Tyrian 2000 (PC, 1999)
Graphics-7.5 Sound-8.5 Control-7.5 Challenge-7.5**/9* Story-6
Level Design-7 Frustration-8**/10* Fun-7? Originality-6.5
Overall Score-7
*First hidden level
**w/ occasional mouse controls, otherwise near impossible at times
+
Save in-between levels (10 nameable slots - few chars though)
Shops in-between levels in normal/story mode (buy gear with money collected in the levels (both from drops and from destroying enemies), can respec at any point since buying and selling prices are 1:1 - the game auto-sells what you spent on one piece of gear if you buy a different one in a category)
Find (access to via the shop) new ships during levels (these have different stats and can use different gear) - long description texts by the ship salesman
Upgradeable weapons+shields+generator (powers higher level weapons and the shield)
Life bar and shield - the shield regenerates during levels
Front+rear gun+two sidekicks/gun drones (each drone can have a different weapon)
Pretty impressive FM synth music
Can exit a level at any point
Arcade and time attack modes (no shop here - you collect weapons as power ups and upgrade them by collecting other items (also happens in the normal/story mode but it's pretty rare), no ship/shield/generator upgrades but you start off with better attributes than in normal mode)
Difficulty options (easy-hard)
Multiple paths through the game (depends on which data cubes you find and collect and if you collect more than one level cubes you can choose between those levels on a map screen - oftentimes you'll miss the alternate path's cube and not know if you did or not though, the paths are more frequent in episode 5)
Mini-bosses
Hidden levels (find and collect flashing orange orbs)
Find tourist guides to other levels during levels (not helpful for gameplay but adds some personality to the game)
Can find transmission cubes (some intercepted similar to Bionic Commando; adds to lore but is almost never important to gameplay)
2-player co-op with the option to join together and have one plater shoot and aim while the other moves (arcade mode only)
Some rear weapons have an alternate firing mode
Can find HP restoratives during levels (but not shield restoratives)
Decent art direction (looks like a later Amiga game, some nice artwork stills at the end of episodes)
Christmas mode option during christmas time (changes the look of bullets and items - turns standard bullets into candy canes for example)
Optional mini-game levels (variations on the main game, very tough)
Some good bosses (last two episode 4 bosses are pretty lengthy and varied, some have more than one phase and/or multiple parts to destroy)
Game speed options (5 levels, on the fly, above normal is generally not a good idea)
Separate sfx and music volume controls (on the fly)
Many different weapons to choose from over the course of a game (each ship can only equip some of the total selection though?)
Long for a shoot 'em up (30+ levels)
Some interesting enemies and level design (the 2.5D archs in ep 4 lvl 1, the "cranes" in the ep 3 fleet level which pull your ship towards the front of them)
Sometimes the voice commentary or signs in the level warn you of specific incoming hazards (the voice generally isn't that helpful though and just says stuff like "warning" before a boss or as a high speed segment starts)
Two of the gun drone weapons work like the pod from R-Type (can be shot out and pulled back to your ship)
Satisfying late-game firepower
One of the ships is a carrot (jazz jackrabbit reference)
Unlockable new game+ (gives access to the OP banana main and rear shots)
+/-
Fairly frequent HP/armor restoratives which appear when you're near death
Resource management aspect to the generators - their energy will gradually drain to zero when using the most powerful weapons and this affects your firepower and shields if you're constantly firing
Can't switch weapons during a level - still flexible since you have unlimited lives and can retry any level over and over with a new build
Turns into a bullet hell shooter in the first hidden level but generally isn't
The gun drones/sidekicks don't block enemy bullets
Can't replay beaten levels (besides reloading a save from before the level)
Can make levels scroll sideways (can make you miss data cubes)
Some gun drone weapons have limited ammo - you'll regain some ammo during levels though
Amiga logo cameo (one of the point/money items)
In some levels you can pick up additional ammo-based sub weapons called bombs but they work like bullets
There is a smart bomb of sorts (seems tied to having a special weapon) which fires a bunch of balls in all directions but I'm not sure what triggers it
Pretty cheesy story (told in text over artwork stills between certain levels besides the transmissions you can find) and it goes off the rails towards the end of episode 4 and gets pretty lame for episode 5 (fruit theme, more of an expansion though to be fair)
The difficulty is skewed so that if you did poorly in early levels you're likely to do worse later on due to not being able to collect as much money or data cubes
The progression of shield upgrades is a bit off (you're given a few choices early on and then not much more for a long time)
Episode-based structure (ships and upgrades carry over)
Somewhat floaty movement (some acceleration and deceleration when pressing and letting go of the d-pad respectively)
Mouse control option (see below)
Aleste/Zanac-style levels with some background hazards
Get a hint on how to get more money after each beaten episode (however you can generally only make use of it when replaying)
Can beat a level while dying at the same time (doesn't work vs bosses though)
Some levels don't have a main boss
CGI cutscene after beating episode 3 but it's short and kind of dated looking
The laser special weapon+flamethrower combo is OP and makes most of episode 4 pretty easy
Pretzel pete and one must fall 2097 references
Can't play all unlocked levels in one run - if for example you get the cubes for asteroid fields 1 and 2 in level 1 you can only play one of them unless you save before trying them out
-
No level checkpoints
Too easy to miss power ups (they move downards and leave the screen right away)
Repeated alarm sfx when near death
Uneven difficulty (easy ep 5 last level and last two bosses, easy ep 3 lvl 4 and ep 3 final boss, various levels from episode 2 onwards seem balanced for mouse control - you can dodge much faster with the mouse but overall it feels awkward to use (you can switch between control types on the fly at least), the first hidden level is brutal and can't be skipped if you unlocked it by collecting the flashing orange orb item during the first level, ep 2 level 1 boss - kills very quickly if it rams you, tough high speed segment in ep 2 level 2 (had the best shield and ship available afaik) - slowing the game down only helps a bit, easy first episode overall, missing certain data cubes has an effect on which ships you can get and which levels you can play during a game, the pillar hazards at the end of the first level kill almost instantly if touched, etc.)
Trial & error (sometimes one of the better pieces of gear that you've previously used will disappear from the shop in-between levels if you try out something else and end up beating the level with this other gear piece - sometimes you only get one or two chances to buy a new piece of gear as well, in ep 2 lvl 5 the boss looks like some earlier enemies in the level but ends up really hard to take out fully and requiring the mouse to dodge, the toothed walls in ep 2 level 2 aren't lethal, can get semi-stuck on larger enemies and hazards and end up dying in 1-2 seconds, some enemies have different patterns despite looking the same (dragons in ep 2 level 1), can't see which or how many data cubes you missed after beating a level, inconsistent rewards for taking out a whole group of enemies - oftentimes you get no extra reward, some hazards and enemy patterns, boss patterns, most attacks from behind, you don't know what each data cube holds until you finish a level - most are just tourist guides for other levels which don't help with gameplay)
Some of the instrumentation in the midi version of the OST seems buggy
No animation on water in the background (waterfalls in the same level are animated on the other hand)
Some mini-bosses escape very quickly and some main bosses escape as well
The pearl of wind special weapon (and all others?) interferes with the alternate firing mode of some rear weapons since you have to manually mash the button to shoot it and this changes the firing mode
Repeats some bosses
Missile launcher main weapon and charge cannon sidekicks don't seem worth it?
Can't not use gun drone weapons unless they're ammo based (also can't not use the special weapon when firing the main weapon although it's rare that you wouldn't want to)
Can't switch between special weapons and picking up a new one replaces the one you had (sometimes it's worse)
Notes:
-2000 ver. includes a fifth episode (more of an expansion and it's only 6 levels long including the branching paths), timed battle/time attack mode, an unlockable "super arcade" mode, a few new ships and some bug fixes
Level Design-7 Frustration-8**/10* Fun-7? Originality-6.5
Overall Score-7
*First hidden level
**w/ occasional mouse controls, otherwise near impossible at times
+
Save in-between levels (10 nameable slots - few chars though)
Shops in-between levels in normal/story mode (buy gear with money collected in the levels (both from drops and from destroying enemies), can respec at any point since buying and selling prices are 1:1 - the game auto-sells what you spent on one piece of gear if you buy a different one in a category)
Find (access to via the shop) new ships during levels (these have different stats and can use different gear) - long description texts by the ship salesman
Upgradeable weapons+shields+generator (powers higher level weapons and the shield)
Life bar and shield - the shield regenerates during levels
Front+rear gun+two sidekicks/gun drones (each drone can have a different weapon)
Pretty impressive FM synth music
Can exit a level at any point
Arcade and time attack modes (no shop here - you collect weapons as power ups and upgrade them by collecting other items (also happens in the normal/story mode but it's pretty rare), no ship/shield/generator upgrades but you start off with better attributes than in normal mode)
Difficulty options (easy-hard)
Multiple paths through the game (depends on which data cubes you find and collect and if you collect more than one level cubes you can choose between those levels on a map screen - oftentimes you'll miss the alternate path's cube and not know if you did or not though, the paths are more frequent in episode 5)
Mini-bosses
Hidden levels (find and collect flashing orange orbs)
Find tourist guides to other levels during levels (not helpful for gameplay but adds some personality to the game)
Can find transmission cubes (some intercepted similar to Bionic Commando; adds to lore but is almost never important to gameplay)
2-player co-op with the option to join together and have one plater shoot and aim while the other moves (arcade mode only)
Some rear weapons have an alternate firing mode
Can find HP restoratives during levels (but not shield restoratives)
Decent art direction (looks like a later Amiga game, some nice artwork stills at the end of episodes)
Christmas mode option during christmas time (changes the look of bullets and items - turns standard bullets into candy canes for example)
Optional mini-game levels (variations on the main game, very tough)
Some good bosses (last two episode 4 bosses are pretty lengthy and varied, some have more than one phase and/or multiple parts to destroy)
Game speed options (5 levels, on the fly, above normal is generally not a good idea)
Separate sfx and music volume controls (on the fly)
Many different weapons to choose from over the course of a game (each ship can only equip some of the total selection though?)
Long for a shoot 'em up (30+ levels)
Some interesting enemies and level design (the 2.5D archs in ep 4 lvl 1, the "cranes" in the ep 3 fleet level which pull your ship towards the front of them)
Sometimes the voice commentary or signs in the level warn you of specific incoming hazards (the voice generally isn't that helpful though and just says stuff like "warning" before a boss or as a high speed segment starts)
Two of the gun drone weapons work like the pod from R-Type (can be shot out and pulled back to your ship)
Satisfying late-game firepower
One of the ships is a carrot (jazz jackrabbit reference)
Unlockable new game+ (gives access to the OP banana main and rear shots)
+/-
Fairly frequent HP/armor restoratives which appear when you're near death
Resource management aspect to the generators - their energy will gradually drain to zero when using the most powerful weapons and this affects your firepower and shields if you're constantly firing
Can't switch weapons during a level - still flexible since you have unlimited lives and can retry any level over and over with a new build
Turns into a bullet hell shooter in the first hidden level but generally isn't
The gun drones/sidekicks don't block enemy bullets
Can't replay beaten levels (besides reloading a save from before the level)
Can make levels scroll sideways (can make you miss data cubes)
Some gun drone weapons have limited ammo - you'll regain some ammo during levels though
Amiga logo cameo (one of the point/money items)
In some levels you can pick up additional ammo-based sub weapons called bombs but they work like bullets
There is a smart bomb of sorts (seems tied to having a special weapon) which fires a bunch of balls in all directions but I'm not sure what triggers it
Pretty cheesy story (told in text over artwork stills between certain levels besides the transmissions you can find) and it goes off the rails towards the end of episode 4 and gets pretty lame for episode 5 (fruit theme, more of an expansion though to be fair)
The difficulty is skewed so that if you did poorly in early levels you're likely to do worse later on due to not being able to collect as much money or data cubes
The progression of shield upgrades is a bit off (you're given a few choices early on and then not much more for a long time)
Episode-based structure (ships and upgrades carry over)
Somewhat floaty movement (some acceleration and deceleration when pressing and letting go of the d-pad respectively)
Mouse control option (see below)
Aleste/Zanac-style levels with some background hazards
Get a hint on how to get more money after each beaten episode (however you can generally only make use of it when replaying)
Can beat a level while dying at the same time (doesn't work vs bosses though)
Some levels don't have a main boss
CGI cutscene after beating episode 3 but it's short and kind of dated looking
The laser special weapon+flamethrower combo is OP and makes most of episode 4 pretty easy
Pretzel pete and one must fall 2097 references
Can't play all unlocked levels in one run - if for example you get the cubes for asteroid fields 1 and 2 in level 1 you can only play one of them unless you save before trying them out
-
No level checkpoints
Too easy to miss power ups (they move downards and leave the screen right away)
Repeated alarm sfx when near death
Uneven difficulty (easy ep 5 last level and last two bosses, easy ep 3 lvl 4 and ep 3 final boss, various levels from episode 2 onwards seem balanced for mouse control - you can dodge much faster with the mouse but overall it feels awkward to use (you can switch between control types on the fly at least), the first hidden level is brutal and can't be skipped if you unlocked it by collecting the flashing orange orb item during the first level, ep 2 level 1 boss - kills very quickly if it rams you, tough high speed segment in ep 2 level 2 (had the best shield and ship available afaik) - slowing the game down only helps a bit, easy first episode overall, missing certain data cubes has an effect on which ships you can get and which levels you can play during a game, the pillar hazards at the end of the first level kill almost instantly if touched, etc.)
Trial & error (sometimes one of the better pieces of gear that you've previously used will disappear from the shop in-between levels if you try out something else and end up beating the level with this other gear piece - sometimes you only get one or two chances to buy a new piece of gear as well, in ep 2 lvl 5 the boss looks like some earlier enemies in the level but ends up really hard to take out fully and requiring the mouse to dodge, the toothed walls in ep 2 level 2 aren't lethal, can get semi-stuck on larger enemies and hazards and end up dying in 1-2 seconds, some enemies have different patterns despite looking the same (dragons in ep 2 level 1), can't see which or how many data cubes you missed after beating a level, inconsistent rewards for taking out a whole group of enemies - oftentimes you get no extra reward, some hazards and enemy patterns, boss patterns, most attacks from behind, you don't know what each data cube holds until you finish a level - most are just tourist guides for other levels which don't help with gameplay)
Some of the instrumentation in the midi version of the OST seems buggy
No animation on water in the background (waterfalls in the same level are animated on the other hand)
Some mini-bosses escape very quickly and some main bosses escape as well
The pearl of wind special weapon (and all others?) interferes with the alternate firing mode of some rear weapons since you have to manually mash the button to shoot it and this changes the firing mode
Repeats some bosses
Missile launcher main weapon and charge cannon sidekicks don't seem worth it?
Can't not use gun drone weapons unless they're ammo based (also can't not use the special weapon when firing the main weapon although it's rare that you wouldn't want to)
Can't switch between special weapons and picking up a new one replaces the one you had (sometimes it's worse)
Notes:
-2000 ver. includes a fifth episode (more of an expansion and it's only 6 levels long including the branching paths), timed battle/time attack mode, an unlockable "super arcade" mode, a few new ships and some bug fixes