Sorry that the vids are small. I'm still re-familiarizing myself with blogger.
Metal Black (1991) - Although the very start of the intro intro states it as "Project Gun Frontier 2", Metal Black is very different from Gun Frontier. In Gun Frontier, you can change the bomb's area of impact depending on your movement. In Metal Black, you don't have bombs, but you can fire a huge beam if your ship's weapon gets powerful enough by collecting newalone molecules. In fact, you can do "beam duels" against an enemy that can also utilize these molecules. The user with the stronger beam wins the duel (keep tapping that fire button). Metal Black is better than Gun Frontier since it doesn't have the annoying checkpoint system that the latter has (every time you die in Gun Frontier, you start off at the last checkpoint you came across). Not only that, but the ship in Metal Black feels faster than the one in Gun Frontier. The gameplay mechanics in Metal Black are unusual for the time, but they work pretty well and it's actually fun doing the beam duels. Last, but not least, Metal Black has some pretty nice graphics and sound for a 1991 arcade game.
Grid Seeker: Project Storm Hammer (1992) - Yes, another shmup, but in this one, you can choose between 3 aircraft. You can choose between the F-14X fighter jet (fastest, but also the weakest in firepower), the AH-64F Attack Chopper (well rounded), and the B-2AT Stealth Bomber (slowest, but also has the strongest firepower). Somewhat similar to the R-Type games, your aircraft has an item (the GRID) that can help protect your aircraft from enemy fire and has offensive capabilities of it's own. What's different though is that the GRID will always be equipped no matter what. Even if you die, you still have it. Not only that, but you get additional bombs by having firepower hitting your GRID item. Unfortunately, the game is pretty tough due to having a checkpoint system and the fact that you lose your power-ups when your ship is destroyed.
Growl (1990) - Now this is an interesting Beat Em' Up in terms of premise. You play as 1 of 4 rangers and you go around beating up poachers and rescuing animals, which can help you fight against the poachers. I'm not making this up. I'm really not. There's also various items you can use such as pipes, whips, pistols, etc. What's cool is that even if you have a firearm that has no ammo, you can still use it as a melee weapon. The only thing I don't like is that the 2P version is used
instead of the 4P version in the PS2 version of the collection.
Elevator Action 2 (also Elevator Action Returns) (1994) - This is no doubt one of my favorite games in the collection. The game is a HUGE improvement over the original. In fact, it actually feels like a completely different in some parts. The basic premise is the same though. You have to go in all the red doors and then to the end of the stage. You can pick between 3 characters, Kart, Edie, and Jad. Kart is the fastest, but has average health and he fires his gun slower than the other 2 characters do. Edie fires her guns the fastest, but her health is low and her speed is average. Jad has the most health, but is the slowest and he fires his gun at an average speed. You can also use bombs, which differ depending on which character you're using. Kart uses hand grenades, Edie uses fire bombs, and Jad uses motion sensor bombs. Overall, this is probably one of my favorite arcade games in general. There's really no major flaws to speak of and the game brings in a lot of new stuff while preserving the spirit of the original.
Gekirindan (1995) - Also one of my favorite games on the compilation. You pick from 1 of 3 ships, each with a different pilot and a default fire pattern, the latter of which can be changed or upgraded via power-ups. It's quite conventional, but the time travel aspect is pretty cool. It reminds me of TimeSplitters since each stage takes place in a different time period and that the plot is pretty much the villains utilize time travel in order to take over the world. What's also cool is that each stage has a different remix of the stage 1 theme, which might sound repetitive at first, but all the remixes are good in their own right.
Puchi Carat (1997) - If you can stomach the cutesy anime style graphics, this is actually a pretty good game. It's basically a mixture of Bust-A-Move and Breakout. You control a paddle and you hit gems as they get lower and lower into the playfield. If your ball falls below your paddle, you don't lose a life, but more gems will be added into the playfield. The arcade version is used for the collection as always, but the PSX version adds some additional features so if you really like the game, be sure to get it if you have a PAL or JPN PSX.
G-Darius (1997) - Without a doubt my favorite game on the collection and one of my favorite arcade games and shmups in general. The music, mostly new-age techno, is great and does a good job of giving off a sci-fi feel. The graphics, although they are PSX-quality, still manage to hold up today very well considering that many 32-bit 3D games haven't aged too well. The gameplay is great. You can actually capture an enemy ship and have it support you as long as you have at least one capture ball. You can even use the captured enemy as a bomb, which will blow up any enemies and absorb any enemy fire within the explosion radius. Like in Metal Black, you can also do "beam duels" against bosses. To win, keep tapping the fire button like mad once it collides with the boss's beam. However, you must first have a captured enemy so that you can use it to power your beam.
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