Oh f*ck this game was such a blast. The pinnacle of top-down shooters from the 90s.
I was more of a Metal Slug guy back in the day but i always felt curious about this one. Also, Shock Troopers was a lot harder to find as an arcade, where i live. I remember as a kid thinking how cool those characters were. Now i think it’s a great example on how japanese’s takes on american culture can get pretty comical. But for sure that’s part of the charm in this game’s art direction.
There’s not much complexity here: Just shoot everything that moves (and also everything that doesn’t, because buildings can also be destroyed). Controls might take a while to get used to, but it’s not really a big deal.
The game allows you to choose a max of 3 characters over 8, all of which have their own special features (different kind of weapon, more or less health or speed, etc). That, alongside the possibility of choosing different paths, give this game A LOT of replayable value.
Only flaws i can point out: first, the bosses. It’s a bit underwhelming that no matter which route you take, you will always fight the same bosses, just with a different colour and in a different order. It would have been a lot more exciting to have different bosses depending on the selected route.
Second, the length. Short games are my go-to, usually, but Shock Troopers just feels like it’s excesively short. And sadly, unlike Metal Slug, there’s only one sequel.
On a side note: one of the characters here looks an awful lot like one of the Midnight Resistance guys.
I was more of a Metal Slug guy back in the day but i always felt curious about this one. Also, Shock Troopers was a lot harder to find as an arcade, where i live. I remember as a kid thinking how cool those characters were. Now i think it’s a great example on how japanese’s takes on american culture can get pretty comical. But for sure that’s part of the charm in this game’s art direction.
There’s not much complexity here: Just shoot everything that moves (and also everything that doesn’t, because buildings can also be destroyed). Controls might take a while to get used to, but it’s not really a big deal.
The game allows you to choose a max of 3 characters over 8, all of which have their own special features (different kind of weapon, more or less health or speed, etc). That, alongside the possibility of choosing different paths, give this game A LOT of replayable value.
Only flaws i can point out: first, the bosses. It’s a bit underwhelming that no matter which route you take, you will always fight the same bosses, just with a different colour and in a different order. It would have been a lot more exciting to have different bosses depending on the selected route.
Second, the length. Short games are my go-to, usually, but Shock Troopers just feels like it’s excesively short. And sadly, unlike Metal Slug, there’s only one sequel.
On a side note: one of the characters here looks an awful lot like one of the Midnight Resistance guys.