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February 28 - March 5: Formation Armed F
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(chosen by nopepper)
I know "underrated" gets thrown around liberally, but in the case of Formation Armed F, it is absolutely applicable. This game is not only underrated by members of this board (and elsewhere in the interweb), but it is absolutely a brilliant game, with great level designs, wonderful music and tough, but fair gameplay. The game is consistently intense, every level brings forth a new challenge, the music is fantastic and while the graphics are nothing special, they are stylish and memorable (and play a role in the game's challenge - see #9 below). In a lot of ways, this game reminds me of the classic Mega Man games. Challenging and satisfying games with great level designs, with not technically impressive graphics that are still pleasing, and with fantastic music.
Anyway, I am going to borrow the description Sinistron wrote back in 2009 (with some edits), as I feel he eloquently explains the game's strong point very thoroughly:
1) It's tough- but not in a way that makes me not want to play it- more so in a way that makes me want to go home- pop it in and get a little further. It's definitely fun.
2) the chip music is GREAT. Love the music on stage 1 and it starts to take on an Iremish feel in following levels.
3) Speaking of Irem- stage three really feels like it would've been right at home in Image Fight.
4) The levels are long- but rewarding. It seems like a new weapon is introduced each level- I'm only on level four at the moment and haven't seen a new weapon on this level yet- but level 1 has side sweeping beams and then a laser weapon is introduced, level two introduces homing missiles, and then powerful diagonal beams which continue into stage 3- each weapon gets powered up three times- unless your previous weapon was powered at full- then the new one is automatically strong.
5) I read on vgden that the ship is too slow and half your time is spent looking for speed-ups- I don't find this to be the case at all. Speed-ups come fairly often- and I've found that getting more than ONE can prove hazardous- very easy to slam right into a wall if you're quicker than that.
6) No continues! I like it! (Edit- I've found that using the continue trick [SELECT 10 times during game over screen] is an absolute must to learn the levels, but after memorizing sections, it's actually very doable to complete the game in a single credit)
7) The levels don't seem mindless at all- they're structured quite nice- and there's little surprises- take the level one boss for instance- I've always fought him from the bottom of the screen- and he can prove tricky- from this angle you have to smother his spread shots with a forward projected option pod and then move along with him to keep it up- but it doesn't always work so smoothly- if he gets that shot through it can throw you off and you just might smash into the rock trying to avoid a corner shot... however- I found out just last night that if you fight this boss from above- that his entire attack is different. Gone are the spread shots- instead he shoots these weak little slugs at you and you can destroy them easily by turning your pods down and blasting away- it's a surefire way to destroy this boss each time.
8- The option pods are really cool if you have the formation f power-ups- you can shoot them far ahead of you or behind you- it's perfect for destroying enemies at a distance in hard to reach spots- and it definitely helps out big time in stage 3.
9) Level 4. They must have done this on purpose- it'd be an easy board- easier than stage 3- if it wasn't for the goddamn colors. The background here is done in variations of bright pink- which makes the pink enemy shots hard as hell to discern. You can see them- but you're mostly straining to- and while doing that you're likely to miss something else happening.
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GOTW Schedule:
1. (1/3/2016 - 1/9/2016) Liquid Kids (lukester)
2. (1/10/2016 - 1/16/2016) Buster Bros. (Punch)
3. (1/17/2016 - 1/23/2016) Super Dimension Fortress Macross 2036 (Gentlegamer)
4. (1/24/2016 - 1/30/2016) Fushigi no Yume no Alice (EmperorIng)
5. (1/31/2016 - 2/6/2016) Valkyrie no Densetsu (Gredler)
6. (2/7/2016 - 2/13/2016) Bikkuriman World (jtucci31)
7. (2/14/2016 - 2/20/2016) Dragon's Curse (seieienbu)
8. (2/21/2016 - 2/27/2016) Yo, Bro! (grolt)
9. (2/28/2016 - 3/5/2016) Formation Armed F (nopepper)
10. (3/6/2016 - 3/12/2016) Silent Debuggers (MNKyDeth)
11. (3/13/2016 - 3/19/2016) Super Star Soldier (o.pwuaioc)
More submissions welcome!
Rules:
-All members are allowed one submission. When there are no further submissions, we will have a reset and everyone will be able to submit another game.
-Each game may only be submitted once.
-If you wish to retract your submission, please do so at least two weeks before your game is due. Your next submission will go to the back of the cue.
-Please don't submit games that have a high language barrier or will take too long to complete (particularly RPGs).
Topic: (2/28/2016 - 3/5/2016) Game of the Week: Formation Armed F (Read 220 times)
