Arrow Flash Game Sample - Genesis/MD
15I did a video and wrote an article for Arrow Flash many moons ago for my website and original YT channel (owning the English and Japanese version), but it was one of a handful of videos that were lost during the transition to my new channel... back when storage space was precious, I didn't have an external, and videos were capped at 100mb... I remember those days, heh. Anyway, this is as good a time as any to revisit one of the system's most garden-variety vanilla shooters... this is not even an insult for a system that has as many quality shooters as the Gen/MD.
Arrow Flash lets you play the role of Zana Keene, a girl who had trained as a test pilot at the United Government Military Academy. She is the only one who can access the prototype transformable fighter-mecha, the "Chameleon" ERX-75 (code name: Valdor), that was left behind from her grandfather to fight against the Great Hilagi...a cruel alien that has been using his underlings to plunder and destroy planets throughout the cosmos. Hilagi now has his sights set on annihilating Earth!...Want a translation? Translation = Stop some evil alien guys with a blue haired beauty. Yeah, shooting games aren't usually the games you go to for creative and compelling storytelling, though the game still has some redeeming qualities. The great Takashi Akaishizawa did the illustrations for the game. Akaishizawa was also involved in such works as Burning Force, Psychic World, Phantasy Star Adventure, Project A-Ko, and more.
Revisiting the game, I can say that it's an inoffensive entry-level Shmup in nearly every way possible. The game sports serviceable audio/visuals with predictable waves, simple enemy patterns and unremarkable level designs. It's no Gaiares or M.U.S.H.A. by a long shot, but it's important to remember that the game was still made in 1990, so these graphics were okay (but as mentioned before, there are so many awesome shooters on this system that it seems dull by comparison). The gameplay is your standard shooting fare where you get a shield, three basic power-ups along with option-type helpers (Fire Claws) and missiles to wreak the opposition, but with one quirk: You can stock or charge a special attack that varies with the form of your mech.
Similarly to titles like Orguss, Choujikuu Yousai Macross - Scrambled Valkyrie (though Orguss has an annoying time limit), etc., your ship can transform between a space craft that can shoot a powerful spread shot or a humanoid robot that can use a kamikaze charge attack. Contrary to popular belief, the humanoid mech is not useless -- if anything, it's entirely broken as you are invulnerable during and just after charging and you don't really sacrifice anything other than about one second without your options. You can choose in the game's options if you want to collect power-up stock to utilize these abilities or to charge by holding a button; either one is fine as there are more than enough power-ups scattered about to get too much use out of it, making the game a cakewalk. Only one or two bosses will pose any real threat and you come across way too much firepower to be put in a compromising situation.
Arrow Flash isn't something I would recommend to someone looking for a "great" shooter, but if you want to learn how to play hori-shmups, Arrow Flash is a good introduction. This is a video of the game in action. Enjoy.
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