Hydorah

[Davidizer13]

So, has anyone besides me played Hydorah yet? It's a freeware horizontal-scrolling shmup that's been out a couple weeks; get it here (the file is an .iso; you'll have to use a blank CD or a virtual CD drive to install it).

I haven't beaten it yet, but so far, it's awesome. It's the best shmup I've played since Genetos; probably even better than that. Seeing that Genetos was only released in December, that doesn't sound like much, but a) I've been playing some of the classics of the genre, like Radiant Silvergun (brilliant, but overlong), RayForce/RayStorm (both are awesome), Iridion II (fun to play and technically great, but otherwise forgettable) and Darius Gaiden (genius), and b) Genetos was awesome. But I digress.

The game is a throwback to the classics of arcade shmups; the author says it's supposed to be a 16-bit shmup, I say more of a 32-bit one, more reminiscent of later games like Gradius Gaiden, RayForce and Salamander 2. The Gradius series is a huge influence on it, and the graphics and soundtrack are strongly reminiscent of Gradius Gaiden, what with its gorgeous backgrounds and enemy sprites, and fast-paced synth-driven melodies. One level of note is the Verminest level, which combines the Bydo lab from R-Type with the volcano stages from Gradius. There's quite a bit of voice work, all in accented English, which adds to the retro arcade game feel.

Also, the game is very hard. It warns you about this when you start it up, and it is not kidding. The difficulty spikes in the second level, giving you a taste of what's to come. Still, it's not hard enough that you can't enjoy it.

The weapon system is reminiscent of Axelay: You pick weapons from a growing selection before you begin a stage, but the upgrade system is more like Darius: collect power-ups and your weapons get more powerful, collect enough, and they'll change their firing pattern a bit. If you die, you only lose a couple power-ups, so when you respawn, it's not like you're totally helpless.

The only (relatively minor) flaws I've seen so far are that a few of the bosses are a bit generic. These, however, are outweighed by the bosses and levels that are unique: one highlight is an angler fish boss (think Darius) that is suddenly and unceremoniously grabbed by a huge eel in the middle of your fight. Also, the difficulty might be a turn-off for some, but it's all part of of being a homage to the quarter-hungry classics of the arcade.

tl;dr: Hydorah is awesome, and you should play it.