Gain Ground (MD, 1991)
Graphics-6 Sound-7.5 Control-5-7 (varies) Challenge-8
Level Design-7 Frustration-9 Fun-6.5* Originality-7
Overall Score-7
*1-player
+
Lots of different characters to play as
Some fun weapons
2-player coop
Interesting blend of strategy and action
Good length
Difficulty options (easy mode cuts out about 10 stages but is otherwise pretty much the same as normal)
Some good bosses
Decent enemy variation
Destructible walls (only in final level unfortunately)
+/-
The first character you lose can be rescued but each one after that will die unless you rescue the previously lost character
-
No password/save
Sloppy hit detection
The height difference thing gets tiresome pretty quick (lots of characters can't hit enemies on a different level)
Lots of poor characters (most are too specialized for any given situation, many are too slow to be any fun to play as)
Trial & error (ambushes, learning each character, final boss)
Starts out too slow and easy
Slow paced
Repetitive
Uneven difficulty curve
Missing sfx
The music doesn't use the entire sound chip (fm drums, no psg(?))
Poor use of color (except for some bosses)
If you kill all enemies in a stage while rescuing a character then said character dies - you need to first get to the exit with one character then use a second one to clear the screen
No boss music
Level Design-7 Frustration-9 Fun-6.5* Originality-7
Overall Score-7
*1-player
+
Lots of different characters to play as
Some fun weapons
2-player coop
Interesting blend of strategy and action
Good length
Difficulty options (easy mode cuts out about 10 stages but is otherwise pretty much the same as normal)
Some good bosses
Decent enemy variation
Destructible walls (only in final level unfortunately)
+/-
The first character you lose can be rescued but each one after that will die unless you rescue the previously lost character
-
No password/save
Sloppy hit detection
The height difference thing gets tiresome pretty quick (lots of characters can't hit enemies on a different level)
Lots of poor characters (most are too specialized for any given situation, many are too slow to be any fun to play as)
Trial & error (ambushes, learning each character, final boss)
Starts out too slow and easy
Slow paced
Repetitive
Uneven difficulty curve
Missing sfx
The music doesn't use the entire sound chip (fm drums, no psg(?))
Poor use of color (except for some bosses)
If you kill all enemies in a stage while rescuing a character then said character dies - you need to first get to the exit with one character then use a second one to clear the screen
No boss music