Anyone considering Sidearms should get Sidearms Special.
I don't think Sidearms Special is appreciably superior to the HuCard version in any way.
While it still has the base excellence of Sidearms, it suffers from having a lame, low-energy soundtrack (compared to the excellent chiptunes of the HuCard) and an extra mode that is honestly not worth bothering with - it's just inferior to the arcade design. That and slight load times between bosses and levels vs the more seamless HuCard (though this is really minor).
I think the statement ought to be reversed: if you don't have Sidearms, just stick with the HuCard! Cheaper, and a better game!
Dude Blazing Lazers is the best SHMUP hands down on any system ever made. Tons of action going on, multitude of upgrades at your disposal, and not punishingly difficult or unfair, ie like many later one-hit death bullet hells.
The tons of action is more so on God mode or Mania; anything below that is more akin "hold fire and coast," especially with lasers covering the entire screen
And most bullet hells aren't that unfair. In fact some don't even kill you in one hit.
The cheapest is not always the most fun.
If we are going by
TurboGrafx prices, expensive is usually not fun either.
