Ultracore/Hardcore (MD, 1995/2019)
Graphics-8 Sound-8 Control-8 Challenge-8 Story-6
Level Design-7 Frustration-8 Fun-7 Originality-6.5
Overall Score-7
+
Turrican-style gameplay (with invincibility time and some knockback after taking a hit)
Can lock your aim while moving or stand still and aim
Enemies can be bounced on to reach higher (SMB3?)
Many hidden paths and items (some destructible walls)
Some good bosses (after the first level they either escalate in aggression or have more than one pattern, final boss - use the huge gun with a charge attack used by the previous boss to damage its final form)
Mini-bosses
Shows bosses' health bars
Options for 300 degree (can't shoot straight down) or 8-way aiming
Smart bombs
Collect coins to buy hp/lives/ammo/bombs at shops (rare) and to gain extra lives (100 coins=1 life, you also gain lives at certain high score intervals)
Respawn on the spot
Fairly impressive pure FM soundtrack (similar to Jesper Kyd's work on the same system) and decent sampled sfx
Permanent weapons and weapon upgrades (each one can be upgraded twice, pick up an "up arrow" item and the current weapon increases one level)
Six button support (weapon switching and smart bombs)
Meet some NPCs in the levels who'll brief you on what to do next (it's a linear and pretty straightforward action game though)
Some nice effects (parallax and explosion debris)
Control config (has one issue though - see below)
Pretty detailed stats after finishing a level (accuracy, kill rate, number of lives and coins collected and/or missed)
Some large and detailed sprites
Enemies are also affected by closing doors and crushing traps
Temporary shield items (used when touched and doesn't last long)
Some creative platforming and enemies (the level 4 magnet mini-boss - a bit like a boss from Gunstar Heroes, horizontal moving platforms which catapult your forward over pits and the mini-boss (a bit like Tetris or Wario's Woods) in level 5, the shielded dive bombing enemies and the flying enemies that surround you in the last level, the second to last boss although how its weapon charges up so quickly while you're trying to time the switches is frustrating and inconsistent with how it works when you use it yourself)
7 different guns (no melee weapons though and most of them work the same way)
Nice artwork stills in-between some levels and when finding certain items or NPCs
Pretty good art direction
+/-
Maze levels with basic switch puzzles and locked doors that you have to find the right keycards for (also have to memorize a couple of 3 digit codes in one level, level 5 is more straightforward)
No roll move or other transformation (see Turrican or Metroid)
Some resource management (limited ammo for everything but the default gun, ammo is a bit scarce)
No dodge or block moves
No sub weapons besides the smart bombs
Moving platforms can add to your momentum and allow you to jump further
Password save (one per level, somewhat long)
Some fall damage when falling a longer distance (more than a screen's length or so)
Partial level maps at computer terminals only (levels are pretty big, shows the basic layout+your position but nothing else)
Easy first boss if you focused on upgrading a single gun
Most of the full weapon arsenal can be found in the first level
If you pick up a gun upgrade while carrying a level 3 weapon then the previous weapon in the inventory is upgraded
Level timers (pretty long and they can be increased during the levels but does become a minor problem towards the end)
No armor or life bar upgrades
Few and long levels (2h+ of gameplay stretched across just 5 levels)
No grappling hook (Mega Turrican)
More death pits than in Turrican for example
-
Some control issues (can't switch weapons without ammo (for upgrading low level ones when picking up such an item), buying HP is weird in that if you hold down the button you'll quickly fill up the health bar but then buy a 1-up instead and also reset your life bar to 1 HP - buying a life should've been a separate option instead, can't switch between free aim/300 degree and 8-way in-game - could've been mapped to Z, can't shoot straight down, can't set the control config to have fire on A and jump on B (easily fixed in emulation))
Not enough ammo in level 5
Some trial & error (the sliding platform traps in level 3, some of the platforming and some traps in level 5, some points of no return - can't miss a key though, the "key map" doesn't actually show where keys are located, some shots from off screen from turrets for example - your shots and smart bombs can hit them too though, some leaps of faith and sometimes items are hidden where it looks like there's a pit - can't look down/up, doesn't show exactly which door(s) was opened when flicking a switch)
No difficulty options and only 3 continues but you do restart at the beginning of the current boss fight (or the second to last boss during the finale) or sub level
Found items disappear if you move far enough away from them
Some enemies blend in with the backgrounds and most of them use a color scheme found in the background making the game look a bit samey
Some cheap hits (bomb escape segment, level 5)
Not enough of a difference between the levels of most weapons (they just do more damage and shoot a bit faster)
Most levels are too similar visually and the game repeats some level 1 enemies over and over throughout
Most weapons are too similar - everything but the spread shot and the charge weapon picked up during the final boss fight just shoots forward rapidly
The timer isn't reset after losing a life meaning you can lose two in a row from damage and time running out
Kinda lame second mini-boss in level 4
Tedious vertical platforming segment in level 5 with erratic moving platforms (pretty short though)
Difficulty spike at the final two bosses (have to beat both in a row and the first one is kinda drawn out)
Smart bombs don't seem very effective against most later bosses
No shop in level 4? (you'll find a lot of coins here but can't spend them until you're almost done with level 5)
Your avatar just blows up when you die (you might be a cyborg? however the continue screen shows your corpse)
Somewhat lame ending (still artwork of your escape followed by some scrolling text)
Notes:
-Unreleased until it was packed with the Mega SG, was originally intended as a 1995 release
Level Design-7 Frustration-8 Fun-7 Originality-6.5
Overall Score-7
+
Turrican-style gameplay (with invincibility time and some knockback after taking a hit)
Can lock your aim while moving or stand still and aim
Enemies can be bounced on to reach higher (SMB3?)
Many hidden paths and items (some destructible walls)
Some good bosses (after the first level they either escalate in aggression or have more than one pattern, final boss - use the huge gun with a charge attack used by the previous boss to damage its final form)
Mini-bosses
Shows bosses' health bars
Options for 300 degree (can't shoot straight down) or 8-way aiming
Smart bombs
Collect coins to buy hp/lives/ammo/bombs at shops (rare) and to gain extra lives (100 coins=1 life, you also gain lives at certain high score intervals)
Respawn on the spot
Fairly impressive pure FM soundtrack (similar to Jesper Kyd's work on the same system) and decent sampled sfx
Permanent weapons and weapon upgrades (each one can be upgraded twice, pick up an "up arrow" item and the current weapon increases one level)
Six button support (weapon switching and smart bombs)
Meet some NPCs in the levels who'll brief you on what to do next (it's a linear and pretty straightforward action game though)
Some nice effects (parallax and explosion debris)
Control config (has one issue though - see below)
Pretty detailed stats after finishing a level (accuracy, kill rate, number of lives and coins collected and/or missed)
Some large and detailed sprites
Enemies are also affected by closing doors and crushing traps
Temporary shield items (used when touched and doesn't last long)
Some creative platforming and enemies (the level 4 magnet mini-boss - a bit like a boss from Gunstar Heroes, horizontal moving platforms which catapult your forward over pits and the mini-boss (a bit like Tetris or Wario's Woods) in level 5, the shielded dive bombing enemies and the flying enemies that surround you in the last level, the second to last boss although how its weapon charges up so quickly while you're trying to time the switches is frustrating and inconsistent with how it works when you use it yourself)
7 different guns (no melee weapons though and most of them work the same way)
Nice artwork stills in-between some levels and when finding certain items or NPCs
Pretty good art direction
+/-
Maze levels with basic switch puzzles and locked doors that you have to find the right keycards for (also have to memorize a couple of 3 digit codes in one level, level 5 is more straightforward)
No roll move or other transformation (see Turrican or Metroid)
Some resource management (limited ammo for everything but the default gun, ammo is a bit scarce)
No dodge or block moves
No sub weapons besides the smart bombs
Moving platforms can add to your momentum and allow you to jump further
Password save (one per level, somewhat long)
Some fall damage when falling a longer distance (more than a screen's length or so)
Partial level maps at computer terminals only (levels are pretty big, shows the basic layout+your position but nothing else)
Easy first boss if you focused on upgrading a single gun
Most of the full weapon arsenal can be found in the first level
If you pick up a gun upgrade while carrying a level 3 weapon then the previous weapon in the inventory is upgraded
Level timers (pretty long and they can be increased during the levels but does become a minor problem towards the end)
No armor or life bar upgrades
Few and long levels (2h+ of gameplay stretched across just 5 levels)
No grappling hook (Mega Turrican)
More death pits than in Turrican for example
-
Some control issues (can't switch weapons without ammo (for upgrading low level ones when picking up such an item), buying HP is weird in that if you hold down the button you'll quickly fill up the health bar but then buy a 1-up instead and also reset your life bar to 1 HP - buying a life should've been a separate option instead, can't switch between free aim/300 degree and 8-way in-game - could've been mapped to Z, can't shoot straight down, can't set the control config to have fire on A and jump on B (easily fixed in emulation))
Not enough ammo in level 5
Some trial & error (the sliding platform traps in level 3, some of the platforming and some traps in level 5, some points of no return - can't miss a key though, the "key map" doesn't actually show where keys are located, some shots from off screen from turrets for example - your shots and smart bombs can hit them too though, some leaps of faith and sometimes items are hidden where it looks like there's a pit - can't look down/up, doesn't show exactly which door(s) was opened when flicking a switch)
No difficulty options and only 3 continues but you do restart at the beginning of the current boss fight (or the second to last boss during the finale) or sub level
Found items disappear if you move far enough away from them
Some enemies blend in with the backgrounds and most of them use a color scheme found in the background making the game look a bit samey
Some cheap hits (bomb escape segment, level 5)
Not enough of a difference between the levels of most weapons (they just do more damage and shoot a bit faster)
Most levels are too similar visually and the game repeats some level 1 enemies over and over throughout
Most weapons are too similar - everything but the spread shot and the charge weapon picked up during the final boss fight just shoots forward rapidly
The timer isn't reset after losing a life meaning you can lose two in a row from damage and time running out
Kinda lame second mini-boss in level 4
Tedious vertical platforming segment in level 5 with erratic moving platforms (pretty short though)
Difficulty spike at the final two bosses (have to beat both in a row and the first one is kinda drawn out)
Smart bombs don't seem very effective against most later bosses
No shop in level 4? (you'll find a lot of coins here but can't spend them until you're almost done with level 5)
Your avatar just blows up when you die (you might be a cyborg? however the continue screen shows your corpse)
Somewhat lame ending (still artwork of your escape followed by some scrolling text)
Notes:
-Unreleased until it was packed with the Mega SG, was originally intended as a 1995 release