Xexex (ARC, 1991)
Graphics-8 Sound-8 Control-7.5 Challenge-8.5*/8** Story-5
Level Design-7*/7.5** Frustration-9*/8.5** Fun-7*/7.5** Originality-5.5
Overall Score-7.5
*1-player, Normal
**1-player, Easy
+
2-player co-op
Great variation (some levels scroll vertically, high speed segment, underwater segment, one boss messes with gravity, organic cave level, space armada segment, background hazards)
Lifebar and health drops
R-Type style sub weapon system (pod with up to three octopus-like arms which you can shoot out and call back - attaches to bosses' weak points to kill them efficiently, charge shot (need to have the pod attached to the ship))
Additional homing missile sub weapon
Various special effects (some pre-rendered sprites, linescrolling, scaling, rotation, raster effects, some huge and multi-jointed sprites, level 4, asteroids bouncing into each other, spinning tunnel segment, parallax), good bosses overall, many large and detailed sprites, pretty impressive music (mostly mono though), four (?) levels of upgrades for the main weapon (also affects the charge attack), decent cutscenes in-between levels, difficulty options (8 levels)
+/-
No alternate main weapons or pods
Fairly easy to miss power ups
No extra lives (one credit=one life)
Respawn on the spot but with all upgrades lost
No hidden items?
Some level 5 ships look like penises, loops after finishing, borrows pretty heavily from Gradius as well
-
Hard to recover later on
No auto-fire
No manual speed adjustment (power ups instead)
Trial & error (boss patterns, back attacks - can't shoot backwards, some parts where the screen gets filled with enemies/shots if you're not upgraded since the main weapon is too weak without upgrades)
Some tacky aspects to the visuals (some odd and/or garish coloring, the damsel in distress in the cutscenes gets more battered and sexualized as you progress, some effects look a bit dated)
Some slowdown (a lot more on harder modes where enemies shoot more projectiles), the second bosses takes too long to go down
Comment:
Konami goes Irem in this shooter with pod and charge shot mechanics which are basically crucial to survival. I liked Xexex, but it kind of piles up on certain quirks that I consider outdated at this point in shoot 'em up history. No auto-fire, respawning with all upgrades lost makes it hard to recover after a few levels, no back attack, and there's no manual ship speed adjustment. At the same time you are given a lifebar, som health drops here and there and lowering the difficulty does have a noticeable effect. The variety and visual spectacle of the game also deserve a mention.
Level Design-7*/7.5** Frustration-9*/8.5** Fun-7*/7.5** Originality-5.5
Overall Score-7.5
*1-player, Normal
**1-player, Easy
+
2-player co-op
Great variation (some levels scroll vertically, high speed segment, underwater segment, one boss messes with gravity, organic cave level, space armada segment, background hazards)
Lifebar and health drops
R-Type style sub weapon system (pod with up to three octopus-like arms which you can shoot out and call back - attaches to bosses' weak points to kill them efficiently, charge shot (need to have the pod attached to the ship))
Additional homing missile sub weapon
Various special effects (some pre-rendered sprites, linescrolling, scaling, rotation, raster effects, some huge and multi-jointed sprites, level 4, asteroids bouncing into each other, spinning tunnel segment, parallax), good bosses overall, many large and detailed sprites, pretty impressive music (mostly mono though), four (?) levels of upgrades for the main weapon (also affects the charge attack), decent cutscenes in-between levels, difficulty options (8 levels)
+/-
No alternate main weapons or pods
Fairly easy to miss power ups
No extra lives (one credit=one life)
Respawn on the spot but with all upgrades lost
No hidden items?
Some level 5 ships look like penises, loops after finishing, borrows pretty heavily from Gradius as well
-
Hard to recover later on
No auto-fire
No manual speed adjustment (power ups instead)
Trial & error (boss patterns, back attacks - can't shoot backwards, some parts where the screen gets filled with enemies/shots if you're not upgraded since the main weapon is too weak without upgrades)
Some tacky aspects to the visuals (some odd and/or garish coloring, the damsel in distress in the cutscenes gets more battered and sexualized as you progress, some effects look a bit dated)
Some slowdown (a lot more on harder modes where enemies shoot more projectiles), the second bosses takes too long to go down
Comment:
Konami goes Irem in this shooter with pod and charge shot mechanics which are basically crucial to survival. I liked Xexex, but it kind of piles up on certain quirks that I consider outdated at this point in shoot 'em up history. No auto-fire, respawning with all upgrades lost makes it hard to recover after a few levels, no back attack, and there's no manual ship speed adjustment. At the same time you are given a lifebar, som health drops here and there and lowering the difficulty does have a noticeable effect. The variety and visual spectacle of the game also deserve a mention.