Under Defeat

[illdog]

Old/New Dreamcast game anyone?

Its a helicoptor shooter. Its not bullet hell. It only has five stages, then repeats the stages by mirroring. Its oddly addictive.

Unlike most shooters these days it doesnt start out with infinite credits, these are earned by playtime. Every hour another continue is rewarded untill you go past 9 credits, then it unlocks free play.

Umm... score wise it seems best to use your 'option', of which there are 3 types, Vulcan (machine gun), Cannon (slow but powerful) and Rocket (not always accurate but pretty much fucks up everything it touches). Enemies killed by the option are worth alot more points. The option can be released by pressing the fire button after a small period of bullet inactivity (measured by a gauge on screen). Obviously whilst charging your option you are left pretty exposed, having to dodge enemy bullets and risking letting the screen fill up with more bad guys.

Ive finished it now but i cant say i ever fell in love with it. The bullets can be a little hard to see and the chopper can be a little clunky but i think it boils down to the fact that ive been spoiled by Futari, ESP and Deathsmiles with their vivid colour schemes and screen after screen of bullets. This is bland in comparison. Not unenjoayable, just ditincly average.

Decent soundtrack though.

[DANGERMAN]

I've got the original version somewhere, and I rented the ps3 version from lovefilm the other week, and pretty much share your thoughts exactly. It's pretty well made, but there's something missing that stops it being as good as Radirgy, Zero Gunner, Espgaluda etc

[spatular]

i can 3rd that motion. had the dreamcast one, played it quite a bit, its not a bad game, but never really got into it, then got rid of it after a month or so (before it was worth loads). got the HD version recently, and only played it briefly before realising why i got rid of the dreamcast version.

[wholehole]

Bucking the trend here but this is one of my favourite shooters. This was one of the first DC shooters I played and the game that really got me into the genre. It may not be bullet hell or very colourful, but it has a certain charm, excellent explosions and a killer soundtrack.

[HandsomeDead]

Bump. I picked this up for App Store money so I've been playing this a bit lately.

I think I like it more than what others have said here. Maybe I don't play enough games like this but I think the tilting mechanic is really fun to use. When you move left or right your helicopter also moves to a 45 degree angle in that direction and if you hold down fire you can lock yourself in that direction. the movement is gradual so you can find really useful angles. I'd say it adds quite a bit to the way you play a schmup. Combine that with the way you use options, which you wait for them to charge and press fire, and you find yourself releasing fire to find an angle, get in a good position, avoiding enemy fire, then unleashing your fiery hell. It's some well thought out fun. I like it a lot.

It might be a sign of the times but I like the game's style, too. It does have the modern warfare look, like a lot of games now, but seeing it in such a ridiculous context is quite refreshing to me now. Maybe a few years back I wouldn't have liked it but I like the idea of a game like this reclaiming the aesthetic a bit.

But I am pretty terrible at it so time to get good, bro.