ShootEmUp

Review – Scoregasm (PC)

Charlie’s Games | 10.07.2011

Hey look, another indie game pretty twin stick shooter full of neon lights and fast paced action. Scoregasm was included in the Indie Royale Difficult Bundle a few weeks ago, notable because it allowed gamers to get the game for Steam before it’s been officially released for Steam. The game still isn’t available on Steam, nor does it have a store page yet.

It’s still available elsewhere, just not on Steam. It’s made by the same guy who made Bullet Candy.

The gameplay is pretty straight forward, fly your ship around and shoot in different directions destroying hordes of enemies. It’s similar to Beat Hazard or Geometry Wars, or even, Asteroids. You do have the limitation of your movements being trapped within a small confined area. The game’s main draw is it’s progression system. The more enemies you shoot in a row without dying, the larger the combo you build up. Depending on the size of your combo you will unlock different stages to move on to. The fun part is, you can choose which stage to go to next. Each one is labeled by it’s difficulty so if you’re wanting to try something easier for a bit, you can pick the Easier stage, if you suddenly have a desire to challenge yourself, you can slip into a much more difficult stage, assuming you managed to unlock the higher difficulty.

This does lead to the game’s only real flaw, if you break your combo at all, there is a good chance you won’t unlock anything. The goals tend to be high enough that when your combo breaks and drops to zero, there probably aren’t even going to be enough enemies to make the stage goal combo. The stages are quick though so replaying them isn’t too hard.

It’s a good game all around, and certainly a fun game of it’s genre. The progression system is definitely pretty unique which helps make the game more enjoyable. It’s still probably mostly a game for bullet hell fans, which is a bit of a niche genre.

Scoregasm is available on the Scoregasm Website.

Review – King’s Knight (NES)

Mar 18th, 2002

by Ramen Junkie.

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1989 Squaresoft | 1 Player

Graphics 6/10
So so graphics. They are OK, but this is for NES standards. It is a Square game, and
they tend to have pretty good graphics for their games when they are released, and this
is one of their first games so it’s pretty early. Some of the monsters are easy to tell
what they are supposed to be but others seem like random blobs.

Sound 3/10
I don’t remember anything that really stands out in this game and being an early NES game
this area isn’t too great. Nothing spectacular or too memorable like some of Square’s
later games.

Gameplay 6/10
Kind of fun and interesting gameplay. Thing “really slow overhead shooter”. The screen
scrolls along and you walk along up the screen shooting enemies and blowing away trees and
such. All the characters have ranged weapons and there are four characters. I don’t have
the instructions so I’m not sure what everything does. You get four lives, and when one
character dies you come back as a different one on a different level. I’m not sure about
how these characters intertwine or anything, I really wish I had some instructions for this
game.

Overall 5/10
Nothing great, about the only reason really to get this (and the reason i got it) is if
you are a Squaresoft completionist. It’s probably one of the harder to find Square games
since it’s such an early one. I found mine used at Babbages (where I’ve bought my last
several games).

Tip: I can’t think of anything really. The up arrows heal you, the down arrows hurt you,
I had to figure this out since I didn’t have a book.

Review – Zero Wing (Genesis)

Sep 16th, 2001

by Ramen Junkie.

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      It should be being to be well known that I are an fan of the dying game genre
sometimes being called “Shooters”.
    No, I do not mean First Person Shooter, though those be generally pretty well
good as also, I refer myself to side scrolling or upwards scrolling space fighter
games where there is being the general point is to see how much large of a score can
rack up. The best console type examples of this type of console game are including
Life Force, Macross: Scrambled Valkyrie, and Bangaio (there be many others, these
be just example, don not flame me for not mentioning what is YOUR personal favorite).
      Anyway, Zero Wing are just being that type of game. The humans be under attack
by aliens or under attack by whomever and it are YOUR job to be fly alone through
swarms of aliens for chance to kill their leader’s time. At least this game is sort
of being to manage to explaining why you is alone fighting aliens, it happens to be
that your Throat Sea Urchin. explodes at the beginning of the game and you is just
barely managing to be able to escape. So you go are going off on to a personal
vendetta on to avenge your crewmates. At least it are being a bit more of an
exposition than Life Force is being to have, which is consist of no into story and
simply thrusts you directly into combat.
      It is unfortunately lack of a having story is Life Force belonging only
disadvantage to this title (NOTE: Life Force is essentially the Shooter version
of Contra in every way). Being on the more than negative side, Zero Wing has is
having decent music. Well at least the one track I got to hear is going to be
being decent. After trying for like one half time of hour to be trying to kill
the first boss I having been gave up on trying to be want to finish this game,
shame too, since you are being to getting unlimited continues (always a plus)
and I are think there is being only 4 levels to this game with only four levels.
    On with the bad parts to get on with. For started time, the game is having
been made painful difficult by there having slow speeds of the ship. Considering
this was being have been on the same console that giving us Sonic 2, I don not
wanting to believe that processor energy had been had to be anything to have to
be do with it. I am suppose it may could be that I was been trying to play this
game through means of using a keyboard, but still being, repetition should have
come to be me good enough to be able to at least be able to finish the first
boss. Also there is being much much overuse of “burst fire” is happening when
the enemy is fires at you in an burst usually during being in this game’s
belonging to case in an 8 direction star burst. This is not been too difficult
to be in itself to have to dodge but every time there be will also also be an
straight shot approaching to you ship right at you right during the spot you
have to need to be to avoid the burst shot. This could have been somewhat
remedied by providing freely the ship more speed. More speed is happening it
are easier to be able to move dodge out of the way. Life Force occurred slow
ships too but at least you were being able to get upgrades to being able to
fix that.
      Oh yes, upgrades. While being that upgrades are not having been necessary
essential to having a shooter type console game, it is helpful to been having
some decent ones when you are having them. The one that is seems to being the
easiest one to acquire is being to be the helper drone upgrade. This is been a
nice warping as usually the helper drone upgrade are the hardest to acquire.
Next we are having lasers, which are pretty much suck in during been ALL
shooter/action game since they is required to be have uselessly slow YOUR fire
speed due to the extra power. Also they are being have to BASEically required
to be follow the path of the gun barrel is which is makes them to be hard to
be aim while you are trying to be dodging. What should you ARE to be doing?
Continuing to be stick around during the path that BELONG of that bullet so
the laser will be a hit or do are you have to being TO dodge out of the laser
of it’s path? The last upgrade occurring to be a bit USeful and is being a sort
of guided missile weapon while it have a pretty high rate of fire, the missiles
are seem to been making a pretty half assed trial to actually be hitting their
targets.
      So unless you are starved for a shooter to play, go find something else.
There are quite few very good ones on The Underdogs. (NOTE: We No longer support
the Underdogs.org due to their excessive pop up advertising.) Just don’t bother
with this pile of shit.