| Introduction
Something that's been missing from Nintendo's new
handheld has been a decent shoot'em up. Imagine my surprise
when this landed on my desk. Not only an all out 'blast
fest' but in 3D too. Great, I thought. Here's my chance
to have a mindless 10 minutes or so saving the universe.
Let's face it, not all of us want to solve puzzles,
jump platforms or race around and, if that's you, this
is what you could be waiting for.
GamePlay
On starting up you're treated to a short, but very
well done, intro and then it's to the options screen.
Options are a little thin on the ground with most
of them dedicated to sound checks. If it's your first
game simply 'start' otherwise choose the 'password'
option. Yes, you'll need a piece of paper to jot down
your codes which is a little inconvenient but to be
honest this game doesn't warrant a battery backup.
There are two modes of gameplay 'normal' or 'hard'
but don't be a hero, go for the 'normal' setting for
reasons I'll explain later.
The game itself has 7 lengthy levels with end of
level bosses set over various terrain. Obviously there's
no link capability as it's a shoot 'em up but there
are also no extras to unlock unlike the mighty F-Zero
(see the review on this site). There are the usual power
ups and changes of weapons although not as many as you
might expect in a game like this.
The gamescreen has your ship viewed from the rear
with the ability to move around the full area of the
screen. The enemies appear in the distance and come
towards you shooting missiles, the object being to destroy
or dodge them before they get to you.
This, however, is where the problems start. Firstly
your ship seems to get between you and the danger on
far too many occasions meaning you'll get hit without
even knowing.
Actually firing is also a problem as there's never
any real way of knowing where to be on the screen in
order to hit your enemy. Very frustrating. Finally it's
really hard. REALLY HARD! You do get extra ships for
10,000, 20,000 and 40,000 points but over 7 levels that
really isn't enough and on your first couple of tries
you'll run out of ships at an incredible speed.
The learning curve in this title is extremely steep
and does the player no favours at all. That said, maybe
some of you enjoy a 'head banging against the wall'
gaming experience. It will certainly last you some time..
Controls
The control system couldn't be simpler with only
the 'D-pad' and the 'A' button being used at all times
and that's it. There's very little thought involved
here. Just keep dodging everything and keep your finger
on the button.
Graphics
What can I say? PERFECT! From the opening Manga style
intro and into the first level you'd be hard pressed
to find a better looking game. The backgrounds are beautiful
and very well rendered, all enemies are very solid and
remain so even when they increase rapidly in size and
even with all this going on, there's absolutely no 'slow
down'.
All of the levels appear suitably different too,
from cloud cities to long pipes full of enemies. It's
obvious that the developers at SHIN'EN spent a great
deal of time with the development system and have managed
to squeeze just about every graphical routine out of
the GBA that it's capable of.
Sound & Music
Iridion uses the new 'GAX Soundsystem' and this really
pays off enhancing the atmosphere of the game. In-game
music, effects and other incidental sounds are crystal
clear as well as being technically excellent. Do yourself
a favour though. Get a decent set of headphones to get
the full effect.
Final Comments
This should be everything the GBA shoot'em up fan
wants and on first glance it is. Wonderful graphics
(with no glitches), excellent sound and a good handful
of levels. The problem is that's all it has. Once you
tire of the initial 'WOW' factor all you're left with
is a cart full of eye candy. A glorified Amiga demo.
The final mark has been given for the technical brilliance,
NOT the gameplay. In short this is the game to show
off to friends to demonstrate the GBA capabilities.
Just don't let them play it.
|
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