[img_inline align="center" caption="Think Nanoha meets Gradius, and you'll be close."]http://i.imgur.com/EMlsB5D.jpg[/img_inline]
It's an unspecified year in the future, and not humanity's finest hour. Countless wars have devastated the surface and waters of the Earth, ecosystems everywhere are disrupted, barren wastelands cover the world, humanity is decimated, and Geico starts charging 15% more for car insurance. A sizable chunk of what's left of the human race take off for the stars, opting to chance finding another habitable planet, while the hardscrabble remainder stay behind and try to fix what they screwed up.
Quickly realizing that they had no chance alone, they turn to the task of creating something that can accomplish the monumental task...until one man succeeds, giving his life in the course of his research and experimentation. The result: Suguri, a human girl now given the power to mend the world and the longevity to see the task through.
Cut to ten thousand years and countless human generations later, and Suguri's work as an adorable loli Vectorman is paying off. The planet is mostly habitable, plant and animal populations are slowly recovering, and humanity can now live openly on the surf--wait, are those spaceships? Is that the rest of the humans returning or someone eeEEEE--
WAIT, WHY ARE THEY SHOOTING-?!
_______________________________________________________________
Suguri
Oddly enough, I bought this game at the same convention as half my visual novel collection...and promptly forgot about it for a year and a half. Kinda surprising, since I loved playing it at the Rockin' Android booth, even happily missing an anime episode I'd been looking forward to in order to play.
In any case, it's a pretty short and simple game, assuming you possess the reflexes of Jedi Master Jesus, so let's get started.
<color=aliceblue>Line break.
Gameplay
Suguri is a side-scrolling shooter for the PC. The player controls the title character, flying around the screen, dodging the projectiles and energy weapons of an at first inexplicably hostile fleet of robots, and responding in kind.
Suguri, the most ironic environmentalist ever.
The controls are pretty simple, especially if you've played a side-scroller before (and especially if you have a USB controller with 4-button setup). Aside from directional movement, the buttons let Suguri wield two of the game's sixteen possible weapons, perform hyper attacks with either weapon, and dash.
First off, I have to award major creativity points for the weapons, which for the most part are pretty fun...though I seriously wish there was some documentation somewhere that listed how they were unlocked (you start with only the Beam Rifle, Machine Gun, and Bazooka). I think I managed to get all of them by simply playing a lot, but there might be achievement-style unlocks for some of them; I suspect I got the Sword and the Divine Buster in this way.
While they can sorta roughly be divided into three different flavors (physical projectiles, energy projectiles, and melee), such categorization is a bit misleading. Physical projectiles, like Bullets or Launcher missiles, can be destroyed by enemy projectiles, while energy can't, and melee attacks take place nominally in melee range but even with those broad strokes, each weapon has its unique characteristics.
Some weapons are, of course, harder to use effectively. The Pilebunker, for instance, is a dashing melee attack that shields you, but only on the dash (as opposed to the Sword shielding on hit), while the Bazooka is explosive and powerful, especially point-blank...but also slow-firing and easy to interrupt. Others have more esoteric uses; the Pod creates up to five auto-firing robots on your side, while the Flamethrower is short-range but pierces through enemies.
Same with the hyper attacks, moves that cost hyper stocks (charged by attacking and dashing), but fire a souped-up version of the weapon's standard attack, and provide temporary invincibility.
With big enough lasers, every point becomes a weak point.
Dashing is the final game mechanic, and serves several uses. Most simply, it's a way of traveling around the screen much faster, and dodging attacks. This is the other significant difference between physical and energy projectiles; energy attacks cannot be blocked or interrupted, but Suguri becomes invincible to them while dashing. In fact, any attack passing through Suguri's wake while you dash actually charges the hyper meter.
This multi-purpose tool, however, does have some downsides. Projectiles can't be dashed through (unless you're using the Force Edge weapon, in which case you can't dash through energy), and must be dodged completely or destroyed. Worse still, dashing increases the Heat meter, which raises the amount of damage Suguri takes when she does get hit by an attack.
And trust me, if there's one thing this game doesn't need help with, it's killing you.
This is 10% luck, and 20% skill...
If you've ever heard of the Touhou games, you're probably familiar with the concept of a danmaku, or "bullet hell," game. These are scrolling shooters, usually top-down, characterized by giant patterns of enemy attacks that must be dodged while playing. Think Galaga meets Operation plus <url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6g4E6R6RCHo&feature=related>a heaping helping of pure insanity.
Suguri isn't a pure bullet hell shooter, but that genre is clearly where it draws much of its influence, because this game is genital-smashingly difficult. At the most basic, this is due to the two different projectiles requiring two very different defensive strategies; physical projectiles can't be dashed through but can be destroyed, while energy is vice versa, and dealing with both at the same time requires quick reflexes and prescient anticipation.
Naturally, the way to avoid both is to simply dodge out of the way, but this is far easier said than done.
I think this speaks for itself.
Playing, then, becomes even more of a balancing act than a typical shooter; constant motion is necessary for defense (especially since most weapons, particularly slow ones like the Shock or Divine Buster, otherwise briefly root you in place), but use of the dash raises the imperative that you not get hit. Ultimately, Suguri rewards trial-and-error, learning not only what kind of enemies you'll face, when, and how to avoid their attacks, but how to kill them before they fill the screen with projectiles.
And for that matter, the difficulty depends on which part of a level you're on. After all, it's perfectly possible (I'd argue necessary) to memorize most of the enemies' patterns during a level and anticipate which actions you should take. It's even possible to do this during a given level's sub-boss, typically a larger robot with unique but (to an extent) predictable attacks.
Fighting the bosses, on the other hand, is a substantially more tricky proposition.
"Our boss is kinda fucked-up like that."
These fights are both the most hair-pullingly frustrating and the most seriously fun parts of the game. Each boss (implied to be enhanced humans like Suguri) has her own unique attack patterns, but is also mobile and far harder to predict (meaning memorization loses importance compared to pure reflex), and even changes patterns during the course of the fight. Iru, for example, is quite fast-moving and favors missiles and mines, but occasionally pulls out a laser attack for a surprise (and when low on health, starts using her beam-and-missile spread hyper), while Kyoko barely moves while filling the screen with ice shrapnel, but eventually starts calling in supporting fire from other robots.
On a different note, the three difficulty levels affect how quickly individual enemies attack and move, and often add extra stages to enemy attacks; those missile platforms are fairly easy to deal with on Easy and Normal (firing only physical projectiles), but Hard mode gives them an energy spread, as well, something the Divine Buster alone can't deal with.
Oh, the hell with dancing around it. "<url=http://i53.tinypic.com/fyfqlf.jpg>EXELION BUSTAAAAA!!"
Not that I know much about Hard mode, yet. I haven't gotten past the first level on Hard, whereas I've managed to beat Easy (after 150 or so tries) and I'm still stuck on the final boss in Normal. And this is going stage-by-stage individually, which is by far the easiest option. Arcade Mode lets you play the stages in succession (necessary if you're going for high scores), but this effectively means "play each stage with the same two weapons," a lot harder than it sounds. After all, even the stage bosses themselves can require different weapons or strategies than the stage proper...let alone that Launcher/Buster combo that you dominated stage 5 with suddenly failing miserably in the lightning-paced main body of stage 6.
<color=aliceblue>Line break.
Story
Actually, Suguri is fairly light on story, which doesn't harm it much. It's mainly enjoyable for some entertaining banter between Suguri and the invaders (I rather like the cute exchanges between her and the final boss), and Suguri's cheesily pacifistic monologues.
The named enemies do have their own personalities, but since only two of them have more than one opportunity to speak, it doesn't lead to much. I'm under the impression that the sequel lets them shine more...which also implies that, contrary to appearances, Suguri really does take each of them down non-lethally.
That's...kinda badass, now I think of it.
Hell, if someone looked at me like that, I'd be screaming and shooting to kill two seconds ago.
<color=aliceblue>Line break.
Technical
Suguri's artwork is pretty simple, but doesn't look bad at all. Actually, I have to confess that I rather like the colorful style used for character and sprite artwork, and for the various standard and hyper attacks. Which was just as well, considering how often the screen filled with shockwaves and projectiles (mine and the enemies').
Stage design, too, is worthy of mention (though it probably doesn't help my case that I've only used three stages for images so far). Indeed, at the best, some are beautifully atmospheric; in particular, I love stage one (a running battle above a vast, unbroken forest into a fight against the sky), stage four (fighting through a roiling thunderstorm...complete with dangerous lightning), and stage seven (a final battle in the stratosphere, against the rising moon and circling the clouds).
The music is similarly atmospheric, as appropriate for a heavily trance-influenced style, and generally contains separate tracks for each stage and boss fight. Admittedly, while all the featured music pieces are pretty good and fit their situations well, only a few (among them Kyoko's boss theme "<url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SY0Zx66B7Zs>Difference" or the stage 2 theme "Freedom Sky") are genuinely memorable beyond that. Actually, though, my favorite track wound up being "<url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mroniOayZL8>Impact," Kae's boss battle theme. Aside from reaching near-Guilty Gear levels of metal, it's also a perfect fit for one of the game's most memorable battles.
Memorable because you'll hear it over and over. And over. And over, <url=http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ThatOneBoss>and over, and over, and over, and over...
<color=aliceblue>Seriously, that fight is goddamn crazy.
Verdict
Suguri is a seriously fun little shooter. It's decent-looking and sounding, and the various weapons, mechanics, and enemy waves in turn give the game a lot of variety and staying power. Even the balls-to-the-grindstone
*pauses to repress this image*
difficulty works well. The game is hard, but it's hard for all the right reasons, a genuine difficulty arising from you having all the tools you need, but the task itself requiring you pick and use them well. Even while I was struggling with the Kae fight (seriously, the hardest in the game barring the truly insane final boss), nothing felt cheap about my losses. It also helps that the game throws the struggling player a bone by tying weapon unlocks to total number of plays (similar to the later Super Smash Brothers games and their versus mode character unlock), rather than resorting to more arcane and punishing measures.
So yes, I recommend this game (available at <url=http://www.rockinandroid.com/games/gameinfo.php?id=suguri-perfect-edition>Rockin' Android) quite highly. I'm honestly regretful that it took me a year and a half to remember that I owned it...
Next Review
Due to life circumstances and desire for escapism, I've set aside Family Project for the moment. Assuming I don't get around to a Fate/Stay Night adaptation review (or another secret Off-Topic), my next visual novel will be Symphonic Rain.
____________________
TYPE-MOON reviews:
___________________
<url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.128851-TYPE-MOON-reviews-Tsukihime>Tsukihime
--- <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.142352-TYPE-MOON-reviews-Shingetsutan-Tsukihime-anime>Shingetsutan Tsukihime (anime)
--- <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.145022-TYPE-MOON-reviews-Lunar-Legend-Tsukihime-manga>Lunar Legend Tsukihime (manga)
- <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.139628-TYPE-MOON-reviews-Kagetsu-Tohya>Kagetsu Tohya
- <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.230960-TYPE-MOON-Reviews-Melty-Blood>Melty Blood
--- Re-Act/Act Cadenza
--- Actress Again
<url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.223721-TYPE-MOON-Review-anniversary-Fate-Stay-Night>Fate/Stay Night
--- Fate/Stay Night (anime)
----- Unlimited Blade Works
--- Fate/Stay Night (manga)
- Fate/Unlimited Codes
- Fate/Zero
<url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.304952-TYPE-MOON-Review-Anniversary-Kara-no-Kyoukai>Kara no Kyokai
Speculative: Fate/Hollow Ataraxia, Fate/Extra, Notes, DDD.
___________________________________
Neutral Drow reviews:
___________________________________
<url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.130703-Neutral-Drow-reviews-Xchange>Xchange
<url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.135672-Neutral-Drow-reviews-A-Drug-That-Makes-You-Dream>A Drug That Makes You Dream
<url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.146260-Neutral-Drow-reviews-Heart-de-Roommate>Heart de Roommate
<url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.163769-Neutral-Drow-reviews-Kanon>Kanon
<url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.148564-Neutral-Drow-reviews-Little-My-Maid>Little My Maid
<url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.206764-Neutral-Drow-reviews-Kana-Little-Sister>Kana: Little Sister
<url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.252998-Neutral-Drow-reviews-Princess-Waltz>Princess Waltz
<url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.237875-Neutral-Drow-reviews-Crescendo>Crescendo
<url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.308335-Neutral-Drow-reviews-Symphonic-Rain>Symphonic Rain
Hourglass of Summer
Tokimeki Check-in
Casual Romance Club
True Love
Clannad
Family Project
Snow Sakura
The Sagara Family
Snow Drop
Brave Soul
Doushin - Same Heart
Sono Hanabira ni Kuchizuke wo
Da Capo
Da Capo II
Kira Kira
Speculative: Air, Galaxy Angel, Yu-No, Sumaga, Suika, Shimai Donburi, 11eyes, Ashita no Kimi to Au Tami ni
___________________________________
Kinetic reviews:
___________________________________
Narcissu
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni
Umineko no Naku Koro ni
True Remembrance
Leaves
The Dandelion Girl
Tokoyo no Hoshizora
___________________________________
Off-Topic reviews:
___________________________________
<url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.151706-Lightning-Warrior-Raidy-a-Lordlee-and-Neutral-Drow-review>Lightning Warrior Raidy (collab. w/Lordlee)
<url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.158447-Off-Topic-Reviews-Devil-May-Cry-series>Devil May Cry series
- Devil May Cry 4 addendum
- DMC addendum
<url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.178061-Off-Topic-Reviews-Soulbringer>Soulbringer
<url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.194259-Off-Topic-Reviews-Ragnarok>Ragnarok
<url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.272426-Off-Topic-Reviews-Suguri>Suguri
<url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.385549-Off-Topic-Reviews-Ristar>Ristar
????
????
TYPE-MOON reviews:
___________________
<url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.128851-TYPE-MOON-reviews-Tsukihime>Tsukihime
--- <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.142352-TYPE-MOON-reviews-Shingetsutan-Tsukihime-anime>Shingetsutan Tsukihime (anime)
--- <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.145022-TYPE-MOON-reviews-Lunar-Legend-Tsukihime-manga>Lunar Legend Tsukihime (manga)
- <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.139628-TYPE-MOON-reviews-Kagetsu-Tohya>Kagetsu Tohya
- <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.230960-TYPE-MOON-Reviews-Melty-Blood>Melty Blood
--- Re-Act/Act Cadenza
--- Actress Again
<url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.223721-TYPE-MOON-Review-anniversary-Fate-Stay-Night>Fate/Stay Night
--- Fate/Stay Night (anime)
----- Unlimited Blade Works
--- Fate/Stay Night (manga)
- Fate/Unlimited Codes
- Fate/Zero
<url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.304952-TYPE-MOON-Review-Anniversary-Kara-no-Kyoukai>Kara no Kyokai
Speculative: Fate/Hollow Ataraxia, Fate/Extra, Notes, DDD.
___________________________________
Neutral Drow reviews:
___________________________________
<url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.130703-Neutral-Drow-reviews-Xchange>Xchange
<url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.135672-Neutral-Drow-reviews-A-Drug-That-Makes-You-Dream>A Drug That Makes You Dream
<url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.146260-Neutral-Drow-reviews-Heart-de-Roommate>Heart de Roommate
<url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.163769-Neutral-Drow-reviews-Kanon>Kanon
<url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.148564-Neutral-Drow-reviews-Little-My-Maid>Little My Maid
<url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.206764-Neutral-Drow-reviews-Kana-Little-Sister>Kana: Little Sister
<url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.252998-Neutral-Drow-reviews-Princess-Waltz>Princess Waltz
<url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.237875-Neutral-Drow-reviews-Crescendo>Crescendo
<url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.308335-Neutral-Drow-reviews-Symphonic-Rain>Symphonic Rain
Hourglass of Summer
Tokimeki Check-in
Casual Romance Club
True Love
Clannad
Family Project
Snow Sakura
The Sagara Family
Snow Drop
Brave Soul
Doushin - Same Heart
Sono Hanabira ni Kuchizuke wo
Da Capo
Da Capo II
Kira Kira
Yo-Jin-Bo
Sekien no Inganock
Wanko to Kuroso
My Girlfriend is the President
Sharin no Kuni
Cross Channel
Wind: A Breath of Heart
Brass Restoration
Ever17
Remember11
Ori Ochi Onoe
Shuffle
One
G-Senjou no Maou
Gadget Trail
Swan Song
Eien no Aselia
Phantom of Inferno
Kikokugai
River Trap
Autumn
Sengoku Rance
Daibanchou
ef
Neko Kawaigari
Adam: The Double Factor
Edelweiss
AoiShiro
Sekien no Inganock
Wanko to Kuroso
My Girlfriend is the President
Sharin no Kuni
Cross Channel
Wind: A Breath of Heart
Brass Restoration
Ever17
Remember11
Ori Ochi Onoe
Shuffle
One
G-Senjou no Maou
Gadget Trail
Swan Song
Eien no Aselia
Phantom of Inferno
Kikokugai
River Trap
Autumn
Sengoku Rance
Daibanchou
ef
Neko Kawaigari
Adam: The Double Factor
Edelweiss
AoiShiro
Speculative: Air, Galaxy Angel, Yu-No, Sumaga, Suika, Shimai Donburi, 11eyes, Ashita no Kimi to Au Tami ni
___________________________________
Kinetic reviews:
___________________________________
Narcissu
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni
Umineko no Naku Koro ni
True Remembrance
Leaves
The Dandelion Girl
Tokoyo no Hoshizora
___________________________________
Off-Topic reviews:
___________________________________
<url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.151706-Lightning-Warrior-Raidy-a-Lordlee-and-Neutral-Drow-review>Lightning Warrior Raidy (collab. w/Lordlee)
<url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.158447-Off-Topic-Reviews-Devil-May-Cry-series>Devil May Cry series
- Devil May Cry 4 addendum
- DMC addendum
<url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.178061-Off-Topic-Reviews-Soulbringer>Soulbringer
<url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.194259-Off-Topic-Reviews-Ragnarok>Ragnarok
<url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.272426-Off-Topic-Reviews-Suguri>Suguri
<url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.385549-Off-Topic-Reviews-Ristar>Ristar
????
????
