Magical Chase (PCE, 1991)
Graphics-8.5 Sound-8.5 Control-7.5 Challenge-8 Story-4?
Level Design-8 Frustration-7.5/8.5* Fun-8/7* Originality-6
Overall Score-7.5
*Without elixirs, medicine and health spells/consumables
+
Shops (buy weapons for the witch and drones (some shops only), lifebar upgrades (up to 12 hearts, each heart costs more) and consumable items/spells with money dropped by enemies+rewarded at the end of levels; Forgotten Worlds, Fantasy Zone)
Health bar and some enemies drop health+can buy health consumables (2 hearts each)
Customizable gun drone formations (can lock the drones/stars themselves in place plus lock the angle they fire at as well, or you can let them move opposite to the direction you last pressed; can't make them move further away from your avatar however). Gun drones can also be used as a shield vs regular enemy bullets
Difficulty options (normal or hard since easy mode is just a training mode)
Nice art direction and very good visual variation, Expressive sprites
Mini-bosses
Completion stats (money collected, max life, medicines used, etc.)
Some nice visual effects (parallax, faked sprite scaling (third boss), fake polygons)
Pretty impressive chiptune music
Little to no slowdown
Good bosses overall
Some interesting enemies (the witches that reset your gun drone config, shielded spike ball boss - mimics your gun drone formation but in reverse)
Pretty good variety
+/-
Can buy an elixir which saves you from death and fully heals you once (Zelda 3)
Can't change gun drone setup while the game is paused - fairly easy to get it wrong in stressful situations
Boss rush in the last level (some bosses are upgraded however and there are also some new ones in the mix)
Enemy drops disappear after a few seconds
Shows the mini-boss of a level before starting it but not the main boss
No contact damage from flying into obstacles
One item/spell removes on-screen enemy shots like a smart bomb except it does no damage - kinda weak as it lasts only for a split second and you have to queue up several of the same item to use it repeatedly+have to double tap to use it so you often have to memorize when to use it)
HP upgrades are a bit too cheap
Focusing your drone fire and shielding to the front is generally better as back attacks or ones from above and below are pretty rare
Unlimited continues
-
Have to buy the option to change your ship's speed and it's relatively expensive at 800 credits (three settings, also no need for slower as normal is already on the verge of too slow at times)
No weapon or spell/consumable item inventory and no way to quickly switch back to a previous weapon
Trial & error (doesn't explain how to use spells/consumable shop items - double tap button 2, various attacks and boss patterns, can't test a weapon in the shop before buying it, some item descriptions are vague (medicine "energizes" you=it heals you) and one is misleading (the cross doesn't destroy enemy bullets?), in some shops both the weapons are for the witch - it's not one for her and one for the drones so if you buy both you're replacing one of them and wasting your money)
Sometimes uneven difficulty (semi-safe spot vs the final boss (go above him and aim the drones downwards) and he dies pretty quickly this way - if you don't the fight is kinda tedious instead as he's hard to hit, kind of easy third level besides the boss, Level 4's boss dies too quickly (with bubble shot+cyclone+cross spell; spikes: toy level's narrow path, most of level 5, level 6, no shops during level 6 meaning the money is only for points here unless you die at that level)
Easy mode isn't the full game - just the first three levels (selected by default and should've been called practice mode)
Bubble shot kinda sucks
Kind of annoying how mini-bosses escape if you take more than about 50-60 secs to kill them
The temporary shot strength upgrades for the gun drones (via spells/consumables) last only about 12 seconds+they don't do that much but they can be crucial against mini-bosses if you want to take them out before they escape
No mid-level checkpoints and you don't respawn on the spot (the elixir and health items help though)
Can't buy the bullet clearing item in lvl 5
No ending (not even on hard mode, no intro either)
Somewhat short at 6 levels
Most bosses are kinda small
Sometimes weak sfx
Minor sprite flicker (fourth mini-boss)
Notes:
-Not compatible with a turbo controller? Does have auto-fire by default however
Level Design-8 Frustration-7.5/8.5* Fun-8/7* Originality-6
Overall Score-7.5
*Without elixirs, medicine and health spells/consumables
+
Shops (buy weapons for the witch and drones (some shops only), lifebar upgrades (up to 12 hearts, each heart costs more) and consumable items/spells with money dropped by enemies+rewarded at the end of levels; Forgotten Worlds, Fantasy Zone)
Health bar and some enemies drop health+can buy health consumables (2 hearts each)
Customizable gun drone formations (can lock the drones/stars themselves in place plus lock the angle they fire at as well, or you can let them move opposite to the direction you last pressed; can't make them move further away from your avatar however). Gun drones can also be used as a shield vs regular enemy bullets
Difficulty options (normal or hard since easy mode is just a training mode)
Nice art direction and very good visual variation, Expressive sprites
Mini-bosses
Completion stats (money collected, max life, medicines used, etc.)
Some nice visual effects (parallax, faked sprite scaling (third boss), fake polygons)
Pretty impressive chiptune music
Little to no slowdown
Good bosses overall
Some interesting enemies (the witches that reset your gun drone config, shielded spike ball boss - mimics your gun drone formation but in reverse)
Pretty good variety
+/-
Can buy an elixir which saves you from death and fully heals you once (Zelda 3)
Can't change gun drone setup while the game is paused - fairly easy to get it wrong in stressful situations
Boss rush in the last level (some bosses are upgraded however and there are also some new ones in the mix)
Enemy drops disappear after a few seconds
Shows the mini-boss of a level before starting it but not the main boss
No contact damage from flying into obstacles
One item/spell removes on-screen enemy shots like a smart bomb except it does no damage - kinda weak as it lasts only for a split second and you have to queue up several of the same item to use it repeatedly+have to double tap to use it so you often have to memorize when to use it)
HP upgrades are a bit too cheap
Focusing your drone fire and shielding to the front is generally better as back attacks or ones from above and below are pretty rare
Unlimited continues
-
Have to buy the option to change your ship's speed and it's relatively expensive at 800 credits (three settings, also no need for slower as normal is already on the verge of too slow at times)
No weapon or spell/consumable item inventory and no way to quickly switch back to a previous weapon
Trial & error (doesn't explain how to use spells/consumable shop items - double tap button 2, various attacks and boss patterns, can't test a weapon in the shop before buying it, some item descriptions are vague (medicine "energizes" you=it heals you) and one is misleading (the cross doesn't destroy enemy bullets?), in some shops both the weapons are for the witch - it's not one for her and one for the drones so if you buy both you're replacing one of them and wasting your money)
Sometimes uneven difficulty (semi-safe spot vs the final boss (go above him and aim the drones downwards) and he dies pretty quickly this way - if you don't the fight is kinda tedious instead as he's hard to hit, kind of easy third level besides the boss, Level 4's boss dies too quickly (with bubble shot+cyclone+cross spell; spikes: toy level's narrow path, most of level 5, level 6, no shops during level 6 meaning the money is only for points here unless you die at that level)
Easy mode isn't the full game - just the first three levels (selected by default and should've been called practice mode)
Bubble shot kinda sucks
Kind of annoying how mini-bosses escape if you take more than about 50-60 secs to kill them
The temporary shot strength upgrades for the gun drones (via spells/consumables) last only about 12 seconds+they don't do that much but they can be crucial against mini-bosses if you want to take them out before they escape
No mid-level checkpoints and you don't respawn on the spot (the elixir and health items help though)
Can't buy the bullet clearing item in lvl 5
No ending (not even on hard mode, no intro either)
Somewhat short at 6 levels
Most bosses are kinda small
Sometimes weak sfx
Minor sprite flicker (fourth mini-boss)
Notes:
-Not compatible with a turbo controller? Does have auto-fire by default however