GATE
OF THUNDER
HUDSONSOFT/RED - PCE DUO
Reviewed by Malc
A
shooter's a shooter right? I mean, they've all got miniscule spaceships,
huge bosses, and that's it right? Nah, course they aren't! Gate of Thunder
is living proof that there's such a thing as a perfect shmup. You can't
pin down exactly what it is, but the whole package reeks of playability.
Enough hyperbole, and get on with it! Erm, ok. 'Gate', as it is affectionately
monickered, is from the RED stable. A house that gave us Soldier Blade,
amongst many others. Unlike so many other RED games, it was a horizontally
scrolling beastie and came on one of those shiny CD things. It featured
some quite 'rocky', but nevertheless individual soundtracks, which helped
elevate the whole experience into a true brain-numbing carry-on when
blasted out loud. The 5th stage (Crown) has a track which I actually
copied off for listening to later, its that good.
Sorry, I had to mention the music first, it's one of the games highlights
- and was much better than that of the follow-up, Lords of Thunder.
Not to say Lord's music is bad, its just a mite too samey and 'heavy'
for me:) Anyway if you've ever played another RED game you'll know the
remarkable fluidity and pace of the gameplay: fast, furious and never
unfair, and the graphic style is similar - lots of parallax and simple,
yet effective sprites and bosses. We've seen better graphics since its
release in '92, but they still impress: the sheer amount of enemies
and bullets onscreen, quite an achievement for what is essentially an
8-bit machine at heart!
Shooter fans will recognise elements from the fabulous Thunderforce
series - similar weapon pickups, boss design and overall 'look'.
Right, before you have a peek at the pics (of which there are quite
a few), if you can be arsed press your mouse's left bollock HERE
for a gif animation of the opening sequence (around 140k, I can't be
bothered looking)
Stop the bus mate!!! GATE revisited! Yes, you can't stay away from a
good game for long, the 'Postman' (that's Roger's handle by the way)
has finished it (YAY!) so here's a few more pics and an END
SEQUENCE.
SCORE: 10/10 (and
it bloody deserves it too)
Level 1, wheeching through motherships and blasting bits off them.
Here you will gather some powerups and learn how to use them in
one of the games easier stages (well it is level 1)
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About to reach the boss of Level 1, you are assaulted by numerous
larger ships, firing homing missiles.
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First level boss has a combined laser/ missile attack, and is despatched
with ease. Not the best designed in the world, they get better I
assure you!
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One of many level 2 sub-bosses, with a dangerous zoomy laser which
homes in. Nice claustrophobic level this....
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... with girders jumping out of the background, attempting to flatten
you and your ship into wee pulpy metal fleshy bits
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Level 2 boss, with shooty rings and a HORRIBLE right angle laser
which changes direction and homes in. Not very friendly.
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Level 3: the mine... with falling masonry and...
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...fiery gobbets of lava-type stuff.
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Never a dull moment, none of that pausing while the machine dregs
up some more baddies carry-on. End of level boss, very Thunderforcish,
with attacks coming from all angles. Only one wee bits is hittable
here, and it doesn't get exposed for long.
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Gratuitous pic of Level 4 sub-boss.
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Menaced by midgie-like* ships all around. *'midgies' are small scalp-eating
gnat insects that are a common bane of the bald and thin-haired
during twilight hours in Scotland. Itchy wee annoying buggers they
are.
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2 nanoseconds later I was mince. Hard sub-boss - Tip: don't try
and take screensrabs when fighting this one;)
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Nasty robot type boss, splits up when you hit it a few times, with
some SUPER-fast laser bullets to avoid.
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My favourite level (5), with some great graphics: Snakes, bitey
worms and an underwater section.
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Here being a bitey worm in action, with two waspy-ships. I wish
I knew the proper name of them.
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I'd forgotten how bad I was at this game - all my credits used up,
and only on the second half of level 5 - some underwater enemies
have some great octopussy-like animation.
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THIS is where Malky died. And where the pics stopped. Fortunately
the Postman (no, not the postman, Roger the Postman. His second
name's Post ok? I wouldn't let MY postman in the house. Greasy blighter)
. Yes, this is where the Postman sent me the final bits! Nice one,
over to you, Roger. »»The main part of level 5 boss, a
giant water/slug/monster thing. The head shoots at you while bubbles
pop up from underneath (not too difficult, if you ask me.)
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Large Missiles, obviously.
(© Minimalist Captions, 1998)
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Level 6 boss. He looks very cool, with gun-hands and a drill-head,
but doesn't really do very much. Just dodge the handgun, wait for
the exploding shot to go off, and then aim for the midsection. This
guy takes precision and patience, as there is only one chance to
get to the middle without getting hit by both guns.
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Later sub-bosses get as hard as the main ones, with not very much
room to dodge. Shades of Thunderforce 3 here...
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There's quite a few 1-ups scattered throughout Gate, but they're
always in hard to get places. Yes, you can imagine what's happening
here... spinning discs... foolhardy player... :)
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The final boss. The orbs shoot homing energyballs at you while the
middle flashes before firing. Take out the green discs, they are
your priority.
After the discs are gone, aim for the middle. The attack patterns
change, and he shoots a bouncing star scattershot at you. Let your
reflexes take over and do your best to avoid them. C'est Fini!!!
(Here's another chance to look at the END
SEQUENCE again)
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