RadioSEGA Review: Gunblade NY & LA Machineguns (Wii)

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RadioSEGA Review: Gunblade NY & LA Machineguns (Wii)

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Gunblade NY 1995
LA Machineguns 1999


If there was one thing SEGA made a few of in the '90s it was on rails, light gun shooters. Back then you couldn?t move for them. Big bright cabinets, usually at the front of the arcade, two player so you and a mate could blast the living hell out of wave upon wave of what ever SEGA decided to throw at you. In the past we have had home versions of some of the most popular ones, Virtua Cop and House of the Dead spring to mind, but the two in this pack have a bit of a difference. I'll take them on one at a time.

Gunblade was created in 1995, in a world of polygons and straight lines. This game sees you and a friend sitting side by side in an advanced helicopter, using an infinite number of bullets to ?negotiate? with a large terrorist organisation that has decided to go on a rampage all over New York! The plot is, to be honest as shallow as a puddle but you really don?t care. The action is relentless as more and more enemies do their very best to remove one of your precious ?damage? icons that represent your lives. All three go and its game over. But don?t worry, you are no longer in the arcade down to your last pound coin, this is your front room and a stab of the ?A? button grants you another continue.

Moving through the game is a little different than other SEGA shooters , as you are sitting strapped to a helicopter, your view weaves and twists from low on the ground to high in the air as the pilot dodges through the landscape. You have no control over where you go, which is just as well because you need to concentrate on firing! There are no reloads, so holding down ?A? unleashes a stream of unending death to all that oppose you. Unlimited credits and unlimited bullets make this a very short game indeed if your only goal is to beat it and finish. Luckily SEGA have thought about this and have included a little extra called score attack mode with online rankings. This really does change things for high score junkies and people that need to be number one in the world. You have a limited time in each of the areas to score as many points as you can. Multipliers can be obtained by repeatedly hitting the same target but beware, there are no continues, 3 hits and its all over. There is a nice little extra in finishing the normal game though, I wont spoil things but it?s a nice touch.

Graphically it?s a polygon festival of sharp angles and bright colours that move smoothly and quite convincingly. Compared to a modern day game they are crude and simple but it really doesn?t matter, whether playing alone in either mode or taking on the terrorists with a friend the simple graphics do not interfere at all with the game play, in fact I think it would lose its edge if they were made with ultra realism as it would come across as plain ridiculous.

The sound is great, the music punchy and it compliments the game nicely. The speakers in the handsets are used to shout instructions and encouragement in the most cheesy of ways, this just adds to the fun and rounds the package off nicely. There is an option to listen to the music and sound effects from both games using the built in sound player, which is a nice touch in most games but is welcome here as the music is good.

Now lets talk about LA Machineguns, this was made in 1999 and it shows how far 5 years in gaming can bring you. Gameplay is very similar to Gunblade but instead of a helicopter you are in an ultra futuristic vehicle that is somewhere between a rocket sled and a motorcycle. Instead of terrorists, the enemies are very angry robots, hence the sub title ?Rage of Machines? and of course we are now belting round LA, having saved New York five years earlier.

There are four levels to choose from, and they can be completed in any order. If all of the missions are passed then a fifth is unlocked and you get a chance to strike back at those dastardly robots. As soon as you start the graphical differences are obvious, yes there are still polygons but now there are more complex shapes flying around and more than the odd curve can be seen. Lives are still infinite with as many continues as you could wish for and your thumb will be welded to that ?A? button spraying death like air freshener, but this time there is a good reason for it. The score attack that was a separate game in Gunblade is now part of the main game play of Machineguns. Hit an enemy repeatedly and your score goes up, keep hitting him and then the multiplier goes up as he quite impressively sheds layers of armour, giving you huge possibilities for epic scores, the nice twist is that if you miss, and keep missing your multiplier rapidly drops, which encourages accuracy instead of ?spray and pray? tactics. Enemies are varied and detailed, and the boss stages can get a bit frantic, but that all adds to the fun. Unlike the deserted streets of New York, LA is filled with cops and civilians that cost you points if you harm them, and of course you will hate to hear their screams echoing through the Wimote speaker, wont you?

Both games can be boiled down to a very simple premise, use your Wiimote or Wii Zapper to kill everything and get a high score, and they both do it very well and at a bargain price. They are a fun way to spend an evening with a few mates, or if you are a high score junkie that has to be number one. Who cares about saving the princess and worrying what my strength stat is? I want to clock it at 999999!

Overall - 4/5

Don?t expect any story line, laugh at the cheese, just reach for the high scores and save NY and LA. Oh and can you spot the Sonic cameo?
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MARIJUANA STRAINS
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Post by Killer French Bread »

"Spraying death like air freshner." I like that, reminds of when I had a holiday in a greek apartment next to pond, which inevitably meant hordes of mosquitos and insects. Everytime you entered the toilet you had to take an air freshner and a lighter to blow torch the buggers out.
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Post by Tru »

Great review, really enjoyed reading it! ^_^

Might be worth trying to pick up the game sometime, it sounds fun. Thanks!
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Thank you Capn' glad you liked it!
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Post by Cobra! »

Great review Page! (Well, it's much better than my anyway)

I'm defenetly gonna pick this up someday!
Don't you EVER forget the "!" in "Cobra!"! Unless you're refering me as "Cobradabest".
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