I played the arcade version. A really weird game, combining an at times very difficult Xevious-style STG with an incredibly slow Rolling Thunder-like. I don't like to abandon arcade games, especially since they're so short, but I just got insanely bored with this one. I played through a few levels waiting for it to get interesting or even halfway fun, and it never did. The NES version of this game sounds a lot more interesting, since it was developed concurrently with Mega Man 2 and uses some of the same assets.

Welp, it has been a little bit since I took a look in the Arcade Stadium, so I decided to do that once more, and I found Legendary Wings, which when looking at bits of it on YouTube, I thought looked somewhat interesting. Sure, it looked like every other Capcom arcade game at the time, but it does mix gameplay elements together that you wouldn’t typically see mixed together at the time, so I thought that it would be a pretty good time, like with Forgotten Worlds. Instead, however, I found the game to just simply be ok. The ideas that it tries are pretty inventive for the time, and there is some kind of charm to be found with it, but it ends up being too repetitive for me to really consider it any better then just simply being ok.

The story is basically the exact same as every one of Capcom’s arcade games, that being “evil is attacking, go stop it”, except this time the main villain is named Dark, which has got to be the worst name for a villain I have ever heard in my life, the graphics are good, but again, they look like pretty much every other Capcom arcade game of that era, so it doesn’t really stick out when compared with the others, the music is good, and it fits the style and tone that the game is going for, although I doubt you’ll be able to hear it amongst all the loud-ass sound effects for whenever you shoot and kill anything, the control works well enough, giving plenty of movement options in the shmup sections, although I wish you moved faster in the side-scrolling segments, even if they don’t last that long, and the gameplay is what you would expect from arcade games of that era, but with genres mixed together to make a somewhat unique experience for 1986.

The game consists of two different gameplay styles, with you taking control of one of two winged warriors, going through five different areas and plenty of different sections of said areas, defeating any and all enemies that will ambush you and try to take you out, gather plenty of powerups and points along the way to help you out in taking out your foes, and take on several bosses along your way that will test your movements, your reflexes, and how much damage you can deal out at once. It is about what you would expect for an arcade game for the time, and when it comes to the basics, it all works as well as it should, but there are some elements of it that do bother me, which I will get to in a bit. For now though, there is the matter of the two different gameplay styles that the game switches between.

The first of these styles is your typical top-down shooter, where you shoot up plenty of enemies, use a bomb to take out enemies on the ground, and gather plenty of powerups to not only upgrade your shots, but also your speed and your firing rate. Out of the two gameplay segments, I would say that this is my preferred one, as it does feel the fastest and the most solid, but of course, it does come with your typical case of arcade syndrome, or I guess bullet-hell syndrome in this case, where there will be plenty of enemies and/or bullets being shot your way, and you are given very little time to react and dodge.

The second of these gameplay styles would be where the game changes to a side-scrolling shooter/platformer, where you travel from left to right, defeating plenty of enemies with your weapon, even if it was powered up in a previous section, and take on the bosses of the game that will give you plenty of trouble if you aren’t prepared. These sections are also alright, given how you can blaze through them quickly, and there are multiple types of these sections, such as ones where you can get plenty of treasure chests to increase your high score. However, like I mentioned earlier, when you are in these sections and are walking on the ground, you move reeeeeeeeeeeeallly slow, and while the sections themselves don’t last that long, it still does drag the game’s pacing to a screeching halt, which I am not that much of a fan of.

And speaking of not being a fan of, I am not a fan of a lot of the elements this game has, such as its repetitive nature. Despite the environments differing in the shooting sections, all of the level layouts, enemies, and section designs are the exact same throughout the entire game, making things feel extremely repetitive, especially when you have to play through five separate areas in order to beat the game. Even then, when you beat the game, you don’t even get that much of an ending. You just get a single screen of text, and then the game immediately restarts. I mean, I know that it is an arcade game from 1986, but you couldn’t have at least provided some kind of an illustration to go along with the text, or even some more text, like credits or something? It just makes the whole thing feel like even more of a waste of time.

Overall, despite how the game combines gameplay styles that make it feel pretty unique for the time, Legendary Wings ends up being a boring and repetitive slog, one that I did enjoy for a good bit when I did play it, but not a game that I think I will ever go back to in my life. I guess I could recommend it for those who are fans of arcade shooters, or even if you are a fan of Capcom’s arcade titles, but aside from that, you can just skip this one. Besides, it’s not like this game is ever going to get any kind of continuation or remake. It’s only going to get cameos in Capcom crossover games, and even then, that is just pity. PITY, I TELL YOU!

Game #351