Barunba
Forgotten Worlds x Fantasy ZoneGenre: shooter - horizontal
Publisher: Namco
Year: 1990
System: PCE
Gameplay Score: 2
Gameplay Notes:
Plays like Forgotten Worlds where rotate your guns to face in any direction. Unfortunately, this doesn't work well on a two button controller since rotating clockwise is done with 1, shooting is 2, and rotating counter-clockwise is the Run button. It's too awkward to use Run and too slow to always use 1. There are four weapons, none of them are great because they don't have any spread to them. So you feel underpowered at all times. You can rotate through them using Select. Your sprite is huge but thankfully you have a life meter with 5 slots. However, there are few health pickups which only restore one bar of health, plus you don't recovery health between stages. And it's Game Over after one death! Lastly, the enemy's hit boxes are terribly inconsistent. Hits only register about 75% of the time, especially on bosses. Despite all that, the movement is good so I wish some of these issues had been ironed out. I stil recommend you just play Forgotten Worlds instead.
Level Design Score: 2
Level Design Notes:
The stages are well designed to take advantage of the rotating mechanic. The screen scrolls up, down, and diagonally at various points, and enemies come at you from all angles. Unfortunately, this only highlights how poorly executed the rotating and weapon selection mechanics operate, making this a frustrating experience.
Theme Score: 3
Theme Notes:
Not much personality. Your ship looks like Opa-Opa from Fantasy Zone. Enemies aren't quite as cheery and the locales are pretty standard fare.
Art Style Score: 2
Art Style Notes:
Your ship may be ripped from Fantasy Zone but the backgrounds are drab and boring. Lots of sprite flickering and unimpressive effects.
Audio Score: 3
Audio Notes:
The music has nice composition but uses unattractive noises and lacks layering. Sound effects are loud and not particularly pleasant.
Overall Score: 43
Review ID: 8006
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