Recent reviews by TheCoopX

This collection of Nintendo DS games is very nice way to cap off the handheld entries of the series (following the GBA collection, and the one before that which featured earlier console and handheld games for the NES, Genesis, Game Boy, etc.). The emulation is solid, and the way they incorporated the DS games' stylus mechanics works well. As for the games themselves, all three of them are enjoyable to play through. The metroidvania aspects give each game a good length in terms of duration, but they also don't overstay their welcome. While there is a good bit of backtracking to find needed items or better weapons to progress, it's not obnoxiously drawn out to the point of overkill.

Each game offers something a bit different to the well-worn genre that Symphony of the Night brought to the series in terms of abilities for the characters, powerups, and the level layouts. The music is great, the visuals are fantastic, the gameplay is filled with various weapons, armor and spells to play with. And when you factor in that the revamped Haunted Castle arcade game (and the arcade game itself) are included in the package, you've got a lot to enjoy in this collection. Plus, there's an art gallery, a music section to listen to the OSTs, and multiple versions of each game (US version, Japanese version, etc.). Like the previous two packages, this is a nicely done, well packed collection.

Definitely recommended.

This game was only ported to one Japan-only system that wasn't exactly a household name back in the day. So seeing it show up here on Steam was long overdue. Like Bit Wave's other ports, this game is a solid port that started life a bit rough. The gameplay was like the arcade, as were the visuals, but the audio was... not good. The music felt harsh and unbalanced volume-wise, but the patch as of April 18, 2024 has made the audio much better. The music is far closer to the arcade now, fixing the main area this port needed work on.

The game itself is typical Toaplan quality. Great visuals for the time, catchy music, solid controls and a tough challenge. The stages are longer than the typical shmup, taking 5-7 minutes to get through them. Along the way, you'll have enemies that get more aggressive as the game progresses, and they'll come at you from all sides at times. You've got a bomb to drop to clear the screen of weaker enemies and bullets, and there are three weapons to choose from and powerup. The bosses offer up a good challenge, and they're able to be picked apart, which leads to variations of their attacks as you destroy those areas. And to top it all off, the longer you stay alive without losing a ship, the harder the game will get (gradually, more bullets are fired from everything, and those bullets move faster).

As for the extras, what you got in the other 15 Toaplan ports by Bit Wave, is what you get here. A rewind feature, a sound test for the music and SFX, a save feature, difficulty select, region select, various pixel aspect ratios, screen rotation, windowed/fullscreen modes, assistance features (like rapid fire speeds, hitbox visibility, health options, etc.)... there's a lot to play with. And like the other 15 Toaplan shmups that Bit Wave ported, having ways to make the game easier if you're new to Toaplan's brand of shmups, is something that's welcome.

In the end, if you like quality shmups that offer a good challenge, get this game (and the other 15 in the Bit Wave set). It was made by one of the masters of the craft back in the day, and it's now been ported well to Steam.

The company behind this game seemingly came out of nowhere, and gave us a new FromSoftware game, without any involvement from FromSoftware. The gameplay, the visuals, the enemy designs, the levels, the difficulty balance, the boss fights... they're all quality stuff. NEOWIZ obviously did their homework on this genre, and shows in basically every aspect of this game. And how Lies of P didn't get more nominations from the various game awards programs out there is beyond me.

If you're a Soul-like fan, get this game. It'll scratch that Souls itch very nicely.

This is one of those games that keeps showing you new things, just as you thought you'd seen everything there was to see. The world is big, with lots of area to go exploring as you make your way through. New enemies get uncovered, a new boss shows up out of nowhere, a new cave gets found long a cliff face... it just keeps going. But that exploration is only part of the fun. The fighting is where the game will hook you. Copious amounts of weapons and spells are at your disposal, and enemies of all shapes and sizes await you seemingly around every corner of the world map. From the smallest dragonfly-like bug that attacks you by darting past, to the dragons and giants that do their best to stomp on you as if you were a bug to them, the world is filled to the brim with creatures out to end your life. And finding the best way to deal with them using the build you've created, is blast.

The visuals are nice. Not groundbreaking, but nice (a solid step up from Dark Souls 3). The character designs are as wild and creative as ever from From Software. The music is very good, the controls are spot on, and thanks to patches (not the character, actual game patches), the balance between melee and magic has gotten better. It still feels like the game really pushes you to be a magic user, with so many spells that can make short work of enemies, but the melee weapons feel more impactful than they did when the game first launched. And of course, the multiplayer aspects of the game (duels, helping other players and invading them) are all what you'd expect with a From Software game over the last decade.

Is it perfect? No. It seems oddly demanding in the PC specs area, and the hitboxes can be a bit wonky (a From Software staple). You can also find yourself unsure of where to go at times, and there is the occasional crash to desktop once in a while. But even with these small issues, there's a reason this game is in contention for the Game Of The Year award. It takes a lot of what From Software has learned from their Soulsbourne games, and brings it all into a much more open world. A world where you can explore to your heart's content, and get back to the story when you feel like it. A world that wants you dead, but gives you all you need to stay alive. A world that's not Dark Souls IV as some have called it, and it's not Bloodbourne II... as much as some want it to be. Instead, it's a world that's a mishmash of ideas from those games, mixed in with some new ones, all put to tale of a Tarnished trying to become Elden Lord of the sprawling Lands Between. And in the end, what it also is, is a game that deserves the praise it gets.

-= The Good =-

Colorful, nice graphics
Good OST
Lots of aspects to level up
Multiple difficulties for each stage
Cinemas (that can be skipped)
Get to keep earned GP if you die during a stage
10 Stages
Unlockable extras
Multiple play modes


-= The Bad =-

A lot of grinding to level up as the game progresses
Leveling up takes a while to be really noticeable and effective
Unkillable enemies
Off-screen shots
Occasionally, the controls stop working in the direction you're pressing


-= The Details =-

The visuals in the game have a somewhat cartoonish and “hand-drawn” pixel style, and feature nice traits like solid shading, small details on everything, good animation and little touches like fire coming off of your ship when you're low on health. The sprites are colorful, adding to the cartoony nature of the art style, and feature a variety of enemies (space ships, ground walkers, structures, etc.)... though some enemies do show up on basically every stage. The backgrounds are even more colorful, with little details and small touches (like casting shadows), as well as some parallax scrolling to give them depth. There's good diversity with the backgrounds, going from hyperspace, to a fiery or icy planet, a moon-like asteroid, and more. So between the enemies, characters and stages, the game as a whole comes off looking good overall.

The audio in the game is handled well. The music isn't a fist pumping metal-thon of driving battle music, but rather a more popish affair with some cleaner guitars and retro touches in some of its synth instrumentation choices. The melodies are nice and in some ways soothing as you battle your way through the stages. The sound effects do their job well, making those familiar Genesis/SNES-type of explosions, laser fire, and whatnot, with nothing being too loud or offensive to the ears. There's also some decent voice work at times, but it's only a few lines here and there. So, like the graphics, the sound is solid.

With the gameplay, besides the usual “move about and blast anything that's not you” gameplay, there are objectives to complete in each stage. Save a hatchling dragon, destroy all space debris, collect artifacts, don't destroy certain objects... they add up to having to keep a watchful eye out for things so that you can get 100% on a given stage. You'll come across some areas that harm you if you're over it too long, so you'll need to keep watch on where you can go to let your ship cool/warm so you don't take damage. There's also the aspect that allows you to keep what GP you'd earn up to that point if you die on a stage, allowing you to come away with at least something toward leveling up your stats. And rest assured, there is a lot to level up.

Armor, main guns, lasers, bombs, shields, slow-mo, chances of getting a special assist... these and more are on your list of things to upgrade, and each of them can be upgraded a lot. Roughly 40 times each. These traits will slowly make it easier for you to get through the levels as your stats improve by allowing you to do more damage, take less damage, gain more special weapons and so forth. Then, there's the fact that you can occasionally find hidden items called Star Carts that give you one of 36 permanent stat boosts in the form of increased gold earned at the end of a level (or when you die), more special weapon uses for you and your helper, and many others. You'll also find alien squids that drop plasma for your special weapons so you can use them, and some special glowing enemies that drop a powerup that cycles through extra health, faster firing rate, speed up and extra GP. Oh, and speaking of the helper, you can have one of several co-pilots fighting along side you, each with their own weaponry or special trait. Like you, they too can be damaged and eventually knocked out of the sky, but you don't loose them for good.

Lastly, there's the difficulty. Each stage has four difficulties to choose from. Rookie, Ace, Veteran and Master. You start on Rookie, and have to get 100% of the mission objectives to unlock Ace. This step must be repeated to unlock the rest of the higher difficulties, giving you plenty to work on to try and get all 16 stars for each of the 10 levels in the game. And should you get tired of the main game, there's also two other game modes in the form of Boss Rush (where you fight all the bosses you've encountered) and Survival (where you see how long you can last against endless streams of increasingly harder enemies).

So what's wrong with the game? Well, there are a few things that drag it down a bit. Perhaps the first, and most glaring issue, is how much grinding you'll need to do. As you level up each aspect of your ship, the price to do so again increases. This means more trips through stages you've already cleared to get more GP to spend. Later on, it can take more than one trip through a stage to get enough to level up something just once, and this leads to a lot of redoing stages. This can get tiresome after a while, especially when the increase of power/armor is almost imperceptible at times. Yes, even when you do level up, the effect isn't really that noticeable. You'll do a little more damage or something along those lines, but it isn't until you're leveled up several times that you'll see a real difference in terms of your weapons looking more powerful and killing things more quickly. These two things can make the game drag on, making the touted “10+ hours of gameplay in story mode” feel more than a little padded thanks to that grind.

Another pair of issues, and ones that are a pet peeve of mine, are here. First, the unkillable enemies. There are certain enemies throughout each stage that are different looking. They're usually dark red and look like they have small worms writhing about on them. These can't be killed. At all. Which means they just keep firing at you and moving about the screen. This grows tiresome, as enemies like these have always felt like an artificial difficulty booster, even back in classics like Gradius and such when you had to avoid a large enemy for a set amount of time. I could see making the devs making these different enemies tougher to kill, but impossible? That just doesn't sit well with me... especially since they can fire at you from off-screen. Yes, whether they're about to enter the screen or they've exited from it, enemies can still shoot at you while they're not on-screen. This second pet peeve of mine just feels cheap when you're dodging bullets from enemies that aren't there and can't be hit. Some people don't have an issue with these things, but for me, they're not the best traits to have in a shmup.

Lastly, I kept having an odd issue where my ship would just... stop moving. It didn't happen often, but it's as if I'd let go of the D-pad, despite continuing to hold it down. I thought at first it might have been my controller, but this is the only game it's happened in. As such, I think it might have been a missed bug.

So what can we say about Hyper Echelon? Outside of the grindiness and enemies than don't ever die, it's certainly a good game. The visuals and audio are done well, the extra bits that add some rogue-ish traits to it work fine, and there's certainly plenty to do. The hit detection seems good, and you even get some (skippable) cinemas between levels where your characters converse and build both the game's plot and the character personalities. And while the control issue was a pest that reared it's ugly head once in a while, it's mostly the grinding that brings the game down a notch or two. Fewer steps between notable weapon/armor levels so that you could see (and experience) the increased power more quickly would alleviate that problem, since you wouldn't need to grind as much. But overall, this shmup is a solid, albeit drawn out entry to the genre that's enjoyable while it's with you, but comes a bit too close to overstaying its welcome.

Score- 7.4/10

-=The Good=-

8 classic Castlevania games with U.S. and Japanese versions to choose from
First U.S. release of NES Kid Dracula
Solid emulation 95% of the time
1 save state for each game
Lots of info to read in the bonus "book"
6 screen options for each game
Remappable controls


-=The Bad=-

SNES game has an odd crackling problem with its music
The Japanese version of Castlevania III has an audio balance problem
Kid Dracula is censored in both the U.S. and Japanese versions


-=The Details=-

The Castlevania games have a long history of quality. Even the ones considered to be the worst ones in the franchise still have a fan base, as each entry offers up something that will appeal to various players. And while there have been some minor compilations in the past on various systems, this is the largest one to date for the series.

Offering up 8 games from the NES, GameBoy, SNES and Genesis, this compilation spans much of the franchise's early platforming style before the Metroidvania design became the norm. While I could go into each game on its own, their varying quality is widely known by now. That's not to say any of them are bad, but some like Castlevania III and Castlevania Bloodlines stand tall above the likes of the more sluggish playing Castlevania Adventure. So instead, let's look at the emulation quality.

After an early-on patch, the emulation is very good with no stuttering, frame skipping or screen tearing. The NES games look and sound as they should (some of the music in the first game had a high-pitched beep at first, but that's been fixed), the GameBoy games are of the same quality and even the Genesis game comes off looking and sounding very much like the original Genesis game (not always the case with Genesis emulation). However, the SNES game Super Castlevania IV has an issue. While the graphics look faithful, the sound has a problem that has yet to be addressed by M2 (the company behind this release). The music begins to crackle after it's been playing for a short time. It's not constant, but it does show up with annoying regularity as you play. Some potential fixes have been proposed (namely, adjusting the bit rate of your computer's audio output), but that didn't work for me and others. So until M2 release another patch to fix it, expect it to be there.

The compilation offers up all sorts of things to adjust. You have six screen options, ranging from pixel perfect aspect ratio or stretched full screen, to scan lines and even dot matrix visuals for the GameBoy games (which looks quite cool). You can now map the controls thanks to the aforementioned first patch, and of course, each game has a save state for those who can't play the games in one sitting (or those who have a really hard time with the games). It would have been nice to have multiple save states for each game, but honestly, one is enough to get the job done. And that they're included at all is nice, though it should be noted that both the U.S. and Japanese versions of each game share the same save state, so keep that in mind.

Speaking of that patch, it also saw the inclusion of the Japanese versions for 7 of the 8 games (still no Japanese version of Castlevania II, probably due to it being on Nintendo's Famicom disk system). It let's you see the differences between the regional versions, and in the case of Castlevania III, you get to hear the improved music thanks to the special chip the Famicom version used in each cart. But, that's where we run into a problem. There's an odd balance issue with the Japanese version of Castlevania III. When you pick up a heart, it's SFX is played more loudly than it should be, while the whipping SFX is strangely quiet. Like the SNES game audio issue, it's not game breaking, but it is annoying.

And now we come to final bit for this compilation; Kid Dracula. It was never released in the U.S. for the NES, so it's making its first appearance in this compilation. It's not the bast game you'll ever play, though. The graphics are alright even though they don't push the NES to new heights, and there are some upbeat, happy versions of past NES Castlevania music. But the game itself just didn't really grab me. It felt like a generic platformer, with levels that were sparsely populated enemy-wise that resulted in the levels feeling a bit dull. The bosses were about the same, leaving the game feeling very middle of the road in terms of quality, execution and gameplay. Oh, and as a final note, the ghost boss in the U.S. version has been censored to remove the swastika from its forehead, which is understandable given that the ghost looks a little like a KKK member instead of a more “traditional” ghost. But it was also removed from the Japanese version, which kind of defeated the purpose of having the U.S. and Japanese versions present so you can see the differences and how they were censored for the U.S.

So what can be said for this compilation? While it was pretty good at release, the patch that was done by M2 fixed NES audio bug for the first Castlevania game, while adding in most of the Japanese versions of the games. This gave a fair bit of extra value to the package. Sure, it's still not perfect, as there are some remaining audio issues for a couple of the games. But the overall package is done well with a nice selection of games to play through, and a neat “book” to sift through and read up on aspects of the games featured in this compilation. With any luck, we'll see a second compilation that will include the rest of the pre-Metroidvania games not found here (like Castlevania: Dracula X, Castlevania Legends, Castlevania: Rondo of Blood, etc.). But in the meantime, if you'd like some classic Castlevania goodness, whip out your wallet, sink your teeth in, and drink deeply from the franchise's roots. I think you'll enjoy the flavor it offers.

Score- 8.4 / 10

-=The Good=-

Nice-sounding battle music
Upgraded visuals over Genesis version
Good control and hit detection
An extra sub-boss near the end
Detailed spritework
Cool Steampunk setting
Extra parallax scrolling added to some backgrounds


-=The Bad=-
Noticeable artifacts in movies
Lots of typos
Odd mix of sprites and non-sprite effects
Strange sprite outline issues
Some stuttering at times


-=The Details=-

Steel Empire was a game originally released on the SEGA Genesis back in 1992, when the influx of shmups for the system was dying down. It made a name for itself by being a well made game with a Steampunk setting that differed from a lot of the other shmups coming out at the time, along with a somewhat movie-like presentation. In time, the game was ported to the GameBoy Advance in 2004 and the DS in 2014. And this game is more or less a port of the DS version.

The visuals in the game are rather nice. When compared to the original Genesis version, you can see extra color was added to give the sprites and background more detail and shading. None of the design details were lost though, so the Steampunk vibe still comes through well with all of the extra colors added. From the little tanks and balloon-powered popcorn enemies, to the big armored train and massive zeppelin air fortress, they all look rather good. There are little animation touches on these ships as well. Spinning propellers, rotating guns and such, all giving the sprites a bit of life as they move about and try to kill you. You'll also see extra touches like glows around lights in dark areas, and how your shots cast light over the sprites where you hit them (somewhat similar to what zdoom does to the original Doom sprites). The diverse and impressive backgrounds of the original game are here as well, with updated details and parallax scrolling that, at times, conveys a crazy amount of depth. Whether you're flying above the clouds or along an elevated city rail as you battle an armored train, the boost in color makes the backgrounds look prettier in this updated version. Some aren't as dark or dramatic looking (like how Level 3's original late-sunset clouds and dark sky are now much brighter), but they still look good. So overall, the game does a pretty solid job on updating the look of the original Genesis version.

The music and sound have also been updated. New, more realistic instruments play the familiar tunes of old, with songs that range from World War II-like marches, to the occasional moody track. All of them are fitting with the idea of flying headlong into battle and add energy to the action happening on-screen with their often rousing compositions. The sound effects, while not a stand out trait, do their job well. Explosions, gun fire, item pickups... they sound fine and don't grate on your nerves.

The gameplay here is pure shmup. Move around the screen and shoot anything that isn't you. You get seven stages to fly through, facing many types of small and medium sized ships, with the expected boss at the end of the stages. The stages themselves scroll not just horizontally, but vertically as well as you dive through clouds, head down into underground bases and climb up a mountain. You'll find powerups that are dropped by certain enemies, which come in the form of money, an “O,” a “P” and a “B.” The money is self explanatory and gives you points. The “O” gives you a pair of small planes (options) that fly above and below you for some extra firepower, while the “B” gives you an extra mega-bomb to use against bosses or to clear the screen of smaller enemies. The “P” gives you a single powerup token, of which you'll need three to bring your guns up to the next level... and there are a lot of levels to your guns (around 20 if I recall). It's a shame that you can't pick up different weapons like you can in many other shmups, but thankfully, what weapons you do have continue to get better throughout most of the game. And the fact that you can fire left or right at any time is a very handy feature to use when getting at the enemies that will come at you from all sides.

A welcome option in this game is that there are two ships to choose from. One is a small plane that's fast, sprays small bombs below it and doesn't have as much armor. The other, is a larger zeppelin that's slow, tough and lobs small bombs out in front of it. They can't be sped up, but both can be leveled up the same amount. Neither feels unusable against the enemies, so which one you choose will depend on your personal preference in ship traits. Lastly, scoring is pretty simple here. Shoot enemies and you get points. The number of bombs you have left gives you extra points at the end of the level, as does how much health you have left and how many dollar items you picked up. And that's about it for the gameplay. Straightforward, but it's executed well.

So what's wrong with the game? A few things, really. Nothing that utterly breaks the game, but things that should have been fixed before release. With the movies that play, you'll find some pretty noticeable artifacts at times, which screams lowered bitrate quality. From the movies, we go to the thin outline around some sprites and background objects that crops up when you're in both fullscreen and windowed mode. The best way I can describe it, is imagine if someone took a large clean sprite image, dropped it into Photoshop and then gave it a very thin, gray-colored stroke around its edges. It's not on everything (though it's close on Level 1), but it's there enough on some sprites and background layers throughout the game to be noticeable. And speaking of sprites, there are aspects of the game's visuals that look mismatched (usually with aspects of the backgrounds or the effects). Soft clouds, soft smoke, soft explosions... things that look clearly different artistically from the harder-edged sprites of the ships and foreground art on some stages. This differing appearance creates a kind of strange mix of visual assets that don't always blend together well.

Getting away from the visuals, there are lots of typos and various oddly worded sentences that really should have been caught over the two years it took to get this game released. As an example, the enemy is either the Morterhead Empire, the Motorohead Empire, or the Motorhead Empire. Those three variants come from the first two movies in the game, which means either someone didn't spell check this very well, or Lemmy and his crew are possibly invading. And with sentences like, "Many fear that this world be the destrugtion of mankind,” there's a real need for someone to go back through the game's text. And finally, the game does stutter at times. It could be slowdown, but it looks more like the game is using frameskipping periodically, resulting in choppier looking movement for short bursts before smoothing out again.

So what can we say about the PC port of Steel Empire? Well, I suppose I should answer the main question. Is it worth buying? In the end, I'd say yes, it is. For $10 (it's current sale price), it's a fun game with good visuals and music, solid controls and hit detection, oldschool gameplay, and a setting that all comes together to create an interesting game that's enjoyable to play through. Yes, it has problems thanks to some stuttering, visual oddities with the sprites (Alpha channel issues? Uneven upscaling?) and a rough translation, but the core game is still there... even if it does feel a bit easier than the Genesis original. So if you like oldschool shmups, you'll likely get your money's worth here. It's still Steel Empire, but with a fresh coat of paint and a few extra dings in its steel hide that weren't there originally.

Score- 7.5 out of 10

Full disclosure: I was a beta tester for both Ghost Blade and Ghost Blade HD, but my opinion isn't tempered or influenced by that fact.

-=The Good=-

Nice graphics
Two soundtracks to choose from
Score Attack mode
Three difficulty settings
Sharp controls and hit detection
Good diversity with the scoring system
Three different ship types to choose from
Lots of gameplay and visual settings to play with in the options menu


-=The Bad=-

Kind of short
Uninspired enemy ship attack patterns
Some iffy boss bullet patterns
Disappointing ending(s)


-=The Details=-

In 2015, the Dreamcast got Ghost Blade; a fan-made vertical shmup that was created by a small team of developers. Upon release, it saw a pretty wide range of reviews. Some enjoyed it, but others found a number of problems with the game. Those problems ranged from gameplay issues such as it being too easy, to technical problems such as numerous frame rate stutters and unresolved bugs. But at its core, was a game that showed promise. It had nice graphics and music, but it needed more time in the proverbial oven. That's where Ghost Blade HD comes in.

Visually, Ghost Blade HD is a nice looking game. The CGI used to create the backgrounds and ships allow for plentiful details on all of the sprites in the game; from the biggest boss, to the smallest bit of shrapnel. The shading gives everything a nice 3-dimensional feel, while smooth levels of animation are featured throughout. You'll find some parallax scrolling as well, giving the pretty backgrounds a bit more visual depth. Explosions kick out debris, the bomb sets off a huge fiery explosion, the ships are colorful without going overboard, the sprite designs are nice... the game has the visuals taken care of.

With the sound, like the graphics, things are handled well. Explosions have a nice little thump to them, the rapid-fire shots use sound effects that don't get in the way or grow annoying, and the bonus item pick up sounds are also not grating. They all do their job and don't get on your nerves by being too loud or unpleasant. With the music, you've got not one, but two different sound tracks. The first OST is the same one that was in the original release on the Dreamcast, featuring generally quicker-tempoed electronica beats and nice-sounding synths to help get you in the mood to shoot and dodge. The second OST is a new one made for this release. The songs are the same in composition, but they've all been remixed to give them a whole new feel and atmosphere thanks to the new synths being used and some tempo changes. Heck, at times, the second OST sounds like something that would fit right in with the soundtracks of Raiden III or Raiden IV (and that's a good thing). Either way, the tunes are good stuff, regardless of which OST you choose to listen to as you play.

The gameplay is a solid mix of scoring techniques and traditional shmup conventions. You have a primary and secondary weapon that can't be changed, but they can be powered up several times. These consist of bullets that fire from both your ship itself and the pods you get as you powerup, as well as missiles that add to your destructive capabilities. You can focus the shot into a narrower beam ala Cave mechanics, slowing your ship down (which helps to make more careful movements) and giving your shots more punch. The powerups are gained from destroying red carrier ships, and even if you end up dying, you still get to keep your powerup level as long as you collect your weapon icons (which is easy, since they get sucked to you upon respawning). There are airborne and ground-based medals to pick up for points by shooting enemies with the normal shot, but there are also bonus medals to be earned by getting in close to bigger ships and point-blanking them (killing them while you're right up against them). You have bombs to clear the screen of weak enemies along with the numerous bullets that are fired both randomly and in screen-filling patterns, and you earn these bombs by killing enemies while using your focused beam.

Yes, this game gives you a choice. You can either kill everything with the normal shot and get more points medals, or you can focus your shot and earn orbs that fill up the bomb meter and earn yourself extra bombs. This adds an interesting little twist to things that forces you to balance your playing between upping your score and getting that handy bomb for those moments when you're overwhelmed. And staying alive is important, as everything you collect is tallied up at the end of the level, along with how many bombs and lives you have left. So if you want to get a big score to put up on the Steam leaderboards (which this game supports), you'll need keep yourself in one piece and get your collection counters high. To survive all of this, you get three ships to choose from. Each one has a different style of weapon (wide shot, narrow shot and in-between), different movement speeds and different focused shot power levels. Add in the difficulty selections that change how hard the game gets by throwing more bullets at you on Normal and Hard, or by letting you have an auto-bomb feature when you're hit on Easy, and you've got a well-rounded game. You even get a Score Attack mode that consists of bits and pieces from all of the stages, combined into one longer, bullet-filled stage.

So... what does this game do wrong? Well, it doesn't have any major glaring problems, but it does have some smaller ones that still stand out. For one, it's not the longest shmup you'll ever play. Once you get the hang of things, it can be beaten in about 20 minutes. Not stupidly short, but it will go by pretty quickly. Another issue is that the enemies don't really have a wide range of attack patterns as they come on the screen. Most of them just appear at the top and drift down to the bottom. They're plentiful and fill the screen with aimed and patterned bullets, but it would have been nice to see more in the way of ships coming in and out of the play area from all sides. Next, there's some of the boss bullet patterns that feel a bit too randomized to be filling so much of the screen. As examples, the final boss' seemingly random puking of pink bullets (mixed with the green lasers and blue bullets) makes it feel more like you have to get a lucky spray, rather than figure out a pattern. Stage 4's boss shares this issue as well on Normal/Hard. Lastly, the endings. This is more of a pet peeve thing, but I like good endings. Ones you can sit and watch for a minute or two with some story text, some images or animations... stuff like that. Even shmups should have an ending like that, as it's part of the payoff at the journey's end. But Ghost Blade HD has what basically amounts to a “congratulations!” single screen and then BOOM!... credits. That's disappointing to me.

In the end, what can be said about Ghost Blade HD? It's a solid shmup, that's what. The visuals, the music, the gameplay, the controls, a solid framerate, a good challenge level, solid hit detection... the quality is there. It may not set the world on fire with originality or fresh gameplay mechanics, but what it does, it does well. There are also lots of options to play with; from setting the screen mode (TATE or portrait) and practicing levels, to changing the volume levels of the music/sound effects and making the backgrounds darker. Sure, there are a few little things here and there that could have been better, but none of them really break the game or make it unplayable at any point. So for those who played the original version on the Dreamcast, this game is a big step up on all fronts. It's what the original release should have been, and it's nice to see the game was finally given the time it really needed to come into its own.

Score- 8.1

-=The Good=-

A throwback to the simpler days of the FPS genre
Interesting concept of werewolf Nazis
Decent character sprite designs
A couple of nice tunes


-=The Bad=-

Odd control setup
No key remapping
Too easy
Sluggish mouse movement
No map function
No difficulty selection
Art is inconsistent quality-wise
Rather short for the genre
Most levels could have been better designed
Some strange looking animations
Save system could have been more informative
Nazi werewolves concept not well utilized


-=The Details=-

Back in the 1990s, the First Person Shooter genre was in its infancy. We had classics like Wolfstein 3D, Doom, Duke Nukem 3D and others that took us through violent worlds through the eyes of a protagonist. Since then, things have advanced a lot in terms of visuals, gameplay mechanics and so forth, but there's still a charm to some of those earlier games. And Castle Werewolf 3D tries to play off of those charms.

Using an engine that closely mirrors the one for Wolfenstein 3D, the visuals are simplified with no floor or ceiling graphics. Only walls make up the environment, which consist of a lot of bricks that are dotted with the occasional emblem, wooden wall, door, locker row and such to break it up at times on each level. They look alright, but mostly just get the job done without much in the way of flair or inspired design. The enemy sprites themselves however, show more creativity than the wall types. While the human characters are generally cartoonish-looking German soldiers (save for the medieval armor-wearing soldiers that carry miniguns), the werewolves are more interesting in their appearance. Ranging from chest armor-wearing grunts to more mechanized super soldiers, they offer up the largest bit of creativity in the game. Sure, the animations for all of these sprites walking and attacking are pretty basic, but the era this game's mimicking was that way as well. So no real problem there.

The sound effects in the game are pretty straightforward. The different guns make solid sounds that fit pretty well for each one, the werewolves growl and howl, the human soldiers make short comments in German when they're triggered by seeing you, and your guy gives an “u-huh” when picking something up (sounds like he's clearing his throat, really). It all works without coming off poorly. The midi-like music that plays isn't too bad, but most of it (save for a track or two) has melodies that won't stick with you. Thankfully, none of the music is horrid or anything. So while it won't get you humming most of the tracks, they don't become annoying or grating either.

The gameplay in Castle Werewolf 3D is pretty much what you found in Wolfenstein 3D. Walk around each map, grab ammo and health, shoot enemies, pick up treasures and find the occasional hidden section behind a wall. Your weapons range from an armored fist for punching, to several guns such as a pistol, two shotgun types, a machine gun and a minigun. You'll be using these weapons through 13 levels filled with human grunts, officers and armored soldiers, as well as several werewolf enemy types. The end result is a game that will feel very familiar to those who grew up with the genre's early entries, but one that also doesn't offer up much in the way of surprises.

So what does this game do wrong? Well, a fair number of things really. First off, the controls are rather cumbersome to use. W/A/S/D is for moving/strafing, but the left and right arrows allow you to turn in place. The up and down arrows can only be used for menu selection (you can't use W/S), while the mouse is what you use to fire and turn as you walk around. Oh, and the Space bar is for opening doors and checking walls for hidden passages. None of these keys can be remapped, which leaves you trying to come to grips with a setup that never feels natural or comfortable. Even the mouse doesn't feel right, as it moves too slow with no way to increase its sensitivity. And while I can't speak for all controllers, I know a wired 360 controller doesn't work with this game. So if you want to use it, you'll have to rely on a key-mapping program.

But the problems don't end there. The game is rather easy, with most of its difficulty coming from having to use the odd control setup. Also making the game feel too easy, is that most enemies are quick to die, even with the basic pistol. They can be readily outrun as well, with only the werwolves' up-close attack doing real damage. Heck, the game doesn't offer a noticeable challenge until the final map, where it gangs up on you by throwing everything it has at you on a straightforward, but good-sized map. Another issue is that the maps aren't very large or maze-like, so getting to the exit can be done pretty quickly for most of them. There are even a few maps that can be finished extremely quickly because they're so short. And though none of these maps are overly large, I still have to say that the lack of a mapping feature is missed. It's been a staple of the genre for decades and leaving it out feels like a lazy omission.

Other issues come in smaller, but numerous ways. The art style used for the title screen and between-levels isn't very appealing, with characters that are oddly drawn and shaded that end up looking like something done quickly in MS Paint. Next, the saving feature always displays everything as “file 1” to “file 4,” so you'll have to remember which one you saved to last due to the game giving you no clues as to what's on each save file. Then there's the issue of not having a difficulty selection, which means once you play through the game, there's nothing to go to that'll add a greater challenge. From there, we have levels that are pretty basic, with only a couple of them really feeling like they got more complicated in their layout toward the end of the game. Yet another problem is that the game isn't very long for a FPS entry, lasting only about an hour and a half. Next on the list is how some of the sprite animations are... odd. The werewolves don't look like they walk, but rather just kind of... well, tilt. You can see more animation if you look closely, but the jumpy slant simply looks strange and becomes the main thing you see. And lastly, the whole concept of werewolf Nazis is really underutilized. It's an idea that could have given the game its own identity with the settings, weapons, story, and all of that. Instead, all that's done with the concept is having three werewolf enemy types. Nothing else in the game reflects the idea, which just kills the novelty of it all.

So what can be said of Castle Werewolf 3D? It wears its inspiration right on its sleeve, and that means you know what you're getting. There is creativity in spots with this game via the music and the hulking werewolves, and really, the whole thing does function. It runs pretty smoothly, I encountered no crashes, key presses work... all of that. But when you look at the total package, it just doesn't really offer up enough to raise it above what could be considered someone's beginner Wolfenstein 3D hack. The levels, the weapons, half of the enemies... they feel less like an homage to the old days and more like sprite edits mixed together with some original work. It's one thing to mimic a given game's look and technical capabilities/limitations, but there still has to be personality given to what's created in that vain. It has to have its own identity. And sadly, despite the interesting idea of Nazi werewolves, this game does little to distinguish itself from its id-made inspiration. So while it may not be a bad game per se, it's not one I can't recommend due to it being all howl and no bite.

Score- 4.3

-=The Good=-

Clean, Minecraft-ish visuals
Interesting Premise
Some nice music


-=The Bad=-

Poorly timed “puzzles” later in the game
Annoying physics issues
Questionable hit detection
Disinterested-sounding narration
Poorly recorded voice overs
Game overstays its welcome


-=The Details=-

The Last Photon is a game that strives to deliver the story of a man's final moments via the last photon to pass through his mind. It's an idea that carries a good bit of creativity, while keeping its overall scope simple and focused. And like that idea, the visuals are simple in their presentation; blocky scenes with lighting effects and backgrounds that are minimalist with light rays and subtle objects moving about. It's a minimalist design, but it works well and is done cleanly. The music that plays in the background mirrors the game's visual design, with only a few instruments playing out some nice melodies. The controls themselves are just as simple as well. You have an always-bouncing ball of light that you can control by moving it either left or right. That's it. And it's with these minimal controls that you have to work your way through 50 levels of increasingly complex rooms.

These rooms are filled with all manner of floating platforms. Some are level and have a bench or a lamppost, while others are angled and feature trees and flowers. These platforms also can contain any number of traps and insta-death items like flamethrowers, stationary green fire that comes and goes, hovering stars that can be motionless or moving in a pattern, as well as spinning blades and spikes that slide up and down. You'll have to avoid these hazards to reach the blue portal that will take you to the next level. To do that, you have to move your photon and bounce your way through, paying close attention to your momentum.

The photon slides through the air, with both starting and stopping momentum. This momentum also affects how high you bounce, as movement takes away some of the height. As such, there will be plenty of times when you'll have to stop in a safe stop and let your photon bounce higher to get over a barely jumpable obstacle. And this is where some of the game's problems begin.

Besides making it harder to make more precise movements, the momentum is also not consistent. By this I mean you can be sitting in place and see that your photon bounces at different heights, seemingly at random. These variations can make it literally impossible to get over obstacles later in the game if one of those lower bounces randomly pops up and leads to very unfair deaths over and over, when you should have made it through that spot just fine. Then there's how the photon reacts upon hitting the edge of the platforms. One time you're sent soaring high into the air (and I mean HIGH), while another time sees you barely bounce at all or just stop and drop straight down. It's this lack of consistency that can get rather annoying when precision is needed. But the physics/momentum isn't the only thing that makes this game less than it could be.

You'll find yourself being killed by an object that didn't touch you, or by somehow not reacting to the end of the platform you clearly landed on. This doesn't happen constantly, but it does happen enough to become a frustration factor. To see visible space between your photon and the spike, yet that spike still killed you, isn't good. But what becomes a much bigger frustration factor, is the timing everything has in the game.

Spikes, spinning blades, the various fire types, your photon... all of it moves in individual patterns; some faster, some slower. The problem is, that there are far too many times when the patterns line up in a way that changes the game from a crafty puzzle game, to a dull waiting game. And at times, a long waiting game at that. While not much of an issue early on, the later levels have many traps scattered around. The timing of each individual trap often leads to you sitting or bouncing in place for increasingly tedious stretches, waiting for the trap and your unsteady bouncing height to allow you to move forward.

The final three points to be made against the game come first with the voice over. This game places the majority of its story telling in the text and voice over at the start of each level. The problem is, the narrator doesn't put much emotion into their reading. And when coupled with the repeated microphone issues that pick up the sharp breathes from various consonants, it just sucks any potential emotional build up out of the game. Next are the oversimplified controls. I understand the simplicity of their current design, but with the physics, momentum and timing all working against you, not having any way to affect your bounce so you don't constantly line up poorly timing-wise gets tiresome. Even a tiny boost/subduing by pressing up/down so you can adjust the timing of your bounce with everything would have been a great addition. And lastly, the game really does go on too long. 50 levels doesn't seem bad at the game's start, as the levels go by pretty quickly. But as the levels get more complex and the game's various issues start showing up more and more, it's hard not to feel like the game is getting drawn out.

In the end, what can we say about The Last Photon? It's a game that has a story to tell and wants to use puzzle solving as a way to reveal the story. You can see the potential within it, but there are problems that cause the game to repeatedly stumble. Physics and hit detection problems, less than stellar voice over work, later puzzles that don't quite work due to the timing of their individual parts, dragging on a bit too long... the game simply doesn't clear some of the hurdles put before it. It's a creative idea to be sure and some of its elements are nice, but its faults are too many to elevate the game to one that I'd recommend. With some fixes and updates, it could be. But as it is, I can't tell others to buy it because after 46 levels, The Last Photon got on my last nerve.

Score- 4.5 / 10