Burai Fighter (NES, 1990)
Graphics-8 Sound-7.5 Control-8 Challenge-8 Story-4
Level Design-7.5 Frustration-7.5 Fun-7.5 Originality-6
Overall Score-7.5
+
Decent variety
8-way targeting - Forgotten Worlds
Passwords (short, but they don’t save your status)
Good bosses (most are too weak in default/easy mode though, large and detailed sprites)
Good replay value (higher difficulties (normal or hard) allow you to face new enemies and make the bosses last longer)
Some hidden items
Mini-boss (yes, only one in the first level)
Smart bombs (trigger when touched though and doesn't affect vehicles and artillery) and a spinning shield orb (temporary invincibility+kills enemies)
Fairly frequent checkpoints (you also get to keep weapon levels for the two weapons that weren’t equipped when you died, as well as your smart bombs)
+/-
Re-uses some enemy types over and over
-
Slow scrolling speed in all but one segment
Non-adjustable speed (need to collect power ups, slowest is at least pretty fast so you’re not screwed if you die later on)
Sometimes hard to tell if you’re damaging an enemy (the mini-boss)
You’re a big target for a shoot ‘em up sprite (though the hitbox is smaller than the sprite)
Trial & error (the game sometimes traps you by changing scrolling direction, boss patterns, some unexpected attacks)
Hard to recover if you lose 3+ lives later on
Lame top down levels (need to check and follow the map exactly or you’ll get lost and the level design is pretty much non-existent, only two of them though and they’re short)
Level Design-7.5 Frustration-7.5 Fun-7.5 Originality-6
Overall Score-7.5
+
Decent variety
8-way targeting - Forgotten Worlds
Passwords (short, but they don’t save your status)
Good bosses (most are too weak in default/easy mode though, large and detailed sprites)
Good replay value (higher difficulties (normal or hard) allow you to face new enemies and make the bosses last longer)
Some hidden items
Mini-boss (yes, only one in the first level)
Smart bombs (trigger when touched though and doesn't affect vehicles and artillery) and a spinning shield orb (temporary invincibility+kills enemies)
Fairly frequent checkpoints (you also get to keep weapon levels for the two weapons that weren’t equipped when you died, as well as your smart bombs)
+/-
Re-uses some enemy types over and over
-
Slow scrolling speed in all but one segment
Non-adjustable speed (need to collect power ups, slowest is at least pretty fast so you’re not screwed if you die later on)
Sometimes hard to tell if you’re damaging an enemy (the mini-boss)
You’re a big target for a shoot ‘em up sprite (though the hitbox is smaller than the sprite)
Trial & error (the game sometimes traps you by changing scrolling direction, boss patterns, some unexpected attacks)
Hard to recover if you lose 3+ lives later on
Lame top down levels (need to check and follow the map exactly or you’ll get lost and the level design is pretty much non-existent, only two of them though and they’re short)