Someone really watched a Sean Connery prestige film and was like "Do you know what the boomers watching this truly need? An arcadey Nintendo shmup that takes advantage of the latest toy gimmick gun!"
And, make no mistake, it's a very fun and unique game, but I can't help but feel its audience may have been... kneecapped a bit by the movie being adapted into something where you fight a giant cartoon squid in a sexy mode 7 level https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1048770623805079633/1116608022110797824/Hunt_for_Red_October_The_USA_-_Snes9x_1.60_2023-06-09_01-46-33.mp4
The graphics are pretty alright on SNES. It does the usual technique of making the water backgrounds very wavy and disorienting, much like say Super Bomberman 3. The enemy sprites aren't the most memorable but I suppose it fits. The sprite scaling in the lightgun segments is pretty nice as well, reminded me that this is one of the only 10 or so games to take advantage of the Super Scope and even now I wonder what potential the device could have fulfilled if more people were interested in it.
Red October isn't your typical shmup, AT ALL. There's a massive health bar, which already makes it more fun than at least 90% of arcade shmups by default. While most "space shmups" and the like are very fast-paced, Red October is slow and meticulous, and I mean that in the nicest possible way. It emulates the feel of a slow deep dive into the ocean and being assaulted by unknowns. Thankfully, the player has a huge arsenal to work with. There is a weapon for each face button, and they hit just about every pattern imaginable. The player can either strafe with their shots or make hard turns, and if the player is moving up or down the bullets carry momentum which is super helpful for the penultimate boss.
Also I have to give mentions to the special weapons. The EMP disables all enemy projectiles for a while, which I suppose is realistic but utterly breaks most of the boss fights lol. I prefer the camo personally; Red October features stealth gimmicks that are actually pretty integral to surviving the experience, as some enemies are nigh-undodgable otherwise. Stealth elements in non-stealth games tend to be very tacked on, so I was pleasantly surprised by this to say the least.
And I have to give special mention to the soundtrack. It's all classical shit you've heard a million times, but it still never gets old hearing Ode to Joy in 16-bit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8t45dOIFx0
Main flaws with the game? It's not the most fitting adaptation, it's very easy to 1cc to the point it should take ~2 hours max, and the cutscenes are uninteresting. But frankly, this sort of unique experience is the kind of shit I live for. Again, it's a meticulous underwater shmup with 5 different weapons, stealth mechanics that are fleshed out, and chiptune classical music for the OST. There's nothing quite like it and I would rec at least one playthrough for any hardcore shmup fans.
And, make no mistake, it's a very fun and unique game, but I can't help but feel its audience may have been... kneecapped a bit by the movie being adapted into something where you fight a giant cartoon squid in a sexy mode 7 level https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1048770623805079633/1116608022110797824/Hunt_for_Red_October_The_USA_-_Snes9x_1.60_2023-06-09_01-46-33.mp4
The graphics are pretty alright on SNES. It does the usual technique of making the water backgrounds very wavy and disorienting, much like say Super Bomberman 3. The enemy sprites aren't the most memorable but I suppose it fits. The sprite scaling in the lightgun segments is pretty nice as well, reminded me that this is one of the only 10 or so games to take advantage of the Super Scope and even now I wonder what potential the device could have fulfilled if more people were interested in it.
Red October isn't your typical shmup, AT ALL. There's a massive health bar, which already makes it more fun than at least 90% of arcade shmups by default. While most "space shmups" and the like are very fast-paced, Red October is slow and meticulous, and I mean that in the nicest possible way. It emulates the feel of a slow deep dive into the ocean and being assaulted by unknowns. Thankfully, the player has a huge arsenal to work with. There is a weapon for each face button, and they hit just about every pattern imaginable. The player can either strafe with their shots or make hard turns, and if the player is moving up or down the bullets carry momentum which is super helpful for the penultimate boss.
Also I have to give mentions to the special weapons. The EMP disables all enemy projectiles for a while, which I suppose is realistic but utterly breaks most of the boss fights lol. I prefer the camo personally; Red October features stealth gimmicks that are actually pretty integral to surviving the experience, as some enemies are nigh-undodgable otherwise. Stealth elements in non-stealth games tend to be very tacked on, so I was pleasantly surprised by this to say the least.
And I have to give special mention to the soundtrack. It's all classical shit you've heard a million times, but it still never gets old hearing Ode to Joy in 16-bit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8t45dOIFx0
Main flaws with the game? It's not the most fitting adaptation, it's very easy to 1cc to the point it should take ~2 hours max, and the cutscenes are uninteresting. But frankly, this sort of unique experience is the kind of shit I live for. Again, it's a meticulous underwater shmup with 5 different weapons, stealth mechanics that are fleshed out, and chiptune classical music for the OST. There's nothing quite like it and I would rec at least one playthrough for any hardcore shmup fans.