Arcade Archives: Nova2001 (PS4|5 - Switch)

[Sturmvogel Prime]

DANGER ZONE (PART LXXI)
WE'RE MESSIN' UP IN SPACE


The "Danger Zone" series of reviews so far.
DANGER ZONE VOL. I

Spoiler

I: REVVIN' UP YOUR ENGINE, LISTENIN' TO HER HOWLIN' ROARING - (E.D.F.: Earth Defense Force)
II: IS THIS YOUR IDEA OF FUN, MAV? - (Binarystar Infinity)
III: PLAYING WITH THE (ARCADE ARCHIVES) BOYS - (Arcade Archives: Thunder Dragon 2)
IV: THAT'S RIGHT! ICE...MAN. I AM DANGEROUS (SEED) - (Arcade Archives: Dangerous Seed)
V: THE ELITE. BEST OF THE BEST. WE'LL MAKE YOU BETTER. - (Super E.D.F.: Earth Defense Force)
VI: GONNA TAKE YOU RIGHT INTO THE DANGER ZONE - (Star Hunter DX)
VII: IT TAKES MORE THAN JUST FANCY FLYING - (Earth Defense Force 4.1: Wing Diver The Shooter)
VIII: INSTRUMENTS OF DESTRUCTION - (Devastator by Radiangames)
IX: ¿WHO'S AFRAID OF THE BIG BAD TUBES? - (Arcade Archives: Tube Panic)
X: SWIMMIN' IN THE FLOODS, DANCIN' ON THE CLOUDS BELOW. I AIN'T WORRIED 'BOUT IT - (Arcade Archives: Fighting Hawk)
XI: PULLING A RABBIT OUT OF THE HAT - (Arcade Archives: Rabio Lepus)
XII: WINGS OF SILVER, NERVES OF STEEL - (Arcade Archives: Darius)
XIII: FULL SCALE ASSAULT - (Arcade Archives: Assault)
XIV: WE'RE GONNA NEED A DIFFERENT KIND OF BUGSPRAY - (Arcade Archives: Gaplus)
XV: DOWN THE ALIEN SECTOR - (Arcade Archives: Baraduke)
XVI: WHEN YOU'RE DRAWN TO THE GROUND BY THE DRAGONS - (Arcade Archives: Dragon Spirit)
XVII: SOME RETICENT GODDESS PUT THE CHILDREN TO SLEEP - (Arcade Archives: Metal Black)
XVIII: I SHOT THE WILD LIZARDS - (Arcade Archives: Gun Frontier)
XIX: HOW WE GONNA GET THIS MUSEUM PIECE IN THE AIR? - (Arcade Archives: Galaxian)
XX: SHATTERED KAWAII SKIES - (Arcade Archives: Ordyne)
XXI: ENTER THE DRAGON (SABER) - (Arcade Archives: Dragon Saber)
XXII: SEEMS LIKE WE'RE NOT THE ONLY ONES HOLDING ON TO OLD RELICS - (Arcade Archives: Galaga)
XXIII: OLD WARBIRDS, RETRO ARCADE ACTION - (Arcade Archives: USAAF Mustang)
XXIV: ARCADE STYLED HELICOPTER BATTLEFIELD - (Arcade Archives: Metal Hawk)
XXV: CLASH OF THE GODS - (Arcade Archives: Phelios)
XXVI: BACK IN (METAL) BLACK - (Metal Black S-Tribute)
XXVII: NAMCO'S TAKE ON THE NBA - (Arcade Archives: Grobda)
XXVIII: DOUJIN SHMUPPING "GM" STYLE - (Graze Counter GM)
XXIX: MIXED AND REMIXED - (Raiden IV x Mikado Remix)
XXX: EXPLICIT DIFFICULTY - (Arcade Archives: Gradius III)

DANGER ZONE VOL. II

Spoiler

XXXI: HAVING THE EARTH IN MY SIGHTS - (Layer Section & Galactic Attack S-Tribute)
XXXII: FAST, FURIOUS AND DANGEROUS - (Arcade Archives: Turbo Force)
XXXIII: CHORUS AND CHORES - (Chorus)
XXXIV: SAVE THE SUN - (Sol Cresta)
XXXV: NAMCO WHISPERS IN OUR EARS AND SAYS THAT "YOU ARE IN NAVARONE" - (Arcade Archives: Navarone)
XXXVI: A SHORT (ASTEROID) BREAK TIME - (Space Scavengers by Xitilon)
XXXVII: GIVE ME A "REZON" TO HOLD ON TO WHAT WE'VE GOT - (Arcade Archives: Rezon)
XXXVIII: A COSMIC TROUBLESOME GANG - (Arcade Archives: Cosmo Gang The Video)
XXXIX: WHAT'S THE PLAN? SAVE THE MOON, SAVE EARTH - (Arcade Archives: Moon Cresta)
XL: A HERO FOR THE EARTH - (Arcade Archives: Terra Cresta)
XLI: BACK TO THE '88 - (Arcade Archives: Galaga '88)
XLII: SUPER ROBOT SMASH - (Arcade Archives: Mazinger Z)
XLIII: FREEDOM FIGHTERS OF THE FUTURE - (Arcade Archives: Thunder Dragon)
XLIV: HAMSTER SAID "IT'S SHARK WEEK ON ARCADE ARCHIVES" - (Arcade Archives: Mad Shark)
XLV: MESSED UP NETWORK - (RayCrisis)
XLVI: AN INC-RAY-DIBLE COLLECTION - (Ray'z Arcade Chronology)
XLVII: AN INC-RAY-DIBLE COLLECTION II - (RayStorm x RayCrisis HD Collection)
XLVIII: 99 NAMCO BALLOONS GO BY (Arcade Archives: King & Balloon)
XLIX: ATTACK ON BOSCONIAN - (Arcade Archives: Bosconian)
L: MIXED AND REMIXED II - (Raiden III x Mikado Maniax)
LI: ALLUMER'S TOON SQUADRON - (Arcade Archives: Zing Zing Zip)
LII: GO STRIKE! - (Arcade Archives: Strike Gunner S.T.G)
LIII: A THING CALLED TUNA SASIMI - (Arcade Archives: Darius II)
LIV: RAIDER ZONE: YOU KNOW, IT IS WHAT IT IS - (Arcade Archives: Raiders5)
LV: COMET OF DESTRUCTION - (Arcade Archives: Halley's Comet)
LVI: FORCE AND BURN: NO FLY ZONE - (Arcade Archives: Burning Force)
LVII: THE SHENANIGANS OF SHENANDOAH - (1993 Shenandoah)
LVIII: GREAT, JUST LIKE A KING - (Arcade Archives: Daioh)
LIX: THE TIMELESS CLASSIC - (Arcade Archives: Gradius)
LX: A NINTEN-SIVE ARCADE PORT - (Arcade Archives: VS. Gradius)

DANGER ZONE VOL. III

Spoiler

LXI: THE (LIFE) FORCE AWAKENS - (Arcade Archives: Life Force)
LXII: THE TIMELESS CLASSIC RETURNS - (Arcade Archives: Gradius II)
LXIII: HEARTFUL TRIGGERHEART (Triggerheart Exelica - Switch Re-release)
LXIV: RETURN OF THE AERO FIGHTERS - (Arcade Archives: Aero Fighters)
LXV: THE POWER OF THE (TASK) FORCE - (Arcade Archives: Task Force Harrier)
LXVI: THIRTY MINUTES (AND MANY HOSTILES) OVER TOKYO - (Arcade Archives: Scramble Formation)
LXVII: THE HAMSTER EDGE: ARCADE ARCHIVES BLASTS OFF XEVIOUS - (Arcade Archives: Xevious)
LXVIII: HIGHWAY TO THE SECTOR ZONE - (Arcade Archives: Seicross)
LXIX: THE GALAXY'S LOUDEST HEAVY WARHEAD CRUISE - (Arcade Archives: Space Cruiser)
LXX: STRATO FIGHTER: THE (OUT OF THIS) WORLD WARRIOR - (Arcade Archives: Strato Fighter)

Looks like the following review is gonna be a few words to talk about it.
I'm talking UPL's Nova2001 (or Nova 2001)



You are cornered, but you can fight your way out.

"Arena Shooting" a genre that Namco invented with Warp & Warp, but mostly remembered by William's Robotron: 2084. An experimental genre where all what you need is a room to confine your character and toss him a horde of enemies per level and increase their numbers as you advance to the next stages. Simple premise, but fun packed guaranteeing a few good minutes of fun. UPL followed this principle in Nova2001.
The gameplay of Nova2001 is as simple as Robotron 2084 is: Take down all the enemies in the arena in order to advance to the next stage. One major difference in this game is the controls. While Robotron what a control stick for movement and another for firing, Nova2001 goes a little more basic by having a fire button and letting the bullet direction be guided by a more simple aiming of the ship's nosetip based on the player's movement. But you can lock the ship's aiming with a second button. Takes some practice since it breaks with Robotron's simplicity.

While Robotron relies on rescued humans for bonus points, in Nova2001, the enemy is also the bonus factor because when they're destroyed the defeated robots will drop Bonus Panels which grant you a few points:
[1] = 200 (Dropped often by Robotans [Humanoid robots])
[2] = 300 (Dropped by Yadocanoids [Hermit Crab robots])
[3] = 400 (Dropped by Tackongs [Octopus-like robots])
[4] = 500 (Dropped by Blains [Spheric drones])
[5] = 800 (Dropped by unnamed flying disks on Scene 4)
[6] = 1000 (Dropped by unnamed tank robots on Scene 24)

Another bonus factor is the timer, which runs way too fast (10 in-game seconds per 1 real time second) so, you will be on a hurry, but keep in mind, you cannot get the bonus all of the times and you'll be realizing this the hard way as the bonus items block your bullets keeping you from taking down more enemies and save time. This sounds like an unfair advantage forcing you to move and try to attack the formation from a different angle. Also, you have to make sure there's at least 1 enemy on the screen before picking all the panels because if you take down all the enemies and there's panels scattered you won't be able to pick them and then get the "Stage Clear" since the game will consider the level complete after the last enemy is killed.




The "Boss" of the game

From the second level onwards, you'll be facing a new threat: A cross-shaped Patrol Robot known as "Reda". This enemy has to be taken down before it leaves the screen. The reason of this is because if it escapes it will summon a large enemy called the "Mi Fortress". Taking down the Mi Fortress will grant you 2000 points and sometimes a random item. One of them is a "Flower shaped" item that gives you all the bonus items scattered across the levels at once without going around picking them. The Mi Fortress was the closest thing to a boss in the game since it was the lone big enemy that took a lot of hits before going down, something that was unexpected on a Robotron clone and was vastly superior over the original which pelted you with larger numbers of enemies instead, and believe it or not, that's all you need to learn about the ins-and-outs of Nova2001.

There's a total of 33 scenes in the game, but they will loop forever until you're finally down, thus you can go to level 100 or "Level 0" and there's no ending to be found, not even UPL's infamous "Without the video games let's try anything else". Instead once you're in level 101 the text "SUPER PLAYER!" will appear on top of the screen as if the game admits you're damn good enough to make it that far.

Despite the love for Robotron: 2084 and this clone, UPL didn't had the same luck in homeporting that Robotron had. It came and went like all the ill-fated UPL titles that became the cheap option for new arcade operators looking for quick profits while saving for the big titles. Back then, if the arcade game didn't reached at least the NES, that meant it was destined to absolute obscurity. It was until 2015 when Hamster, who've acquired the defunct UPL brought it to Arcade Archives. 32 Years after its debut, it finally gets a home port where the game is backed up with the additional Hi-Score and Caravan Modes to increase its replay value along with the Trophies for your PlayStation account.




80's Psychedelia: The basis of Retro-Futurism.

Graphically it has a "Retro-Futurism" that reminds me of the late 70's and very early 80's with some wacky patterns on the space station structures and the pseudo-technological "honeycombs" which are more psychedelic than technological and is a vast improvement over Robotron's simple black background. Like Robotron, Science-Fiction is the main theme of the game, but UPL made something a little different this time. While this game has music, it is barely noticeable since its a simple fanfare and a humming of some sorts for the stages which can be easily "Blocked out" by an external sound source like let's say your own music from a Walkman or the Arcade room stereo.

Speaking of music, here's a playlist for Nova2001.

Kraftwerk - The Robots
Manfred Mann's Earth Band - Messin'
Devo - Planet Earth
Genesis - Tonight, Tonight, Tonight
Gamma - Condition Yellow


TRIVIA2001 (or TRIVIA 2001)

- The name "Robotan" sounds very similar to "Robotron".
- First home port of the game.
- First Arcade-Perfect port.
- Second UPL title in Arcade Archives line-up.




Just holding the enemy as long as possible.
Surviving 30 stage is already an accomplishment for me.

After 40 years, Nova2001 still retains its charm as a curious Robotron clone which remained in obscurity but with all the fun of the original game that inspired it, and that's what it counts: The fun factor. Something that shmup, UPL and Robotron fans will appreciate from this game.




Eda's expression says it all.