Driller isn’t a more popular franchise than it is. Indeed, we’d go out on a limb and say that Delta‘s a little better than the beautiful-looking yet glacially-paced PS2 swansong, R-Type Final. Polished, slick, and ferociously difficult, R-Type Delta‘s one of the very best sequels Irem ever made to its seminal 1987 blaster. Hogs of War also contains a welcome voice-over by the late, great Rik Mayall. The controls are nicely tailored for the PS1’s controller, and there’s a surprising amount of tactical depth beneath the cartoonish presentation. In essence, it’s a kind of 3D take on the classic Worms, with rival squads of porcine soldiers murdering one another with a variety of tanks and explosives. This turn-based strategy game got a bit of a lukewarm reception on its release in 2000, but we’d argue that it’s worth overlooking its more annoying quirks. If you can’t afford the PS1 version, it’s also contained on the Gradius Collectionrelease for the PSP. Sadly, Gradius Gaiden‘ s limited release makes it a bit of a collector’s piece these days. Its action may be rooted in ’80s arcades, but its big, meaty explosions and background effects (including a nice-looking aurora borealis shimmer on level one) give it a glossy feel. It’s a superb game and one that takes great advantage of the PS1’s processing power. Released only in Japan, Gradius Gaiden saw Konami attempt to update the spaceship shooter template a little, with polygon graphics, additional weapons systems, and a greater variety of difficulty levels to court the less seasoned gamer.
You’ll know all about the Gradius games if you’re into your retro 2D shooters, but the PlayStation-exclusive Gradius Gaiden is undoubtedly one of its most obscure entries. All the same, it’s colorful and lots of fun, particularly in two-player mode. Even at the time of its release in the late ’90s, YoYo’s Puzzle Park felt like a bit of a retro throwback to games like Rodland or Psycho Pigs UXB, which means it never got much of a release in the west.
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