Cho Ren Sha 68k

ChoRenSha 68k is a great little shooting game that pays tribute to arcade titles (especially Toaplan's library). It wears its influences on its sleeve, as evidenced by the scoreboard. However, I think the most remarkable thing about the game, is that it (much like Flame Zapper Kotsujin) uses these influences as a foundation to its own distinct style, which is an unique blend of old and new; it's flirting with the, at the time, very new concept of Danmaku. ChoRenSha is a game that can please many different shmuppers tastes due to how expertly it blends classical vertical shooting (Toaplan/Seibu), with a more manic, bullet hell approach and density. Boss patterns, in particular, are really pretty advanced and impressive at times.

Cho Ren Sha is on the surface not a particularly unique or interesting shooting game, as it's a game that is more about embracing the fundamentals. However its central mechanic introduces some interesting game design problems. If you're interested, I recommend reading This Article. Basically, yosshin has a solid understanding of the foundations of what makes shooters work. Both in a game design sense, and in a programming sense. One big obstacle he ran into was the Item System and the Scoring System. Over the years, he had envisioned an item system where you can freely pick the item you want, in contrast to classic shmups like Kyuukyoku Tiger and Raiden, which have a powerup that changes color on a timer, or Twinbee where you have to stop shooting to collect the item (since shooting will change the color and "move" the item). He thinks these systems are a bit stressful, hence he has this idea of being given a choice of items and picking the one you want. In this case it's a shield, a bomb, and higher shot power. The problem is the most unique feature of the game, which is that you can move inside this circle of items, stay there for a while, and you will collect all 3, which is the optimal way to play. yosshin added this feature, but feels regret over it as he feels it negated the original concept of choosing. However, from a players perspective, the feature is rather well appreciated. It's going to be down to opinion whether the feature is essentially good or bad. If you ask me, the feature makes the game stand out. Going in and getting all 3 items, without getting hit by bullets or falling behind on killing enemies, is pretty unique in the shmup world. I understand the problems of it, but think those problems can be overlooked in favor of creating a more unique and hectic game.

That aside, though, ChoRenSha is at its core a pretty simple game. You shoot down enemies and your shoot gets wider with more powerups, you can collect shields and bombs, and your bombs are protective and screen clearing. The game has impressive music and enemy design (considering it's developed by just one person) although the backgrounds are pretty monotonous. The stage design is definitely rather classic, although there are some rather unique portions. For the time the game was made, it was fairly dense with bullets, with a slim ship hitbox. The true last boss (which you fight at the end of loop 2) in particular is really quite crazy, and tons of fun. The game has a penchant for implementing ideas just for the fun of it, such as the way you can make the stage 1 bosses kill each other.

My personal feelings are that the game is objectively fantastic, and definitely a must-play for enthusiasts of the genre, but not entirely to my taste because I think it's a bit too easy and simple. Because you almost always have a shield at any given time, there's usually not really any danger of losing a life. The game is a bit easier than the arcade standard, and the unique item feature isn't enough to keep the game fresh upon replaying. The game is too long; it's about an hour long for 2 loops, and if you're ready to clear loop 2, then loop 1 just feels like a waste of time. The whole looping business is often a flaw to me in shmups. Boredom is the last thing I want to feel when playing a shmup. Basically, I played this a couple of times, got a 2-ALL, and don't think it's worth much time beyond that. Because you build up an obscene amount of lives, it's easy to feel almost invincible in this game, although losing a life drains your power and does make recovery difficult. I will say though that playing solely loop 2/harder difficulties, and using the practice feature to practice the more fun parts of the game, is enough for me to rate it highly regardless of how I feel about playing loop 1. It's a great shmup for beginners, since it's on the easier side, is simple, has great music and showcases good traits of both classic and early danmaku styles. It's really easy to get into, basically. I'd rank it alongside Batsugun in terms of both quality and appeal.

ZeroRanger came at me as a surprise. I was never a big fan of shmups, and I knew that before I picked that game up. It managed to immediately grip me, with its excellent use of color palette, increasingly motivating story, fantastic music, and just rip-roaring design that made every level a dream.

This is not ZeroRanger. This is however, the predecessor to it. It doesn't have a story, and it doesn't have much of an aesthetical core. This game in large, should be something I kind of bounce off of if not walk away from. Or at least, that's what I'd expect.

But somehow that didn't end up being the case, as Cho Ren Sha 68K floored me, and in a different way but with JUST as much strength as ZeroRanger did. The complete visual clarity helps for one, something I feel a lot of shmups I've seen fail to stack up with. From Crimzon Clover to Ketsui, the onslaught of visual overstimulation is something they have that Cho Ren Sha 68K seems to have already fixed itself tightly with. It manages to keep a ridiculously fast paced onslaught of bullets regardless, but the weaving is perfect, and the heart never stops pumping with complete kickass energy. The music helps with that, but the game also generates a snowball that once pushed over completely decimates what's in front of you. It does make the recovery excruciating, but the inherent satisfaction with each upgrade to triple-power never leaves. Game could use a better balanced life system, or at least a life counter you can change.

Overall though, I fucking LOVED it. The bosses were absolutely excellent, and a lot of the enemy design reminded me of why I fell in love with certain parts of ZeroRanger to begin with. The final two stages are completely stupidly brutal, but I feel great having gone out the other side.

It's still a very small recommendation from me to most people, though. Not a beginner's shmup, and much rather push people onto the ZR track first. But damn do I HIGHLY recommend keeping it in mind.