Oh,
boy, TSS, where do I start? This is one of the most original games
I’ve even seen: the combination of a shooter and a two player vs.
puzzle game. “Schmuzzle”? “Puzz-em-up (Pumps)”? “Scooter (shooter
competition)”? I don’t even know what to call it. No, wait, call
it FUN! TSS ranks up in the top ten most addictive lists. And this
game is as wacky as it is fun. We’ve got everything from a southern
talking, wish granting star, to a final boss with a severe eating
disorder, violent birthday cakes, deadly sushi, and even McDonalds
fry-guy knockoffs. You just can’t go wrong with this game. I was
a little frustrated with it at first, but once you learn the mechanics
and gameplay strategies, life gets much easier. I would say to give
this game about three days to figure out, and if you don’t like
it by then, competition shooters may just not be your thing.
You
may be thinking that since this is a puzzle game, the shooter element
must be watered down a bit: not so at all. TSS still calls for expert
shooter skills, offering a charge bar with three different level
attacks, bombs, and even has BOSS fights! While the game is very
much playable alone, I feel the strong point of TSS is taking on
someone head to head in the two player mode. Think about it - that
person who used to be your wingman in Radiant Silvergun is now trying
to blast you out of the water! Where else could you have you shmupping
prowess measured directly against another shooter fanatic, settling
once and for all that endless argument of “No, I’m better at shooters……..”?
And you must master the art of dealing with all the junk on your
side, while also keeping tabs on what your opponent is doing also.
There are 13 characters to choose from (9 regular and four hidden),
each one very different in play mechanics (unlike some shooters
where picking different ships means very little). Each character
is ranked in speed and shot power, and each has different bombs,
extra attacks, and boss attacks (you’ll want to try them all……the
endings are all cool too…..). Part of the head to head gameplay
also is finding out which characters are the best. I’ll try to explain
how to play the game the best I can:
The
story is that of a quest to find the Twinkle Star, who gants the
owner his or her heart’s desire. Each character has a heart meter
of 5 hearts, and getting hit takes away a certain numbers of hearts
depending on how strong the attack is. The object of the game is
to hit your opponent enough so that his meter runs out, and you
win the round. Sound easy? During gameplay, level enemies, which
range from stars to treasure boxes, drop down from above in shooter-type
patterns (like waves of airplanes). Blasting the large enemies produce
large explosions, and hitting small ones, small explosions. In order
to attack the other player, you have to get the explosions to destroy
enemies for you, creating chains. Reaching a chain of about 3 will
produce a yellow fireball, which is launched against the opponent
(the max chain you can get is 40). This is a NORMAL ATTACK. Shooting
a fireball back at the person it originated from makes it larger
and reverses it. Shooting a larger fireball morphs it into a SPECIAL
ATTACK, which is different for each character. LoadRan has little
bunnies that attack from behind, Memory has food that appears out
of nowhere, etc. During this time, you have a charge bar that works
like R-Type and produces a more powerful bast. When powered up to
level 3, unleashing a full charge will release a BOSS ATTACK! The
boss character appears on the other players screen, along with all
the regular stuff that’s going on, and works just like a real shooter
boss: specific attack patterns and tougher to kill! You can also
get a boss attack by reaching a high number of combos.
If
you happen to get hit by anything, you lose hearts. Touching a level
enemy will transfer a heart from you to the opponent, and leave
you stunned for a few seconds. This is the most frustrating part
of the game……with TSS fast paced gameplay, being stunned does NOT
help matters at all. Of course, you have two bombs at your disposal
to help clear stuffed screens, and yes, you are invincible when
exploding them. Some enemies are encased in bubbles, making them
harder to explode, but there is a powerup that flips between an
extra bomb and a star, the star breaking all bubble enemies on the
screen (very helpful.) I think that about explains things, but you
really need to play to see how fast attacks can be volleyed back
and forth.
There
are three modes of play:
1)
Character mode, where you can choose any of TSS very unique
personalities and take on the game’s 8 levels.
2) Story mode, where you must play as LoadRan and get a
little more of a storyline, but basically the same game as character.
3) Competitive mode (my fave), where you play head to head
against someone else.
Graphics,
music, and gameplay of TSS are all top notch, and this one is chocked
full of personality too. The game had me laughing pretty hard, both
intentionally and not intentionally, with its SNKglish. My only
gripes with this game is that there is a little bit of slowdown
when lots of attacks fill the screen, and it does hinder gameplay
a bit. Be warned though: this game is highly addictive, especially
when two veteran shmuppers go at it. I’ve know friendships lost
to Twinkle Star Sprites, lawsuits filed, marriages broken up, etc.
And with a Dreamcast release coming up, perhaps more people in the
US will get a chance to be exposed to this very unique genre of
shooter.
Twinkle
Star Sprites - ADK
