Join the four girls pilots part of a futuristic police unit called the Burning Rabbits. Their duty is to go after bandits, to explore the far corners of the universe and to even venture back in time, whatever the risks, to prosecute the worst criminals. Because humanity is now advanced enough to travel through time, this special police force was created to protect society from these new "time criminals". You have four spaceships, to choose from. Each one balances out the next and usually trades off fire power for maneuverability and speed.
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This game gets talked about a lot, and honestly? I don't get it.
There's so much better shoot 'em ups in the PC Engine catalog, let alone the rest of the systems.
Your ship moves at a snail's pace, the enemy attacks are too fast, and the sound design is absolutely awful. I'd like to say something about the music, but there's a little problem: I can't listen to it over the disgusting sounds my projectiles make.
Level design is also whatever, with the sole exception of level 4, which is also extremely short. There are like two or three memorable boss battles, but everything in this game dies after you drop one or two bombs, so who cares?
The anime girls are cute and all, but c'mon guys, Touhou??? Deathsmiles???
There's so much better shoot 'em ups in the PC Engine catalog, let alone the rest of the systems.
Your ship moves at a snail's pace, the enemy attacks are too fast, and the sound design is absolutely awful. I'd like to say something about the music, but there's a little problem: I can't listen to it over the disgusting sounds my projectiles make.
Level design is also whatever, with the sole exception of level 4, which is also extremely short. There are like two or three memorable boss battles, but everything in this game dies after you drop one or two bombs, so who cares?
The anime girls are cute and all, but c'mon guys, Touhou??? Deathsmiles???
Most of what people know about Ginga Fukei Densetsu Sapphire is its extreme rarity and high price. Ironically, the gameplay is actually one of the most accessible of its genre and is enhanced with some awesome sights and sounds.
Right from the very beginning, Sapphire pushes the limits of PC Engine CD-ROM² with amazingly crisp sprites and stimulating power metal music. Although the time-travel setting doesn’t affect the basic plot too much, it creates great settings and enemies from the combination of spaceships with elements from medieval Europe, classical Japan, and ancient Egypt. No matter how many obstacles and projectiles the game throws at you across the levels, it’s surprisingly manageable. This is mostly a result of how you respawn almost immediately and even get a free power-up after getting hit. In addition, the bomb sub weapon is exceptionally powerful against bosses, has its supply replenished upon death, and offers a few seconds of invincibility when used. Despite all these factors helping you out, it’s still very satisfying to make it through all the levels, even on ‘Easy’ difficulty.
As someone who enjoys flashy shoot ‘em ups but usually isn’t looking for the most extreme challenge, Ginga Fukei Densetsu Sapphire is one of those games that I can play any day. If you manage to get ahold of a copy, it’s absolutely worth experiencing for yourself.
Right from the very beginning, Sapphire pushes the limits of PC Engine CD-ROM² with amazingly crisp sprites and stimulating power metal music. Although the time-travel setting doesn’t affect the basic plot too much, it creates great settings and enemies from the combination of spaceships with elements from medieval Europe, classical Japan, and ancient Egypt. No matter how many obstacles and projectiles the game throws at you across the levels, it’s surprisingly manageable. This is mostly a result of how you respawn almost immediately and even get a free power-up after getting hit. In addition, the bomb sub weapon is exceptionally powerful against bosses, has its supply replenished upon death, and offers a few seconds of invincibility when used. Despite all these factors helping you out, it’s still very satisfying to make it through all the levels, even on ‘Easy’ difficulty.
As someone who enjoys flashy shoot ‘em ups but usually isn’t looking for the most extreme challenge, Ginga Fukei Densetsu Sapphire is one of those games that I can play any day. If you manage to get ahold of a copy, it’s absolutely worth experiencing for yourself.
Back in 2022, I reviewed the Galaxy Fraulein Yuna duology on the PC Engine CD. Despite their issues, they were still very good games that were worth playing. At the end of the review I mentioned there was still one more game and folks this review honestly should have happened months ago. This was one of the first games I wanted to play for the year but just never got to it. So why did I finally get to it? Well the third Yuna game finally got a fan translation on the PS1. Now you may be wondering, why give the series a shmup? Well it actually started out as a third game in the “of Thunder” series but Hudson came in to propose this game be part of the Yuna series even if she isn’t playable in this. So, let’s get this over with, the spinoff of the franchise, the one that people had played not even knowing it was part of a series (or maybe they did know), Ginga Fukei Densetsu Sapphire! I’ll be calling it just Sapphire for the rest of the review.
This is a vertical shmup where you go through 5 stages going through different time periods to put a stop to the bad guys taking advantage of time. There are four girls to choose from and you’ll be sticking with them unless you get a game over. The first is Sapphire who has the 2nd best speed but sacrifices a bit of power for it but she can still be strong at full power. Next is Charlotte, the fastest in the game but is also the weakest so she’s best if you can perfect dodging knowing you’ll be there for a little while on stuff like bosses. Helena is the strongest in the game but has horrible movement speed making her struggle dodging at times. It takes her a whole 3 seconds to go from one side of the screen to the other but that power means she can destroy bigger enemies and bosses crazily fast. Jasmine is the 2nd strongest in the game but still slow so if you don’t like Helena’s slow ass ship then maybe this will suffice.
Now with all that said there’s a lot of other details I didn’t go into like the differences with their weapons and stuff but I don’t want to bore you all week so let’s move on. There are three different weapons to use and they power up if you get the same color of the one you already have collected. The red shot is your typical middle of the road shot as it’s got good utility but never strives in anything that the other two could do. The blue shot is the most powerful but has the least range shot making it good for power but keep in mind the range. The green shot is one that’s great for hitting something diagonal or behind you though it lacks power. Personally I would like it more if more enemies actually came from behind. These abilities go up to 5 levels of power and you lose them if you die so try to be careful. Another thing I should mention are your options which can attack if you don’t fire for a couple of seconds and then shoot to let them home in on enemies and even get more bonus points. You can also drop bombs to nuke the whole screen but they are in limited supply and only some mini bosses drop them unless you die which restocks back to 2 bombs.
About that level design, I’m kind of iffy on it. While it can be pretty fun, something about it feels like it could be better? The settings are pretty good but a lot of it isn’t too game changing and it can be at times hard. You will die a lot on your first playthrough and sometimes I can feel like it’s a little unfair especially on some of the bosses. I can’t even really think about if the game has many gimmicks which for some might please but the only gimmicky thing they brought was stage 4 where you go through a location making many different turns and then have a section where you go really fast with pillars spawning to get you crushed. That all said though, the game can be pretty fun as just a game to go shoot and be excited. Though if you were wanting good length in your game you ain’t getting that here. This game is short and the 5 stages aren’t too long and it seems there was meant to be a stage 6 but never got finished. It’s a shame because while I prefer it to a game that’s not too long, I really think it needed a stage or two to get that perfect length. Still what’s here is fun and for some like me it’s enough but one can’t help it could be better.
The story is also something that’s almost non-existent in this game as you get an intro and ending but that’s about it. Sure there is a tiny bit of dialogue in between stages but if you were someone who loved the Yuna games for the story then you will be severely disappointed. There’s not even a different ending depending who you beat the game with which I understand but I was a little disappointed it’s not even slightly different.
Now I know I’ve been a little negative and I’m going to say it again, the game is fun but I need to say something. I mentioned the speeds of each character and when I first played the game as Sapphire the speed felt nice but playing it as Helena just feels awful at times. Yeah I only played the game twice. I apologize for that. I actually really like Helena’s power, it’s crazy how fast you can beat enemies with her blue weapon but that speed kind of kills some of the fun for me? Has anyone felt that about a shmup where you move too slow? I guess I’ve never really asked people. Also I have to say it was a big missed opportunity to let you switch ships at the end of each stage like come on, Winds of Thunder let you do that why can’t this?
Bosses in this game can be pretty tough with lots of projectiles flying everywhere and special moves that feel almost impossible to dodge on the first playthrough. The minibosses can also pull off a good fight. If you want to know when a mini boss is coming up, you’ll see CAUTION. For a main boss it’s WARNING. They offer some of the more interesting challenges in the game though keep in mind some of their projectiles are breakable. Apparently this changes on hard mode? But I didn’t play that, only sticking on Normal difficulty. I would tell you I got better at them when I did my second playthrough but Helena destroyed them all very quickly so I won’t get to know. Still I do like how the main ones have multiple phases and feel like a good challenge even if it’s very hard at first.
Sapphire is a glorious looking game and something you probably know this game for. It does stuff that no one could have ever imagined being possible for the PC Engine. It even uses pre-rendered sprites. While the game lacks many cutscenes, it makes up for it with the amazing use of colors, big sprites and not even having any notable lag or sprite flicker (unless I just suck at noticing). This is all thanks to the Arcade card needed to play the game. The music is also amazing, some of the best on the system. Just like Gate and Winds of Thunder, it’s filled with amazing rock pieces that will leave you in wonder of just how they could keep making awesome bangers. The sound effects though oddly sound rather bad especially with some of the shots. Another PC Engine CD review where I had to complain about that, weird.
I feel like this game is awesome but flawed at the same time. It makes for an awesome showcase for the presentation but I’d argue it might be part of its detriment? Look, maybe I’m overthinking this stuff but maybe if it wasn’t trying so hard to be graphically impressive, it could have a little more story or maybe more stages? Idk it’s just me theorizing like an idiot but it’s a game that could be better and I won’t lie, I prefer the other Yuna games to this. It is fun but it’s held back by some lackluster level design at times, the speed issues I mentioned and just feeling a bit too much like a “Look at how good my game looks” and going for that as a priority. Many will still get a kick out of this game, it’s good but Gate of Thunder and Winds of Thunder were much better games. Give this game a try but don’t let those graphics or that obnoxious price it goes for now get to your head thinking this will be one of the best games of the generation. Apologies if the review sounded a bit too negative but I guess sometimes I get like that. I can at least now finally say that all three games have been finished and reviewed by me and I’m glad to finally do that. See you for now.
Oh also don't use rewind for this if you're emulating it, games that use the Arcade card will reset you back to the load screen meaning you'll lose all your progress but save states should be fine so don't worry about that.
This is a vertical shmup where you go through 5 stages going through different time periods to put a stop to the bad guys taking advantage of time. There are four girls to choose from and you’ll be sticking with them unless you get a game over. The first is Sapphire who has the 2nd best speed but sacrifices a bit of power for it but she can still be strong at full power. Next is Charlotte, the fastest in the game but is also the weakest so she’s best if you can perfect dodging knowing you’ll be there for a little while on stuff like bosses. Helena is the strongest in the game but has horrible movement speed making her struggle dodging at times. It takes her a whole 3 seconds to go from one side of the screen to the other but that power means she can destroy bigger enemies and bosses crazily fast. Jasmine is the 2nd strongest in the game but still slow so if you don’t like Helena’s slow ass ship then maybe this will suffice.
Now with all that said there’s a lot of other details I didn’t go into like the differences with their weapons and stuff but I don’t want to bore you all week so let’s move on. There are three different weapons to use and they power up if you get the same color of the one you already have collected. The red shot is your typical middle of the road shot as it’s got good utility but never strives in anything that the other two could do. The blue shot is the most powerful but has the least range shot making it good for power but keep in mind the range. The green shot is one that’s great for hitting something diagonal or behind you though it lacks power. Personally I would like it more if more enemies actually came from behind. These abilities go up to 5 levels of power and you lose them if you die so try to be careful. Another thing I should mention are your options which can attack if you don’t fire for a couple of seconds and then shoot to let them home in on enemies and even get more bonus points. You can also drop bombs to nuke the whole screen but they are in limited supply and only some mini bosses drop them unless you die which restocks back to 2 bombs.
About that level design, I’m kind of iffy on it. While it can be pretty fun, something about it feels like it could be better? The settings are pretty good but a lot of it isn’t too game changing and it can be at times hard. You will die a lot on your first playthrough and sometimes I can feel like it’s a little unfair especially on some of the bosses. I can’t even really think about if the game has many gimmicks which for some might please but the only gimmicky thing they brought was stage 4 where you go through a location making many different turns and then have a section where you go really fast with pillars spawning to get you crushed. That all said though, the game can be pretty fun as just a game to go shoot and be excited. Though if you were wanting good length in your game you ain’t getting that here. This game is short and the 5 stages aren’t too long and it seems there was meant to be a stage 6 but never got finished. It’s a shame because while I prefer it to a game that’s not too long, I really think it needed a stage or two to get that perfect length. Still what’s here is fun and for some like me it’s enough but one can’t help it could be better.
The story is also something that’s almost non-existent in this game as you get an intro and ending but that’s about it. Sure there is a tiny bit of dialogue in between stages but if you were someone who loved the Yuna games for the story then you will be severely disappointed. There’s not even a different ending depending who you beat the game with which I understand but I was a little disappointed it’s not even slightly different.
Now I know I’ve been a little negative and I’m going to say it again, the game is fun but I need to say something. I mentioned the speeds of each character and when I first played the game as Sapphire the speed felt nice but playing it as Helena just feels awful at times. Yeah I only played the game twice. I apologize for that. I actually really like Helena’s power, it’s crazy how fast you can beat enemies with her blue weapon but that speed kind of kills some of the fun for me? Has anyone felt that about a shmup where you move too slow? I guess I’ve never really asked people. Also I have to say it was a big missed opportunity to let you switch ships at the end of each stage like come on, Winds of Thunder let you do that why can’t this?
Bosses in this game can be pretty tough with lots of projectiles flying everywhere and special moves that feel almost impossible to dodge on the first playthrough. The minibosses can also pull off a good fight. If you want to know when a mini boss is coming up, you’ll see CAUTION. For a main boss it’s WARNING. They offer some of the more interesting challenges in the game though keep in mind some of their projectiles are breakable. Apparently this changes on hard mode? But I didn’t play that, only sticking on Normal difficulty. I would tell you I got better at them when I did my second playthrough but Helena destroyed them all very quickly so I won’t get to know. Still I do like how the main ones have multiple phases and feel like a good challenge even if it’s very hard at first.
Sapphire is a glorious looking game and something you probably know this game for. It does stuff that no one could have ever imagined being possible for the PC Engine. It even uses pre-rendered sprites. While the game lacks many cutscenes, it makes up for it with the amazing use of colors, big sprites and not even having any notable lag or sprite flicker (unless I just suck at noticing). This is all thanks to the Arcade card needed to play the game. The music is also amazing, some of the best on the system. Just like Gate and Winds of Thunder, it’s filled with amazing rock pieces that will leave you in wonder of just how they could keep making awesome bangers. The sound effects though oddly sound rather bad especially with some of the shots. Another PC Engine CD review where I had to complain about that, weird.
I feel like this game is awesome but flawed at the same time. It makes for an awesome showcase for the presentation but I’d argue it might be part of its detriment? Look, maybe I’m overthinking this stuff but maybe if it wasn’t trying so hard to be graphically impressive, it could have a little more story or maybe more stages? Idk it’s just me theorizing like an idiot but it’s a game that could be better and I won’t lie, I prefer the other Yuna games to this. It is fun but it’s held back by some lackluster level design at times, the speed issues I mentioned and just feeling a bit too much like a “Look at how good my game looks” and going for that as a priority. Many will still get a kick out of this game, it’s good but Gate of Thunder and Winds of Thunder were much better games. Give this game a try but don’t let those graphics or that obnoxious price it goes for now get to your head thinking this will be one of the best games of the generation. Apologies if the review sounded a bit too negative but I guess sometimes I get like that. I can at least now finally say that all three games have been finished and reviewed by me and I’m glad to finally do that. See you for now.
Oh also don't use rewind for this if you're emulating it, games that use the Arcade card will reset you back to the load screen meaning you'll lose all your progress but save states should be fine so don't worry about that.
The presentation in this game is simply amazing. The soundtrack is incredible, instantly resonating with me. the visuals are not only technically impressive but genuinely gorgeous in the way that only facsimiles of low-poly early 3D graphics can be.
The issue is the gameplay. 3/4 of the ships available to you will only smear across your screen like frozen molasses in vain attempts to dodge unreasonably swift bullets, while you're lugging around a gargantuan hitbox. The sprite scaling is off: This is a vertical STG and the screen is just too crowded. There is very little room to react or maneuver. It plays like it wants to be a TATE game, but it sadly isn't and the gameplay just leaves you frustrated, Extremely memorization heavy for the 1CC.
The issue is the gameplay. 3/4 of the ships available to you will only smear across your screen like frozen molasses in vain attempts to dodge unreasonably swift bullets, while you're lugging around a gargantuan hitbox. The sprite scaling is off: This is a vertical STG and the screen is just too crowded. There is very little room to react or maneuver. It plays like it wants to be a TATE game, but it sadly isn't and the gameplay just leaves you frustrated, Extremely memorization heavy for the 1CC.
Peak memo shmup with some great graphical effects and a surprisingly fun scoring system.
Visually impressive shmup that is fun to play but is hampered by the speed of the player ship.