Deltarune up to Chapter 5 Thoughts

 Deltarune Chapters 1-5 Thoughts

Spoilers ahead (obviously)

It's really been over 10 years since Undertale first came out, and I still remember my initial experiences with the game positively. At the time the battle system felt genuinely innovative, combining a turn-based system into part demon conversation not too dissimilar from a Shin Megami Tensei game, part shmup with dodging projectiles in a mini form. The writing and visuals that game creator Toby Fox employs are witty and humorous, with more serious moments that make you invested in the world and characters. On top of it all though is the soundtrack, which fits each situation in the game to a tee and will stand the test of time as an all time great game soundtrack. While I did have some of my issues with Undertale at the time, and I wouldn't consider it a favorite of mine, I was excited when I learned that Toby Fox was continuing his work on a new RPG called Deltarune. The launch around Chapter 1 of Deltarune I remember being pretty mysterious, but it soon became pretty widely known and I did end up playing it when it came out in 2018. After that however, I felt like Deltarune was much of the same as Undertale, not really adding a ton in terms of new ideas, and in an incomplete state as only the first chapter of this story had released at this point. So, I decided that I wouldn't play the rest of Deltarune until it was fully completed, whatever that looked like. Fast forward to 2026. Deltarune Chapter 5 had released not too long ago, and has people excited, including a lot of my friends. After some consideration, and some bargaining I had made with one of my friends, I decided to get caught up, as there's only 2 more chapters to be released in finishing this story. That brings us to today, where I'm all caught up and have at least played Chapters 1-5, and I wanted to really sit down and think about what I thought about each Chapter. 

Chapter 1

It's made clear early on that when first starting Chapter 1 that your choices in this game will still have some weight, but will not matter nearly as much as they did in Undertale. The character creator in deciding how you appear is quickly discarded and the game makes that point pretty clear. It's also clear that this world is either the same or an alternate reality to Undertale, with a lot of characters making a return in the home town of the game, which is nice to see. After getting to school and meeting Susie, who seems to be the school bully, the adventure gets started after going to get some supplies from the closet, and finding that it takes us to a different world of the Darkeners, a place devoid of light compared to where our main character comes from as a Lightener. We also meet Ralsei, who is a Darkener and explains to us what we're doing here and our objective As the adventure progressed, I felt like Toby's strengths were still there, not to the same extent as Undertale. A lot of the character writing at this point isn't as strong, but I chalk that up to this being mainly introductions. The humor this time around has some funny moments, usually when it plays on other JRPG tropes or general curiosity. When Susie finally decides that joining the team is beneficial and not a stupid idea, it was a highlight of chapter to me.

 Other parts of the humor though feel more "online" so to say, and that point get accentuated more in later chapters. I felt like the soundtrack was good, but decidedly weaker overall. I felt like a lot of the songs were much shorter loops that just repeated, but they weren't bad just a bit underwhelming. Some stand outs to me were Hip Shop, Chaos King, and THE WORLD REVOLVING. The last track in that list was the highlight of the combat in this chapter to me, but we'll come back to that in a moment. Overall the combat hasn't changed much compared to Undertale, but it has some quality of life changes like showing the percentage needed to mercy or pacify an opponent. Other than that, if you liked Undertale's combat you'll like this game. I did fight the optional secret boss of the chapter, Jevil, and he was the highlight of the chapter overall for me personally. It's a bit unfortunate though that some of the games best content was locked (no pun intended) behind a secret that some players will never experience. I don't have much to say on the character's this time around, as again we just got introduced. It's nice to see Susie come a bit more out of her shell towards the end of the chapter, and other than Ralsei taking off his hat, I feel like he's a bland lorekeeper and that's the only real reason he's here at this point. Lancer is fine, a bit annoying at points but his friendship with Susie is sweet. Our character, Kris, doesn't have much personality at this point either, but we do see at the end of the chapter them ripping their "heart" out and putting it in a cage, showing they have a more sinister side. The story itself so far wasn't the greatest hook I had felt playing an RPG, but it was also retreaded territory as this was the only chapter I had played previously. 

Chapter 2

Continuing on, Chapter 2 feels like a bit more of the same as Chapter 1, but with more expanded character dialogue, and a stronger setting. This is also the introduction of the Castle Town, where if you decided to spare the enemies you face, they show up here to help you on your journey and get additional flavor text from. This place is nice to start each chapter, catch up with old foes and see what's new in the town either with items or characters. One thing I wish is that the recruit list available when you save the game shows is enemies that you just didn't encounter, beside the ones that you just may not have fully recruited. Outside of a few things though, I felt like most of the enemies here were largely forgettable outside of the more major bosses of each chapter which later on start getting their own rooms in the castle. The real meat of the chapter starts with some more expanded characters being Noelle and Berdley. With each dark world you visit being correlated to a real world place, it adds to the overall setting for the chapter. Since this time Noelle and Berdley invite us to the library computer lab to study for whatever group assignment Kris and Susie have, this chapter's setting feels like you're inside a computer itself. Noelle I think as a whole was my favorite or second favorite character across all of the chapters that are available at this point. She's a very sweet girl who also has some trouble sharing what she's really feeling. Her family as we later learn also has some pretty high status in the town, with Noelle's mom being the mayor. Noelle's character wouldn't be complete without her crush on Susie, and seeing how that relationship unfolds throughout this chapter as a cute first beginning, but the later chapters as well was probably my favorite part of Deltarune as a whole. I'm a sucker for cute lil' love stories. Let's talk a little more about Berdley then. I didn't really like Berdley outside of a few jokes and things that he says throughout the chapter. He's a stereotype on a nerd who's a little overconfident and thinks that they're always right, and although he grows to be better at the end of the chapter, I really don't think that he added much of anything to the experience outside of a "gamer" reference.

That brings me to one of my gripes with Deltarune as a whole, its humor. Don't get me wrong, there are funny moments throughout this and future chapters, but I feel like a large portion of them you have to be either chronically online or understand a certain subset of internet and gaming culture to find a lot of the humor humorous. Berdley and the main boss of the chapter, The Queen, are prime examples of this to me. Berdley and the Queen team up for part of the chapter under the guise that Berdley is helping keep Noelle safe, but the Queen doesn't really like Berdley (don't blame her) and tries to constantly run away. In one scene, Berdley is looking for the Queen when he says "They're just... busy retro gaming somewhere!! I bet they're waiting for me on the player select screen!!" Now then. Imagine if you're an average person or gamer, I have a hard time believing that this type of humor will land. I also feel like it would get outdated in like 15 years, and ultimately drag down the experience for new players then. The Queen is like this to a similar but lesser extent. Because they're technically a laptop, they talk like a computer, but one that's referential and casual in it's tone a lot of the time. Compared to Chapter 1's boss, the King, the Queen just feels like much less of a threat and more of an obstacle than anything. 

Gameplay this time around is largely the same. A lot of the bullet patterns from enemies and bosses that you encounter aren't the trickiest to dodge, but still make for a ok challenge, especially if you don't play other shmups or games similar. The secret boss this time around was about the same difficulty as the secret boss of Chapter 1, but they had a few cool attacks and moments that I wish more enemies had. At a few points in the chapter, including the fight against The Queen there's also a style of combat akin to a Punch Out!! game where you dodge and fight back against patterns that way. This was the first different gameplay style that Toby introduced that I could remember, but it certainly isn't the last. It's a nice diversion in this case, and it also helps that I really love Punch Out!!. Music this time around is about as solid as Chapter 1. I didn't have a ton of standout tracks, but I did really enjoy My Castle Town and Knock you Down !!  as my favorites for the chapter. That's the one thing I cannot deny about Toby Fox as a game creator is his ability to set a tone through the OST, and his ability for composition. Everything fits right where it should be and only additive to the experience. 

Chapter 3

I think looking back, Chapter 3 was my favorite chapter in some respects, and my least favorite in others. Let's start off with the negative, so we can boost this chapter up toward the end. I felt like Chapter 2 did an ok job sprinkling character writing and lore throughout the entire chapter. Chapter 3 just puts all of its lore and impactful moments at the very end, and that 's also assuming you did the secret "boss" of this chapter. I genuinely can't remember much other main party development other than Susie liking us a little bit more than last time which she does just about every chapter. This chapter also has the most gameplay types of any chapter. From cooking minigames to quizzes, from rhythm games to Zelda clones, this chapter has it all. Because of this, I feel like it doesn't perform exceedingly well at any one thing and is lucky if the minigame that you're experiencing isn't detrimental. I really could care less for the Zelda-like gameplay that was a decent portion of the chapter, and was disappointed that it's also where the secret boss was located this time around. It's just boring and tedious, straight up. This was also the chapter I really noticed that I don't know why there even is an equipment system in this game. I never feel like any equipment I get actually benefits me in a serious manner, and it might as well not even be there, which is crazy to think about for an RPG. 

Now with the good. Tenna as the main "antagonist" of this chapter is an absolute delight. He hit all of the right notes for me. He has a great sense of humor in his dialogue and he's very charismatic. Visually he's not like anything else in Deltarune or Undertale for that matter, being prerendered and very fluidly animated as compared to the rest of the game. Even the intro animation when he's first introduced has stuck in my mind with its VHS scanlines and warped audio. Even as an antagonist he's hard to hate with his motives of just being left behind and no one wanting to pay attention to the TV anymore. So much attention to detail and thought was put into this character that it makes him the best part of the entire chapter. When Tenna is on the screen, I am looking and listening with intent as I do in fact, love TV. 

As far as the rest of the chapter, I felt like presentation wise it was some of my favorite that Deltarune has on offer. A majority of the music tracks I ended up enjoying were from this chapter in particular, fitting both a chill vibe at times, as well as more upbeat tunes. My top tracks ended up being Physical Challenge, It's TV Time! (which has a fun sound-font that sounds very similar to a TMNT or other Konami arcade game), Welcome to the Green Room, and Glowing Snow. In addition to the soundtrack, visually I felt like this chapter was pretty strong. Because of how many different minigame styles there were, it at least gave Toby an opportunity to showcase some different art styles and motifs. Lastly, the humor this time around hit just a little bit different in comparison to previous chapters. There's still the occasional dud, but for the most part playing off of TV tropes, and the "throuple" between the weather duo and Rouxls landed well and I feel like would land for the average person. 

Chapter 4

Easily the most lore heavy chapter from beginning to end. Starting off in Noelle's house to study, and having Kris rip their heart out once again but each time getting riskier and riskier to where someone is going to catch them is pretty nerve wracking. Getting to see Susie and Noelle's relationship grow as well is sweet in these more private moments. The church scenes at the beginning of the chapter were also interesting, seeing the Deltarune itself as a religion that most of the town follows, as well as a way to see Kris and Susie's relationship grow as they talk during church, and go to the diner afterwards. Susie has grown so much since being indifferent and a bully in the first chapter, to genuinely caring about Kris, Noelle, and everyone in the Dark World so much. However, they know that the Darkeners can't come to the Light World, and that after first meeting the Dark Knight/seeing Undyne get captured in the last chapter they get a quick reminder that they're the heroes in a prophecy, and that the situation more serious than the fun adventures they've been on so far will let on. This is echoed in the Dark World of this chapter, as its the most serious its been in Deltarune so far. Throughout the chapter being in the dark version of the church, Kris and Susie see the prophecy in a more physical form from mosaic like images that show up as they're adventuring. Ralsei doesn't really enjoy this however, and wants to avoid showing the final part of the prophecy to Susie and Kris. This is after a chapter where Ralsei was specifically hiding a few things from Susie, promised to be more open, and then immediately turns around and does this. Susie ends up seeing the last panel of the mosaic, smashes it and doesn't tell Kris what it says. I'm assuming that it says something about someone either having to sacrifice themselves, or that someone in the group will turn against the rest, but we don't know for sure at this point. The ending of the chapter is pretty exciting as well, getting our first viewpoint of an event called "the roaring" where a dark fountain is opened too many times, and we get to fight against a titan. The story of this chapter is easily the best so far, and it helps make this chapter my favorite I think. It's hard to say because I do really like Tenna lol. 

Outside of the story, the presentation this time around is much more grounded, and I feel like its impactful because of it. The tall rafters of the church, mosaics with the story of the Deltarune, and the rooms where it goes pitch black except for when you take a footstep make it a visual treat. That's not to say the entire chapter is grounded, the fight with Jackenstein was quite a good time, both in terms of the fight itself, and how Jackenstein talks like a YouTube Poop. Music this time around was meeting the standard of the other chapters I felt, with my personal highlights being From Now On, Castle Funk, and The Second Sanctuary. The climbing gimmick of this chapter is fine for the most part gameplay wise, with a few parts that were a bit unresponsive. I think its at this point though I realized that the gameplay of Deltarune was not the reason I was playing. I was caught up in the story, and I wanted to see what happened to the characters. Now most good RPGs end up doing this where a story beat or characters will hook you into seeing the rest of the game, but the best RPGs will have the gameplay to back it up, with intense boss battles, impactful loot and side quests, and unlocked abilities that further make your strategies in battle more efficient and destructive. I don't feel like that's the case with Deltarune. The gameplay at this point when you're sparing enemies or attacking them is getting a bit stale. We don't really unlock any major abilities, and really the only ability that I can think of being unlocked is Susie's ability to heal a little bit now. Equipment just straight up doesn't matter. I haven't felt the impact of an armor upgrade or a perk that it's given throughout 4 chapters of the game. I can see that some armor gives something but like I don't know what a fluffiness increase does on Ralsei, and I never found a spot in the game where that was explained to me. This I think is because of the nature of the game, where sparing enemies is by far the preferred way to deal with enemies, it makes it hard to strategize when you're just trying to spare the enemy regardless. Most enemies aren't difficult either, and that includes most of the secret bosses too. So if the bosses aren't that much of a difficulty spike, the equipment you get doesn't matter, and you don't unlock many if any abilities to help make combat quicker or more engaging, I have a difficult time putting it in a similar ground to other RPGs. All of this to say, unless some of the gimmicks hit for you, I don't think the gameplay of Deltarune is the reason to play the game. It's for the story and the presentation. With that being said, let's continue on to the final chapter released at this point in time as of August of 2026. 

Chapter 5

Jarona. This chapter felt like the lead in to the last two chapters that have yet to be released, setting the stage and foreshadowing we can expect from our characters, while also calling back to some similar characters to Undertale, further connecting the two worlds. Starting the chapter at the town fair, and seeing the scene with Noelle and Susie by the water (is it a river or a lake or the ocean? I couldn't tell) was extremely sweet. I'm such a sucker for little love stories man. Going into the chapter and seeing the different types of soul flowers be brought back from Undertale was fun as well, getting to see a different kind of personality in each one. I don't know if I had a personal favorite flower, but there wasn't any one of them that I didn't enjoy their company during the chapter, and I did go back to the café that you go to later in the chapter to talk with each one more, as well as hear more conversations between the flowers. Asgore was good in this chapter too. Seeing him come to the realization that if he let go of the past he could move forward with everyone easier, and that no one blamed him for anything he did previously. Flowery's voice lines were memorable throughout the chapter, and seeing his fully anime intro animated by Studio Khara (!?!?!?!) was pretty insane. The soundtrack has continued to be another bright spot, with some songs that have a more eastern sound so to say, to match the visuals of the castle that you go through to close out the chapter. My highlights for this chapter are Garden of Hopes and Dreams, Sunset of Seven Suns, Flower Castle and Cutie Mew Mew Magic. The gimmick this time around are these pillars that you can hit to move into a 2D plane that turns the game into an action platformer. It's competent, but again, nothing special. It does break things up I guess, but as a I voiced in the last chapter recap, I wasn't super impressed nor looking to be at this point. The secret boss this time around was the one I had the most trouble with, and I even died to them like 2-3 times which I hadn't done with any other enemy yet to this point. Overall, this chapter was solid and I'm curious to see how Toby and the team follow up to wrap the story up with a nice bow. 

Conclusion

Toby Fox has a pretty deep love for the Japanese game industry as a whole, and its even more evident in Deltarune than it is with Undertale. With that being said, its interesting to see what he picks and chooses to add to Deltarune, as it feels like he's trying to cram as many different love letters and ideas into one game that doesn't really need it. As I mentioned in the Chapter 4 recap, it gets to a point where the gameplay doesn't become the leading reason to continue playing Deltarune. But what Toby does do very well is character writing, settings of a story/world building, and presentation. The game is nice to look at during 95% of the game, and the music is good all the time while sometimes being even great. I understand that there's still things I haven't seen with Deltarune, as it's a game that has multiple routes and easter eggs. Unfortunately, I don't feel like the gameplay is worth all that much to see some of these routes, so I'll probably get caught up in other ways like YouTube. I do think that the game is worth experiencing, but it would be difficult to classify it in the same echelon as the RPGs that Toby is emulating and pulling from.

Thanks for reading!

Respect Your Elders: Dragon Quest 1 HD-2D Remake Thoughts

 Party Like It's 1986 

In recent years, Square-Enix has been creating and releasing games under this "HD-2D" art style and presentation. Games like Octopath Traveler were the progenitor of this movement, and several games like Live A Live and Star Ocean have been given this makeover. In 2024, Square-Enix re-released Dragon Quest III HD-2D remake, and then later announced that Dragon Quest I & II were getting the a similar treatment. I had just recently finished Dragon Quest V on my DS very early last year, and thought it was a great experience! I've heard that Dragon Quest can be JRPG comfort food from several people on social media before, and I can relay that sentiment. So, itching for some more comfort food, I recently checked out Dragon Quest I on the new HD-2D collection from late last year. Before DQV, I had played DQI on several occasions, getting about two-thirds of the way through the original US release on NES, and fully beating the IOS port on the Nintendo Switch about 4-5 years ago. With that prior experience with not just the franchise but the game itself, how does the HD-2D remake stack up?

The story to this point, as DQIII is the prequel to the original DQ

 

Presentation

 The biggest draw I think initially to this collection of games is its presentation. DQ I & II have been re-released several times since their original versions in the mid-late '80s, but not to this level of love and care that the franchise deserves. Like I mentioned above, I had played through the other Switch version of DQI but it wasn't the best experience. Some things were hit and miss with the visuals, and it was a pretty bare bones improvement overall. Thankfully, the new HD-2D remake hits pretty much every mark. The new visuals are looking great in my opinion. The sprite work on the characters in the overworld and in battle are supremely detailed while still carrying the original Toriyama art style that the series is known for. Towns, dungeons and the overworld have been revamped with a new 3D visuals that compliment the sprite art nicely. The mountains have never been larger, and the water has never looked as scenic as it does here. As the hero walks through dungeons, you can see the shadows from the torch in his hand crawling the walls and flickering as the torch does. Battles have never looked better either, with enemies greatly detailed and every strong attack has a clean animation to go alongside it. I especially like the Dragon Slash ability, with a slash summoning a screaming dragon that does well against dragon foes. Everything looks great, with a few caveats. I played my copy of the game on a Switch, and I did notice times when loading into a new area the frame rate dipping down a bit as things were loading in, mostly in the backgrounds. Additionally, playing in handheld mode did not do any favors for the sprite work in the characters. The sprites are detailed enough so that you're able to see their expressions and emotions on the current situation fairly easily, but some of that detail is lost at the lower resolution of the Switch's handheld mode. Characters become muddied together, but not in a way that makes it look better like dithering has been used in the past. Still though, I can't ignore the level of detail that has been put into the visuals. I would just recommend playing on a newer device with a little bit more under the hood than the ol' not so reliable Switch.

This definitely looks better on a TV, but even in the OG Switch's handheld mode some scenes can impress.

Visuals aren't the only part of a game's presentation however; soundtracks are an integral part of the DQ experience as a series as long running as it is. As I understand it, more recent releases of DQ games were available with a full orchestral soundtrack provided by the Tokyo Symphonic Suite in Japan but not here in the states, mainly DQVII and VIII on the 3DS. This is not the case thankfully for DQ I & II as they have a fully orchestral soundtrack that sounds amazing. Traversing Alefgard with the soft oboe and strings playing in the background really adds to the sense of wonder of the world itself. It is a soundtrack that adds to the freshness of the experience, while still giving longtime players nostalgia with Sugiyama's compositions that have graced the franchise for so long.

Gameplay and Story

(Minor Spoilers Ahead)

Erdrick's Grave found early on in the game is a key catalyst for your adventure

Being the grandfather of most JRPGs to this point, DQI is mostly a game that goes back to basics. Throughout the game you only control one character, a descendant of the legendary hero Erdrick on his quest to slay the Dragonlord and bring peace back to the land of Alefgard. In the original, this was pretty cut and dry storywise. You would go around the world collecting new equipment, learning new skills, gathering keys to progress to the next section of the world until you're at the end. This is largely the same in the remake, but much more fleshed out. Several key items are included that you have to gather that aren't in the original, making you explore the world a little bit deeper, and giving opportunities for some characters to be fleshed out. The original DQ basically didn't have characters for a lack of a better term. It was you as the hero, the king, the dragonlord, and other minor characters that would give you items needed to progress. In the remake however, you get to really experience Alefgard as a land that people live in, and you get to learn much more about their experiences and plights. As an example, part way through the journey you come across some faeries who will be vital to your quest. You get to see some friendly banter and debating on what they should do with you as humans and faeries historically didn't always get along. Then later in the adventure, you get to experience some events alongside the faeries firsthand that makes the hero's journey all the more worth it. I'm purposefully being vague in my description here, because I think its something that you should experience. In addition to there being more story and characterization in general, the writing is fairly competent as well. Dialogue is mostly written in an old Shakespearean way where most words have a -st or -eth at the endeth of every other wordeth. There were also several points where in talking with the NPCs you discover some wittier dialogue that won't necessarily have you laughing out loud, but it adds brevity to more serious moments and situations throughout the adventure. 

Stories are only half the battle however; what does the minute to minute gameplay feel like? In a game this old yet new, I feel that Square-Enix hit a nice balance of feeling like the original while adding modern sensibilities. Battling might has well have been completely retooled. In the original game, your moves were limited to fight, item, run, and spell, all while only fighting one enemy at a time as you were just one hero. Well you're still just one hero, at no other point will you receive any other party members or help in battle throughout your playthrough. The enemies have gotten a bit more wise though, and will fight you with multiple groups of fiends at once. To compensate, the hero has a few more tricks up his sleeve. You now have access to abilities, a mid ground between casting spells and doing a normal attack. Most abilities are elemental forms of physical strikes, but you have other more status buffing effects like Dodgy Dance or Wild Side to assist in your efforts. You can also now defend on your turn! Wow! While sometimes unused in some JRPGs, defending as well as every other move in your arsenal has a time and place. Controlling only one character makes you approach battles a little differently compared to most games following it. I really noticed this in the boss battles. Some bosses aren't anything to slouch at becoming a careful dance of attacking, healing and defending, all while noticing subtle habits in how they attack you. It makes those more climactic battles feel more like a puzzle, where you're trying to find a strategy that works best for the current situation. That's not to say you don't see that in more modern JRPGs, but its more noticeable and appreciated because only control one character, not in spite of it. 

Battles are some of the best updates to the DQI, while still having that classic DQ feel.

Strategies and abilities aside, there are also some nice quality of life changes. In the overworld you can now run to get a move on, and the fast traveling options have been greatly expanded since the original game, not even costing MP to Zoom from place to place. Battles can be had at different speeds as well, making them as drawn out or as snappy as you'd like them to be. On the subject of grinding, compared to the original which was about 60% grinding, the remake is very minimal. I had about 20 hours in my play time of DQI, and I'd say a little under a full hour was spent grinding either for money or exp. I don't think it was required at all either, it was just something I wanted to do to get a better piece of equipment earlier in the game, or to make a boss fight a little bit easier. In my opinion one of the greatest quality of life features is the Recall system. Whenever you talk with an NPC, whether it be in a cutscene or some cat you found on the street that meows at you, pressing the start button allows you to save that interaction in a memory bank of sorts to recall at a later point. As someone who isn't past looking things up for a game online, but likes to try to beat the game without the outside help, this was a great feature. Being able to recall hints to find hidden equipment pieces or hidden areas on the world map made me feel that talking with every NPC was valuable, but I didn't have to worry about forgetting their information, or remembering where they were located so I could talk to them again. I would like to see features similar in other RPGs in the future, as it was one of the biggest takeaways I had from playing this remake. 

 

Closing Remarks

My itch for Dragon Quest has become ever itchier after playing this first part in a two part package. While Dragon Quest gets more recognition in the west than ever before, it feels satisfying to go back and play the series origins. I've made some remarks to the limitations of the original version of DQ over the course of this post, but don't think that I didn't enjoy my time with the original. It was a different experience than the games I had already played, but I could see the essence of the JRPGs that I've come to enjoy in DQ. The HD-2D remake captures that feeling and essence, but in a refined way that is complimentary to the original experience. The game is beautiful to see and hear, and has enough depth to its story and gameplay to keep you engaged throughout the games duration. With the complete Erdrick trilogy being out on modern consoles in HD-2D, and DQVII Reimagined being just on the horizon, I'd say that there's not going to be a better time to get into the franchise. If you like JRPGs, give this version of the game a shot to see where so many other games got their ideas from. I'd say its worth going back to the original version of the game sometime as well, as it makes you appreciate the remake even more, while also still being fun in its own right. 

 

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Mini-Review Orbo on Playdate

 Orbo Mini-Review

When it comes to playing games, one thing I'm always looking for are unique experiences. Most games now take on the challenge of uniqueness in their characters, story, visuals, presentation and more, but a lot of games don't have the opportunity to branch outside of the limitations of their toolset. In video game's case, its the console/computer and controller. As a developer, you don't have the chance to tweak things very often. With the Playdate, it gives developers a new and fun tool to mess around with in the crank on the side of the handheld. A lot of games use the crank well, and one game that I've been enjoying recently that utilizes the crank is a game called Orbo made by thermay.io.

Orbo is a simple, yet addictive shooter and the concept of the game is simple. You control one of the only analog space satellites and proceed to destroy space junk and other AI satellites that are causing issues within Earth's orbit. Your analog satellite is positioned in the center of the screen, and to rotate your satellite and shoot down the opposition you use the Playdate’s crank. Shooting happens automatically as you're turning, so there's no need to worry about pressing any additional buttons. As a game, with a concept and gameplay so easy to understand, you have to nail the basics which thankfully Orbo does. Shooting down the enemy satellites is satisfying, and because you’re in space enemies fly at you in unique ways based on your gravity. It's also easy in arcade style games to feel like death or mistakes are the game's fault, but with the control on offer with the Playdate's crank being so precise, every time I die I know it's my fault. The game offers the option to recalibrate your crank in order to line up with the satellite a little better, but I honestly have never needed to calibrate. The presentation again while simple, really shows well on the Playdate's LCD screen. Another thing you can run the risk of with a game so simple is repetitiveness and lack of replay value. Thankfully the gameplay switches up with pseudo power ups getting introduced as you score higher, and global ranking to see where you stack against other players.

In summary, Orbo is a easy to understand game that takes advantage of being on a unique platform and ends up creating an experience that's both fun, relaxing and satisfying to enjoy. Whether played in ten minute spurts, or longer play sessions to get a high score, Orbo is a great time, and if you have a Playdate its an easy recommendation from me. As I was writing this, I got the urge to play some Orbo and got a new high score which you'll see below. Hopefully I can get another hundred or so points to rank in the top ten globally! As always, the link to the game will be below, and thank you for taking the time to read!

All screenshots are taken from a Playdate handheld

https://play.date/games/orbo/

Devil Blade Reboot Review

Games have never been easier to make in this day and age. With tons of resources and engines available, anyone could create their own game if they set their mind to it. Back in the day, it was a little trickier to create games and experiences, but some companies wanted to change that. I'm sure you've heard of the long running RPG Maker franchise that has been available for people to create their experiences, but have you heard of Dezaemon? Dezaemon was available to people with some 5th generation consoles like the Saturn, PlayStation and N64 to create shmups. One such game created with this engine was the original Devil Blade, featured on Dezaemon Plus as a demo game for you to enjoy. Both versions of the game were created by Shigatake, better known for their illustrations featured in Vanillaware games like Muramasa, Dragon's Crown and Odin Sphere to name a few. Shigitake decided to remake his 90's shmup with a new engine, STGbuilder, and that's what we're taking a look at today. Is this game worth your time? Let's take a deeper look.

Devil Blade is a pretty straight forward shoot em' up with elements of games from the 32-bit era and beyond. The game's visuals have great detail in its pixel art, which is to be expected from Vanillaware staff, but even still it really captures that 5th generation of console vibe. That isn't to say that its all old school, with great lighting effects in the backgrounds, and more bullets on screen than could be on a 5th gen console. Gameplay-wise, Devil Blade takes place over 5 full stages with the final boss having his own 6th stage. This feels just right for a shmup, and you can beat the game in about a half hour. This isn't to say there isn't reason to continue playing, as the scoring system has several unique aspects to it. Starting off, each enemy you kill can have a multiplier added on to them, and that increases the closer you are to the enemy when they die. This encourages a risky gameplay style with a lot of memorization on enemy patterns and spawns in order to maintain that multiplier, because if you stray away from enemies the multiplier will fall. This risky gameplay is even further accentuated by the berserk mode. Once you've killed enough enemies within a close range, you'll enter berserk mode which increases the maximum score multiplier from 5x to 20x. This is the essence of Devil Blade, fly up close and personal with your enemy, and be rewarded with the high-score. That's not all however, as there's another way to activate berserk mode with your bombs. By default you get 3 bombs each life, and when the bomb button is tapped you get a screen clearing attack that can really save your butt in a desperate situation. However, when holding the bomb button, you'll use one of your bombs to go straight into berserk mode, allowing you to rack up hundreds of thousands of points very quickly. If you can maintain your berserk meter throughout the entire stage, you'll be rewarded with heavy bonuses at the end of the stage. With the scoring system laid out, you then have two options for playing Devil Blade, survival or high score?  

Let's say this is your first shmup, and all this scoring talk is nice, but if you can't get past the first boss what's the point? Thankfully, I believe that Devil Blade is the perfect beginner shmup for anyone wanting to get into the genre! Straight from the get-go you have 4 difficulty options; easy, normal, hard and insane, with insane not allowing you to go below a certain multiplier, otherwise you die. Easy difficulty not only gives you easier bullet patterns (that are similar on higher difficulties allowing you to learn if you decide to move up a difficulty) but it also gives you auto-bomb functions, where if a bullet strikes you it will automatically use one of your bombs instead, which will also give you a shield to prevent a hit. The more you play the game as well, you get coins that can be used to unlock extra goodies, as well as continues to use in the main game mode in case you lose all of your lives. The ultimate goal in any shmup though is to beat the game without using a continue, and I believe that with a little time investment anyone could one credit clear the game on easy difficulty. I wouldn't call myself the best shmup player, but I was able to one credit clear both easy and normal difficulties within a few hours of picking the game up. As mentioned earlier, the more you play the game the more coins you'll get to unlock extra goodies, and lets speak on some of those now. 

In addition to extra continues, you'll unlock things like wallpapers and artwork that were used in development of the game. You'll also be able to unlock the games soundtrack to play in the music player, which by itself is enough reward. The soundtrack for this game is electric to put it plainly. The music is composed mainly by Hasu, with some tracks having additional help from Shigitake, and after playing the game it is easily one of my favorite shmup soundtracks period. With rock/metal guitars, and remixes from the original release it really kicks the entire experience up a notch. My favorites are tracks 3, 4 and 11 which are the first stage music, first boss music and the 4th stage boss music I believe. That's not the only thing your coins can get you, as you can also unlock an updated arranged version of the original Devil Blade! This version maintains its older graphics, but carries over some of the scoring systems from the newer reboot such as the berserk mode. You also have the choice of unlocking the older soundtrack as well so you can choose which versions you want to hear during gameplay which is a nice touch. 

With all this being said, it is no doubt in my mind that Devil Blade is a highlight release of 2024, and the game that I didn't know that I wanted. The game itself is a passion project, and it shows in all the greatest ways possible. Shigitake spent the last 5 years remaking the game that got him into the industry, and it really captures everything great about shmups while adding some fresh ideas and goodies for replay value. If you haven't heard or seen this game at all, I've linked the steam page and bandcamp page for the soundtrack below. Please check it out, I can't sing this game's praises high enough. Thank you for reading, and let me know if you play Devil Blade!

Links and picture sources below:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2882440/DEVIL_BLADE_REBOOT/

https://hasu2010.bandcamp.com/album/devil-blade-reboot

The Future is Now: Neo Geo CD Overview and Super Sidekicks 2 Mini Review

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Welcome the latest edition of the Teeezy game console collection, the Neo Geo CD. As a fan of arcade action, beautiful sprite work, and obscurity/history, the SNK and Neo Geo brand has always interested me. So much of the gaming experiences in the 1990's was bringing the arcade experience home, whether it was actual ports of games, improving technology, or even control schemes. So what did SNK do? Literally bring the arcade technology home! The Neo Geo AES was released in 1990 and had the same hardware framework as their arcade cabinet counterpart, the MVS. Those same games were brought home from the MVS to the AES playing exactly the same as their arcade counterpart. Being ahead of the home competition allowed SNK to support the MVS well into the 2000's well after the PS2 and Xbox had released, despite the architecture not being comparable to those systems. So what's the catch? The cost! The system originally released for $650 with games costing around the $200-300 dollar mark. Just as a reminder, that's 1990 $650. Adjusting for inflation, that puts the AES at $1553.30 in 2024. Needless to say the AES was a boujee console for a boujee consumer. A status symbol if you were lucky enough to own one as a kid. Because of this, SNK wanted to make their games more accessible to a larger audience, and with the revolution of CD-ROM technology they had a solution.

Enter the Neo Geo CD. Released in 1994, the Neo Geo CD was created to capture that larger audience by appealing to a more reasonable price point. Instead of placing the games on a large cartridge, SNK opted to place their games on a CD-ROM to charge around $40-$60 dollars for a game. In addition to the cost change, the larger storage capacity of CD's allowed for clearer red book audio, and added bonus content like concept art or exclusive content. This sounds like a dream scenario, but if you research the console or read reviews/coverage of the console in its heyday one common point of contention comes up, and that's the loading. The reduced memory and the nature of CD-ROM technology means that the larger your games, the more loading is required for a particular game. This works fine for smaller, earlier Neo Geo releases, where loading either happens all at the start or are comparable to other games of the time. As games got larger however, the loading times grow exponentially, especially with fighting games, the Neo Geo's bread and butter. On larger games like King of Fighters '98 or The Last Blade, loading happens sometimes after only seconds of gameplay followed by almost a minute of loading. SNK realized this issue, and in Japan actually released the Neo Geo CDZ featuring a double speed CD-ROM drive which helps load games faster, but it was too little too late. It is unavoidable if you're playing on original hardware, you will feel it. Nowadays, Neo Geo games are regularly available across multiple platforms or on original hardware with multi-carts, so is there any reason for playing on a Neo Geo CD today? Well for one, how can you ignore this fun little boot screen?

Charm aside, there were a few other reasons I was looking out for the console. There are a handful of console exclusives released that caught my eye, like Crossed Swords II a action RPG played from a pseudo 1st person perspective. As a fan of Saturn and PlayStation I also appreciate the packaging of NGCD games. They look good on a shelf together, and I might have a slight obsession with spine cards... Additionally, after playing lesser ports of Neo Geo games on consoles released in the same generation, you get a closer experience to the original on the CD because its built off the same hardware as the AES, just with a different mechanism to load the games. Personally, those loading times aren't something that I've been concerned with, as I play on a lot of other CD-based systems and deal with loading all the time. Some of the larger games I probably wouldn't look to play on the NGCD, but as another console to collect for, the library itself is very well balanced and doesn't have a lot of filler/shovelware. A perfect example of something that I would have no interest in on other consoles, but I've been enjoying on the NGCD is a soccer game. 

Super Sidekicks 2 is that soccer game, and was released the same year as the CD console. The game itself isn't very deep, but instead offers fast paced action with fun presentation. You play as the country of your choice, and go through a world tournament until you eventually become the world champ. The game is easy to pick up with a 3 button setup for both offense and defense, and the game gives you a brief tutorial before starting each session. Personally, the defense doesn't work as well as the offense with slide kicks and shoulder checks being difficult to hit, so I don't bother with it outside of some desperation plays. I wouldn't be talking about this game without its presentation. When you score a goal you get a fun cutscene of your player celebrating, or the opposing goalie punching the ground in anger. After halftime or at the start of a game you can hear the crowd chanting "Oleeee Ole Ole Oleee!". The best is when someone gets fouled, which shows both the player that got fouled and the player that committed the foul's reactions. It can turn into the player going super saiyan if you get fouled, and the computer player getting so pissed he screams and runs off the field. Outside of the main single player game, there is an exhibition mode if you want to play a single match or a 2-player game, and even the option to view the arcade attract mode which is fun. Not many sports games grab my attention outside of racing games or the occasional golf game, but this is the first soccer game that I can appreciate and for that I applaud the Neo Geo CD. 

Thanks for reading! I don't think I'll be prioritizing my collecting efforts for the Neo Geo CD, but any stand out experiences I play on the console I'm sure I'll talk about here. In the meantime, I'll be plugging away on a larger group of posts releasing later this year, with other content ideas in the meantime. I also really appreciate any feedback, so let me know if this kind of thing is interesting or if I should focus more on other content!

Sources:

https://www.giantbomb.com/neo-geo/3045-25/

https://www.videogameconsolelibrary.com/pg90-neo_geo_cd.htm#page=reviews

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo_Geo_CD

Review: Sega Touring Car Championship (Sega Saturn 1997)

 Sega Touring Car Championship

One man's trash...

Sega. For a lot of people Sega means a lot of different things. To some Sega can be Sonic the Hedgehog, its flagship franchise. To other people it could mean any of their other franchises whether current or historical like Shinobi, Yakuza, Virtua Fighter, etc. To me, Sega is means personality and innovation. The days of Sega creating home consoles is long gone, and they sit currently as a solid 3rd party publisher and developer with some good IP's, but what about the Sega of old? The legacy Sega has and will leave on video games as as whole is undeniable, but one place I feel like they left one of their biggest marks are with racing games. Sega wasn't the company to create racing games, but they were a purveyor of new ideas and pushing the boundaries of what video games could look and play like. As far back as Monaco GP to Outrun, from Virtua Racing to Daytona USA 2, their evolution of technology made it so that the modern racing game whether arcade or simulation still has its roots Sega's old racers. Of these legendary racing games, I would argue there isn't one that is as divisive as Sega Touring Car Championship. 

Sega Touring Car Championship originally started similar to a lot of other racing games in the 90's as an arcade game released in 1996. Touring car racing itself has a long history, but the main premise and appeal of touring cars is not in the speed of the cars but rather endurance. The main requirement of what makes a touring car a touring car is that it must keep its original production body, but every other racing component is customizable to a racing team's liking. Because of the stock bodies, the cars are less aerodynamic than formula racing making it easier for passes and making for a more physical type of racing akin to NASCAR. After watching several highlights and broadcasts of races, it feels like a slightly slower but more varied version of F1, I'll include one here if you're curious on what actual Touring Car races are like. The nature of the bulkier vehicles leads to either lengthier endurance grand prix racing or short sprints, which is the focus of Sega Touring Car Championship. Similar to Sega Rally Championship before it, Sega was able to license the likeness of different car brands like Toyota, Mercedes, Opel and Alfa Romeo cars that included in both Japanese and European touring car competitions adding an extra layer of realism to the experience. When you start the game, you play a qualifying lap on the first course which determines your starting position. This is similar to actual Touring Car competitions, where the day prior racers have a chance to race in a qualifying lap that fills the same function. Then you play 3 2-lap races and whoever has the best cumulative times across all 3 courses is crowned champion and gets to go onto a bonus round on a secret track. This formula was brought over to the Sega Saturn in 1997 for a home port, but also includes a new "Saturn Side" with some content exclusive to the the console. Let's go into how Sega Touring Car Championship actually holds up and if it's something that is worth your time.

Earlier I said that this game was divisive, but why? That main reason across all versions is the control and difficulty, then for the home port also includes the frame rate. Across these 2-lap races, your car is moving at what feels like a gajillion miles an hour, and controlling your car isn't exactly the easiest. If you're playing the game with a standard Saturn controller on the arcade side, your inputs are so sluggish it feels like your car isn't doing anything. On the opposite hand, with analog controls sometimes your car is too slippery and sudden movements cause your vehicle to careen towards the nearest barricade. That's not all, because there's also road layout that you have to worry about, so even if you're turning at full force it doesn't come out because the tires aren't touching the road the right way and its too late. What Sega Touring Car asks of you is essentially mastery of not only it's difficult controls but also its courses, and unlike Sega Rally Championship you don't have a co-pilot to assist with upcoming turns, you just have to know them already. This makes for an experience that if you play the game for a short period of time, say an hour or two total, is frustrating and incomplete. Even if you do make it to the final race and get 1st place, you can still place 3rd or 4th overall because of a lackluster performance on the previous races because the times are calculated cumulatively. However, with some time investment to the game and its courses, you'll find that the game is rewarding to nail turns, speed past your opponents and come out on top! The last track, Bricktown, is especially rewarding to master, as the road layout affects how your tires grip the tight turns, so when you're able to maintain your speed throughout the track it's a great feeling. This also mainly applies to the "Arcade Side" of the home port, because the "Saturn Side" does have more tuning options to adjust your controls to suit your playstyle. However, you do have to fully complete both sides to get all of the unlockables in the game, so you might as well try and get used to the arcade controls. One thing that you aren't able to control however is the frame rate.

Previews of the Saturn edition of Sega Touring Car Championship from Sega Saturn Magazine
(JP, 7/11/1997 issue)

Presentation-wise, Sega Touring Car Championship on the Saturn isn't the prettiest game by any stretch of the means. Because of the speed of the game, the framerate is pretty variable compared to other racing games on the console like Sega Rally Championship or Daytona USA Circuit Edition. This makes for some frustrating slowdown on some tracks that are a bit more graphically intense like Bricktown Circuit for example. The road also appears a bit strange as well, seemingly warping behind you as you speed by. This framerate slightly improves on the Saturn side of the game, especially the time trials because you're the only car on the track while racing. The models of the cars themselves are detailed with appropriate sponsors for the cars at the time, and the sequences before each track whether a pit stop or a rolling start do add to the overall style of the game. Speaking of style, the music, menus and physical game case are always a nice touch to a game to give it that little extra something, and Sega Touring Car Championship doesn't disappoint. Starting with the in game menus, the car select screen is taken straight from the arcade game, and previews of tracks are given before racing on each course. The standings screens and game over jingle are fun too, not quite on the same level as some other Sega racing games but additive to the presentation nonetheless. The music overall is pretty varied with several choices for your listening experience, including some eurobeat tracks like "So High" from Channel X, a trance selection of songs as well as some Sega produced songs including songs from composer Hiro of Outrun and After Burner fame. The tracks definitely add a flair and sense of speed to the experience that makes it feel even more like a Sega racer. Next, the case and manual. I'll be taking a look at the Japanese copy that I have, which features a full color manual and some other goodies. I appreciate the cover art of the cars zooming down a speedway with the crowd blurred behind them because of the speed, along with thanking the sponsors for allowing the use of their vehicles in the game. The manual is pretty standard fair going over the different controls, modes along with some tips and tricks for racing. It also has some details on a Sega Global Net Event which I'll talk a little bit more about later. Afterwards, there is some renders of the cars (most likely from the arcade game) along with some specs, and layouts of the 3 main tracks from the arcade game as well. Lastly, aside from the spine card and registration card that was featured with Japanese games that came in jewel cases is another small flyer with information about the Net Event.

 

The Net Events were timed exclusive missions based on your internal clock in your Saturn. This wasn't the only game to take advantage of your system's internal clock, but I would argue it's one of the games that has the most unique features surrounding it. I don't believe they are entirely locked behind the internal clock as you can also enter a code if you want to experience them at any point, but where's the fun in that? On Christmas 1997, you can race on a holiday-themed Boomtown Circuit, the new track created for the home console version of the game, perfect to get you in the holiday spirit. You can also trigger events on the 13th of February which triggers a cone-hitting mini game, and as well on April Fools Day where you race against the flow of traffic and try not to hit other cars as they pass you by. Overall, there isn't a ton of content locked behind the timed exclusive events, but it does add some replay value for a game that's mileage may vary from player to player. The other part about the Net Events is that you could actually upload your best arcade side times and share them with people worldwide, whether uploaded on your computer or uploaded from a modem attachment to your Saturn! I'm sure the number of players who actually had the game and a modem in 1997-98 who uploaded times were small, but the fact that it was once a possibility is awesome.

The main reason I had written this article (outside of enjoying my Sega Saturn and this game) was that I recently had an opportunity to play this game in a competition with fellow Sega Saturn enthusiast over at the Sega Saturn Shiro! Discord for their first ever community challenge. The competition itself was a great time getting to connect with people over a game that is underappreciated and niche even by arcade racers. With that being said, I do have a little bias, as I was fortunate and tenacious enough to actually win a category in the competition (Arcade Side, Championship)! The competition itself was pretty stiff, and I wasn't expecting to save as much time as I did, but having someone else to go up against to push your times lower is a great motivator. So I might have a bit more bias in favor of this game compared to people that play it casually, but its my blog so yeah. I'll link the article reviewing the competition below, and I look forward to competing in the future! 

With all that being said, is Sega Touring Car Championship a must have for the console? A must play experience for racing game fans? No, I wouldn't say so. However, it does scratch an itch with its presentation and learning curve for fans of the genre. It's also still a Sega Saturn exclusive, so all the more reason to give my favorite console a little more love.  It also opened my eyes to another type of racing I wasn't aware of, as well as a good little competition that made me feel more connected with people cut from the same cloth, which I'll always appreciate. If you made it this far, thanks for reading! I'll include any links I used for reference or research down below, as well as the competition article I mentioned (I'm QBerT in the article :D). Keep an eye out for more posts in the future, I'm always open to suggestions on what I should cover or games to look at.

Shiro Article:

https://www.segasaturnshiro.com/2024/03/01/shiro-drops-checkered-flag-on-february-community-challenge/

Game References:

https://www.discogs.com/release/21960040-Various-Sega-TouringCar-Championship

https://retrocdn.net/images/4/4c/SSM_JP_19970711_1997-23.pdf

https://segaretro.org/images/f/fb/STCC_SS_jp_manual.pdf

https://segaretro.org/Sega_Touring_Car_Championship

Touring Car References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Touring_car_racing

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Japan_Grand_Touring_Car_Championship

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1995_Deutsche_Tourenwagen_Meisterschaft

 Guardian Force Review

A Shmup Review

The Sega Saturn is no stranger to shmups of all shapes and sizes. Whether you're looking for easy to get into shmups like Layer Section or Thunder Force V, more bullet hell shooters like Dodonpachi, Batsugun or Battle Garegga, or a more light-hearted approach like Twinbee or Cotton, the Saturn is one of the few consoles that really appeals to a shmup fan. Guardian Force I would say isn't one of the best on the platform, but certainly a curiosity that brings some unique ideas to the table among the selection of shmups on the system and a rare one at that as well. Created by Success, the same team that is most well known for the Cotton franchise of games that is still going strong, Guardian Force only has had a handful of home releases. It recently got a release as part of a Saturn collection with Cotton 2 and Cotton Boomerang for modern platforms, but I've heard and read online that the port job wasn't the best, including a good amount of lag which isn't appreciated in a twitch reflex kind of game. I'll be looking at the original Saturn port since that is the best playing version. How does Guardian Force stack up?

Gameplay and Scoring

There are plenty of mid-bosses in Guardian Force

Guardian Force is atypical of other shumps in that you aren't piloting a space ship or plane but rather a tank-like vehicle (I say tank-like because I swear you're flying over some sections and stages, including going underwater). The tank brings some unique aspects to gameplay compared to other ships in the genre. For one, as a tank, you have a turret attached that allows you to shift the direction you're aiming. This allows for some fun stage design where you start a stage going vertically and then switching to a horizontal view, or even going backwards through a stage the way you just came. Shifting your turret can be bound a few different ways control-wise, but I like to have it set to the L and R buttons. Turning for the most part is pretty consistent, but it can get confusing sometimes amongst the chaos of which way you're facing, so I wish there was a reset to your forward direction toggle or button in the options. You also have some unique powerups that can either make a section easier or harder. You have some pretty basic spreadshots, missiles for more concentrated damage, and a bomb shot that explodes on contact making easy work for bosses. My personal favorites are the yellow laser beam that can stay active as you're turning making for a sweeping shot that lasts a decent amount of time, and the green yo-yo like weapon that can really shred a boss from the inside-out. Weapons are powered up by collecting gems sometimes dropped by enemies and bosses or collecting powerups of the same color as your current weapon. Each weapon can get powered up to level 10, but even when you're powered up some weapons just don't do the trick against the common enemies. To me the whole appeal of a spreadshot is making the stage overall easier because the weaker enemies die before they can even attack, but in turn it makes the boss more difficult because your damage isn't as focused. This isn't the case in Guardian Force, as enemies stick around for a little longer than they're welcome. Lastly on the gameplay side of things that is abnormal from other shmups is the diagonal scrolling. sometimes during a stage as it transitions from a horizontal section to a vertical one you'll have part of the stage that scrolls diagonally. It's a little awkward in terms of feel, but I never noticed the presentation dip because of it.

Diagonal Scrolling can make things tricky

 In terms of scoring, there are 2 main ways to rack up a good score being mid-bosses and these bullet medallions. Mid-bosses will usually have a timer pop up before they become active, once they do the time starts counting down. The smaller amount of time that is wasted the larger the bonus that you receive. As far as the medallions, they start in a smaller bonus that gets larger as you collect more in sequential order going from 100 bonus points to 12800 points. The catch is if you fail to pick up any of the medals, it goes back to the 100 point bonus. I usually don't play these games for score as much as I do completion, but knowing the scoring system can help you earn an extra life here or there. Outside of the weapons, rotating turret and scrolling in stages, Guardian Force is pretty average for a shmup of this era in terms of gameplay and on the more difficult side of shmups on the console. It's nowhere near Battle Garegga's difficulty, but still a difficult clear nonetheless. There are some accessibility options for difficulty and amount of lives, so enjoy the game in whatever way works for you.

Presentation

Graphically, I'd say Guardian Force is middle of the road for the console. The pixel art is very colorful, backgrounds tell a good story of your location and enemy designs are varied enough, but there isn't as much parallax scrolling as other 2D shmups or games on the console. I wonder if that has something to do with the diagonal scrolling on some stages, but I digress. Circling back to those backgrounds, they sometimes don't mesh well with bullet colors and can make for a difficult time navigating areas. Stage-B immediately comes to mind with these issues. Musically I'd say the game is pretty lackluster. There were maybe 2-3 tracks that I remember and enjoyed, but nothing else really stood out. I wouldn't say that the soundtrack gets in the way of gameplay, but it's just kinda there for most of the experience which is a shame. The box art and manual are a nice part of the presentation as well, giving a good rundown on starting the game, weapons and bombs, and even a bit of backstory. Here's a roughly translated and abridged version of what little story there is. As I understand it, some crystal-like objects were unearthed named "Force" which provided a great leap forward in technology and science. The Hammerbolt Empire are using the Force to build weapons and invade other countries. A secret society known as "Guardian" knew about Force and were able to seal it away from the military empire and as a countermeasure developed a top-secret Force equipped tank (that's you!). Without the manual, none of this is explained in any fashion at any point. 

Closing Thoughts

While Guardian Force is a fun time, I don't think it's anywhere near the best on the platform. I can appreciate what Success was going for and I think the concept overall is a breath of fresh air, but it could've been better executed on both the gameplay and presentation front. That being said, I still see value in the game and would recommend it if you're a fan of the genre. I would also recommend playing the Saturn version if you have access to it, but don't go out of your way to buy it unless you're collecting rare games or are a hardcore fan of the shmup genre. I paid a pretty penny on this game, but I wouldn't say I regret it. It's a game I never thought I would have the chance to own but I'm happy I do!

If I had to put a number rating on Guardian Force, I would say around a 6.5/10 feels right in my mind. Thanks for reading and keep an eye out for more shmup reviews in the future!

All research and high-scan pictures can be found here: Sega Retro