7th May 2010, 12:17 AM
NES
--
Abadox -- Such a great game... yeah, I just got it yesterday, but I had beaten it before in emulation (and loved it), so I wanted to play it again. It didn't take as long this time as the first time, because this is a very, very memorization-heavy shmup and I still remembered some of what to do. The game's interesting, with a weird biological graphical theme that is very well done -- it's more consistent and cool than even Life Force I would say, in that. The creepy, very well done graphics really stand out and are a real part of why the game is such a great game. The music isn't quite as great as the graphics, but it's good enough, and somewhat catchy.
The game is extremely difficult, but isn't that long at only six levels (each with two parts, with a miniboss at the middle and a final boss at the end). The only "checkpoint" in each level is after the midboss, so in effect there are 12 stages. Three levels are top-down, and three side-scrolling. Though both are tough, I find the topdown levels harder.
The game has powerups which you get from specific enemies. Powerups are not that common and drop specific powers, so it's not user-selectable like Gradius. You want to try to collect most powerups, because the game is made much, much easier with powerups, and like a Gradius game, if you die, you start from scratch again and it hurts a lot, and makes it much more likely that you'll die a lot more too.
One key factor makes things a lot easier than they otherwise would be: You have infinite continues. Really, this is why I was able to beat it so quickly (or at all perhaps). You don't have to restart the whole thing after a couple of deaths, you can just keep trying until you get it right. This really is a key to why I'd call the game not quite as hard as it sometimes seems to get a reputation for being -- yeah it's hard, but you have infinite continues! You don't need to replay level 2 (level 2-2 is very, very hard if you die in it and have to start from the beginning of 2-2 with just the peashooter) fifty times just because you keep dying in level 5 or 6. With a game with levels this hard, which will kill you so many times until you memorize exactly where you should be at every instant, that is a huge, huge thing.
Oh, the bosses are oddly easy compared to the levels. I don't think I died more than two or three times at most of them. A few are a bit harder, but most have multiple blind spots where you can just stay in one space and fire, and wait until the enemy dies; the others generally only require very simple back and forth movements to beat. Only a few are more complex. I'm not complaining though, because with levels as hard as this game's are, it's nice to have a bit of a break -- and with how when you die at a boss you go all the way back to the beginning of the area (either the beginning of the level or to right after the miniboss, depending on if you'd beaten the first part or not), I don't mind this, really. Having to replay the levels even more times would impact the fun factor, I think. Still, compared to how hard the levels are, it is a bit odd. Eh, whatever, it's fun. The bosses are often huge and pretty impressive, so they certainly do visually impress. They just go down easier than you might think. This is true all the way to the final boss, the last boss has only one form and it's not that much harder than any bosses before. At least the ending is decent, if simple. You rescued the princess and escaped, congratulations. :) (On that note, stage 7, the escape, is a fun one... not hard, but a great touch. These things became common later on, but in 1989 or 1990 when this game came out I don't think this kind of stage had yet reached that point...)
I don't know, I just really like this game... it reminds me of games like Gradius, which I absolutely love, but it's different enough to be its own thing. It's a very good shooter, for anyone who wants a challenge that will really reward you as you learn the game and what do do at each point. Fantastic shooter.
--
Abadox -- Such a great game... yeah, I just got it yesterday, but I had beaten it before in emulation (and loved it), so I wanted to play it again. It didn't take as long this time as the first time, because this is a very, very memorization-heavy shmup and I still remembered some of what to do. The game's interesting, with a weird biological graphical theme that is very well done -- it's more consistent and cool than even Life Force I would say, in that. The creepy, very well done graphics really stand out and are a real part of why the game is such a great game. The music isn't quite as great as the graphics, but it's good enough, and somewhat catchy.
The game is extremely difficult, but isn't that long at only six levels (each with two parts, with a miniboss at the middle and a final boss at the end). The only "checkpoint" in each level is after the midboss, so in effect there are 12 stages. Three levels are top-down, and three side-scrolling. Though both are tough, I find the topdown levels harder.
The game has powerups which you get from specific enemies. Powerups are not that common and drop specific powers, so it's not user-selectable like Gradius. You want to try to collect most powerups, because the game is made much, much easier with powerups, and like a Gradius game, if you die, you start from scratch again and it hurts a lot, and makes it much more likely that you'll die a lot more too.
One key factor makes things a lot easier than they otherwise would be: You have infinite continues. Really, this is why I was able to beat it so quickly (or at all perhaps). You don't have to restart the whole thing after a couple of deaths, you can just keep trying until you get it right. This really is a key to why I'd call the game not quite as hard as it sometimes seems to get a reputation for being -- yeah it's hard, but you have infinite continues! You don't need to replay level 2 (level 2-2 is very, very hard if you die in it and have to start from the beginning of 2-2 with just the peashooter) fifty times just because you keep dying in level 5 or 6. With a game with levels this hard, which will kill you so many times until you memorize exactly where you should be at every instant, that is a huge, huge thing.
Oh, the bosses are oddly easy compared to the levels. I don't think I died more than two or three times at most of them. A few are a bit harder, but most have multiple blind spots where you can just stay in one space and fire, and wait until the enemy dies; the others generally only require very simple back and forth movements to beat. Only a few are more complex. I'm not complaining though, because with levels as hard as this game's are, it's nice to have a bit of a break -- and with how when you die at a boss you go all the way back to the beginning of the area (either the beginning of the level or to right after the miniboss, depending on if you'd beaten the first part or not), I don't mind this, really. Having to replay the levels even more times would impact the fun factor, I think. Still, compared to how hard the levels are, it is a bit odd. Eh, whatever, it's fun. The bosses are often huge and pretty impressive, so they certainly do visually impress. They just go down easier than you might think. This is true all the way to the final boss, the last boss has only one form and it's not that much harder than any bosses before. At least the ending is decent, if simple. You rescued the princess and escaped, congratulations. :) (On that note, stage 7, the escape, is a fun one... not hard, but a great touch. These things became common later on, but in 1989 or 1990 when this game came out I don't think this kind of stage had yet reached that point...)
I don't know, I just really like this game... it reminds me of games like Gradius, which I absolutely love, but it's different enough to be its own thing. It's a very good shooter, for anyone who wants a challenge that will really reward you as you learn the game and what do do at each point. Fantastic shooter.
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