from the get-go.

Another thing I remember hating was the fact that every boss is basically Godzilla now. Leon’s act concludes with him and Helena (is that her name? I think so…) fighting what basically amounts to a virus-infected tyrannosaurus. And during the entire fight, all I could think about was how intimidating the tyrant seemed in the very first game and how much I felt like this really cheapened everything about the earlier games in the series.

Where's the goat? Wait..I'm thinking of something else...

Remember facing off against the tyrant for the first time? Or Mr. X, or Nemesis, or any of the big bad intimidating monsters from the first few games? Those were truly tense and terrifying moments, but when you are going up against something that’s the size of the entire building while it throws jeeps at you…ugh. It all just seemed so uninspired. The same goes for much of the other scenarios, where you’ll also have to do battle with other huge, ridiculous monsters.

If the remake represented the top of the mountain when the series reached its pinnacle, then RE6 would be the dirt at the bottom, as far as I’m concerned. Up until this point, I still actually enjoyed the games I was playing- I can’t say the same for this one, though. Anyway, so that about leaves me where I am now as far as Resident Evil is concerned. I haven’t played the newest ones in the series, namely Operation: Raccoon City and Revelations 1 and 2, and I don’t have a whole lot of interest in them.

As I’ve mentioned previously, a remake of 2 is apparently in the works right now, but I think it’s one of those things where I will believe it when I see it. However, with the recent release of the remake in HD for the newest generation of consoles, I’m remaining hopeful for it and I would most definitely be one of the first people standing in line to pick it up. And if they start bringing the series back to its humble roots, maybe then my interest will be rekindled a bit too. 

Until then, I know I’ll continue to enjoy the original games for many years to come. Resident Evil will always be one of my favorite video game franchises of all time and one that I will have fond memories of forever, if this four-part retrospective didn’t attest to that fact enough already.

Anyway, thanks for reading, and long live Resident Evil!

My Top 10 WTF Moments in Video Games

Welcome back to the game room dear readers, and prepare to travel to the weird side today as I discuss some of the strangest, outrageous, and most ridiculous moments I've experienced while playing video games over the years. Also, I should warn that this will contain spoilers for a lot of games.

10. Doom II (PC)- John Romero’s head

So the year was 1994 and I was just having a blast slaying demons from hell in this game. In fact, much of my childhood was spent exactly this way with the granddaddy of all first-person shooters. I hadn’t even really learned the term “Easter egg” yet, but probably the first time I ever experienced one was when I was having fun playing with the no clip feature of Dooms’ cheat codes that just about everyone on the planet knew. In the last level of the game, Map 30 (the Icon of Sin, as you Doom fans should know already), upon clipping into the hole fixed to the wall that is supposed to be the final boss monster’s head, you’ll be treated to the surprise of a small hidden chamber with a bloody, impaled head on a stick. It wasn’t until much later in my life that I discovered that this was the head of John Romero, one of the head programmers of the game who had craftily snuck his own image into the level, but at the time, I had no idea as a 7 year-old playing this game. I just remember being utterly shocked and disturbed not only to find it there after a bit of random futzing around, but also that the head actually screams if you shoot at it! Might not seem like such a big deal by today’s standards, but this may have been the very first time I ever really felt taken aback by something I saw in a video game.

9. Sonic The Hedgehog 2 (Sega Genesis)- Metropolis Zone has three acts

 

Sonic 2 is one of the all time great video game sequels and probably the most well known and beloved entry in the series (I personally like Sonic & Knuckles the best, but I’m an asshole). This game is always worth a playthrough if you’re bored with other games, but unless you’re a video game wizard (which I am certainly not), be prepared to die at least a few times once you get to the later levels- especially the freakin’ Metropolis Zone. Even if you’ve gathered the 7 chaos emeralds and blasted through the previous levels as Super Sonic, this zone simply has no mercy. You’ll find yourself lost in a maze of machinery, plagued by those goddamn mantis and crab robots, and begging for just one spare ring as you traverse the level. But the worst part about this wretched level? Unlike all of the previous levels you’ve been through so far, this relentless level has THREE ACTS! In the previous seven zones, you’ve already grown accustomed to navigating two levels and facing a boss at the end of the second, but not this time! As a kid, I remember wanting to break my Genesis in half over the shock that I had barely made it through the first two levels, yet it still wasn’t over upon entering that third act for the first time.

8. Resident Evil 3 (Sony Playstation)- Nemesis follows you through rooms

 

If you’re an adamant fan of the Resident Evil series, you’ve probably played through the first three games of the franchise at least once in your life. And what was one precedent that was set in the first two games that we could always fall back on when the situation got dire? That’s right- exiting a room will allow you to escape danger. I know I certainly exploited the hell out of this in the first two games when I found myself overwhelmed with zombies and other bio-organic monstrosities. But then RE3 came along and shattered that precedent before your very eyes as you encounter the Nemesis, a horrifically powerful monster that relentlessly stalks you throughout the game. If you’re low on ammo and health, running into this guy can be the worst thing ever- but hey, no big deal, right? Just use that newly implemented 360 degree spin on the controller and hop on outta that room, he can’t get to you that way. Right? Uh….right? Wrong. As soon as the door is off screen, you’ll hear it slam open and Nemmy will be right on top of you once again. This completely threw out the previously established rules of the first two games that monsters can’t follow you through different rooms. Well, as was in my case when I first tried this…it’s time to think again about that strategy.

7. Pikmin 2 (Nintendo Gamecube) –The Water Wraith

 

What’s worse than an enemy that relentlessly stalks you from room to room? Why, an enemy that relentlessly stalks you from room to room that you can’t even fight back against! Such is the case of the horrific Water Wraith enemy in Pikmin 2, which thankfully you will only encounter once in the game in the Submerged Castle dungeon of the Perplexing Pool level. The creature, which looks like the Pillsbury doughboy if he were made out of Jell-O and riding on a concrete steamroller, unexpectedly drops in on you in the second floor of the dungeon. Try attacking it like any other enemy you’ve encountered to this point and you’ll find that it’s utterly useless- the thing can’t be hurt at all. At the final floor of the dungeon, you’ll discover that only Purple Pikmin can destroy the beast- however, since the entrance to the dungeon is underwater, you’ll only be able to enter with blue Pikmin, meaning that until you get to that last floor, you’re at this monstrosity’s mercy. Not only that, but it can instantly flatten and decimate your entire Pikmin squad in seconds and it’ll actively hunt you throughout the dungeon while emitting horrible otherworldly grunts. It even has it's own horrific theme song. The first time encountering this thing, I had no idea how to handle it. All I could do was run around in circles scrambling to figure out what the hell to do and how to escape the wrath of this monster.

6. Halo (Microsoft Xbox)- The special legendary ending

 

Admittedly, it’s not too terribly difficult to beat the original Halo on legendary anymore, after playing it and it’s sequels for over a decade now. But back in the day, some of us first-time Xbox players had quite an ordeal escaping the clutches of the legendary difficulty in one piece. I distinctly remember my friend Dave telling me he’d heard a rumor that upon beating the game on legendary, a spectacular secret awaited those who managed to make it through. Nearly every day that summer, I’d get up in the morning and race over to his house, where we’d take on the horrible legendary mode playing cooperatively, dying over and over and over again through each level (The Library, anyone?) until one by one, we eventually conquered them. Finally, when at last the final level of the game was beaten, we eagerly awaited our prize. But for all of our hard work and dedication, what did we get? A 20 second clip of Sergeant Johnson fighting over an assault rifle with an elite, only to reconcile their differences with a big ‘ol hug as the Pillar of Autumn explodes behind them. And that’s it. Our jaws were on the floor as the credits began rolling afterward. Nowadays we joke about this and always have a good laugh, so I guess it did its job at being memorable- but back then, we felt anything but rewarded after going through that hell and back.

5. Bomberman 64 (Nintendo 64)- Sirius’ betrayal and Rainbow Palace

 

I have a lot of truly fond memories of playing this game, and unless I’m mistaken and this game is more popular than I know, I feel like it’s a criminally underrated N64 classic. Back in the day I played the shit out of this game, whether it was in the story mode or doing battle with friends in the insanely fun multiplayer. However, I had quite difficulty obtaining all 100 of the golden cards that are scattered throughout the levels and are awarded by beating bosses in certain ways. In particular, I couldn’t figure out how the hell to get one of them in particular in the 2^nd stage boss of Black Fortress, the final world of the game. I stuck with it though and one day was finally rewarded by obtaining it, at which point I promptly headed to the final boss to see if there was any extra reward. However, what I completely didn’t expect was that upon beating the game with all 100 golden cards, you’ll be betrayed by Sirius, a character who’d been previously helping you throughout the game. And not only that, but to my utter shock, the game wasn’t over yet and a secret 6^th world awaited! By this point I’d been playing the game for a very long time and was so completely stunned to find that there was more to it than I knew. And not just more, but a very surreal and dream-like world with extremely difficult puzzles to solve (and a very creepy 2^nd level boss, I might add).

4. Earthworm Jim 2 (Sega Genesis/SNES)- Jim Is Now A Blind Cave Salamander!

Earthworm Jim and its equally wacky sequel are easily some of most outlandishly creative and fantastically weird games ever conceived. I mean, as if the premise of an earthworm running around inside of an alien suit chasing an intergalactic alien crow across the galaxy wasn’t crazy enough, the second game will have you fighting a giant unicycle-riding maggot, bouncing puppies off of a giant marshmallow, and being attacked by a salt shaker through a level made entirely of food. But the most bizarre level of the game has to be the aptly-titled “Jim Is Now a Blind Cave Salamander!”, also known as “Villi People.” After 3 levels of playing as Jim, you’re now transformed into a salamander carrying a gun, swimming through what appears to be intestines (intestinal villi are tiny buds that line the walls of the small intestine and aid in digestion) while shooting at sheep, dodging bumpers and pencils sticking out of the wall, and collecting worms (more on that in a moment). Oh, and Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata is playing as the level music. There’s also what appears to be a tiled floor and windows looking out on the world. What drugs were they on when they made this? This level actually disturbed the hell out of me when I was kid. These days I love how spectacularly nonsensical it all is, but something about the surreal and strange nature just really weirded me out when I was younger. Oh, and remember those worms I mentioned before? At the end of the level you’ll suddenly find yourself in a gameshow out of nowhere, where you can exchange the worms for chances to answer questions and win prizes. And by the way, the questions make no sense whatsoever and it’s fantastic.

3. Silent Hill 2 (Sony Playstation 2)- Two Pyramid Heads

I’ve been talking a lot about relentlessly stalking enemies, haven’t I? Well good old Pyramid Head from Silent Hill 2 pretty well fits the bill in that category. The hulking, knife-wielding monster periodically materializes from the darkness and attacks you, and I was certainly one of those gamers terrified at the mere mention of his name. However, nothing on Earth could prepare me for the penultimate confrontation of the game, in which you’ll do battle with not one, but two Pyramid Heads. Admittedly, the first time I played this game I wasn’t too well-versed in subtext (or psychopathology for that matter, which I am now) and at that point in the game, I had no idea what the hell was even happening in the story anymore. I understand the reasoning now and it certainly makes sense within the lore of the game, but at the time I just couldn’t wrap my mind around it, so walking into that room and seeing two of those evil bastards just completely blew my mind. As if one of them chasing me around wasn’t bad enough, here was a second one out of nowhere. And worst of all, I had to fight them both at the same time.

2. Pokémon Red & Blue (Nintendo Gameboy)- Encountering MissingNo for the first time

MissingNo is probably the most well-publicized video game glitch of all time and probably the one that spawned the most schoolyard urban legends and myths of any video game I ever played. I remember constantly hearing about it and the subsequent infinite item glitch that can be triggered by spawning the strange mess of pixels, so I certainly knew what to expect after hearing all of the rumors and fantastic stories. However, I was still totally blown away the first time I ever encountered the garbled mess of a sprite for myself on the side of Cinnabar Island. Even stranger was what happened if you decided to catch and use the glitched-out mess in a battle, where it could spawn even further glitches and devolve your game into a complete mess. 

1. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons Of Liberty (Sony Playstation 2)– Colonel Campbell was actually GW

Was I just talking about how the plot of Silent Hill 2 confused me? Weh-heh-hell…let me tell you about the utter insanity that is Metal Gear Solid 2. The game begins just the way you’d expect it to be as you take control of Solid Snake and resume the usual tactical stealth antics. However, as the Tanker chapter ends, the game pulls a complete 180 and drops you in control of a new character named Raiden, who’s pretty much the antithesis of Snake. Nonetheless, you progress from this point forward as Raiden, who’s being aided by a familiar face: Colonel Campbell, who assisted Snake all throughout the first game. As you move forward through the game completing objectives, something seems oddly familiar about everything you’re doing. And then they hit you with a bombshell: the entire mission you’ve been a part of is a complete fabrication, designed to exactly emulate the events of the first game. And if that weren’t enough, when you find yourself inside of a massive war machine called Arsenal Gear, it’s discovered that Colonel Campbell was actually just an AI program, a complete façade designed to fool you the entire time. And not only that, but after a virus is uploaded to destroy the system core, the AI starts going haywire and Campbell starts repeatedly calling and babbling on about utter nonsense. As if everything in the game hadn’t been outrageous enough up to this point, I was really ready to just put my controller down and quit video games forever once the Colonel started calling and talking about purple stuffed worms in flap-jaw space.

Obscure Game Review: Tinhead

Hello all and welcome back to the game room. Today I'll be doing a quickie review of a weird little game I recently picked up for the Sega Genesis that I'd never heard of before.

I have a lot of games. And when you have as little spare time as I do to enjoy playing games but can’t stop the urge to keep buying more of them, you end up with tons of games you’ve never played or even heard of before. So during this brief little winter vacation I’ve had lately, I decided to thumb through some of those weird games I have in my possession and give them a go, and that’s how I ended up playing through a relatively obscure Sega Genesis game called Tinhead.

Released in 1993 exclusively for the Genesis (a Super Nintendo port was planned but cancelled), it’s a nifty little side-scrolling platformer that was certainly worth a quick playthrough. It’s not perfect by any stretch of the imagination and can be downright frustrating as hell at times, but overall it served as a modestly enjoyable trip back to the early 90’s, which incidentally was probably my favorite era of gaming.

The story is more or less one of those “just read the back of the box and you’re good” type of plots that were so common at the time: in distant space, an unlikely little robot hero named Tinhead must do battle with an evil madman named Grim Squidge who has stolen the galaxy's stars and spread them out across different planets, and that’s all you really need to know.

This picture tells you almost everything you need to know about Tinhead's storyline.

Though the story isn’t too riveting, the graphics really steal the show for this game. They’re vibrant, colorful, and detailed- a great example of some of the best the Genesis was capable of. The foregrounds, backgrounds, character, enemy and item sprites all look wonderfully detailed and really serve to make this game stand out. The music isn’t anything spectacular by Genesis standards, but it offers up a catchy tune every now and then. There isn’t much diversity in the music however, since there are only four worlds in the game with six levels apiece, and each world has its own track that will play through five of those levels (boss levels have their own music). The rest of the sound effects are fairly generic Genesis-esque sounds you’ve probably heard at least once in your life if you’ve played a few Genesis games before.

While nothing about this game is a masterpiece, it certainly is a delight to look at.

As I just mentioned, each of the four worlds consists of six levels. Every two levels you’ll get a password, which is quite helpful if you’re anything like me and don’t usually beat games in one sitting unless it’s necessary to do so. On the sixth level of each world is a boss you’ll do battle with before progressing on to the next world. The other five levels are large, non-linear stages in which you’ll be traveling forward, backward, up and down in search of a golden star, which is usually tucked away in a corner of the level requiring a decent amount of searching to find. Upon obtaining the star, you must then find the exit teleporter, which also tends to be hidden in a certain area of the level. This can get a bit frustrating if you can find the exit but cannot find the star, or vice versa; however, it’s usually simple enough to do so. One annoying thing is that if you’ve collected the star and then die, you must find the star once again before proceeding to the exit. This is especially annoying if you don’t remember exactly how you even got to the star through the maze-like level design. Again, though, this usually isn’t that big of an issue.

Finding the star in each level can be a challenge and a bit annoying, especially if you've already found the level's exit.

As for the gameplay, it’s..well…a tad flawed. The biggest complaint I have is with the jumping- Tinhead can spring up pretty high, but then drops like a lead weight. Seriously, you will just barely be able to pull off some of the jumps the game presents you with, and be prepared to attempt the same sequence of jumps multiple times after falling off of platforms because of this. Also, he tends to move pretty quickly, which often results in running into off-screen enemies if you don’t constantly mash the fire button. Tinhead fires projectiles at enemies that look like little pinballs, and he can do so in three different ways: shooting straight, diagonally upward, and in a downward arc that bounces along the ground. Enemies can be destroyed with anywhere between one and five hits. It works well enough, but the upward and downward shots can be a bit tricky to pull off with enemies above or below you. Also, you’ll need to manually switch between these three firing modes by pressing the C Button, and this can present problems while trying to rapidly cycle through firing modes when attacking enemies that are all around you.

Also, another frustrating aspect is in the amount of projectiles you’ll be able to fire at once. Each time you die, you start off again by only being able to fire one projectile at a time. You can upgrade by collecting items scattered throughout the level that will allow you to fire up to five balls at once, which all but makes you a walking tank. However, upon getting hit by an enemy, you’ll lose one ball- i.e., if you have five balls and are then hit, you’ll drop down to four, and then three, and so on. This can get really annoying if you’re far into a level and find yourself only able to fire one measly projectile at a time, but once again, it’s not a massive hindrance that can stop you from completing the game.

You have five hit points of health that are independent of the projectile counter, which can be replenished by picking up health items that are readily available throughout the stage. Also, you can find bonus stages hidden in each level that will allow you to pick up some extra health, projectiles, and 1-ups. There is also a huge abundance of black orbs and other little items that serve no purpose other than to increase the score, which doesn’t even gain you any extra lives or anything as you increase it, as far as I know anyway. Once in a while, you’ll also collect special items that can equip you with things like a jetpack, a wheel, a propeller, and more. However, you move a LOT faster with these items and tend to run into enemies very quickly this way, causing you to lose that upgrade within about 5 seconds of obtaining it.

Power-ups like the jetpack are good to have, but good luck keeping them for longer than 5 seconds.

 

The bosses of each stage are not very hard at all, especially with a maxed out projectile counter. Even the final boss is quite easy, and I was actually surprised upon beating the game that it was over just like that. You’ll spend much more time traversing the stages of the game than you will on any of the four boss battles.

In all, I beat the game in about a day or two of playing, putting it down, and then coming back to it later by using the password system. It’s challenging and a bit hampered by some bad controls, but none so bad that it makes the game unplayable. If you’re looking for an obscure Genesis game that’s worth a few hours of playing time, I’d certainly recommend it.