steel dragon in space,
unleashes a bullet spread
and fights congestion
Additional Comments:
I've been wanting to hit up another arcade game for some time but always found my attention drawn elsewhere, or simply never found a title that excited me. Maybe apathy just got the better of me every time I'd dare a venture in arcade territory. I love arcade games, but at the same time I feel like there's a certain air of condescension surrounding them - kind of like PC games. PC games are for the "true" gamers, arcade games are, or were, for the "hardcore" gamers, and us console gamers, well, we're just the unwanted runts on the family tree - the huddled masses, if you will. As such, I always feel like I'm wading out into the forbidden zone or like I need to successfully pass through some ridiculous hazing before I can accept the pure gaming bliss of the arcade menagerie. But then, once I buckle down and play one of these arrogant pricks, I question why I originally believed my will crumbled under the might of cabinetry, even if it's emulated cabinetry.
To date, including Saint Dragon, I've only completed four arcade titles for Beat All Games, however, I've yet to be proven the might of these titles, albeit I will concede that a majority of my arcade experiences are not for the faint of heart, especially Saint Dragon. Since my love for STGs has blossomed, I've played some ungodly difficult games. What is it about shmups and hardcore action that goes so easily hand in hand. When it comes to difficulty, Saint Dragon is no slouch. The first half of the game is more than doable, though the bosses up the ante a bit, but the second half of the game comes out swinging. But they seem to come out swinging with a suitcase full of dirty tricks - looking at you level six.
Before I berate level six's close quarter's claustrophobic action, let me see if I can scale up to the issue targeting several key areas along the way. Upon diving into the game headfirst, that is after diving headfirst into the dizzying options and help logs surrounding MAME since it's been a couple years since I've used it and I've forgotten a number of ins and outs concerning the emulator, I found Saint Dragon surprisingly...easy. In fact, the first level seemed sickeningly easy. What's the catch? For being labeled as a tough as nails shmup, based on my minimal internet research, something felt off. Even after I inadvertently smacked the ground, thus killing myself, or foolishly ran headlong into a stray bullet, I was shocked by the good graces of the game to dump me further afield. Seriously, I don't have to start from the beginning again and I get to keep all my weapons. Are you kidding me - even continuing after a loss of credit I get to reap the fortunes of such generosity? Challenge averted it seems. Oh, how naïve could I be?
I was quickly put in in my place as I studied the first boss's movements, as I awkwardly suffered a thousand deaths. The fear further intensified as I struggled to understand the third level's boss, or lack thereof. As I've stated before (ahem, Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance anyone?), long corridors of calm relaxation following heart pounding action always creates an eerie unease. But wait.... Was that..? Is that..? Was that the boss? That's a rather odd turn of events, especially after level two's boss which stood up against an incredible volley of firepower. Sadly, no. I've read there is a boss to level three, but for reasons unknown, he can be coerced into not triggering. Um, ok. Just because he chickened out, it's not my problem. Too bad some of the latter jerk-offs didn't feel like taking a holiday as well.
Of all the levels, four stuck out as an anomaly, playing rebel to typical theory regarding casual difficulty flow. It was strangely unbalanced placing extreme emphasis on the level while half-assing the boss, to the point where I genuinely questioned whether the boss was indeed the boss or not. However, given level three's mysterious, boss-less run through a pride of laser-emitting tram cars, hunkering behind a blockade of damn near invulnerable space junkards seemed like nothing more than another aloof boss replacement. This hypothesis was further reinforced by how little room was left for proper maneuverability as well as the sheer amount of time spent navigating around those insufferable behemoths. After fighting tooth and nail through wave after wave of enemy fire while being constricted to such tight quarters, I was shocked to see a proper boss appear. Seriously, the end gauntlet was equal to any other level in length easily, or perhaps it only seemed so considering how many theoretical quarters I had to feed the machine to finally get through the area. But then, the boss was such a pushover. What the hell!? Considering the atrocities I faced just getting there, I suppose I should only feel an overwhelming sense of alleviation, but come on.
Level five fell into a similar trap - a level, while certainly unique, pushed the player through some seriously tough areas but then fell short when it came to the boss. However, I will admit that most of level five's difficulty may have been artificially created since I couldn't enjoy the game using a true arcade style joystick. I only bring this up because the key specialty weapon for level five can be aimed using the main directional controls, which is great, but I feel comes off a little spongy using a simple d-pad on my usb controller. Ah well.
And with that, we come full circle to Saint Dragon's final level - a balls hard trek through space age Armageddon. What really grates my nerves about this level is the various walls you need to shoot your way through in order to advance. Unless you're packed with an appropriate special weapon, which isn't exactly difficult to bungle, the task is nothing more than a study in futility. Unfortunately, unless you purposefully go out of your way to avoid the special weapon that can be manually aimed, you're in no better shape when it comes to necessary demolition. Trying to avoid all of the extraneous homing missiles invariable leads to meticulous maneuvers that will reroute all of your desired aiming - i.e. I found myself performing embarrassing face plants more than anything. One particular grouping of walls proved to be the most diabolical area in the whole game where I may have easily lodged over a hundred deaths, and I swear, obtaining that stupid ass special weapon which was placed ever so conveniently right in the fucking way caused more deaths than anything. With the close proximity of each door to each other, I knew I was finished if my good old reliable fire breath was suddenly repudiated by supposedly superior weaponry. Fuck it! Throw in a few hundred more theoretical quarters. What's the harm. Thankfully it no longer impacts my wallet like it would have back in the golden age of arcades. Truth be told, I would have just walked away and instead fed my small bounty of coins on either Virtua Racing or Turtles in Time.
Still, Saint Dragon was a fun little side-scrolling STG - when I wasn't pulling my hair out over ridiculously unfair areas that is. But for the most part, the heinous difficulty is part of the fun, and for the most part I enjoyed it. In all honesty, the final level is the only level I probably could have done without. I had the same thoughts about the final boss at first, but once I got past his initial pattern, I really have no problems with him...er, it? Not sure.Whatever the case, it suffered from some of the same claustrophobia that most, if not all, of the final level suffered from, but only for the first few seconds of battle. Again, far too many projectiles with little to no room to hide. I suppose it's the final boss, but still, that's no reason for potential leniency. There's a distinct difference between difficult but fair and difficult and unfair. Cramped spaces and maximum firepower unfortunately leans on the latter.
And finally, for good measure, some music. I didn't find the soundtrack memorable, and this particular example: Metal Planet, can attest to that. If it wasn't for the fact that the video reads Saint Dragon (Arcade), I'd never guess this theme was in the game, despite playing through the final third of the first level multiple times because I kept dying on the boss. Unmemorable music is unmemorable, but then, shooters have always had an uncanny ability to mask a lot of the background music with an incredible sound explosion of incessant firepower.
Nano-Rant:
Why is the auto-fire so unbearably slow? Considering how glacial the auto-fire is, one has to question why it was even implemented in the first place. Under no circumstances would anyone rely on such nonsense given how manic the levels become. Useless!!
Rating: 3 metal tigers out of 5
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