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One thing Genesis owners could count on was a steady stream of games, courtesty of Renovation. The prolific publisher covered all the bases, from action/RPGs like Arcus Odyssey and Wanders from Ys to that most recognizable of Genesis genres: the shmup. The company that gave us Gaiares also released a few arcade ports, and among them was Vapor Trail, a vertical shooter that was big on action and bosses. Is it worth adding to your library?
Toaplan’s been behind some great shmups, and a few of them were never released in the U.S. Twin Hawk was one of the rare games that got published by Sega in Europe and Japan, but never flew across the Atlantic. No one knows why, but we were deprived of a solid little shooter that employed some unconventional gameplay dynamics.
Everyone knows Zero Wing. What’s ironic is that the most famous Genesis shmup of all time isn’t known for its gameplay, visuals, or sound. What makes it so special is a hilarious mistranslation in the opening of the PAL version. Toaplan’s “All your base” line will live in infamy for sure, but how does the game itself stand up?
Ah shmups. Call them shooters or what you will, there’s no denying their appeal. Dashing through space, killing all in your path…it’s a most satisfying way to spend an afternoon; however, sometimes the glory isn’t worth the pain. Take Taito’s Master of Weapon, for instance. If ever a game should have stayed in the arcade, this was it.
Talk about shmups to any gamer, and one company is sure to come up: Toaplan. It’s been around forever and has created some of the best games in the genre, which have virtually all found a home on one console or another. Twin Cobra arrived on the Genesis in 1991, and while it didn’t set the world on fire, it was a pretty decent play.