-PC Steam Version-

A solid vertical shoot em up with good graphics for the time, six different planes to use, and eight stages with a bit of randomness on the order you can play the first four in and with what bosses and sub bosses can appear on later stages. Each plane has a unique shot type, bomb types, and as they power up they have different subweapons that you can charge up by holding shoot to activate a different temporary attack mode. Bosses often shift from their first mode into some type of mech for their final form. Playing through the game once begins a second more difficult run. No story other than your final score and completed runs altering an ending look at your pilot either in full uniform with no details known to detailing their name and having them in less clothing until they are topless (and covering themselves except for the one male pilot).

The stages don't do too much of interest with the environments. There are some ground targets and at one point effects of enemy planes coming through the clouds but nothing too interesting apart from good visuals. Enemy bullet patterns are often fair as is there spawn locations but certain attacks can cover such a wide area or come at you so much faster than normal enemy shots that you really have to know the game to be able to avoid what is coming at times, even more so in the slower planes. Enemy types themselves never do anything too interesting but there is just enough variety, though the mechs bosses transform into are never very visual interesting or too distinct from one another in style.

The PC version has the typically expected positive inclusions. You can remap the controls, you can make a button auto shoot when held down (so you still need a normal shot to activate your charge attack), you can choose between seven difficulty modes (though only 4 and up have the additional runs after a completion), you can give yourself nine lives instead of the usual three, and can add more or infinite continues (which become disabled when you access a 2nd or 3rd run in the same playthrough), there is a high score mode, co-op is supported, etc.

Screenshots: https://twitter.com/Legolas_Katarn/status/1787247721482764378

Reviewed on May 05, 2024


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