Game:

Gunstar Heroes (1993)

Duration: 51:49

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17

Hey there again folks, today we got an epic run n gun on the genesis.
Gotta be honest this was another lucky run, good RNG on the weapons it gave. Almost had a heart attack when I made blue disappear/glitch out of the screen in the final stage.
Also, apologies for skipping the intro and dialouge, I'll upload another run with Red on normal when I can.

Anyways, Gunstar Heroes. If there ever was a game that could battle metal slug in the run n gun genre, then it's Treasure's Gunstar Heroes. It boasts fast and explosive action, colorful graphics, and big bad bosses.

The story on the other hand is quite different. A friend told me that the US plot revolves around a dictator named Colonel Red who plans on reviving the destructive android Golden Silver who was once defeated by professor Gunstar White.

Japanese plot is what's considered the proper one (fandom says it sets up the sequel for super heroes). Plot is gunstars Red, Blue, Green, and Yellow were filled with righteous anger as an evil organization sent out a destructive android named golden silver to wreak havoc on earth. The gunstars managed to defeat Golden Silver and then went on to have a cryogenic sleep in hopes for civilization to improve. Years later General Gray and his organization called the "Empire" plans on reviving Golden Silver, believing the legend that the android will bring people to paradise. Dr. Brown, one of Gray's men discovered the capsules containing the gunstars and awakened them. Hearing this news Dr. Brown turns against general gray to help the gunstars.
One of the gunstars, Green somehow lost his memory and is now helping the empire to revive the android.

Japanese plot makes more sense compared to the us which, "hey we gotta stop these guys from reviving golden boy."

On to the gameplay, this is the first run n gun I know of that has light combat elements (this was before metal slug too). You can grapple enemies and bosses and also do some kicks, you can even block (which somehow rarely gets used because it requires you to press two buttons). The run n gun part is pretty solid, what makes it stand out is the weapon combination system.

There are 4 weapons for the player to use, Force which is your rapid fire, Lighting which fires lasers, Chaser which homes on enemies, and lastly is fire that shoots a short stream of flames.

There's a total of 12 combinations for the player to use (my personal favorite is the chaser and fire combo, works best with gunstar blue!).
One bizarre choice is the option shoot while moving or shoot while standing. Gunstar Red lets you move and shoot while Gunstar Blue stands still and shoots.

Red would be a good beginner character if you're playing on normal difficulty but on expert, using red takes some patience as his play style being aggressive and nimble.

Blue, even if it's just standing and shooting is just as good as red. If you want to make the best out of the fixed shot then I highly recommend the Fire and Chaser combination as Blue's playstyle is fending off enemies and fighting in distances.

Difficulty wise, it's quite fair when it's easy to normal. Hard is when the game buffs up the enemies and decreases your damage. Expert is a big kick in the balls as it can ruin your choice of weapon combo. Projectiles and enemies are much faster in expert as well. For me, the most suitable character for expert is Blue, mainly because the chaser and fire combo just help beating enemies much faster and also removes projectiles like the flame and lightning combo.

Each stage has it's unique and huge environments with big menacing bosses. The bosses are what make gunstar great as the running and gunning segments are just icing on the cake. Each are unique on their own, Pink uses his henchmen and mechs, Green uses his seven forces, Orange uses brute force, Black uses his machines, Daisaku (colonel red) uses his jetpack then his gun and fists.

Green stands out the most as his seven forces let you fully utilize your weapon combination of choice. Green's difficulty varies on which weapon combination you brought to fight him.

Surprisingly this game also has a shmup segment, by all means switch to the fire and lighting combo for this in expert as the chaser and flame combo are hard to use in this segment (pray for good RNG).

Once you reach the ship, you then have a boss rush and finally the final showdown with Golden Silver.

Gunstar heroes is an amazing run n gun with a lot of personality. It's got great music and amazing graphics for a genesis title. The weapon combo system and light combat elements make combat and difficulty very versatile. If you got a friend who loves run n guns, then have them play gunstar heroes!

If you like my runs be sure to check out the group I'm in if you want to see us play more good ol fashion retro games!
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