Retro games are a hot commodity. With the Xbox Live Arcade and Wii’s Virtual Console, it’s quickly becoming a prolific segment of the industry. Blogcritics is going to start looking at gaming’s generally under-appreciated past in a different way.
Teaming up with classic gaming database Digital Press, Blogcritics will be presenting some lost or under-appreciated classics in short reviews. Extras may include odd facts, the title’s impact on the industry, some personal retrospective, different ports the game may have received, and how well they hold up on today’s market. Our hope would be to introduce a new generation of gamers, or even those who recently purchased a game console for the first time to those games they missed and the legacy they left behind.
The Game
Irem’s M92 arcade hardware is a vastly underrated piece of gaming history. It housed 12 games total, and there’s barely a dud in the batch. There’s a particular lost and ignored classic buried here, though; one that somehow slipped through unnoticed during the final days of the arcade. Gunforce II is that title.
A 1994 release, Gunforce II is simply one of the greatest action games ever produced. Yes, better than Metal Slug, both in that it hit two years earlier and actually manages to outdo the perennial SNK trademark in nearly every category. One or two players take hold of the generic action hero, blasting their way through multiple levels of sheer insanity well past what the hardware can handle.
The hook is that the player holds two guns. They fire a full 360 degrees when called on, and only one can take advantage of the power-ups. It’s awkward at first, and late in the game when the difficulty takes off, it’s going to cause more than few cheap deaths. However, the advantages elsewhere in the game far outweigh those few extra quarters.
Digital Press's review describes this better than anywhere else on the ‘net:
“If something isn't dying or exploding every 10 seconds, you're not doing something right.”
Prior to this, there was never a game to feature this sheer level of destruction. It was simply unparalled. In fact, in terms of 2-D titles, it still stands out. The level of animation is completely off the charts, adding extra pop to the explosions and environments. Who cares if the backdrop is a generic alien invasion? Michael Bay would have trouble finding room for this many explosives in his latest Hollywood blockbuster.
Facts and Notables
The M92 has a very distinct visual style - gritty by default yet able to produce stunning color and shading. The highlights of the hardware include submarine shooter Into the Hunt and another lost gem, Undercover Cops, a beat-em-up.
Article comments
1 - Doug
Yes indeed a great game, but i think it's debatable whether or not this game surpasses metal slug due to the main fact that metal slug has like 10 games and its very well known where as gun force 2 is one game and anyone who is trying to decide which is better would be like what's gunforce 2? Im not saying its a bad game at all i think its s great game.