- Joined
- Dec 20, 2004
- Posts
- 44,938
Well, maybe not IV.
IV still makes me wonder how the hell Tecnosoft managed to pull that off with the Genny's hardware.
But then again, maybe I do think it's better than IV.
Gaiares is lovely, the first 8-meg shooter on any platform, and it's brutal. This is something Thunder Force doesn't have, a simple sense of unforgiving brutality to it. The first two levels are fine introductory courses to the game, but by the third things heat up.
And I guess the reason I'm comparing this to TF is because they feel similar; both have manual speeds, and aesthetically look somewhat similar (aside from Gaiares's screen-filling humanoid bosses). It's a real shame people go on about TFIII and IV when talking about the console's greatest shooters (or games, even), but hardly anyone talks about this gem.
The TOZ system, where you can steal enemies weapons, is another thing no other shooter has done since then. It plays a crucial part in the game, because if you snatch the 'wrong' weapon, you'll have quite a time beating parts of the level with the 'right' weapon designed in mind.
Like, for instance, the fight with the fucking GRIM REAPER in level 3 -- if you don't have the missile weapon to shoot from behind, it's a bitch to take him down.
And guess what I just found out? The developer wasn't Wolf Team, but Telenet itself, yeah, the Valis guys. Sure makes me wish they stuck with this genre, because no matter how charming the Valis games were, in the end they were just an excuse for the cutscenes.
Anyway this is my ode to Gaiares.
Let us all sing the praises of ZZ Badnusty.
IV still makes me wonder how the hell Tecnosoft managed to pull that off with the Genny's hardware.
But then again, maybe I do think it's better than IV.
Gaiares is lovely, the first 8-meg shooter on any platform, and it's brutal. This is something Thunder Force doesn't have, a simple sense of unforgiving brutality to it. The first two levels are fine introductory courses to the game, but by the third things heat up.
And I guess the reason I'm comparing this to TF is because they feel similar; both have manual speeds, and aesthetically look somewhat similar (aside from Gaiares's screen-filling humanoid bosses). It's a real shame people go on about TFIII and IV when talking about the console's greatest shooters (or games, even), but hardly anyone talks about this gem.
The TOZ system, where you can steal enemies weapons, is another thing no other shooter has done since then. It plays a crucial part in the game, because if you snatch the 'wrong' weapon, you'll have quite a time beating parts of the level with the 'right' weapon designed in mind.
Like, for instance, the fight with the fucking GRIM REAPER in level 3 -- if you don't have the missile weapon to shoot from behind, it's a bitch to take him down.
And guess what I just found out? The developer wasn't Wolf Team, but Telenet itself, yeah, the Valis guys. Sure makes me wish they stuck with this genre, because no matter how charming the Valis games were, in the end they were just an excuse for the cutscenes.
Anyway this is my ode to Gaiares.
Let us all sing the praises of ZZ Badnusty.