Streets of Rage+Gunstar Heroes+God of War= The Red Star.
This game is a homage to the ol' beat-em-up games like Final Fight and Streets of Rage while mixing in a heavy arry of gunfire from Gunstar Heroes to advance the action and strategy at the same time. It does a wonderful job, and you can create combos within combos (aka God of War) which makes for a very satisfying experience when you beat the baddies.
Speaking of baddies, this game does have a distinct arry of bad guys that swarm at you. The best part is theyre all different in their offense and defense. This adds a suprising amount of strategy to the gameplay. Not to worry though, when you first encounter a new enemy the game will prompt you to view the submenu to see how they attack, when they are vunerable, and what not to do. Innovative and clever. The game switches from a side scroller to an overhead view depending on the situation. Usually boss battles take the overhead view because they'll shoot millions of bullets at you at once, kinda like your playing an overhead shooter like Raiden II. It does the job well, and your hands will definitly sweat a bit. Speaking of shooters, you'll also be treated to a side-scrolling level (aka Gradius) where your little ship will shoot other little ships plus a giant mech on the ground beneath you. Love it!!
In this type of game, the gameplay is a HUGE factor. Thankfully its tight, responsive and most importantly fun to play. You have a standard melee attack, a weapon attack, a special attack, and a block (shield) button. You can mix melee attacks with gun attacks which is fun, but dont think you can just hold the fire fun and run throught the levels. Not only does your gun "overheat" when used for long periods of time, this game is also challenging to master. So dont think you can just blow through the levels with ease. This game will kick your butt if you dont plan your attacks carefully.
Graphics are standard 3d models with nice backgrounds. Nothing super fancy, but not overly dull either. Sound is pretty good too, with bad guys screaming when they get hurt and killed. Gunfire effects also have a nice ring to them as well. One gripe though; during the mission briefings it would have been nice to hear your commander telling you about next mission rather than read it SNES style. But hey not a big deal at all.
Theres a lot to like about this game. A lot. Unfortunatley I think this wonderful little game will get lost beneath all the next-gen insanity. Hopefully it wont, because its one of those rare games where it takes so many elements from different genres and gets all of them right. Be sure to pick this one up.