Well, Two Thrones does dial that back a little bit. It's Warrior Within that's the most egregious offender.
That lift fight was definitely rough. That being said, I think that's one where you have some sort of ridiculous hyper mode you can go into towards the end to polish off the rest of the enemies.
Games Beaten 2017
Re: Games Beaten 2017
The two GBA Fire Emblem games were great fun. But after that, I honestly feel like I'm done with this series. The formula sounds like, it is what it is. Two entries was a fun romp but that's all I think I need. I don't mean this in a bad way. But I feel like I've just checked it off the list and have many other options I'd rather get to. The novelty originally was that it was cool seeing Nintendo take on a more serious kind of series (not sure about thesedays), but yeah... I don't think they really stack up compared to other SRPG's I enjoyed more. Even Shining Force was more fun to me.
I don't need anymore Fire Emblem in my life. Maybe I'll play the phone one someday though.
I don't need anymore Fire Emblem in my life. Maybe I'll play the phone one someday though.
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ElkinFencer10
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- Joined: Fri Aug 13, 2010 8:34 pm
- Location: Elkin, North Carolina
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Re: Games Beaten 2017
Games Beaten in 2017 So Far - 55
* denotes a replay
January (10 Games Beaten)
February (12 Games Beaten)
March (6 Games Beaten)
April (9 Games Beaten)
May (14 Games Beaten)
June (4 Games Beaten)
55. The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II - Vita - June 20
This game is too god damn long. Like, don't get me wrong, it was a great game, but it definitely wore out its welcome well before it ended. I found myself screaming at my Vita "JUST END. STOP. STOP HAVING MORE GAME. JUST BE OVER." Some folks may say "Just stop playing if you're tired of the game." Some folks have clearly never met me. It took 64 hours to finish this game. Granted, some of that was wandering around trying to find a quest person, some of that was grinding, some of that was getting lost, but still. 64 hours. That's a long ass game.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II is the second part in the Trails of Cold Steel trilogy which is itself a sequel to the Trails in the Sky trilogy. Having not played Trails in the Sky yet because I'm an idiot and didn't realize they were a thing, I'm not entirely sure how Trails of Cold Steel fits into that timeline, but the folks at Falcom do excel at world-building and establishing lore, so that trilogy is definitely on my "games to play at some point in relatively near future hopefully maybe if I'm lucky" list. Anyway, the game picks up almost exactly where Trails of Cold Steel left off. Well, where it left off from Rean's perspective; a month has actually passed, but Rean's been in a coma for that month, so it's kind of a moot point.
In terms of visuals and gameplay, everything is almost exactly like the first Trails of Cold Steel. It really is a "the same but more" sequel, and that's not really a bad thing. "The same" is fantastic; I just wish they had used a little bit less of the "and more" part. Whereas in the first game your chapters were divided up into different field study locations, this game has four main parts and a short part - "Act I," the fairly short "Intermission," "Act II," "Finale," and "We at Falcom Clearly Have No Idea What the Word 'Finale' Means." Okay, so I made up the last title, but seriously, there's an extra 10 hours of shit after the end of "Finale." Despite the difficulties with words and the excessive length, however, the game honestly is quite good, and while the character development wasn't quite as engaging as the first game since the characters have already been established, the actual plot itself feels much more substantial. The majority of the first game had a very "slice of life" feel up until the end in a lot of ways, but this one starts off in the middle of a civil war, so there's a major conflict that the end of the first game gets you invested in.
One change that was made since previous game that I did appreciate despite being a relatively minor thing is the ability about halfway through the game to use the horse or orbal bike on pretty much any highway in the game. That made traveling around a LOT faster, especially when you were backtracking for side quests. Now to balance that with a change I didn't like so much is that it had you do a fair bit of backtracking. "Go to these towns." A short while later, "Go to those towns again." A bit after that, "Go back to those towns and find the nearby shrine." "Guess where you need to again? Those towns!" Yeah, you were doing different shit, but whereas the first game had you spend a decent chunk of time in different towns, you finished that town and were done. You spend less time each visit, but they have you visiting the same places repeatedly. You probably end up spending about the same amount of time in each town as you did in the first game, but because of the way they went about structuring it, it feels a lot more repetitive than it needs to.
I know I've spent more time here focusing on things that irked me than things that I liked about the game, but The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II really is an exceptional JRPG and an extremely competent sequel. I don't think it quite surpasses its predecessor, and the pacing could have used some work, but the gameplay itself is a blast, dungeons are fun to explore, and the combat system is fantastic. Truthfully, my only major complaint is the length. It's not that 50-70 hours (depending on how much time you spend on side stuff) is too long for a game, but the game's pacing has to keep me engaged and interested for that time, and some manage it. Unfortunately, this one lost me at about the 40 hour mark. If they'd condensed a few things, left about a few things that really didn't need to be there and served no purpose except maybe setting up for the third game but in a way that won't make sense until you play that game, or just kept the pacing a bit smoother and more even, the length would have been fine. Even despite that, though, it's a worthwhile game, and if you've played the first Trails of Cold Steel, you're not going to be able to resist the need to play this one with how the first game ended. Trails of Cold Steel II is a good game and one that I'd recommend, but allow yourself to take breaks to keep from burning out like I did.
* denotes a replay
January (10 Games Beaten)
This game is too god damn long. Like, don't get me wrong, it was a great game, but it definitely wore out its welcome well before it ended. I found myself screaming at my Vita "JUST END. STOP. STOP HAVING MORE GAME. JUST BE OVER." Some folks may say "Just stop playing if you're tired of the game." Some folks have clearly never met me. It took 64 hours to finish this game. Granted, some of that was wandering around trying to find a quest person, some of that was grinding, some of that was getting lost, but still. 64 hours. That's a long ass game.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II is the second part in the Trails of Cold Steel trilogy which is itself a sequel to the Trails in the Sky trilogy. Having not played Trails in the Sky yet because I'm an idiot and didn't realize they were a thing, I'm not entirely sure how Trails of Cold Steel fits into that timeline, but the folks at Falcom do excel at world-building and establishing lore, so that trilogy is definitely on my "games to play at some point in relatively near future hopefully maybe if I'm lucky" list. Anyway, the game picks up almost exactly where Trails of Cold Steel left off. Well, where it left off from Rean's perspective; a month has actually passed, but Rean's been in a coma for that month, so it's kind of a moot point.
In terms of visuals and gameplay, everything is almost exactly like the first Trails of Cold Steel. It really is a "the same but more" sequel, and that's not really a bad thing. "The same" is fantastic; I just wish they had used a little bit less of the "and more" part. Whereas in the first game your chapters were divided up into different field study locations, this game has four main parts and a short part - "Act I," the fairly short "Intermission," "Act II," "Finale," and "We at Falcom Clearly Have No Idea What the Word 'Finale' Means." Okay, so I made up the last title, but seriously, there's an extra 10 hours of shit after the end of "Finale." Despite the difficulties with words and the excessive length, however, the game honestly is quite good, and while the character development wasn't quite as engaging as the first game since the characters have already been established, the actual plot itself feels much more substantial. The majority of the first game had a very "slice of life" feel up until the end in a lot of ways, but this one starts off in the middle of a civil war, so there's a major conflict that the end of the first game gets you invested in.
One change that was made since previous game that I did appreciate despite being a relatively minor thing is the ability about halfway through the game to use the horse or orbal bike on pretty much any highway in the game. That made traveling around a LOT faster, especially when you were backtracking for side quests. Now to balance that with a change I didn't like so much is that it had you do a fair bit of backtracking. "Go to these towns." A short while later, "Go to those towns again." A bit after that, "Go back to those towns and find the nearby shrine." "Guess where you need to again? Those towns!" Yeah, you were doing different shit, but whereas the first game had you spend a decent chunk of time in different towns, you finished that town and were done. You spend less time each visit, but they have you visiting the same places repeatedly. You probably end up spending about the same amount of time in each town as you did in the first game, but because of the way they went about structuring it, it feels a lot more repetitive than it needs to.
I know I've spent more time here focusing on things that irked me than things that I liked about the game, but The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II really is an exceptional JRPG and an extremely competent sequel. I don't think it quite surpasses its predecessor, and the pacing could have used some work, but the gameplay itself is a blast, dungeons are fun to explore, and the combat system is fantastic. Truthfully, my only major complaint is the length. It's not that 50-70 hours (depending on how much time you spend on side stuff) is too long for a game, but the game's pacing has to keep me engaged and interested for that time, and some manage it. Unfortunately, this one lost me at about the 40 hour mark. If they'd condensed a few things, left about a few things that really didn't need to be there and served no purpose except maybe setting up for the third game but in a way that won't make sense until you play that game, or just kept the pacing a bit smoother and more even, the length would have been fine. Even despite that, though, it's a worthwhile game, and if you've played the first Trails of Cold Steel, you're not going to be able to resist the need to play this one with how the first game ended. Trails of Cold Steel II is a good game and one that I'd recommend, but allow yourself to take breaks to keep from burning out like I did.
Patron Saint of Bitch Mode
Re: Games Beaten 2017
I've been interested in these games. What would you compare the battle system to? Are these better than Tales? I get in weird moods for super anime styled games sometimes and they seem comparable art direction wise.
Just how good and serious are the stories? It's hard to tell at a glance. But I've seen people throw around Suikoden in reviews for these...
I have Trials in the Sky 1 on Steam and have been eyeballing the first Cold Steel for PS3.
Just how good and serious are the stories? It's hard to tell at a glance. But I've seen people throw around Suikoden in reviews for these...
I have Trials in the Sky 1 on Steam and have been eyeballing the first Cold Steel for PS3.
Re: Games Beaten 2017
Trails in the Sky 1 is a fairly serious story with some less than serious moments in it. For most of it the plot is you going on your first real journey as hired troubleshooters, so it's lighter fair. But the stuff that goes wrong is still serious, like a missing airship. It's sort of like the first arc of Bleach, where there are real problems but they aren't afraid to relieve tension now and again. Once you hit the penultimate chapter the more sinister plot that was on the edges of what you were doing starts to show itself.
Blizzard Entertainment Software Developer - All comments and views are my own and not representative of the company.
Re: Games Beaten 2017
In broad strokes, the Cold Steel games are about politics, war, and the social fallout of a rigid class system.
There's more to it than that of course, with plenty of personal drama, a bit of silliness and anime tropes that come and go.
The first game takes a bit to warm up in this regard, but don't be fooled, give it time. The main characters are teenagers being taught and you will learn as they do.
It's worth noting that all of the Trails games, including two psp titles that remain Japan only for now (Zero no Kiseki and Ao no Kiseki) are all telling parts of a much grander story. Not only do they hint at each other, but characters cross over, and significant events in one game may only be witnessed from afar in another without much explanation (as the characters themselves don't know what's happening). Zero and Ao and Cold Steel 1 & 2 do this a lot, as the games take place at roughly the same time in neighboring countries.
It should also be said that this story isn't complete yet and probably won't be even after Cold Steel 3 comes out. Falcom is playing a long game with this.
There's more to it than that of course, with plenty of personal drama, a bit of silliness and anime tropes that come and go.
The first game takes a bit to warm up in this regard, but don't be fooled, give it time. The main characters are teenagers being taught and you will learn as they do.
It's worth noting that all of the Trails games, including two psp titles that remain Japan only for now (Zero no Kiseki and Ao no Kiseki) are all telling parts of a much grander story. Not only do they hint at each other, but characters cross over, and significant events in one game may only be witnessed from afar in another without much explanation (as the characters themselves don't know what's happening). Zero and Ao and Cold Steel 1 & 2 do this a lot, as the games take place at roughly the same time in neighboring countries.
It should also be said that this story isn't complete yet and probably won't be even after Cold Steel 3 comes out. Falcom is playing a long game with this.
GameSack wrote:That's right, only Sega had the skill to make a proper Nintendo game.
Re: Games Beaten 2017
Maybe the scale is where the Suikoden comparisons come in. I like that. Big stories spread throughout a huge detailed world.
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ElkinFencer10
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Re: Games Beaten 2017
The overall story is very serious, though there are, of course, moments of cuteness and silliness. I'd DEFINITELY recommend it. The general gameplay style that I think would be the closest comparison is the Re;Birth games of the Hyperdimension Neptunia series, although the Tales games isn't a bad comparison either.
Patron Saint of Bitch Mode
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ElkinFencer10
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Re: Games Beaten 2017
Games Beaten in 2017 So Far - 56
* denotes a replay
January (10 Games Beaten)
February (12 Games Beaten)
March (6 Games Beaten)
April (9 Games Beaten)
May (14 Games Beaten)
June (5 Games Beaten)
56. Medal of Honor: Allied Assault - PC - June 22*
Sit down, children. I'm going to tell you a story. This is the story of the greatest World War II shooter ever made and the middle school aged Mr. Deck who play the bejeezus out of it. I recently found the War Chest for Allied Assault - it includes the base game as well as both expansions - for like $2 on GOG's summer sale. Remember the fondness I had for this game as a child, I decided that couldn't just NOT buy it. Holeeeeeey crap, playing through this was like returning to my glorious childhood without today's adult concerns like bills, taxes, and the always looming specter of a nuclear holocaust at the hands of an orange psychopath.
Allied Assault is broken up into six missions, each one taking about an hour to complete and being broken into roughly four parts. You start in North Africa and proceed to fight in Norway, Normandy, Brittany, and start the Allied push into western Germany. The game centers around Lt. Mike Powell (odd for me since I used to go to church with a guy who had that name) and his exploits with the OSS. The gameplay shows its age, but I don't mean that in a bad way. There's no regenerating health; you have to find health packs to replenish your hit points. There's no aiming down the sight; your crosshairs is all you get. There's no sprint; you either casually jog through the battlefield or walk. While it took me a few minutes to get used to this again, I actually prefer this style of play over more modern conventions.
Another reason that the game feels so damn good to play and why I love it is that it runs on id Tech3, the same engine as some of my other favorite shooters - Quake III, Star Trek Voyager Elite Force, Return to Castle Wolfenstein, and the original Call of Duty. id Tech3 is my second favorite engine of all time, second only to Unreal 2.5. I know, it's a weird thing to have a "favorite" for all, but I'm a weird dude. In this case, however, my weirdness helps this game make me even happier than it already would. It may not feel "modern" per se, but I'd still take Allied Assault over Modern Warfare 3 or Battlefield 3 any day. Being an older game, however, it does show its age visually. Having been released 15 years ago designed in part for Windows 98, even a bottom-of-the-barrel low end PC these days can run it no problem with settings maxed out, and that does help it look a little bit better. The faces still look kind of blocky, and the environments - especially the trees and shrubberies - still show their low resolution natures, but the character and gun models all look fine, even if not "photo-realistic."
One other aspect of the game that I never noticed as a kid but stuck out to me during this replay is the music. The soundtrack isn't super dramatic or in your face like a lot of shooters tend to be, but the music chosen is both very fitting for the game and only loud enough to accentuate the action rather than distracting from it. It's used to enhance the tone of the game, not set the tone, and that's a delicate balance that a lot of games don't always manage to nail. Allied Assault does it masterfully. With regards to the multiplayer, it's still accessible, but since GameSpy is long gone, it can be rather cumbersome to find a game if you're not playing LAN. If you care to go through the effort of finding and connecting to an online game, however, it's got really great team deathmatch and capture the flag.
Medal of Honor: Allied Assault is the greatest World War II shooter ever made. I stand by that claim, even in 2017. The story it tells, the tone it sets, and the combat it puts you through are all so well crafted and balanced that it's hard to find any true complaints. Sure, it can be a little bit of a pain to get running on modern PCs, but that's true of most old computer games, and when compared to some like Starfleet Command or Star Trek Armada, this one's downright simple to get to work. With how cheap the War Chest is on GoG as well as being available on Steam plus how daggone low the system requirements are these days, there's really no excuse for folks not to play this game.
* denotes a replay
January (10 Games Beaten)
Sit down, children. I'm going to tell you a story. This is the story of the greatest World War II shooter ever made and the middle school aged Mr. Deck who play the bejeezus out of it. I recently found the War Chest for Allied Assault - it includes the base game as well as both expansions - for like $2 on GOG's summer sale. Remember the fondness I had for this game as a child, I decided that couldn't just NOT buy it. Holeeeeeey crap, playing through this was like returning to my glorious childhood without today's adult concerns like bills, taxes, and the always looming specter of a nuclear holocaust at the hands of an orange psychopath.
Allied Assault is broken up into six missions, each one taking about an hour to complete and being broken into roughly four parts. You start in North Africa and proceed to fight in Norway, Normandy, Brittany, and start the Allied push into western Germany. The game centers around Lt. Mike Powell (odd for me since I used to go to church with a guy who had that name) and his exploits with the OSS. The gameplay shows its age, but I don't mean that in a bad way. There's no regenerating health; you have to find health packs to replenish your hit points. There's no aiming down the sight; your crosshairs is all you get. There's no sprint; you either casually jog through the battlefield or walk. While it took me a few minutes to get used to this again, I actually prefer this style of play over more modern conventions.
Another reason that the game feels so damn good to play and why I love it is that it runs on id Tech3, the same engine as some of my other favorite shooters - Quake III, Star Trek Voyager Elite Force, Return to Castle Wolfenstein, and the original Call of Duty. id Tech3 is my second favorite engine of all time, second only to Unreal 2.5. I know, it's a weird thing to have a "favorite" for all, but I'm a weird dude. In this case, however, my weirdness helps this game make me even happier than it already would. It may not feel "modern" per se, but I'd still take Allied Assault over Modern Warfare 3 or Battlefield 3 any day. Being an older game, however, it does show its age visually. Having been released 15 years ago designed in part for Windows 98, even a bottom-of-the-barrel low end PC these days can run it no problem with settings maxed out, and that does help it look a little bit better. The faces still look kind of blocky, and the environments - especially the trees and shrubberies - still show their low resolution natures, but the character and gun models all look fine, even if not "photo-realistic."
One other aspect of the game that I never noticed as a kid but stuck out to me during this replay is the music. The soundtrack isn't super dramatic or in your face like a lot of shooters tend to be, but the music chosen is both very fitting for the game and only loud enough to accentuate the action rather than distracting from it. It's used to enhance the tone of the game, not set the tone, and that's a delicate balance that a lot of games don't always manage to nail. Allied Assault does it masterfully. With regards to the multiplayer, it's still accessible, but since GameSpy is long gone, it can be rather cumbersome to find a game if you're not playing LAN. If you care to go through the effort of finding and connecting to an online game, however, it's got really great team deathmatch and capture the flag.
Medal of Honor: Allied Assault is the greatest World War II shooter ever made. I stand by that claim, even in 2017. The story it tells, the tone it sets, and the combat it puts you through are all so well crafted and balanced that it's hard to find any true complaints. Sure, it can be a little bit of a pain to get running on modern PCs, but that's true of most old computer games, and when compared to some like Starfleet Command or Star Trek Armada, this one's downright simple to get to work. With how cheap the War Chest is on GoG as well as being available on Steam plus how daggone low the system requirements are these days, there's really no excuse for folks not to play this game.
Patron Saint of Bitch Mode
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BoneSnapDeez
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- Joined: Mon May 02, 2011 1:08 pm
- Location: Maine
Re: Games Beaten 2017
1. Chrono Trigger (SNES)
2. Gyromite (NES)
3. Lucy -The Eternity She Wished For- (Steam)
4. Ys III: Wanderers from Ys (Famicom)
5. Radical Dreamers (SNES)
6. Video Games 1 (TI-99/4A)
7. Portopia Renzoku Satsujin Jiken (Famicom)
8. Exile (TurboGrafx CD)
9. Exile: Wicked Phenomenon (TurboGrafx CD)
10. Xak (PC Engine CD, Xak I・II)
11. Xak II (PC Engine CD, Xak I・II)
12. Neutopia (TurboGrafx-16)
13. Captain Silver (Sega Master System)
14. Märchen Veil (Famicom Disk System)
15. Vanguard (Atari 2600)
16. Kangaroo (Atari 2600)
17. Front Line (Atari 2600)
18. Mario Bros. (Atari 2600)
19. Harmonia (Steam)
20. Donkey Kong (Atari 2600)
21. Jungle Hunt (Atari 2600)
22. Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes (TurboGrafx CD)
23. Gorf (Atari 2600)
24. Neutopia II (TurboGrafx-16)
25. Dungeon Magic (PlayStation 2, Taito Legends 2)
26. The Lost Vikings (SNES)
27. Blue's Journey (Wii Virtual Console)
28. Wizard Fire (Wii, Data East Arcade Classics)
29. Super Mario Run (Android)
30. Dragon Warrior II (NES)
31. Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure (GOG.com)
32. Witch & Hero (Nintendo eShop)
33. Phoenix (Atari 2600)
34. Emerald Dragon (Super Famicom)
35. Sky Skipper (Atari 2600)
36. Donkey Kong Country (SNES)
37. Cadash (TurboGrafx-16)
38. Cadash (Genesis)
39. Popeye (Atari 2600)
40. Mega Man 2 (NES)
41. Mother (Famicom)
42. Scramble (Game Boy Advance, Konami Collector's Series: Arcade Advanced)
43. Super Cobra (Atari 2600)
Super Cobra is the sequel to Scramble, and it plays just like the first game. I don't have access to the arcade version. It's not on Konami Collector's Series: Arcade Advanced. Rather, it can be found on Konami Arcade Classics (PSX), which is unfortunately kinda expensive. To the 2600 we go. This one was published by Parker Bros. Nintendo and Konami releasing games under the same publisher -- a board game company? The second gen was a weird time.
This time around the player controls a helicopter rather than a spaceship, though the game is structured similarly with a handful of levels (eleven, actually, impressive!) all strung together seamlessly. There are no boss battles, final or otherwise, though an "end goal" presents itself in the final stage.
The controls are kinda weird and Atari-ish. As there's only one action button so you have to alternate between normal bullet shots and bombs. This creates an additional strategy element, as I found myself having to remember which came next, or firing off a junk shot or two to reset things to where I wanted them. Hitting the fuel tanks is really tricky here, though each one restores a ton of gas so most can be skipped. Enemies aren't particularly aggressive - the invincible fireballs of Scramble don't make an appearance - though there is plenty of challenge due to how many tight weaving tunnels must be flown through. The game offers up unlimited continues, rare for an Atari title, so anyone with enough patience could conceivably get through this.
The ending's a little different. There's a square with a dollar sign that has to be picked up to beat the game. So the helicopter was after "loot" all along? Strange.
I like this. It's fun, smooth, and just as good as the ColecoVision's Cosmic Avenger. I'm really digging these old shmups. Worth picking up if you have a 2600, 7800, or good taste in games.
2. Gyromite (NES)
3. Lucy -The Eternity She Wished For- (Steam)
4. Ys III: Wanderers from Ys (Famicom)
5. Radical Dreamers (SNES)
6. Video Games 1 (TI-99/4A)
7. Portopia Renzoku Satsujin Jiken (Famicom)
8. Exile (TurboGrafx CD)
9. Exile: Wicked Phenomenon (TurboGrafx CD)
10. Xak (PC Engine CD, Xak I・II)
11. Xak II (PC Engine CD, Xak I・II)
12. Neutopia (TurboGrafx-16)
13. Captain Silver (Sega Master System)
14. Märchen Veil (Famicom Disk System)
15. Vanguard (Atari 2600)
16. Kangaroo (Atari 2600)
17. Front Line (Atari 2600)
18. Mario Bros. (Atari 2600)
19. Harmonia (Steam)
20. Donkey Kong (Atari 2600)
21. Jungle Hunt (Atari 2600)
22. Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes (TurboGrafx CD)
23. Gorf (Atari 2600)
24. Neutopia II (TurboGrafx-16)
25. Dungeon Magic (PlayStation 2, Taito Legends 2)
26. The Lost Vikings (SNES)
27. Blue's Journey (Wii Virtual Console)
28. Wizard Fire (Wii, Data East Arcade Classics)
29. Super Mario Run (Android)
30. Dragon Warrior II (NES)
31. Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure (GOG.com)
32. Witch & Hero (Nintendo eShop)
33. Phoenix (Atari 2600)
34. Emerald Dragon (Super Famicom)
35. Sky Skipper (Atari 2600)
36. Donkey Kong Country (SNES)
37. Cadash (TurboGrafx-16)
38. Cadash (Genesis)
39. Popeye (Atari 2600)
40. Mega Man 2 (NES)
41. Mother (Famicom)
42. Scramble (Game Boy Advance, Konami Collector's Series: Arcade Advanced)
43. Super Cobra (Atari 2600)
This time around the player controls a helicopter rather than a spaceship, though the game is structured similarly with a handful of levels (eleven, actually, impressive!) all strung together seamlessly. There are no boss battles, final or otherwise, though an "end goal" presents itself in the final stage.
The controls are kinda weird and Atari-ish. As there's only one action button so you have to alternate between normal bullet shots and bombs. This creates an additional strategy element, as I found myself having to remember which came next, or firing off a junk shot or two to reset things to where I wanted them. Hitting the fuel tanks is really tricky here, though each one restores a ton of gas so most can be skipped. Enemies aren't particularly aggressive - the invincible fireballs of Scramble don't make an appearance - though there is plenty of challenge due to how many tight weaving tunnels must be flown through. The game offers up unlimited continues, rare for an Atari title, so anyone with enough patience could conceivably get through this.
The ending's a little different. There's a square with a dollar sign that has to be picked up to beat the game. So the helicopter was after "loot" all along? Strange.
I like this. It's fun, smooth, and just as good as the ColecoVision's Cosmic Avenger. I'm really digging these old shmups. Worth picking up if you have a 2600, 7800, or good taste in games.