| paleface [sys=PCE; cat=Shooter_Horiz; reg=JPN] |
| | | Not one of Naxat's most memorable titles but a solid shooter nonetheless. Tiny detailed sprites give it an intricate, Gradius-like look, the only problem being that they did not take care to make bullets easy to see against the background: try picking out little brown bullets against a spotted brown background, for instance. The game's tendency to throw swarms of little ships and precipitation effects across the screen at the same time makes picking out the bullets even harder.
The ring weapon system is a little odd--the ring that appears around your ship is essentially superfluous, but based on the color of the powerup you got, you get a different weapon. Yes, yet another color-based multi-weapon system, and of course if you end up with the weapon you want all powered up, you'll have to keep dodging all the other powers that come along.
The levels help keep things interesting. Each world has a distinct look and layout, and each level is something like three screens high, so there's a lot to explore, and alternate routes to take, not to mention the hidden powerups tucked away in corners. The bosses are distinctive in a weird sort of way, although not the toughest guys you've ever met in a game: for instance against one boss I was able to sit in place with my red ring guard options blocking his bubble shots, and just hold fire on his beak until he died. Of course, that was a case of me getting a little lucky with my weapon selection, I suppose. |
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Pretty easy until the fourth boss, who just crowded me out. And what's this, no continues? Hard core. |
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