/vr/ - Retro Games

It's not really terrible or anything, but it was always talked about like it was total cream of the crop. And then I played it and it was like 30% weak shooter stages, 60% scroller fighter, and 10% actually pretty good bosses. The platforming is barely existent and the combat has some great elements and works for the early stages, but later on every enemy has a projectile and while half will rush you, everyone else will just stand back and fill the screen with beams. This comes from both sides in bland flat ground screen locked arenas. Your attacks hold you in place for just that split second too long, so much of the latter stages is just doing a roundhouse kick, very quickly boosting up to dodge projectiles, waiting for everyone to stop pinballing about the place, and doing it again.

I think there's a really good game lurking under the surface of it, the mechanics are all pretty cool. Maybe if the screens were at least a little bigger. Also the sun boss is probably one of the most grueling fucking fights on hard mode. You can savestate in the perfect place in the last 5% of HP and still take dozens of tries just to get even one more hit in before a big flaming tentacle smacks you. I hate bosses that become extremely difficult largely only in the very final few seconds of their fight.