Gaiares for Genesis

Review #4214

Gaiares

Gradius...I mean, Gaiares is good

Genesis 1991 Renovation Shooter Shooter › Horizontal
Gaiares screenshot for Genesis
Screenshot used for review/reference purposes.
3 / 5

Gameplay

Gradius clone if ever there was one.
This one was endlessly hyped back in the day and while it plays well I don't think it's anywhere near being a classic like the games that inspired it.
Movement speed can be toggled although I never found a reason to use anything but Max due to the extreme speed of enemies.
Gimmick is the ability to steal an enemy's weapon by throwing your ever-present option. This has a high risk-reward since it's hard to hit enemies with the option and you're unable to fire while it's gone. The option always chases your position and can't be locked in place.
Overall I feel like it plays well but is overly difficult and not very memorable.

4 / 5

Level Design

The only thing holding back the level design are long stretches of nothing on the screen. The levels have variety and some fun locales, like Antarctica. Lots of variety in enemy design and attack patterns which keeps you on your toes.

4 / 5

Theme

Standard stuff, but feels energetic and engaging

4 / 5

Art Style

The l your sprites is one of the best fighter jet sprites in a shmup. It's a chunky and has a lovely blue cockpit to remind you that you're the pilot.
Enemy designs comes in all shapes and sizes and borrow heavily from Gradius, Darius, and other classic shooter franchises.

3 / 5

Audio

Finally a shooter where the sound effects don't drown out the music! It's a shame that he music is only sort of interesting. Nothing you'll be humming afterward

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

About this Site - Sep 2025 Update

Super Hydlide for Genesis

Chrono Trigger for SNES