Space Manbow (MSX, 1989)(w/ Fixes Hack)
Graphics-9 Sound-9 Control-7.5 Challenge-7.5 Story-6
Level Design-8 Frustration-7.5 Fun-8 Originality-6.5
Overall Score-8
+
Some very large and detailed sprites
Pretty good variety
Relatively smooth scrolling
Two gun drones (can't change their position but can switch between three formations - forward, backward, both directions vertically)
Keep your current base weapon power level after dying
Smart bombs (can be triggered manually but it's mapped to the fire button so it's hard to use it optimally)
Level hazards (large tanks/ships/bases, asteroid field which blocks enemy laser shots)
Parts of levels sometimes scroll diagonally and vertically,
Pretty nice cutscenes
Pretty good art direction
Some nice effects (parallax)
Fixes hack: Less slowdown (still noticeable though) and higher framerate, many animations are smoother, harder level 7 boss due to a bug fix (makes the bubbles more frequent),
+/-
Checkpoint system (only 1-2 per level but you don't spawn right before a boss if you die at it which is generally good)
Weapon upgrade levels degrade over time (the bar at the top of the screen show which level you're currently at)
Upgradeable speed (can't manually change it after upgrading though)
No shield
Gradius/R-Type-like level design
Pretty forgiving hit detection, second loop/unlockable hard mode
-
No auto-fire (use joytokey)
Somewhat low rate of fire (three shots on screen at once, higher when near enemies though)
No weapon inventory?
Some slowdown
Only two levels of weapon upgrades
Easy first two bosses and level 6 boss, pretty short third and eighth levels, trial & error (some bosses, the fast segment, some fast back attacks)
Lose all speed upgrades and both drones after death (but you'll build again pretty quickly)
Pretty easy final boss
No difficulty options?
Comment:
The other best shooter on the MSX, and this hack mostly smooths out the technical issues of the original (which weren't that big to begin with). It's also quite forgiving for an old shoot 'em up. It didn't quite blow me away as it feels a lot like a mix of Gradius and R-Type, and the weapon system isn't that interesting besides the gun drone formations. Still a must play if you want to explore the MSX library though.
Level Design-8 Frustration-7.5 Fun-8 Originality-6.5
Overall Score-8
+
Some very large and detailed sprites
Pretty good variety
Relatively smooth scrolling
Two gun drones (can't change their position but can switch between three formations - forward, backward, both directions vertically)
Keep your current base weapon power level after dying
Smart bombs (can be triggered manually but it's mapped to the fire button so it's hard to use it optimally)
Level hazards (large tanks/ships/bases, asteroid field which blocks enemy laser shots)
Parts of levels sometimes scroll diagonally and vertically,
Pretty nice cutscenes
Pretty good art direction
Some nice effects (parallax)
Fixes hack: Less slowdown (still noticeable though) and higher framerate, many animations are smoother, harder level 7 boss due to a bug fix (makes the bubbles more frequent),
+/-
Checkpoint system (only 1-2 per level but you don't spawn right before a boss if you die at it which is generally good)
Weapon upgrade levels degrade over time (the bar at the top of the screen show which level you're currently at)
Upgradeable speed (can't manually change it after upgrading though)
No shield
Gradius/R-Type-like level design
Pretty forgiving hit detection, second loop/unlockable hard mode
-
No auto-fire (use joytokey)
Somewhat low rate of fire (three shots on screen at once, higher when near enemies though)
No weapon inventory?
Some slowdown
Only two levels of weapon upgrades
Easy first two bosses and level 6 boss, pretty short third and eighth levels, trial & error (some bosses, the fast segment, some fast back attacks)
Lose all speed upgrades and both drones after death (but you'll build again pretty quickly)
Pretty easy final boss
No difficulty options?
Comment:
The other best shooter on the MSX, and this hack mostly smooths out the technical issues of the original (which weren't that big to begin with). It's also quite forgiving for an old shoot 'em up. It didn't quite blow me away as it feels a lot like a mix of Gradius and R-Type, and the weapon system isn't that interesting besides the gun drone formations. Still a must play if you want to explore the MSX library though.