Treasure has had an odd history over the years; it’s
created some incredible games and some real stinkers. This is one of the former
and one of their first ever games, many touted it at the time as a game too
ambitious for that generation of console but that never stopped them making one
of the best run and gun games I’ve seen for a long time.
I still hate Curry and Rice though.
The premise is simple enough, colour-coordinated
characters battle an evil empire that has found some gems and using them to bring
back a super powered robot monster with another colour based name. Your
playable characters, Red and Blue, will fight Black, Pinky, Orange and Green
(several times, several several times in Green’s case) in a series of levels to
then fight Golden Shower (Sorry, Golden Silver). I’m really not selling this am
I.
I don’t think there is any real way I can describe this
game without just saying how mind-blowing it is to witness what is done here.
Let’s try again.
Your player character, using 8 directional shooting and
running, utilising a combo system of 4 possible guns where picking up 2 items
will combine the output of the firepower from a high power machine gun, to
homing weapons, massive flame throwers, laser beams and multiple combinations
of the 4 (i.e. homing machineguns, beam swords, explosive shots and remote
control flamethrowers to name but a few) will run, jump, climb, cling, flip,
punch, kick, slide, throw, drive, anti-grav, spaceship, dice roll and
view-screen their way through a plethora of levels and many MANY over the top
bosses and enemies (all of which pretty much explode, excessively).
From the Bravoo man made of blocks, to giant plants,
robot crabs, a creature made of curry in a non-firepower room (hate... hate
you...) to farting military commanders, airships, tiny soldiers, a jelly, time
changing rockets... It’s one of the first boss rush games to exist and every
fight is just stunning to watch and reveal. Particular focus and mention to the
Green boss fight (first time round) where you travel along mine carts that look
like knock-off fujikomas from that anime with cyborgs... I know, not being very
descriptive here... Ghost in the Shell I think. Switching gravity to overcome
lots of enemies and chasing a train (down a wall at times) until you fight a
boss that is several bosses at once. Each boss phase made up of segments used
in different ways to create very different bosses to an impressive and
pulse-racing soundtrack.
Even now, I’m not getting close to describing this.
Compared to what was around at the time, there was little that could hold a
candle to Gunstar Heroes when it was released, even today there’s few games
that could be as busy, action packed, and FAIR (bullet hell games... I’m
watching you) where you could run your way through, or you could just melee and
ninja your way through like a thing possessed. Standard enemies would keep
appearing while you travelled the level until you reached a checkpoint battle
or the boss. All bosses had a health value that waned as you (and maybe your
partner) fought it until it ran out of health and blew up.
There is a lot of replay value in the game, for a start
the first 4 levels can be taken in any order at all. The combination of guns
alone can be worth of several runs through the game just to see them all let
alone pick your preferred combo. Given there’s shot, flame, homing and laser
and any combination of any 2 including the same twice, there’s plenty for all
to enjoy. Later levels are linearly approached however but even after gunning
your way through the game, you can still attempt to just melee attack your way
through, in some places you MUST (curry and rice...). Black’s dice maze will
take several replays to get every boss fought there in what is a boss rush
section of a boss rush game. On top of this there’s the co-op way to play it
with just as much action and multiple difficulty settings and changes in game
play from run/gun, spaceship, mine carts, board game and an odd variation on
where you’re watching yourself through a screen the bosses are watching.
This game turns you into Arnie. A 2D Arnie from his
hay-day doing films like Commando, Raw Deal, Terminator 2, where he turns up
with a huge amount of firepower and just lays waste to everything in short
order. Standard grunts and enemies with no names drop like flies and die to the
mildest touch while the tougher opponents take a bit of tactical dodging or
exploiting of weakness before being rent asunder in a fiery blaze of glory and
overkill.
The game is not perfect, far from it. In some places and
cases, your choice of weapon and combination may be entirely ineffective
against a boss and you’re left to slowly ping its health down in a slow pattern
that will drive you mad long before you’re half way to killing it. In fact,
dying and then hoping to get better weapons might be the more preferable
alternative to a long drawn out fight.
In some cases the controls can be a little off when
jumping from walls and hanging from ledges, not enough to be a problem but it
can catch you off guard if you’re not expecting the result. Most awkward though
is when you’re caught in a stream of attack that hits and hits and hits for
consecutive damage and just slaughters you when other attacks knock you aside
for just one mild hit. If it’s intentional then it’s quite the dick-move but if
it’s a bug, it’s a rather detrimental one.
Aside from that, there’s really little else I can find
fault within the game. A thoroughly enjoyable run and gun romp with such a
varied source of bosses and enemies that will leave you wanting a few good runs
through the game and trying out various combinations and possibilities.
It certainly won’t be my last Treasure review.
No comments:
Post a Comment