In the year 2098 mankind had been critically attacked by a military force from Zeograd, a hostile planet in a far off galaxy. Commander Parker Deehan of Special Interception Airforce (SIA) decided to deploy and pilot the F98 Star Soldier fighter craft into the front line of battle against Zeograd. Losing the battle meant the extinction of mankind and the total annihilation of Earth!
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Star Soldier: Vanishing Earth is a very traditional style sci-fi scrolling shooter. While it features some nice 3D graphics, it doesn’t try to utilise 3D in its gameplay or camera usage, it just keeps things simple.
However, keeping things simple works for this genre. You can pick between a few ships that have different weapons – all of which can be upgraded by collecting power-up, which level down if you get destroyed. Everything is fast, smooth and feels polished.
Outside of the main mode – which has some hidden paths to unlock bonus missions – there’s also a couple of timed modes for quick high score challenges. It’s a decent example of its genre.
However, keeping things simple works for this genre. You can pick between a few ships that have different weapons – all of which can be upgraded by collecting power-up, which level down if you get destroyed. Everything is fast, smooth and feels polished.
Outside of the main mode – which has some hidden paths to unlock bonus missions – there’s also a couple of timed modes for quick high score challenges. It’s a decent example of its genre.
Didn't know this game existed until a few days ago when @MagneticBurn reviewed this and instantly caught my attention with the cover art. What hooked me even more is the fact that everyone is praising this as one of the best shooters on the N64.
Having now beaten the game, this is definetly a very good shooter and you owe yourself to play this game if you are into shooters.
The difficulty is just right. The game is very challenging but fair, and not very punishing as you have limited lives, but unlimited continues.
I actually recommend this for people looking to get into the shooter (shmup) genre as this one is a bit less intense than most giving you a dodge button with i-frames, which is something that absolutely makes this game more accessible to newcomers. If you take advantage of that dodge button, you can clear this game, not too easily, but it makes nothing feel unfair.
What I loved most about Star Soldier: Vanishing Earth is the graphics. It has the most charming type of 3D low poly of the generation, something akin to Mega Man legends or Sin and Punishment. It makes blasting things feel way more satisfying and crunchier.
Heard this game was underrated back in the day and now is getting the praise it deserves. Great surprise and I'm glad I played it. Now I'm in the mood to play more shooters.
Having now beaten the game, this is definetly a very good shooter and you owe yourself to play this game if you are into shooters.
The difficulty is just right. The game is very challenging but fair, and not very punishing as you have limited lives, but unlimited continues.
I actually recommend this for people looking to get into the shooter (shmup) genre as this one is a bit less intense than most giving you a dodge button with i-frames, which is something that absolutely makes this game more accessible to newcomers. If you take advantage of that dodge button, you can clear this game, not too easily, but it makes nothing feel unfair.
What I loved most about Star Soldier: Vanishing Earth is the graphics. It has the most charming type of 3D low poly of the generation, something akin to Mega Man legends or Sin and Punishment. It makes blasting things feel way more satisfying and crunchier.
Heard this game was underrated back in the day and now is getting the praise it deserves. Great surprise and I'm glad I played it. Now I'm in the mood to play more shooters.
Dude why did I give this a 1.5 before
This game leaves a weird first impression, has kind of that Thunder Force effect where enemies don't attack much but when they do it has almost no pre-empt and an unforgiving hitbox. Then you get to the bosses and their bullet patterns seem impossible to avoid. But on replaying this I learned 2 crucial things:
1) You have a dodgeroll that reflects everything and can be used anytime
2) This game has DDP chaining and you get OBSCENE amounts of extends
Combining these two makes for a very unconventional shmup, because you're not so much dodging as you are managing the dodgeroll economy and trying to keep a constant stream of damage on-screen. It's an extremely modernist and indie conceit but handled very well because of the freckles of shmup fundamentals underneath and stellar cyberspace resonance.
Clearly, between this, Sin & Punishment, Star Fox 64 and that cancelled Viewpoint sequel, the N64 needed waaaaaay more shmuppin' in its veins.
This game leaves a weird first impression, has kind of that Thunder Force effect where enemies don't attack much but when they do it has almost no pre-empt and an unforgiving hitbox. Then you get to the bosses and their bullet patterns seem impossible to avoid. But on replaying this I learned 2 crucial things:
1) You have a dodgeroll that reflects everything and can be used anytime
2) This game has DDP chaining and you get OBSCENE amounts of extends
Combining these two makes for a very unconventional shmup, because you're not so much dodging as you are managing the dodgeroll economy and trying to keep a constant stream of damage on-screen. It's an extremely modernist and indie conceit but handled very well because of the freckles of shmup fundamentals underneath and stellar cyberspace resonance.
Clearly, between this, Sin & Punishment, Star Fox 64 and that cancelled Viewpoint sequel, the N64 needed waaaaaay more shmuppin' in its veins.
Dark Souls made Shoot 'em up.
it's a fairly laid-back shoot 'em up, there aren't many bullets on the screen. The size of the hitbox seems a bit excessive to me; however, there's the ability to reflect bullets about to hit your ship, with a very short cooldown (approximately 1-2 seconds). Using a controller makes the game very suitable for beginners, and for the more skilled players it becomes a shoot 'em up to relax with.
During boss fights, the quantity of bullets on the screen increases drastically. The third boss annoys me a lot with its tendency to traverse the perimeter of the screen. On the contrary, I enjoyed the other ones; the last boss, Duoss Core Complete, is the one I have a platonic love for.
The three available ships, to choose from at the beginning of the game, differ significantly in firepower, special attack, and speed. They can be interpreted, in my opinion, as an easy, normal, and hard mode. The green one is very slow, and its firepower is kind of on the lower side, making it not a good combination. I would call it the hard mode of the game, but in an annoying way. The blue one is perhaps too powerful, especially because the time window available to reflect incoming bullets is very long. It's effectively an easy mode, thanks to its special attack that can almost immediately eliminate any boss.
During boss fights, the quantity of bullets on the screen increases drastically. The third boss annoys me a lot with its tendency to traverse the perimeter of the screen. On the contrary, I enjoyed the other ones; the last boss, Duoss Core Complete, is the one I have a platonic love for.
The three available ships, to choose from at the beginning of the game, differ significantly in firepower, special attack, and speed. They can be interpreted, in my opinion, as an easy, normal, and hard mode. The green one is very slow, and its firepower is kind of on the lower side, making it not a good combination. I would call it the hard mode of the game, but in an annoying way. The blue one is perhaps too powerful, especially because the time window available to reflect incoming bullets is very long. It's effectively an easy mode, thanks to its special attack that can almost immediately eliminate any boss.
"Sprite" flickering on a N64 game is really hard to justify. If you were stuck in a McDonalds playarea for the rest of your life and only had access to a N64, this shmup would do. It's just kinda hard to tell what's going on with some of the more chaotic patterns. Also, I might just be bad at shmups but I swear the hit detection was bullshit at points.