Burning Angels for PCE

Image: MobyGames

Burning Angels

Girl Soldier

Genre: shooter - vertical

Publisher: Naxat Soft

Year: 1990

System: PCE

Gameplay Score: 4

Gameplay Notes:

I'm rounding up here, but controls are solid and the game just feels good to play. Not amazing, by any stretch, but good. It's clearly a Star Soldier clone, what with the big, triangular ship and screen-filling wave beam upgrade. The weapons are actually the worst part of the game since there are so few of them. This isn't a strategic affair - just grab ever powerup they send at you and watch out for the bullet hell projectiles. The three difficulties make this one of the most accessible shooters out there. In Easy mode you're invincible, but still lose your powerups with each hit. Good, simple fun.

Level Design Score: 3

Level Design Notes:

Nothing much to report here. Enemy waves are repetitive and uninteresting. Stages have only cosmetic differences in the background artwork. Each ends with a final boss, as you'd expect, but most also feature would-be mini bosses that don't always stick around to be killed. You only need to survive them.

Theme Score: 3

Theme Notes:

I'm no historian, but this must be one of the first sexy shooters. There's some light fan service of the two selectable pilots in the opening cinematic and between-stage artwork. Otherwise it's a by-the-numbers space shooter.

Art Style Score: 4

Art Style Notes:

No slowdown and big chunky sprites, but a mix of terrible to great background artwork. The deep cavern in stage three is a highlight, but overall this game looks average. One novelty is that you can change the aspect ratio from the Options menu to give yourself the TATE mode ratio.

Audio Score: 4

Audio Notes:

Well composed chiptune music. Sounds like a Game Boy game, which is a compliment. The sound effects drown out the music, but I love this soundtrack. Thankfully it has a sound test.

Overall Score: 74

Review ID: 8016