It's been a little over a week since SNES Online arrived on the Switch, and according to my play activity, I've put in around 20 hours in it already. Today, I continue to pad out that play time with a new game. BACKGROUND:
I vaguely remember hearing the name "Earth Defense Force" somewhere, but I don't know anything about it other than it's some sort of sci-fi game franchise. This game is my first experience with the series. SUMMARY: In the same vein as games like Gradius, Super EDF is a horizontal shmup where you pilot a spaceship and shoot down aliens and shit. It's not a revolutionary premise, but hey, it's a classic. Though the gameplay is mostly similar to other games in its genre, Super EDF has a few elements that set it apart from the rest. For one, your ship has access to "shields", which serve as an extra hit (an uncommon thing in shmups, where "get hit once and you die" is the usual practice). You start out with three shields, and can earn more by earning lots of points. This helps mitigate the hellacious difficulty of the game, but not by much (especially not against the bosses with terrifying bullet hell patterns).. Another thing that makes this game stand out is the ability to switch out weapons. Before each level, you start out in a menu where you can select one of eight weapons. Each weapon behaves wildly different from the others, and going through levels feels like a unique experience every time due to this variety. There's also a rudimentary leveling system in the game, where killing enemies gives you XP. Leveling up enhances your currently equipped weapon, and it's usually worth going out of your way to get. You also have access to a small selection of alternate firing modes, which, when toggled, deploys two small cannons that detach from your main ship and shoot your equipped weapon in varying formations (rotating around your ship, following behind you, or flying up to enemies). In these modes, your main ship defaults to a regular shot that doesn't do much damage but helps a little bit while your cannons do the heavy lifting. VERDICT: Sci-fi shmups are nothing out of the ordinary, but Super EDF manages to make a name for itself with a good variety of weapons and a few other mechanics that aren't seen too much in the genre. If you can stomach the game's difficulty, this is a great shmup to get into. - end -
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July 2024
Derryck
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