Shoot1UP DX (XB1 - PS4 - Switch - PC)

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Sturmvogel Prime
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Shoot1UP DX (XB1 - PS4 - Switch - PC)

Post by Sturmvogel Prime »

Here we go again with another trash shooter, this time is Shoot1UP DX.

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It is the ultimate battle between the Tangled Swords and King Kong's Brain Tumour.

At first, Shoot1UP DX looks like another basic "Textbook" shmup of the bunch. So, how does this game will try to differ from the rest?. Simple, the premise of the game consists of utilizing up to 30 ships as your options. However, those options are your Lives. Yeah, your spare lives are your Power Ups. I've saw something similar to the Ship>Option trading in Gradius III, but that depended on how many Options you've had (Ex. spending 2 lives for the two options left), back to Shoot1UP DX, having 30 ships simultaneously means a lot of firepower on your hands, but also it means trouble, 'cos the game has bullet hell elements and that means you'll lose ships very, very, very fast since they go down with one shot but you can get 1ups to regain your firepower. Also, you can control the formation by expanding or contracting the formation, this is very useful if you're aiming to a No-miss run, combined with the brake button because flying contracted will leave a small trail of ships like the Snake Option in Gradius III, the Brake keeps the formation, and slows the ship's speed. While this makes you an easy target prone to enemy fire you also have one defensive move.

Since you lack of a bomb to clear the screen of bullets, you have a defensive weapon: The Flash Shield. Once you've released the Fire button, your ship will generate a growing circular pulse that causes considerable damages, this weapon is also the score multipler maker of the game since any enemy destroyed with the Flash Shield will drop bonus items of considerable value. Expanding your ship formation provides a wider range of fire, but also is the generator of the special attack of your ship: The Auger Beam, which is your DoDonPachi-like beam weapon that inflicts heavy damages on your enemies, especially bosses. The Beam's strength also depends on how separated your ship formation is.
Losing a ship is also a pseudo-bomb 'cos when a ship is gone it creates a large blue explosion that damages enemies and destroys bullets in a short-middle range, saving you of tight spots.

Having "Options" is one thing, but make your options count as spare lives is another, and that's where the game flops because you can lose 5 or 10 in a collision with a large enemy and that compromises the no-death runs.


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Like in G-Darius, there's an easy and hard path.

Throughout the game, you'll have to decide if you want to take the Easy Route or the Hard Route in the style of G-Darius where Zone Alpha splits in Zone A or B. Picking the Hard Route will change the screen scrolling into an horizontal-like shooter, but keeping the vertical scroll like Twin Falcons and the 7th stage of Natsuki Chronicles and sometimes it puts you into a "reverse vertical" scroll where the ship is on the top and aims downwards like some of the dreadful shmups of the Genesis version of Action 52. Clearing a level taking the Hard path will send you to different stages. You can also get "Pie" items that are multipurpose: First, they power up your ship. Second, you can shoot it to obtain medals and Third; getting two of them will unlock the "Ovoid" ship.


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I can't believe Pepper has to test us!

Holding the B button before starting the game will send you to a quick tutorial so you can learn the basic controls of your ship. However, you can decide to follow the instructions or not. The ship performance is not affected if you fail the check or do what the game says.




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っ・・・・・・ヽマーガレット・・・・・・

Dying is not an option in this game because once you've lost your last ship you'll have to start the game all the way back to the beginning.
This is one of those games with the sadistic "No Continues" idea. If you're not tolerant to the idea of start over, you'd better play something else.


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This isn't DonPachi, is DonCRAPPY, DonPachi's craptastic clone.

Trek Mode is the closest thing that we can call a "game" since it omits the screwed up "All your lives on the action" for a more basic (and more functional) 1 ship game. However, there's still conditions to follow. The first one is there's no extra lives. One death means Game Over, but here's the catch: You can keep your progress as you advance throughout the levels. But the most notorious change is the gameplay itself. Since you're using a single ship, holding the fire button will unleash the Auger Beam along with your regular fire. So your extra lives feature becomes power levels. This game mode is an infinite loop since once you defeat the final boss, you'll start from Stage 1, but the enemies will increase their strength, making them less vulnerable to your attacks, but also the bonus items dropped by them will increase, you can get million point bonus items at the fourth or fifth loop, clearing the 5th loop will unlock an achievement.
In the end, the game is as you imagined, another Gamerscore Milker since you can unlock all of the achievements, except for the Two Player only 60 ship unless you have a friend who wants to play this trash shooter with you.

Graphically it feels like a quick drawing in the style of a comic book, but with random things that repeat constantly throughout the stages (same robot parts twice in stage 1 for example.), Your ship and your enemies look exactly like drawings, breaking with the use of sprites or CGI models making them feel like an interactive webcomic or a very well made flash animation.

If you're looking for a shmup for the whole family, then this is not the game you're looking for. This game is mostly notorious because one of the stages features giant naked girls and a suggestive boss which I'll not post pics here to keep the post safe. Although the nudity instances are conveniently covered by panels in the background, the game gives you an option to "dress the androids", making them to wear green underwear.

The music is perhaps the only best part of the whole game, as we have some fast techno rhythms that are nice to hear in some tracks like the Main Menu, Stages 1 and 5 as they have influences from Paul Van Dyke, but they become quite repetitive as they play more than once throughout the playthrough. The "growls" of the alien beings lack of force and they don't sound menacing. That "Rourm!" they belch out sounds more like the sound effect you'll hear on a Stegosaurus or a Triceratops in a cartoon/low budget movie rather than a Kaiju-like creature.



CURIOSITIES1UP SP

- The name "Caduceus" comes from the staff carried by Hermes in Greek mythology and consequently by Hermes Trismegistus in Greco-Egyptian mythology.
- "Ovoid" is an object that has the same shape as an egg
- The boss "Medusa Gigante" means "Giant Jellyfish" in spanish.
- The Pie items are actually Mommy's Best Games logo.


MECHA REFERENCES

In Stage 1 you can notice dismembered mecha parts that resembles limbs of famous mecha.



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Megatron will be glad to see this.

LESS THAN MEETS THE EYE: The head of a robot HEAVILY based on Optimus Prime from The Transformers painted yellow and with a Wing Gundam Zero-like crown.



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Shigeru: EVA-01, Silenced.
Misato: What about Shinji?
Maya: There's no signs from the Entry Plug.


THE THIRD CHILD HAS FALLEN: The dismembered torso of an Evangelion Unit-01 like mecha can be found among the wreck.



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An unlucky Veritech pilot was overpowered.

RICK HUNTED: A VF-1J Valkyrie head and severed arm can be found.
AMURO WASN'T A RIVAL FOR THEM: The severed leg of a Gundam is commonly seen in the stage.
THE DEFENDER OF THE UNIVERSE IS NO MORE: There's a severed waist of what appears to be Voltron's torso.
GHOST OUT OF THE SHELL: The wreck of a Tachikoma from Ghost in the Shell.
SABAN SHOULD BRING BETTER HEROES: There's a Power Rangers Megazord like sword.




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Now, that's what I call "Plagiarism".

The opening scene shows an attack scene that looks like a ripoff of the El Toro base attack scene from ID4: Independence Day. If that wasn't enough, the opening line "But we're not going down without a fight!" sounds similar to Thomas Whitemore's "We will not vanish without a fight!"

With the music as the only positive aspect of the game, the rest is very forgettable despite having some interesting ideas. Shoot1UP DX is not just another shmup of the bunch, is once again another addition to the list of shmups with bizarre experimental mechanics and Gamerscore Milkers that only want your money. Do yourself a favor and save your hard earned cash, there's better games out there that really deserve your money.

This game is a great example of how good ideas crash with the harsh reality. Mr. Shoot1UP DX, if you're not going to help, there's no reason for you to be in here.



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Oh, no. I've already had enough with one of your games.

Once you've finished the game, you'll get a post-credits commercial for an upcoming title of Mommy's Best Games, Explosionade DX (a lame Cybernator / Assault Suits Valken clone). God, have mercy on us, 'cos if you're still hungry for shmups, then MBG is not the option.


If you think Ginga Force and Natsuki Chronicles need a Switch release, then rise your hands, 'cos we really, really need a good shoot'em up game right abo...
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Great, they've made Lea cry. Bastards.
I'm sorry for that, but actually I'm the one who takes the worst part playing all these trash games in hopes of finding somethi...
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Alright...


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ALRIGHT...


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ALRIGHT!...


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ALRIGHT!! I'LL TAKE A HINT!!
NEXT REVIEW: DARIUSBURST CS CHRONICLE SAVIOURS!!

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AND IT'S GONNA BE AN EPIC.

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That one's gonna be the longest of all my reviews...
Fan of Transformers, Shmups and Anime-styled Girls. You're teamed up with the right pilot!
Bringing you shmup and video game reviews with humorous criticism.

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