Sorcer Striker/Mahou Daisakusen (ARC, 1993)
Graphics-8 Sound-7.5 Control-7.5 Challenge-8* Story-4
Level Design-7.5 Frustration-7.5* Fun-7.5 Originality-5.5
Overall Score-7.5
*Necromancer ship
+
Fast and intense action overall (Aleste/Spriggan-like gameplay, parts of level 5 is a bit slow)
4 different player ships with a different pilot for each (fighter, witch, samurai, necromancer; different sub weapon projectiles and speed - necromancer seems the slowest followed by the witch)
2-player co-op (second player can join in at any point)
Many mini-bosses
Smart bombs (gain a 2+ per level, eats up bullets during its blast, regain 3 bombs after death)
Pretty good variety
Gun drones (2) but can't change their formation
Great art direction, Good visual variety, Various large and detailed sprites, Nice explosions and feedback from hitting enemies
Many upgrades for the main shot? (grab the coins)
Fantasy/sci-fi theme - unusual for the genre but very similar to Spriggan
Difficulty options (easy-very hard - more aggressive enemies and sometimes harder patterns on hard, lives per credit, cost per credit (can only increase it though), some point intervals for gaining lives)
One cool weapon (homing flamethrower, works differently for the necro (fast forward beams that go straight sideways as they cross paths horizontally with an enemy)
Good bosses overall (easy first one)
Some interesting level design (castle where the walls move and attempt to crush you+some breakable blocks lining up to block your path - beating the mini-boss causes a dam to break and the level to get flooded, one coliseum-themed level which is basically a mini-boss rush (new bosses only) and with a crowd that throws power ups at you after each victory (also get more if you did well), one recurring mini-boss that returns after the finale - similar to Soldier Blade except not as well executed here, enemies that tackle blocks into you on level 5)
Can pick apart most bosses to gain more points
Unique music track for each boss
+/-
3 different sub weapons only (3 levels each - grabbing more yields a point bonus)
Touching walls doesn't hurt
One hit deaths (no shields or HP upgrades)
Some randomization to boss patterns means they're sometimes easier or harder
Can make the gun drones spin around your ship once by doing by turning horizontally after moving in one direction for about half the screen but it doesn't seem to do anything (doesn't destroy either destructible or non-destructible projectiles) - could've been a tricky to use defensive maneuver
Forgiving hit detection (goes for power ups as well though)
Most of the game is relatively easy if you have fully upgraded sub weapons and some bombs
-
Some control/interface issues (semi-auto fire only - shoots a short burst with each press,)
Sometimes your firepower is a bit distracting (ninja boss, level 6 main boss when the mid part starts spraying bullets)
Coins can fall off screen and they tend to spread out too much while quickly falling downwards (making it hard to catch more than one per bag)
After dying your ship drops its sub weapon power ups and two of them also tend to spread out and fall off screen so you can really only regain one level after death on a consistent basis - the game does hand out sub weapon upgrades during boss fights but only up to level 6
No speed adjustment - generally not needed but your speed as the necromancer is too slow to grab more than one falling power up at times
Some trial & error (robot giant boss w/ morning stars and ninja, some patterns of most bosses, some parts of levels)
Difficulty spike at level 6
A bit short (6 levels)
Pretty easy level 4 boss and last phase of the level 5 boss
The underwater effect in level 3 could've been better
Safe spot at bottom of screen vs the very final boss and it's not much of a fight either
Kinda scratchy and somewhat muffled samples and the music is in mono
Notes:
-Better on ARC than FMT or X68K according to retrocore (no proper tate mode, X68K one does offer midi support for an alternate OST) - Is also being ported to PS4 by M2 with some extras though?
Level Design-7.5 Frustration-7.5* Fun-7.5 Originality-5.5
Overall Score-7.5
*Necromancer ship
+
Fast and intense action overall (Aleste/Spriggan-like gameplay, parts of level 5 is a bit slow)
4 different player ships with a different pilot for each (fighter, witch, samurai, necromancer; different sub weapon projectiles and speed - necromancer seems the slowest followed by the witch)
2-player co-op (second player can join in at any point)
Many mini-bosses
Smart bombs (gain a 2+ per level, eats up bullets during its blast, regain 3 bombs after death)
Pretty good variety
Gun drones (2) but can't change their formation
Great art direction, Good visual variety, Various large and detailed sprites, Nice explosions and feedback from hitting enemies
Many upgrades for the main shot? (grab the coins)
Fantasy/sci-fi theme - unusual for the genre but very similar to Spriggan
Difficulty options (easy-very hard - more aggressive enemies and sometimes harder patterns on hard, lives per credit, cost per credit (can only increase it though), some point intervals for gaining lives)
One cool weapon (homing flamethrower, works differently for the necro (fast forward beams that go straight sideways as they cross paths horizontally with an enemy)
Good bosses overall (easy first one)
Some interesting level design (castle where the walls move and attempt to crush you+some breakable blocks lining up to block your path - beating the mini-boss causes a dam to break and the level to get flooded, one coliseum-themed level which is basically a mini-boss rush (new bosses only) and with a crowd that throws power ups at you after each victory (also get more if you did well), one recurring mini-boss that returns after the finale - similar to Soldier Blade except not as well executed here, enemies that tackle blocks into you on level 5)
Can pick apart most bosses to gain more points
Unique music track for each boss
+/-
3 different sub weapons only (3 levels each - grabbing more yields a point bonus)
Touching walls doesn't hurt
One hit deaths (no shields or HP upgrades)
Some randomization to boss patterns means they're sometimes easier or harder
Can make the gun drones spin around your ship once by doing by turning horizontally after moving in one direction for about half the screen but it doesn't seem to do anything (doesn't destroy either destructible or non-destructible projectiles) - could've been a tricky to use defensive maneuver
Forgiving hit detection (goes for power ups as well though)
Most of the game is relatively easy if you have fully upgraded sub weapons and some bombs
-
Some control/interface issues (semi-auto fire only - shoots a short burst with each press,)
Sometimes your firepower is a bit distracting (ninja boss, level 6 main boss when the mid part starts spraying bullets)
Coins can fall off screen and they tend to spread out too much while quickly falling downwards (making it hard to catch more than one per bag)
After dying your ship drops its sub weapon power ups and two of them also tend to spread out and fall off screen so you can really only regain one level after death on a consistent basis - the game does hand out sub weapon upgrades during boss fights but only up to level 6
No speed adjustment - generally not needed but your speed as the necromancer is too slow to grab more than one falling power up at times
Some trial & error (robot giant boss w/ morning stars and ninja, some patterns of most bosses, some parts of levels)
Difficulty spike at level 6
A bit short (6 levels)
Pretty easy level 4 boss and last phase of the level 5 boss
The underwater effect in level 3 could've been better
Safe spot at bottom of screen vs the very final boss and it's not much of a fight either
Kinda scratchy and somewhat muffled samples and the music is in mono
Notes:
-Better on ARC than FMT or X68K according to retrocore (no proper tate mode, X68K one does offer midi support for an alternate OST) - Is also being ported to PS4 by M2 with some extras though?