Saturday, March 5, 2011

Level Up: Final Soldier


I realized that today’s subject touches on two big things I have yet to talk about through the run of this podcast: shoot-em-ups and the Wii Virtual console (the latter being the reason I chose this game for the review). It took me a while to realize how good the Will Virtual console can really be. Let’s put aside the fact that it lets lesser known publishers still make games, and just concentrate on the game already in existence. Let’s first consider that some of the older consoles are hard to find, so this lets you play the games at least. Same thing can be said for some games; even though you have the consol, rare games can cost hundreds of dollars, but are relatively cheap on the Wii. But finally, the main reason I like the Virtual Console is because not all games initially had global releases. This allows gamers to experience some games (not originally available in their region) for the first time! This is the case for me with today’s subject: Hudson Soft’s Final Soldier, originally for the TurboGrafx-16.

As I’ve already mentioned, this game is a shoot-em-up (or “Schmup” as some people say) and I believe this to be the first time I review one here on Level Up. The core game play of many of the types of games very rarely changes: you are an object (normally a space ship of some kind) on a moving screen while you shoot whatever enemies come towards you. Some of the best examples of these types of games would be Gradius, Xevious or 1942. Though, one big difference I noticed was how much easier Final Soldier seemed compared to these especially factoring in the infinite continues. This is a possible deal breaker if you are hard-core a shoot-em-up fan (who normally enjoy the challenge), but if you go in the options, you’ll see that you can only make this game harder! Also, I thought the ending was a good enough challenge.

Anyways, back on the subject of the game play. Most of these types of games feature upgradable weaponry, and Final Soldier is no exception, but it features what I like to call “side stepping”. See, if you collect a canister of the same power you currently have, it will power up, but if you collect one of a different color, it’ll stay the same level, just switch powers. It’s pretty much the same system as the Adventures of Batman and Robin, but with only 3 levels of power and about 5 different weapons, so it’s easier to appreciate. The thing is though, your power level represents your health; getting hit decreases your power and a hit on the weakest level is a life gone. Knowing how to power up is essential to surviving: best learn this quickly.

To finally conclude talking about the guns, most of the powers and the missiles can be customized in the options menu. Example: do you want the bubble power from the blue L canister, or do you want the spears? Choose wisely, because you’re picking for all three power levels (which is a complaint of mine, because the demo shows the most powerful). But there’s no real wrong choice, both because it comes down to player preference, and because every different power is awesome to watch and use.

The graphics are all pretty good, being that they were on the TurboGrafx-16, and unlike some Shoot-em-ups, the character sprites are generally pretty big and the backgrounds are well detailed (though seizure/nausea inducing at some points). The soundtrack is pretty kicking, but not amazing in my opinion. It does get you in the mood for a space shooting adventure though and evokes the feeling of flying high, across space. The sound effects aren’t really great; sometimes the explosions and shots feel dulled down or held back (but that could just be me). None of this is really anything to scoff at and definitely don’t hinder the game any.

This is all I have to say about Final Soldier, and I honestly should have paired it with another review since I mostly just talked about the game play. But in this case, that’s all Final Soldier has: the fact that it’s a game. I don’t know the story since its both part of a series and in Japanese (the Wii virtual console doesn’t translate non-essential information, PLOT being one of them apparently).The graphics and sound do contribute to it just fine, but generally it’s all about the game play. It’s a little basic, but that’s what’s fun about shoot-em-ups: you just get right to the fun stuff. It’s also easier the some of the more popular games of its type, so that might be a selling point for some people. If you’re willing to spend the points, I think you should check it out. I give Final Soldier played on the Wii Virtual Console (but originally for the TurboGrafx16) 8 levels out of 10.

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