shmup

Kingdom Grand Prix

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Arcades has some unique title hardly can be found anywhere. This one is a hybrid SHMUP/Racing game where you fly and shoot the enemies to entertain public and outrun opponents. The graphics is super beautiful and the music is great!

There are 8 characters to select. Each one with unique weapon. Each one has a sub weapon which you upgrade by picking powerups. There are 2 types of sub-weapons and when you pick up an upgrade it changes to the one you picked up. “F” gives you more strong but straight shooting sub-weapon and “H” gives you a homing but weaker sub-weapon.

To boost your racing speed you should hold the fire button. That way you don’t fire but fly faster. Also the racing speed depends if you higher on screen.

A lot of enemies don’t kill you by touch but reduce your racing speed. While most of bullets kills you. Some bullets also only reduce racing speed. That’s a bit tricky moment as it’s unclear which stuff do what.

The game has 2 loops. So the first time you complete the game at the 1st place will send you to the next loop, which is harder version of the game.

2 players co-op is available in the game.

The game is also released on Sega Saturn, but it feels like the screen was just cut on top, which makes the view worse.

The game is a second one in the series. The first one is “Sorcer Striker” and 3rd is “Dimahoo.” They are SHMUPs only.

There is a slight connection with The Guardian Legend developers. The company Raizing was formed by Compile and Naxat Soft former staff.

A full play through for some of the characters. However it doesn’t really provide the feel of the game. It is different from usual SHMUPs, tho it may look just so:

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Aleste on Sega Mark III

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アレスタ Aleste on Sega Mark III is great SHMUP game from Compile. Aleste series remind of Zanac overall. This one also has some similarities with MUSHA on Sega Genesis.

It has similar powerup system with Zanac for special weapons. Tho in Zanac most of weapons are forever until you die. In Aleste they end over time. Upgrading the main weapon is like in MUSHA. Maybe MUSHA even based on this game?

Zanac and Aleste games has many familiar elements with The Guardian Legend. I love the final Round 6 that starts from 28:19 in the video below. It looks totally like Naju surface. Player also shoots out the panels and reveals the bio surface under them.

The game also goes under the name Power Strike on Sega Master System. And looks the same. They are probably identical. Tho who knows maybe there some differences(for example original is quite too hard would be a good idea to lower down the difficulty).

The MSX2 version came few months later after the Mark III. It has intro and a little bit more extra levels. However visually not as good. And MSX2 scrolling not that smooth. MSX2 version is also a bit easier. Which is good because the original from Mark III is quite difficult.

Here are some screenshots from the game:

So much like Naju surface!

The final boss 1st form is totally the Naju’s first boss. Defense system on landing the Naju:

The very first level background color is terribly bright. I think that was a bad decision to make this bright green ground:

Game has Zanac type of bosses:

Nice looking space station background with a rock surface:

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Tyrian 2000

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Tyrian 2000 is amazing SHMUP back from the 90’s. It is update of the original Tyrian game. And it’s probably better. As it has extra episode, new ships, and new weapons. And some bugs fixes. So it’s seems better over the original. There also 2 new super arcade modes which I never tried and have no idea what are they for. But it’s probably for those who play for hi-score.

The game is free of 1 hit death. Which is great for Guardian Legend fans. There is rechargeable shield. And armor. Once the shield gets empty the armor starts to reduce. Using weapons and shield depends on generator. So sometimes you need to stop shooting to let shield recharge faster. In order to use more heavy weapons and better shield you need to buy better generators.

There are tons of weapons and different ships. And all stuff can be upgraded! For this you need to collect currency that falls out of enemies.

There is story to read and additional info can be found in data cubes. I did not care much to read all that. But there are people who like this and it’s a great bonus for them.

There are a lot of types of enemies and obstacles. There are bosses as well.

Back then the game was not too hard to play on Hard difficulty. But I had good skill from beating many NES games. I don’t remember could I grind the cash to buy upgrades? But when I played the game back in 00’s it was not too hard. It had enough challenge however. And it’s quite fun Shoot ‘Em Up.

The graphics in the game looks beautiful even today. The game is way too good for a free one. It’s highly recommended.

You can get the game from many retro sites. For example from GOG.com. I think it is DOSbox assembly – https://www.gog.com/game/tyrian_2000
The game was made for DOS. So you need something like DOSbox or D-Fend Reloaded(which is a handy user interface and features for DOSbox) to play them.

Here some random video walkthrough on the normal difficulty. And below some screenshots from the game:

Tyrian 2000 screenshots!

Top Ten SHMUPs of All Time

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By the preferences of Dude Quest.

A pretty sweet list of top ten SHMUPs of all time is actually are favorites by this guy. But the list is great for sure and it has the game by Compile mentioned. If you did not know Compile developed The Guardian Legend. That’s why there are some similarities in the Space Megaforce.

Don’t blame author too much for not including some powerfull titles that could beat some mentioned games 🙂

Space Megaforce/Super Aleste game

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If you have an urge to play a game similar to The Guardian Legend. The chances you find something similar are about zero. However, the SHMUP part of the TGL have some similar games like Zanac, you probably know. The other one is Space Megaforce on SNES. It’s pretty fun and slightly reminds The Guardian Legend SHMUP mode. It reminds Zanac more but still has some vibes from TGL. So here is some review of Space Megaforce. Developed by the same company as The Guardian Legend – Compile. Might be a good idea to try it if you haven’t played!