|
Burai Fighter Deluxe Does the name of this game ring a bell? Thought not. The reason hardly anyone has heard of it is probably because at the time of its release it was over-shadowed by much better games in its genre such as Gradius : The Interstallar Assault, R-Type and Nemesis. Read on to find out what it's like and how it plays.
Burai Fighter Deluxe is a basic shoot 'em up where you move around various intergalactic landscapes blasting anything that gets in your way. Unlike normal 2D horizontally scrolling shoot 'em ups, Burai Fighter Deluxe incorporates vertically scrolling sections into the game and changes the speed and direction of the person who you control from time to time. Apart from your basic gun, you can use various other weapon power-ups like lasers, missiles and a ring which releases gunfire in every direction. You can obtain these by shooting the appropriate symbols which randomly float by from time to time. The main game is alright but it's not that much different from any other games in its genre. There is a 2 player Vs mode in Burai Fighter Deluxe but because I have never met anyone else with a copy, I haven't had the chance to try it out, My guess is that it's a co-operative version of the regular mode which I suppose would be quite fun.
The difficulty level in Burai Fighter Deluxe is just about right. It is reasonably challenging and I doubt anyone would be able to complete it on their first go even though there are only five stages. People who like insanely hard end of level bosses will enjoy playing this!
The controls in the game are as basic as you can get which is a good sign as it means you can easily pick up and play Burai Fighter Deluxe without having to constantly refer to the instruction manual. It's simply B to shoot and the D-pad to move.
The graphics are clear and easy to see whether you play on the Gameboy or Gameboy Colour. Playing on the Gameboy Advance makes the game a bit darker but it does benefit from the optional widescreen mode. The regular enemies you encounter look a bit blurred but the sprites of the bosses at the end of each level look fantastic for a Gameboy game. The backgrounds are quite barren and lifeless but I guess the game is set in outer space.
The sound effects are terrible at best. There is just a simple bleep when you fire your gun and when you collect a power up there is a weird warping noise. There is nothing here that you haven't heard before although maybe not quite as bad as this. Before long, you'll be wishing there was an option which allowed you to turn off the SFX all together.
Luckily the music is a lot better and suits the game very well. There are futuristic tracks, and cool upbeat songs which you will want to keep the volume up for. There is also a nice variety of music with a new track introduced in every stage of the game.
Burai Fighter Deluxe is one of those average side scrolling shoot 'em ups that whilst not being particularly bad, does nothing to make it stand out from the crowd. Perhaps if you see a cheap copy of it on eBay it might be worth getting but really, only die hard shooter fans or Gameboy collectors wanting to add a fairly rare game to their collection should consider buying it. Final Score: 5/10
- Review by Samus | 
MAIN
