I play a type of game known as the "shmup" fairly often. Shmup is a shortened term for "Shoot'em Up", and it's an intense genre to enjoy. The staples are usually short game lengths (5 levels is typical), tons of bullets on screen with varying patterns (that a lot of die hards study and perfect dodging patterns for), and some sort of unique mechanic (for instance, changing colors in the game Ikaruga).
Early games that this genre must have gotten their inspiration from include the Gradius series, and the R-Type series. 1942 is also an excellent example of arcade "bullet hell" as it's known. There are dozens of varieties of shmups, but I particularly like the "bullet hell" genre.
At the center of that are a few games. The aforementioned Ikaruga, Perfect Cherry Blossom, Omega 5...I could go on. One of my original loves was the terribly voice acted Castle Shikagami II for the PS2. Now, there's Castle Shikagami III, out for the Wii. I couldn't resist.
Game play: Hate to say it, but it's super standard by most terms for the genre. You pick a character, a shot type, and get right at it. Where the home version stands out is in its options. There's many different difficulties to choose from, a roster of ten characters off the bat, two music tracks to pick from and so on. There's even a mode called "Dramatic Change" where you play with two characters at the same time, switching on the fly between the two. The story even changes based on what combination you use, resulting in branching storylines (Not to say the storylines are deep at all, but it's fun to mix and match). 4/5
Graphics: It's a shmup. Not a lot to expect here. The characters/enemies/environments are all 3D, but the game operates on a 2D plane, resulting in moments where you're unsure if an enemy is on level with you yet. They're nothing to get really excited about, in terms of spectacle. The beauty of the game comes from the bullet pattern variety, especially in boss battles. There are several different kinds of bullets, some destructable some not, and discerning them can be a bit of a chore when you're trying to dodge them all. Then again, this game was not designed to be easy. 2/5
Sound: The voice acting in this game, once again, is pretty abysmal. But that being said, it's a step forwards. The voices aren't all that terrible, and the in-game music is standard fair synthy-dance music, a staple in this style of game. The sound doesn't really float my boat. 1/5
Lasting Appeal: The game has several play modes, a few for two players even that up the amount of onscreen chaos to epic proportions. It's got unlockable options, rewards for dedicated playing. It's not a marathon game. You pick it up for about ten minutes, give it a round or two then switch to a nice long haul. 2/5
Final Word: I love shmups, I'll play them forever. This game was made for people with that love them as well. If you don't like your games weird, EXTREMELY japanese or frustratingly difficult, avoid the game and series alltogether. If you enjoy a challenge, anime, or a quick and fun experience, give it a shot and see what you think. My score is based on it's over all appeal. I've included my personal score as well.
Score: 9/20
MY biased score: 17/20, as far as good shmups go, this one is pretty damn great.
Here is a great site to downlaod some free to play shmups. Check them out!
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