Nexzr (PCE CD, 1992)
Graphics-8 Sound-8.5 Control-8 Challenge-8 Story-6
Level Design-7 Frustration-8.5 Fun-7 Originality-5.5
Overall Score-7
+
Mini-bosses (main bosses sometimes attack during the level)
Pretty intense at times
Difficulty options (normal-very hard (last option is in JP text that translates to "so cruel"), no easy mode, faster bullets and bosses shoot more of them on hard)
Shield power up (take one more hit)
Gun drones that home in on enemies (similar to one formation-style in MUSHA)
Some good bosses (lvl 4, lvl 5 first phase, most have at least two phases, final boss although it's not that hard)
Some cool/interesting level design (enemy armada warping in in lvl 1, expanding force fields in lvl 6, level 5's battleship turret+hangar segment)
Pretty nice intro (kinda long and slow at times though with a few artwork stills thrown in, very gundam/macross-like) and pre-final boss cutscenes
Some nice visual effects (the large ships warping in in lvl 1, scaling effect)
Good art direction and animation overall (the player ship is a bit generic looking sadly)
+/-
Pretty steep difficulty curve
The gun drones are a sub weapon - you can't use both drones and a sub weapon
Borrows the high speed segment from Life Force and the side shots that travel along walls from Gradius
Don't respawn on the spot - pretty frequent checkpoints instead (while you lose your power ups your default shot is relatively strong)
Most bosses die pretty quickly (at least if you have a weapon upgrade+the gun drones)
Contact damage from walls
There's a homing laser sub weapon (Raid on Bungeling Bay and After Burner II had homing projectiles) however it's kinda weak and sometimes doesn't aim properly
Minor slowdown at times
Can't change the gun drones' focus manually - might've been overpowered though
Fairly easy to rack up extra lives
Kinda weak spreadshot weapon - not that useful later on
Unlimited continnues
-
No ship speed adjustment - default ship speed is pretty fast but not quite fast enough to react to various attacks after the first 2 levels or so - leads to more memorization
No weapon inventory - some parts are a lot harder with the wrong weapon or sub weapon (or vice versa)
No smart bombs
Short invincibility time after losing the shield - in various situations you'll get hit again from a volley of shots or other hazards and die even if you had a shield
Trial & error (fast attacks from behind, having the right weapon for a given situation, many attacks at once at times, speed segment, boss patterns, the blue enemies that come from behind and attach to walls have no hit box while flying, die immediately from flying into a wall/stationary obstacle even if you have a shield - forgiving hit detection at least, etc)
Usually no chance to upgrade your ship if you die to a boss
Some difficulty dips (very easy first boss and easy second boss, easy first phase of lvl 3's boss and second phase of lvl 5's boss, easy second to last boss) and spikes (speed segment, mid-level 4 where you have to not shoot the small enemies from the front, lvl 6 segment where you need to kill enemies before they fire and another where it's better not to shoot some enemies, etc)
Regular enemy shots are small and not particularly bright - your own shots and gun drones can be a bit distracting
Weapons can't be upgraded and only two different main weapons and sub weapons - you'll feel a bit underpowered throughout most of the game
Somewhat slow paced at times (lvl 2, some pauses in the action here and there)
No sfx when dying, Character faces in the cutscenes generally don't look that great
Power ups are kind of rare overall (some weapons only show up twice) and you can't change one that you already have equipped into something else by shooting it or waiting for it to cycle
A bit short at 6 levels (about 30 mins minus cutscenes if you don't die)
Samey locales (you're always in space, no alien/trippy environments, mostly blue and gray tones to the backgrounds) make the game feel a bit repetitive even if it isn't gameplay-wise
Kind of annoying and loud diagonal laser sub weapon sfx
Lame ending (just some sepia toned stills of the boss fights) especially considering the intro and pre-final boss cutscenes
Level Design-7 Frustration-8.5 Fun-7 Originality-5.5
Overall Score-7
+
Mini-bosses (main bosses sometimes attack during the level)
Pretty intense at times
Difficulty options (normal-very hard (last option is in JP text that translates to "so cruel"), no easy mode, faster bullets and bosses shoot more of them on hard)
Shield power up (take one more hit)
Gun drones that home in on enemies (similar to one formation-style in MUSHA)
Some good bosses (lvl 4, lvl 5 first phase, most have at least two phases, final boss although it's not that hard)
Some cool/interesting level design (enemy armada warping in in lvl 1, expanding force fields in lvl 6, level 5's battleship turret+hangar segment)
Pretty nice intro (kinda long and slow at times though with a few artwork stills thrown in, very gundam/macross-like) and pre-final boss cutscenes
Some nice visual effects (the large ships warping in in lvl 1, scaling effect)
Good art direction and animation overall (the player ship is a bit generic looking sadly)
+/-
Pretty steep difficulty curve
The gun drones are a sub weapon - you can't use both drones and a sub weapon
Borrows the high speed segment from Life Force and the side shots that travel along walls from Gradius
Don't respawn on the spot - pretty frequent checkpoints instead (while you lose your power ups your default shot is relatively strong)
Most bosses die pretty quickly (at least if you have a weapon upgrade+the gun drones)
Contact damage from walls
There's a homing laser sub weapon (Raid on Bungeling Bay and After Burner II had homing projectiles) however it's kinda weak and sometimes doesn't aim properly
Minor slowdown at times
Can't change the gun drones' focus manually - might've been overpowered though
Fairly easy to rack up extra lives
Kinda weak spreadshot weapon - not that useful later on
Unlimited continnues
-
No ship speed adjustment - default ship speed is pretty fast but not quite fast enough to react to various attacks after the first 2 levels or so - leads to more memorization
No weapon inventory - some parts are a lot harder with the wrong weapon or sub weapon (or vice versa)
No smart bombs
Short invincibility time after losing the shield - in various situations you'll get hit again from a volley of shots or other hazards and die even if you had a shield
Trial & error (fast attacks from behind, having the right weapon for a given situation, many attacks at once at times, speed segment, boss patterns, the blue enemies that come from behind and attach to walls have no hit box while flying, die immediately from flying into a wall/stationary obstacle even if you have a shield - forgiving hit detection at least, etc)
Usually no chance to upgrade your ship if you die to a boss
Some difficulty dips (very easy first boss and easy second boss, easy first phase of lvl 3's boss and second phase of lvl 5's boss, easy second to last boss) and spikes (speed segment, mid-level 4 where you have to not shoot the small enemies from the front, lvl 6 segment where you need to kill enemies before they fire and another where it's better not to shoot some enemies, etc)
Regular enemy shots are small and not particularly bright - your own shots and gun drones can be a bit distracting
Weapons can't be upgraded and only two different main weapons and sub weapons - you'll feel a bit underpowered throughout most of the game
Somewhat slow paced at times (lvl 2, some pauses in the action here and there)
No sfx when dying, Character faces in the cutscenes generally don't look that great
Power ups are kind of rare overall (some weapons only show up twice) and you can't change one that you already have equipped into something else by shooting it or waiting for it to cycle
A bit short at 6 levels (about 30 mins minus cutscenes if you don't die)
Samey locales (you're always in space, no alien/trippy environments, mostly blue and gray tones to the backgrounds) make the game feel a bit repetitive even if it isn't gameplay-wise
Kind of annoying and loud diagonal laser sub weapon sfx
Lame ending (just some sepia toned stills of the boss fights) especially considering the intro and pre-final boss cutscenes