![[ガンヘッド/Blazing Lazers] ALL CLEAR (Score: 13,009,290) [CC Commentary]](/images/yt/jm/blazing-lazers-all-clear-score-13009290-cc-commentary-w4boi.jpg)
[ガンヘッド/Blazing Lazers] ALL CLEAR (Score: 13,009,290) [CC Commentary]
0This is a pretty surprising game to play today. I love it, but mainly due to how weird its existence itself is, how badly it aged today and simultaneously aging well.
First things first, the version I'm playing is the Japanese Blazing Lazers: Gunhed. The first time I've heard of this game is of course, from Shmup Junkie, but the fact that Gunhed is a licensed movie game is new to me! Like, look at it! I don't think any mechs from that movie even appeared here! Very especially since the movie is about tanks, not space ships! More stuff about this in the video's CC commentary! For this description I'll refer this game as Gunhed onwards.
Gunhed is not Compile's first shmup for the PC Engine, but it does lay a lot of stuff onwards, and a very bomb-happy one. Hmm, seems like since this title Compile really liked bombs. If anything, I think this is the very first of Compile's bomb-happy series, preceding GunNac and Spriggan. This is an important piece of history, folks!
You can shoot (duh), you can bomb, and you can change speeds. I don't think the thruster has any damage hitbox, but it's not that important. The confusing part is the power ups. In terms of doing 1cc, I think as long as you stick with shot II and III, you'll be fine. I'd say the shot II is the best because of its large area of effect and great rapid fire, though. III is great for piercing, but you'll be vulnerable towards popcorns and missiles. For the sub weapon, there are 3 of them, but just pick S. This game for its time is quite intense! Pick up and hoard those shields!
Stage design-wise it's a great leap forward compared to Aleste 1. Though perhaps they gained stage design experience from porting R-Type and Xevious. Lots of variety, and their bad habit of making the game almost 1 hour long! As one can expect, it's kind with extends (and bombs). It's achiles heel? Why the heck when you die you have to go back to a checkpoint!? This game is so darn long, the default weaponry is weak, and recovery is a nightmare! I wouldn't sing this game praises except for one thing that seemed to pass by Hudson's demands: Gold ships.
The key survival strategy is to hoard shields and keep your Shot II. There are 2 ways for the shield to be gone: Simply getting too many hits, either due to duration or some factor, seems getting hit shortens its duration, and can't be refreshed by picking shields, by the way, and picking other sub-power ups. So the items are also your enemy! But there is more. You can prevent spawning to the checkpoints by collecting the gold ships, and they do stack. One of the reliable ways is to shoot the rotating item icons. Shoot them very long enough, they'll turn into a rainbow ball. That will provide you gold ships. Collect them as much as possible! The recovery is even harder than in Recca, so make sure to consider this to your strategy!
There are several things that were ahead of its time. For starters, the fire power is phenomenal for a console shmup. Aleste 1 managed it to an extent, but just look at Shot II. It's the main star of the game! It has large hitbox and fires rapidly! Something that you'll get in Toaplan game, not yet in consoles! Plus the game also provides spawn location notifications, which is I think was unheard of at the time! It's a QoL part of stage design that we take for granted today!
While there is value to play this as a curio alone, this game, while rough on the edges to today's standards, the great parts make it worth playing even today. Play it!
#stg #shmup #pcengine