Retro Wildlands #54 - Gunstar Heroes

[00:00:19] Greetings fellow travelers, vagrants, explorers, wildlanders, and welcome to episode 54 of the

[00:00:28] Retro Wildlands.

[00:00:30] My name is Nomad and this is my gaming podcast where I like to share my thoughts and experiences

[00:00:35] with a video game that I have discovered or rediscovered while roaming the gaming

[00:00:40] wildlands.

[00:00:42] Thank you very much for tuning into the show today.

[00:00:46] Whether this is your 54th episode, your very first, or you're somewhere in between, I

[00:00:51] am very glad to have you with us as we prepare our expedition for another journey into the

[00:00:56] wildlands.

[00:00:57] Dee Dee, our canine expedition leader, has been working hard combing through our resources

[00:01:03] and making sure the expedition is well organized.

[00:01:07] We never know what sort of adventures we're going to get ourselves into so we make

[00:01:11] it a point to stock up on some weaponry if things ever get hairy.

[00:01:15] In the name of efficiency and creativity, he's been combining a few things and the

[00:01:20] effects have been, well, rather interesting.

[00:01:24] Like would he combine the fire weapon that we have with this homing weapon that we

[00:01:28] have?

[00:01:30] Nothing strikes fear into our enemies like a weapon that shoots guided fireballs.

[00:01:34] Still, don't know how Dee Dee does half the things he does without any thumbs, but

[00:01:39] I guess that's why he's leading this outfit, not me.

[00:01:43] And while the idea of combining things can seem a little gimmicky depending on the context,

[00:01:48] I assure you that on this trip, skillful use of our resources is going to make the

[00:01:54] difference.

[00:01:55] Not only when it comes to our survivability, but our overall enjoyment as well.

[00:02:01] What does that even mean?

[00:02:03] Well, I've got a great game to share with you my friends.

[00:02:08] On today's episode, we're checking out a video game that was pitched to me as a run

[00:02:13] and gun shooter very similar to Contra.

[00:02:17] I'd like to thank a decent amount of you listening probably know Contra on the

[00:02:21] original Nintendo.

[00:02:23] Classic NES tough shooter that is tough as nails, fun as hell, and very near

[00:02:28] and dear to my heart.

[00:02:31] It was even covered on one of the earlier episodes of the Retro Wildlands 2.

[00:02:36] But when I was told about a game on the Sega Genesis that was comparable and arguably

[00:02:41] more fun, it immediately caught my attention.

[00:02:46] While there were only four weapons in the game that your character could pick up, the

[00:02:50] hook was that you could combine the two that you could pick up and create a powerful

[00:02:55] unique super weapon.

[00:02:58] All the while, enemies are pouring in on screen doing everything that they can

[00:03:03] to stop you.

[00:03:05] The best part?

[00:03:06] The gameplay experience and the visual presentation were smooth as butter.

[00:03:13] I started to wonder how I've not heard of this game before, and I was surprised

[00:03:17] to find out that a decent amount of people in my personal circle of gaming friends

[00:03:22] hadn't heard of this game either.

[00:03:24] So with that, I knew what I had to do.

[00:03:28] I needed to check this game out, and without spoiling my thoughts on the entire episode

[00:03:33] coming up, I walked away from the experience with one singular thought.

[00:03:39] Where the hell has this game been all of my life?

[00:03:44] Today on the Retro Wildlands, we are checking out Gunstar Heroes.

[00:03:52] I'm sure I mentioned this on one of our past episodes, but shooters in general

[00:03:56] are one of my favorite gaming genres.

[00:03:59] And that's kind of all-encompassing too.

[00:04:02] I'm talking first-person shooters, side-scrolling shooters, shoot-em-ups or shmups

[00:04:07] as the kids like to call them.

[00:04:09] There's just something therapeutic about taking out waves of enemies with high-powered

[00:04:13] weaponry.

[00:04:15] So a game like Gunstar Heroes seemed like a no-brainer.

[00:04:20] But once I decided to tackle this game and really get into it, I kept finding

[00:04:24] little things that just added to the overall experience in ways that I was not

[00:04:29] expecting a 30-year-old video game to do.

[00:04:32] Now, don't get me wrong, I don't think this game is a perfect 10 out of 10 experience,

[00:04:37] but I would have given almost anything to have had this game in my collection as

[00:04:41] a kid.

[00:04:44] While the biggest gameplay mechanic is your ability to combine weapons into something

[00:04:48] unique, you were surprisingly mobile in Gunstar Heroes.

[00:04:53] You could jump, hang from ledges, attack enemies with physical jump attacks, and

[00:04:58] even throw enemies into each other.

[00:05:01] Plus, there's the couch co-op element where you could play with a friend, a sibling

[00:05:06] or a kick-ass parent.

[00:05:09] There's certainly a lot here and while the game's difficulty can get a little

[00:05:12] out of hand at times, that doesn't take away from the overall experience.

[00:05:18] I played this game a bit on my Nintendo Switch using the Nintendo Online

[00:05:22] Expansion Pack subscription where I could play Genesis games, but I will admit I

[00:05:27] also sailed the high seas a bit while playing this one.

[00:05:30] Gyaaarrr.

[00:05:32] It was easy to get lost in a play session and I found myself itching to go

[00:05:36] back any time I was not playing this game.

[00:05:40] I am very eager to take you all through this game so that those of you who have

[00:05:44] no idea what this game is, know what you're getting into and those of you

[00:05:49] who have played this game before can sit back and bathe in the sweet, sweet nostalgia.

[00:05:56] Now, if you're new to the show, I like to kick things off by chatting it up with

[00:06:00] you all a little bit first and give everyone a peek behind the scenes here

[00:06:04] in the retro wildlands.

[00:06:06] Depending on what's on my mind, I like to share what's going on with the

[00:06:10] show itself, what games I might be playing, what projects I might be

[00:06:14] planning, what's going on in my personal life or whatever I feel like

[00:06:17] vomiting into the microphone.

[00:06:20] I also want to take some time and read and respond to any comments that

[00:06:24] received about Gunstar Heroes from our retro wildlands social media pages in an

[00:06:29] effort to give the community a moment in the spotlight.

[00:06:33] Now, if none of that sounds interesting to you and you're here just for my

[00:06:37] thoughts on Gunstar Heroes, no worries, you can skip ahead about 10 to 12

[00:06:43] minutes and you should get into the game talk.

[00:06:47] I'll also put timestamps in the show notes so you can see exactly where

[00:06:51] you need to go if you don't want to stick around.

[00:06:54] But I think you should stick around.

[00:06:57] We're going to talk a bit of video games and your fellow wildlanders will

[00:07:00] get a chance to sound off their thoughts to the rest of us, and I can't

[00:07:04] think of a better way to get our expedition moving.

[00:07:08] So without further ado, let's get into our opening segment that I like

[00:07:12] to call Campfire Ketchup.

[00:07:31] One of the things that I absolutely love about being a gamer in the year

[00:07:35] 2024 is that there are a ton of video games to play and experiences to be had.

[00:07:42] Conversely, one of the things that I absolutely hate about being a gamer

[00:07:46] in 2024 is that there are a ton of video games to play and experiences

[00:07:51] to be had.

[00:07:52] While I am not at all opposed to purchasing my video games digitally,

[00:07:56] I have amassed quite a collection of physical media over the last few years

[00:08:01] and physical is my preferred way to play if I can help it.

[00:08:05] At the time I'm speaking these words, I currently own 581 unique

[00:08:11] physical video games.

[00:08:13] While I can't help but look at my growing collection with pride,

[00:08:16] and I love how it just gives me the warm and fuzzies, I'm no fool.

[00:08:21] Unless I cut out a ton of things in my life, I'm not going to be able

[00:08:25] to play them all.

[00:08:27] It's a little daunting and a little bit disheartening when I actually sit

[00:08:31] and think about it.

[00:08:33] I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks this way, right?

[00:08:36] The work that I do at my day job requires above average time management

[00:08:40] skills and I have to find ways to be as efficient with my time as possible.

[00:08:45] And I often find that bleeding over into my personal life at times.

[00:08:50] I'm constantly looking at where I'm spending my time and trying to find

[00:08:54] ways to fit more into my day.

[00:08:57] It can be a real stressor, so you know what?

[00:09:01] I'm doing my best not to think like that and really concentrate on all the

[00:09:06] things that I've done and accomplished lately.

[00:09:09] See, you probably thought I was going to go all negative on you, but nae nae.

[00:09:13] Life is stress and there's absolutely things that we won't be able to get to,

[00:09:18] but that shouldn't discount the awesome adventures that we've already had.

[00:09:23] So while I've had a ton of games that I want to play, I've played a ton already

[00:09:27] and completed a decent amount too.

[00:09:30] I was thinking about it the other day and one of the things that I'm happiest

[00:09:34] with in regards to this podcast is the fact that it's making me play games

[00:09:38] that I wouldn't have otherwise.

[00:09:41] Take Gunstar Heroes for example.

[00:09:44] But more than that, even if I don't have immediate plans to cover them for

[00:09:49] I'm trying to play games that I've always wanted to, but just never got around to

[00:09:54] for one reason or another.

[00:09:56] Final Fantasy 9 is a great example.

[00:10:00] I'm pretty sure I mentioned this on the last episode, but I finally decided

[00:10:04] to play this game after missing out on it on the original PlayStation.

[00:10:09] I'm still not sure if I feel confident enough that I can do the game justice

[00:10:12] on a podcast episode, but I'm really putting in some time with this one

[00:10:16] finally, and I've been impressed with the whole experience so far.

[00:10:21] Without spoiling anything, I think I'm in the back half of the game.

[00:10:25] Things seem to be ramping up and I just finished up Ipsen's Castle.

[00:10:31] The only thing about this game is I wish I could dedicate more time to it.

[00:10:37] I've been using a guide on and off and I cringe when I realize

[00:10:40] I missed out on something or failed to see a cool cut scene

[00:10:43] because I was too quick to move on.

[00:10:46] Still, I'm having a blast and I'm so glad I finally decided to jump into this.

[00:10:51] I just need to make sure that I stick the landing

[00:10:54] and I don't get distracted by something shiny like I did

[00:10:57] when I was playing through Final Fantasy 6 this last summer.

[00:11:01] Now, I know I just got done basically saying you should jump into the games

[00:11:05] that you've been putting off so you don't regret not playing them,

[00:11:09] but allow me to counter that bit of uplifting advice by saying this.

[00:11:13] Lately I've been getting a massive itch to go back to some of my favorite games

[00:11:18] in the Metal Gear franchise.

[00:11:21] My three favorites are Portable Ops and Peace Walker on the PlayStation Portable

[00:11:26] and Metal Gear Solid V The Phantom Pain on the PlayStation 3 and 4.

[00:11:32] I've played the crap out of all three of these games

[00:11:35] and I almost feel a little bit guilty about wanting to go back to them.

[00:11:39] But another part about how we should be living this awesome life

[00:11:43] that we've been given is that we should make sure that we're doing the things

[00:11:46] that make us happy and damn it, kidnapping enemy soldiers

[00:11:50] to build my own private army makes me happy.

[00:11:54] I ended up getting The Phantom Pain for my PS3 since I played the snot out of it on my PS4

[00:11:59] and I'm slowly working through that game again whenever I get the urge

[00:12:03] to just settle down with a comfort food game.

[00:12:06] But oddly enough, I was approached by a podcast host who wanted to see

[00:12:11] if I was interested in doing a show all about The Phantom Pain.

[00:12:15] I know, it was like fate was telling me that I needed to replay this game

[00:12:20] and that conversation was my confirmation.

[00:12:24] If this collaboration happens, it probably won't be for a long while

[00:12:27] as that host is playing through some of the other Metal Gear games first.

[00:12:32] But all that to say, I hope you find time to play the games

[00:12:36] that you've been putting off, but also don't discount the ones that make you happy.

[00:12:41] You never quite know where either road is going to lead you.

[00:12:46] And if things do pan out with this other podcast,

[00:12:48] I'll absolutely let everyone know if they want to partake in checking that episode out.

[00:12:54] What's the best way to stay informed?

[00:12:56] You might be wondering.

[00:12:57] Easy!

[00:12:58] You can check us out on our social media pages.

[00:13:02] We have a presence over on our Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, slash X, threads, and Blue Sky pages

[00:13:08] if you want to check us out and throw us a follow.

[00:13:12] Or you can go to our linktree at linktr.ee forward slash Retro Wildlands

[00:13:18] to see all these pages in one place.

[00:13:22] I mostly just post pictures of my game collection and other gaming related stuff,

[00:13:27] but I'll occasionally sprinkle in things about the show itself,

[00:13:30] so if you're looking for updates on new episodes I'm planning,

[00:13:34] any guest appearances I may partake in,

[00:13:36] or you just want to add a little retro spice to your timelines and feeds,

[00:13:41] feel free to toss us a follow.

[00:13:43] It's 100% free and you should do it because you have good taste in content.

[00:13:48] How can I tell?

[00:13:50] Trust me, if you've listened to me ramble this far, you absolutely do.

[00:13:56] Other than that, the only thing I wanted to mention is that convention season here in Ohio

[00:14:00] is more or less underway and I'm going to try my best to hit up a few more gaming conventions

[00:14:05] here in Ohio this year.

[00:14:07] The first one is coming up on Saturday, June 1st.

[00:14:11] I'll be at Corgs, which is the Columbus, Ohio Retro Gaming Society Convention.

[00:14:19] It'll have the usual fare, tons of vendors, arcade games set up throughout,

[00:14:24] some special guests around the industry,

[00:14:26] as well as some content creators that I've been following for a while.

[00:14:30] It'll be the very first time that I've gone to this particular convention,

[00:14:34] so I am really looking forward to this one.

[00:14:37] There's also the Cleveland Gaming Classic coming up in September

[00:14:40] that I had a good time at last year,

[00:14:42] as well as the Torg Gaming Convention in November of this year.

[00:14:47] Needless to say, I am looking forward to the remainder of the year

[00:14:50] and if you happen to be at Corgs coming up in June,

[00:14:53] or any of the other conventions I just mentioned,

[00:14:56] certainly keep an eye out if you happen to be there.

[00:14:59] My wife and I will be there together wearing a couple black Retro Wildlands hoodies.

[00:15:05] That'll for sure happen at Corgs coming up,

[00:15:07] but after seeing all the amazing cosplays that have happened at these conventions over the years,

[00:15:13] I think I've finally decided that I want to partake in the cosplay fun.

[00:15:18] I haven't 100% committed to anything yet,

[00:15:21] but I do have a character in mind that I think I want to cosplay as.

[00:15:26] Am I going to tell you which one?

[00:15:29] Maybe not right now.

[00:15:31] Maybe later though.

[00:15:32] Maybe on social media where you should follow us.

[00:15:37] Anyway, I think that's all I really want to ramble about.

[00:15:40] It is time to transition into the reason that you're all here today.

[00:15:45] It's time to start talking about Gunstar Heroes.

[00:15:51] We had one wildlander drop a comment on our social media about Gunstar Heroes,

[00:15:55] so before we get into the meat of the episode,

[00:15:57] I wanted to give them their moment in the spotlight.

[00:16:01] Nicholas over on our Facebook page said,

[00:16:04] Sweet! I love Tankless Metal Slug.

[00:16:09] You know, I didn't really think about it,

[00:16:11] but Gunstar Heroes really is a lot like Metal Slug.

[00:16:15] Or at least they share the same DNA.

[00:16:18] One of the first things that I put in my notes

[00:16:21] when I was preparing the script for this episode

[00:16:23] was that Gunstar just had this arcade feel that brought me right back to my childhood.

[00:16:30] The action in this game is very quick, it's unrelenting and visually smooth.

[00:16:36] There's also a point where, when your vitality is low enough,

[00:16:39] the top part of the screen will blink red and that to me just screamed arcade.

[00:16:45] Anytime I see a Metal Slug game in an arcade or a bar,

[00:16:49] I will always give that game a go.

[00:16:52] The action is just so fast paced, the bosses are just as crazy,

[00:16:56] and the weapon power-ups that you can grab really solidify that experience.

[00:17:02] I also love that in Gunstar Heroes there's a shoot'em up stage

[00:17:06] and while you're not really in a tank,

[00:17:08] riding the mine carts in the underground mine stage is a nice change of pace.

[00:17:13] Both of these franchises are great fun in that sense,

[00:17:16] so I say if you like Metal Slug in any capacity,

[00:17:21] you're probably going to enjoy Gunstar Heroes.

[00:17:24] Thank you very much for taking the time to share a comment, Nicholas,

[00:17:28] I very much appreciate it.

[00:17:31] Originally released on September 10th, 1993 for the Sega Genesis,

[00:17:37] Gunstar Heroes brought frantic, action-packed gameplay to the Genesis

[00:17:42] in a way that we had not seen before.

[00:17:45] While run and gun shooters were fairly common and popular depending on who you asked,

[00:17:50] this game took an established premise and improved upon it tenfold.

[00:17:55] With characters that were more maneuverable on screen

[00:17:58] and weapons that could be combined to create a unique gameplay experience,

[00:18:02] there was a lot on offer.

[00:18:04] Often compared to Contra, this game did much more when it came to the overall presentation

[00:18:10] and dare I say the gameplay.

[00:18:13] The fast and furious on-screen action was captivating and looking at it today,

[00:18:19] I have to say that this little beast outperformed the Super Nintendo in all aspects.

[00:18:25] And while all this praise is certainly warranted,

[00:18:29] one major question still remains.

[00:18:32] Is Gunstar Heroes fun to play today?

[00:18:37] Or is all the graphical prowess and unique gameplay features all bark and no bite?

[00:18:44] Well my friends, I say it is about time we dig in and find out.

[00:18:49] So let's gear up wildlanders, grab your favorite weapon,

[00:18:53] make sure your vitality is topped off,

[00:18:55] and then grab another weapon, one you think will make the deadliest combination possible.

[00:19:02] There's a lot going on in Gunstar Heroes

[00:19:04] and we're going to need to be on our toes.

[00:19:07] The enemies won't stop coming and we risk being overwhelmed,

[00:19:11] but so long as we have our reflexes at the ready and our finger on the trigger,

[00:19:16] there won't be anything strong enough to stand in our way.

[00:19:20] Well, except some of the bosses of this game.

[00:19:23] We may need to look out for them.

[00:20:15] While gaming in general has always been a pretty big part of my life,

[00:20:19] I didn't realize how much I really missed out on until I took a step back as an adult

[00:20:24] and really thought about the games that I had played.

[00:20:28] I had an NES when I was living with my grandmother for a while,

[00:20:31] but the number of games I ultimately played was limited.

[00:20:35] Eventually, my mom and stepdad brought a Super Nintendo into the home,

[00:20:39] but again, we didn't have a pile of games and we didn't really rent games all that often.

[00:20:46] Eventually, we got a PlayStation and once I stepped foot into the

[00:20:50] fifth generation of game consoles, I rarely looked back.

[00:20:55] The one console I really missed out on was the Sega Genesis,

[00:20:59] and even though I did get to play it here and there the weekends I would visit my dad,

[00:21:03] I only scratched the surface when I came to the Sega's library of games at the time.

[00:21:09] Now, while I didn't get much opportunity to play any Genesis games growing up,

[00:21:13] I still heard about a lot through my friends at school.

[00:21:17] Games like Toe Jam and Earl, Mortal Kombat, Streets of Rage, Earthworm Jim,

[00:21:24] but never did I hear about a game called Gunstar Heroes.

[00:21:30] When I did eventually hear the name a little after I started this podcast,

[00:21:35] I wasn't all that impressed with the name.

[00:21:38] Gunstar Heroes?

[00:21:39] I don't know why, but it sounded like a bargain bin name to me.

[00:21:44] Eventually though, I heard more about this game and as I watched more gaming videos online

[00:21:49] and listened to other retro gaming content, what Gunstar Heroes was started to take shape.

[00:21:57] Plus, many of the gamers I've gotten to know through the podcast are quick to bring up Gunstar

[00:22:01] Heroes as either one of their favorite Genesis games or a game they openly recognize as one of

[00:22:07] the console's top tier offerings. But as soon as someone described it to me as Contra on crack,

[00:22:16] I immediately put this game on the short list of retro games that I wanted to experience.

[00:22:22] One of my earliest gaming memories was with Contra on the original Nintendo.

[00:22:28] I remember not being able to play it often, but the experience stuck with me long after

[00:22:32] nonetheless. There was just something about the whole concept that sunk its teeth into me.

[00:22:39] The way you move your character around, using your inhuman jumping ability to dodge around

[00:22:45] enemy fire, and how you shot your enemies dead while pushing forward through the level.

[00:22:51] Most of all, I loved the different power-ups that you could grab that could change up

[00:22:55] your experience and give you more ways to defeat your foes. Power-ups like the Machine

[00:23:01] Gun, Laser, and the all-powerful Spread Gun. If you never found enjoyment destroying wave after

[00:23:09] wave of enemies with the Spread Gun, I may never understand you, but either way,

[00:23:14] all of that stuck with me and even translated into my current gaming taste today.

[00:23:22] So all that said, that made Gunstar Heroes that much more appealing.

[00:23:27] I kept hearing about how the run and gun mechanics were smooth as silk and the power-ups

[00:23:32] were on another level. Not only could you carry two unique weapons at once and switch between the

[00:23:38] two of them on the fly, you could combine them together and create a unique power-up that way.

[00:23:45] Got a flamethrower power-up and a homing power-up? Combine those and create a homing

[00:23:51] flamethrower. Certainly sounds basic by today's standards, but if I knew this game existed as a

[00:23:58] kid, that mechanic alone would have gotten my attention and it certainly got my attention today.

[00:24:06] So now that I've played through Gunstar Heroes a few times, what are my thoughts?

[00:24:11] Well, I assume if you've listened this far, you're curious at the very least.

[00:24:16] I was hoping this game would be as fun as people made it out to be and I was curious if

[00:24:21] this was a game that stood the test of time. Overall, I really like this game, but like I

[00:24:28] mentioned in the intro to the show, this game is not a 10 out of 10 for me. Now,

[00:24:34] in order to understand why that is, we need to get hands on with this game.

[00:24:40] Let's start peeling back the layers and seeing exactly what it is that we're working on.

[00:24:45] So, what is this game?

[00:24:52] Gunstar Heroes is a run-and-gun style shooter where players take control of one of two Gunstar

[00:24:59] heroes. Red if you're player 1 and blue if you're player 2. The Gunstar twins are on a

[00:25:07] mission to stop an evil empire from realizing their evil plans and whether or not they

[00:25:12] succeed is going to be up to you. This game contains 7 stages all told, however the first

[00:25:19] 4 stages can be tackled in any order. Once complete, the game's next 3 stages are tackled

[00:25:26] in order. Each stage has a unique look and feel to them, but what sets each stage apart

[00:25:33] are the dozens of unique minor and major boss battles throughout.

[00:25:37] I will put my cards on the table here folks. The bosses in this game are downright amazing in both

[00:25:45] how they look and how they function, but we'll get a little bit more into the bosses later.

[00:25:52] Now, Gunstar Heroes can be played alone or you can team up with a friend. I wasn't able to

[00:25:58] try this game out with a pal, but I'm sure the experience would have been even better with

[00:26:03] a buddy at your side. Your goal for each stage is ultimately the same. Blast past the bad guys,

[00:26:11] make it to the end of the level, defeat the big bad and move on. Simple premise to be sure,

[00:26:18] but there's one very important thing that we're going to find out as we move through this

[00:26:22] game. It is hard. It can be exceptionally hard. It was hard for me and I like to think that I

[00:26:30] am a slightly above average gamer too. Gunstar Heroes will test you, but I can guarantee it is

[00:26:37] a test that you'll be willing to take. So that said, I think it's time we slot this game into

[00:26:45] our Sega Genesis and get this show on the road. The best way to learn is by doing and

[00:26:51] once we do get going, you'll see that this is a game that you just need to dive into head first.

[00:26:58] So let's hit the power button and get going. When we get started, we see the iconic Sega logo on

[00:27:06] screen. There's no sound on screen, but anytime I see that Sega logo, I always hear that classic

[00:27:14] intro in my head. Next, we see the logo for the game's developer, Treasure. I didn't really

[00:27:25] know who Treasure was until I took a moment to look into them while writing this script.

[00:27:30] Once I realized who they were, I practically slapped myself on the forehead.

[00:27:35] Treasure is a Japanese game developer that came to be in 1992 and was primarily made up of

[00:27:41] former employees from Konami. Their goal was to work on original properties and concepts because

[00:27:49] they had felt a bit hamstrung under Konami's business model at the time, which seemed to be

[00:27:54] focused on creating sequels to existing games and having little focus on anything new.

[00:28:00] Their first development project was a little game called McDonald's Treasure Land Adventure,

[00:28:06] but ultimately Gunstar Heroes saw the light of day first, making it their first developed

[00:28:12] and published game. But as time passed, Treasure would go on to develop a few dozen games,

[00:28:19] most notably Mischief Makers on the Nintendo 64, Alien Soldier on the Genesis,

[00:28:26] Wario World on the Gamecube, and Gradius V on the PlayStation 2.

[00:28:32] I haven't played many of their games, but I am anxious to keep them on my radar.

[00:28:37] After the Treasure logo disappears from the screen, we're met with an opening movie that starts to

[00:28:42] explain the game's story. On screen, we can see three members of the Gunstar family running

[00:28:50] towards the right side of the screen. Gunstar Red is leading the charge on foot, followed by

[00:28:57] Gunstar Blue. Gunstar Green is keeping pace aboard a mechanical platform of sorts that we'll

[00:29:04] later learn is called Seven Force, a machine that can transform into, you guessed it, seven unique

[00:29:10] forms. If you're anything like me, you'll slowly develop a hatred for that machine, but

[00:29:17] I am getting ahead of myself. According to the text at the bottom of the screen,

[00:29:22] one of the brothers shouts, we have to stop him! Soon our heroes stop in front of a large

[00:29:28] green mechanical looking tower. The screen scrolls upwards, sort of like the opening for Mega Man 2.

[00:29:34] Once we reach the top, we see a tall man clad in red. This man is known as Colonel Red,

[00:29:42] and he looks a hell of a lot like M. Bison from Street Fighter II. Not M. Bison looks

[00:29:49] down on our heroes and says, your journey ends here!

[00:29:55] Your journey ends here!

[00:29:59] This guy is becoming lame right out of the gate. I already can't take this guy seriously.

[00:30:05] Can't wait until we can pump him full of lead.

[00:30:09] Anyway, on the next screen our heroes spy a glow in the sky. Pointing to it, one of them says,

[00:30:16] Where is he? That light! It's too late!

[00:30:22] Finally on the last screen, we're shown a female Gunstar known as Gunstar Yellow.

[00:30:29] She's also watching the shiny glowy thing in the sky but seems deeply concerned.

[00:30:35] No! The earth! Under one person's power!

[00:30:41] Soon the light makes landfall and the screen fades to white.

[00:30:47] After watching this for the very first time, I remember thinking to myself,

[00:30:52] what the hell is going on with this story?

[00:30:56] Now, I know the storylines of older retro games aren't normally that complicated,

[00:31:01] but for some reason I remember thinking when I first played this game that I

[00:31:05] really wanted to know what the hell was going on here.

[00:31:10] Soon the game's title screen appears and on screen we see the words,

[00:31:14] Gunstar Heroes spin into place.

[00:31:23] We can press start to get things underway or wait a little longer for an additional

[00:31:28] story setup scene to pop up, but I really want to know what this game's story is all about now.

[00:31:35] Where could we get a little bit more story setup?

[00:31:38] Ah! I know just where to go. The game's instruction manual.

[00:31:44] I know I've said it a bunch of times in the past, but man, I miss instruction manuals in games.

[00:31:50] And I'm talking about legitimate instruction manuals. The thick ones that include the game's

[00:31:56] story, character information, tips and tricks. The kind that I used to take with me to read

[00:32:03] when I wasn't at home. Damn, I miss those. Anyway, let's crack open the Gunstar Heroes

[00:32:10] manual and check for a story summary that'll satisfy my curiosity.

[00:32:17] Let's see here. Ah, perfect! Let's see what we got.

[00:32:26] Sometime in the future, somewhere not too far from where you live, an amazing adventure takes

[00:32:32] place. The Gunstar family has been the protector of the planet Gunstar 9 for generations.

[00:32:41] Professor White Gunstar, in his youth, defeated the robot Golden Silver, a machine that traveled

[00:32:48] millions of miles to suck Gunstar 9 dry of all its resources. Professor White was able to extract

[00:32:57] the four famous mystical gems, the robot's power source, and imprisoned the robot in one

[00:33:03] of Gunstar 9's moons. But now, years later, a new menace has arisen. Colonel Red, a vicious

[00:33:13] dictator and a bad dresser, found out that the Gunstar's new location of the mystical gems.

[00:33:23] One day, the Colonel kidnapped the Gunstar twins' older brother Green and used a mind

[00:33:29] control machine to make Green obey his orders. With Green's help, Colonel Red has amassed all

[00:33:37] four mystical gems, has turned Gunstar 9's peaceful worker droids into deadly menaces,

[00:33:44] and is now preparing to leave for Gunstar 9's moon to reactivate Golden Silver.

[00:33:51] As one of the Gunstar twins, you must fight your way past Colonel Red's Empire Army

[00:33:58] and retrieve the mystical gems, or Golden Silver, the Destructor, will rise again and

[00:34:05] destroy the world. Are you heroic enough for the task? Okay, so that was a pretty standard

[00:34:16] story setup, but I think I can appreciate what it is that we're trying to do here a little

[00:34:21] bit more. Knockoff and Bison needs to be stopped, and while Golden Silver sounds like

[00:34:27] a Saturday morning cartoon villain, we'll make sure he sees the bottom of a trash bin.

[00:34:32] Count on that. Anywho, let's turn our attention back to the game's title screen and press on,

[00:34:37] shall we? Once we're back on the title screen, we need to press start.

[00:34:45] From here, we have a couple options. We can jump right into the game by selecting one or

[00:34:51] two players, or we can explore the options menu. Let's head on over to the options menu really quick.

[00:34:59] Basic options are on offer here. You can change up the game's control scheme a bit,

[00:35:04] and the always popular sound test is available if you want to listen to the

[00:35:08] game's music or sound effects. But what I think you should take a look at more than anything

[00:35:14] is the game's difficulty setting. You can play Gunstar Heroes on normal difficulty,

[00:35:20] but there's also a hard mode and an expert mode. Now, I always play my games on the normal

[00:35:27] difficulty to start whenever I'm starting out, and I have to say, normal mode does not mess

[00:35:33] around in this game. I found myself dying pretty often on the game's normal setting.

[00:35:40] Thankfully though, there is an easy setting, and once I played on easy mode,

[00:35:45] I was having a much better experience. I'm not entirely sure what changes specifically when you

[00:35:51] alter the difficulty, but I feel like the biggest thing I noticed when I turned it down

[00:35:56] was that enemies weren't shooting as many projectiles at me, and taking hits didn't

[00:36:01] really reduce my health as much. I did read that some boss characters physically change,

[00:36:08] and they may even have different attacks depending on the difficulty,

[00:36:11] which is kinda cool in the grand scheme of things. Now, you all know me, I do not judge

[00:36:18] a gamer by their choice of difficulty, but I think you should try normal mode first,

[00:36:23] and then dial it back if you need to if the difficulty is a bit too much.

[00:36:29] After my first playthrough on easy, I was much more comfortable with the game,

[00:36:33] its controls, and how all the cool weapons worked, that my next playthrough on normal

[00:36:38] wasn't nearly as bad. Still a beefy challenge though. For our purposes here today though,

[00:36:45] we'll leave the difficulty on normal and drive right into the experience that the

[00:36:49] developers intended. When we're back on the main menu, all that's left to do is jump

[00:36:55] head first into our adventure. Before we embark, we're going to have to make a few

[00:37:00] important decisions, so let's get to it. Go ahead and select one player and press start.

[00:37:08] Alright, first up we need to choose how our Gunstar hero is going to behave when firing

[00:37:17] their weapon. On screen you're given the option between free shot and fixed shot.

[00:37:25] Free shot means you can run and shoot at the same time. Anytime you shoot name your weapon

[00:37:31] around, you're going to be mobile. This is your classic run and gun style and a pretty

[00:37:37] solid choice. Fixed shot means that your character will stand still when you discharge

[00:37:44] your weapon. Selecting fixed shot will allow you to point your weapon a little bit more

[00:37:50] precisely than you can if you're in the free shot mode. There's pros and cons to each

[00:37:56] selection here, and it's really going to come down to your play style and preference.

[00:38:00] Now, here is the bread and butter of Gunstar Hero's gameplay, the weaponry. You have four

[00:38:19] weapons to choose from and only a single sentence description to decide what might work best for

[00:38:25] you. First up, we have Force. The symbol is three arrows and this weapon shoots a beam of plasma

[00:38:33] energy. Now, while the game says this, this weapon is a lot like the machine gun in Contra.

[00:38:41] You're not shooting a solid beam, more like lots and lots of little balls so quick that

[00:38:46] it looks like a solid beam. Overall, Force is a solid choice. Next, we have Lightning,

[00:38:54] which has the symbol of a lightning bolt. This weapon fires a stream of electricity.

[00:39:01] When I first read that, I assumed it was like a lightning gun where the beam would be all

[00:39:06] erratic or something similar. But really, the lightning weapon more or less shoots laser beams.

[00:39:13] The beam isn't solid, but I would say each individual beam is about half the height of

[00:39:19] your character if that puts it in perspective. The best part about the beam is that it goes

[00:39:24] through enemies and damages others, so that is pretty handy. Our next choice for a weapon is

[00:39:31] the Chaser. Symbolized by a single green arrow facing upwards, this weapon fires little laser

[00:39:38] darts that seek out the enemy. Basically, it's your standard issue homing weapon. It's very

[00:39:45] easy to assume that this is the best weapon, but you have to keep in mind that the Chaser

[00:39:50] is the weakest weapon strength-wise. Or at least that was my observation. A great weapon

[00:39:57] if you need to keep moving and you're constantly finding yourself evading attacks.

[00:40:02] Lastly, we have the Fire weapon. This bad boy is basically a flamethrower weapon.

[00:40:09] The range is limited, but I feel as though Fire is the strongest from a damage output standpoint.

[00:40:17] Now don't think too much about what weapon you want to use. We'll have plenty of opportunities

[00:40:22] to pick up new weapons as we go. When I played Gunstar Heroes for the very first time,

[00:40:28] I chose the Force weapon, so let's start with that as well.

[00:40:31] Alright, one more choice to make. We need to decide what stage we want to jump into.

[00:40:40] Like I mentioned before, we can tackle the first four stages in anywhere we want.

[00:40:46] First up on the left is the Ancient Ruins. In my opinion, this is the easiest of the

[00:40:52] four stages and I think it is a great starting point. The next stage is the Underground Mine.

[00:40:59] This stage is unique in that we're going to be attached to a mining cart.

[00:41:05] This level scrolls exceptionally fast and the bosses we have to face in the end are no joke.

[00:41:12] I usually make it a point to leave this level for last.

[00:41:17] The third stage that we can select is the Flying Battleship.

[00:41:22] I think this stage is the second easiest and has us jumping upwards in order to get onto a flying

[00:41:28] battleship before it takes off. Once we do get on the battleship, the level is pretty standard fare.

[00:41:36] Lastly, we have the Strange Fortress level. This stage is easily the most unique.

[00:41:44] It starts off unassuming enough, but the meat of our time spent here will be in the

[00:41:49] Dice Palace, which has us navigating across spaces on a game board. We need to throw a die,

[00:41:56] which will tell us how many spaces we can move forward on the game board.

[00:42:00] And each space either forces us into a battle, provides us an opportunity to gear up with new

[00:42:06] weapons, or if we're unlucky, we'll face a boss barehanded. Oh, and let's not forget,

[00:42:13] there's a space near the very end that, if you land on it, you're sent all the way back to the

[00:42:18] beginning of the board game level. I really like the novelty here, but this stage,

[00:42:23] I think, is the second hardest. You have the potential to fight a lot of enemies here,

[00:42:29] and you need to make your health last, as there are not a lot of opportunities to replenish

[00:42:34] it. So with all that said, I vote we start with the first stage and ease our way to the

[00:42:40] experience. So let's select that and off we go.

[00:42:51] Alright, let's do this. On screen we find ourselves in a lush green landscape.

[00:42:58] Large trees are in the background and the sky above is a beautiful blue.

[00:43:03] Our Gunstar hero stands ready just as a little, I don't know what it is,

[00:43:09] a little green human runs past us. Looks like he's running from danger, but don't worry little

[00:43:15] guy or gal, support has arrived. Now before we engage the enemy, let's quickly run through

[00:43:23] what's on screen. At the top of the screen we can see a few things. First we have our vitality,

[00:43:30] which starts off at 100. The nice thing about this game is that getting hit doesn't mean you

[00:43:37] lose life automatically. You'll take damage over time, however once your vitality reaches zero,

[00:43:44] you're done and the game is over. Yes, you absolutely heard me right. This game does not

[00:43:51] have any lives, and once you die you are done. Now if you happen to be playing with a friend,

[00:43:58] you can come back into the fight by taking some of their vitality, but by and large,

[00:44:03] the one thing you want to make sure you don't do is take a bunch of hits. The level's bosses

[00:44:09] are going to be blasting you enough and you want to make sure that you get to them in

[00:44:13] semi-decent shape. I will say, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that this game features

[00:44:20] unlimited continues and there are some checkpoints in the levels so you don't have to play

[00:44:25] them completely over from scratch, but let's just not make it a point to die if we can

[00:44:30] help it, alright? Now above your vitality is your overall score. Other than bragging rights,

[00:44:38] I don't think the score factors in anywhere so if you want to see how high of a score you can

[00:44:43] get, feel free. I think you'll be more focused on survival, but that's just me.

[00:44:49] Now lastly we'll see two circles next to our score and vitality. This is a visual

[00:44:56] representation of the weapons that we have in our possession. Since we only have the one,

[00:45:02] we can see the symbol for force up there. Once we get another weapon, things are going to

[00:45:09] get pretty wild, but we'll get there soon enough. Okay, that is enough of that. It is time to get

[00:45:17] moving. Pressing right on the directional pad will get us moving in that direction.

[00:45:23] Almost immediately we come across our first threat. There's a sort of tree hut on top of a

[00:45:30] platform that's being attacked by several now evil worker droids. A little green guy or gal

[00:45:38] runs scared as their home is demolished. Well, we can't stand for that now, can we?

[00:45:45] If Colonel Red and his minions wanted a war, well they have one now. Pressing the B button

[00:45:51] on the Genesis controller will fire your weapon. Now, the nice thing about weapons in this game

[00:45:57] is that they're all automatic, so really we just need to hold down the button for continuous fire.

[00:46:03] We can aim our weapon all around us with the directional pad. To take these guys out,

[00:46:09] fire your weapon and hold the directional pad up and a little bit to the right.

[00:46:19] There you go, nothing to it. Just be careful we don't accidentally destroy that little

[00:46:24] human's home. Hehehe, whoops. I'm sure it's fine, he probably has a relative that he can go crash with.

[00:46:36] I'm sorry, what was that? His family was brutally murdered? Oh. Anyway, let's keep moving.

[00:46:44] We can't change the past, am I right? Actually, before we move on, before all hell breaks

[00:46:50] loose, let's practice jumping using the ledge that held that little human's home.

[00:46:56] What sets Gunstar Heroes apart is how nimble and mobile your character can get.

[00:47:02] Jumping is pretty standard with the C button, but if you jump underneath the ledge and hold

[00:47:08] up on your directional pad, your Gunstar Hero will hold onto it. Here's where it gets

[00:47:14] kinda cool. While hanging, you can still fire your weapon all around you. This is a fantastic

[00:47:22] technique if you need to get off the ground and give yourself some breathing room.

[00:47:27] You can even shimmy to the left or to the right. At any point, you can either drop back

[00:47:33] down to the ground or, if there's space above you, you can pull yourself up to the ledge above.

[00:47:39] You'll be needing to do things like this quite a bit to not only traverse some of the stages,

[00:47:44] but also to stay alive. So take a moment to get used to this mechanic now.

[00:47:51] No, I'm serious. Practice right now. It's okay, I'll wait.

[00:47:57] Alright, that's plenty. Let's move on.

[00:48:01] As soon as we inch forward, it's as if the floodgates open. We immediately have several

[00:48:07] droids coming at us from the front and from the back, but there are also airborne enemies

[00:48:12] coming in as well. These little red pods floating in on small propeller blades.

[00:48:19] Holy shit, guess we're going to have to learn to use some of the other moves this game has

[00:48:24] to offer on the fly. So whatever you do, just keep shooting and keep listening. We will

[00:48:29] get through this, Hero. Okay, if you're on top of the ledge, let's make a superhero jump

[00:48:36] down. We can actually fire our weapon airborne and we can control the direction it fires too.

[00:48:43] So as soon as you take to the air, start lighting some of these bad boys up.

[00:48:52] Nice, that's the way to do it. Now be careful, the little red pods are going to be dropping

[00:48:58] bombs while the enemy droids are going to be shooting lasers at you. The nice thing about

[00:49:04] this game is that touching an enemy does not damage you, so don't be afraid to get close

[00:49:09] if need be. Just be warned that you'll have next to no time to dodge an attack if they choose to

[00:49:15] fire one off. Also, the worker droids have the ability to grab you and hold you in place,

[00:49:22] and in a game as hectic as this, there is no faster way to get hurt than by standing still.

[00:49:28] Keep pressing your offense and clear out as many enemies as you can,

[00:49:32] they are starting to swarm us, Hero. If an enemy does get too close to us,

[00:49:43] one of the cooler things we can do is grab and toss them. Yes, one of the nice things about

[00:49:50] combat in this game is that we have some options that don't involve relying solely on our weapons,

[00:49:55] so let's get used to some of these now. To toss an enemy, all we need to do is be near them

[00:50:02] and then press the B button and your character will grab them and toss them like a sack of

[00:50:06] potatoes. If you're feeling confident, you could even do this to some of the bombs that are

[00:50:11] falling towards you as well and chuck them back at the enemy. For now though, let's practice throwing

[00:50:17] by trying it out on the enemy coming up to us now. Ooh nice, did you see that? You can throw

[00:50:26] enemies into other enemies and help clear out the bad guys that way. While I didn't personally

[00:50:33] toss enemies around too much, it is an extremely helpful maneuver if you find yourself

[00:50:39] overwhelmed and your bullets aren't doing the job fast enough. As far as other unarmed

[00:50:45] techniques at your disposal, we have a couple more that we can learn while we have the enemies

[00:50:49] around us to learn on. First, we can attack unarmed in the air by performing a body slam.

[00:50:57] If we jump in the air and press the jump button again, our character will flatten themselves

[00:51:02] out. Any enemies we touch will take damage and generally the lesser enemies we encounter

[00:51:08] will be killed outright. On tougher enemies, our body slam does a decent amount of damage

[00:51:13] if we connect. Most of the time I would find myself just saving this maneuver until we face

[00:51:19] some of the bigger bosses that we'll encounter later, but don't count this move out. It is

[00:51:24] a great way to cut a swath through your enemies. There's also a drop kick maneuver that we can

[00:51:30] pull off in the air as well. First, we need to be airborne by pressing the jump button,

[00:51:35] but instead of just pressing the jump button again, hold down the directional pad before you

[00:51:41] do and your hero will extend their 16-bit boot and shove it down your enemy's throat.

[00:51:49] Hell yeah, it was super effective! Lastly, your hero has the ability to perform a slide.

[00:51:57] While you hold down on your directional pad to make your Gunstar hero duck,

[00:52:01] press the jump button and you can make them slide across the ground a little ways.

[00:52:06] Not only is this a great evasive technique, you'll potentially do damage to anything that

[00:52:11] touches you during this animation. I found myself using the slide a lot now that I think about it.

[00:52:18] While there's going to be a ton of things going on all at once, eventually you'll get

[00:52:22] to the point where you enter that Contra flow state that I was talking about in our Contra

[00:52:27] episode. Things will go a little slower as you dial yourself in and you can start to see

[00:52:33] where enemies are a little clearer and then you'll be able to pick out any projectiles coming your

[00:52:38] way. Then you'll be able to decide how you want to evade those things while keeping your sights

[00:52:44] trained on the enemy and anticipating other enemies that are around you. It's kind of

[00:52:50] like when Neo figures out that he really is the one. So while you're absolutely going

[00:52:56] to be overwhelmed with everything happening when you first try and get your bearings in this

[00:53:00] game, stick with it. The sensory overload will dial itself back in time, I guarantee it.

[00:53:08] Until then, however, let's get some more kills under our belt and keep pushing forward.

[00:53:20] Eventually we'll see something flying towards us that is clearly not an enemy.

[00:53:25] It almost has the shape of a duck with a beaked form on one end and a fatter body looking

[00:53:31] thing on the other. It's kind of hard to describe but you'll know it when you see it.

[00:53:37] This little guy is basically a capsule that holds an item and if you do see one,

[00:53:42] you want to do what you can to shoot it and see what it has to offer you.

[00:53:46] So speaking of, don't let me waste time talking about it. Shoot that thing open

[00:53:50] and let's see what we got. On the ground drops an item that has a symbol on it,

[00:53:56] a blue lightning bolt. This right here is the lightning weapon, one of the weapons that we had

[00:54:02] a chance to take with us when we first started the game up. This is going to give us a fantastic

[00:54:08] boost to our offense so we should grab it. Run over to it, press down and then press your B

[00:54:14] button. Perfect! We can see the lightning bolt symbol up near our stats. As soon as we pick

[00:54:23] up a secondary weapon, the game will equip both the weapons that we have in our possession

[00:54:28] and we will be given a powered-up version of both weapons combined.

[00:54:33] Now this right here is Gunstar Heroes Meat and Potatoes. While there are only four base

[00:54:41] weapons in this game, it's combining two of them and creating something truly special.

[00:54:46] Pressing the A button allows you to switch to just your force gun or just your lightning gun if you

[00:54:52] wanted, but generally it's the combination that will serve you best. In the case of our

[00:54:58] lightning gun, on its own it shoots lasers at a pretty okay rate. But combined with

[00:55:05] our force gun and the lightning comes spewing out far and fast and this baby may as well

[00:55:11] be a solid laser that we can whip around. Oh baby, let's give this puppy a spin shall we?

[00:55:21] We've got enemies closing in from all directions and I don't know about you but

[00:55:25] I think we could use a little breathing room. Yes, that is exactly what we needed.

[00:55:38] Man they just keep coming don't they? Which brings me to another point I wanted to make.

[00:55:44] Just like in Contra, enemies will continue to spawn and attack you if you stand still.

[00:55:49] While you can give yourself a little breathing room by making a stand like this,

[00:55:53] you need to remember that your objective is to keep moving.

[00:55:59] Scattered throughout some of the stages will be mini bosses that we'll need to put down in

[00:56:04] order to progress. Outside of the unique weapon mechanics, what makes Gunstar Heroes so unique

[00:56:11] is the number of bosses that we'll have to fight. But these bosses aren't just your

[00:56:17] cookie cutter larger versions of enemies that you've seen before. Each one is special in how it

[00:56:24] looks, acts and tries to kill you. The first one you encounter here though is probably

[00:56:31] one of the weirdest. Whenever you get near a boss enemy, you're informed by some text on

[00:56:38] screen saying, Boss is Approaching. Under that you usually get the name of the thing

[00:56:45] that you're about to fight and even a list of moves that that thing will deploy against you.

[00:56:50] Your first mini boss is called the Papaya Dance and well it's a tree looking thing but if I'm

[00:56:58] honest, kinda looks like a giant penis. I don't really know what else to say here.

[00:57:04] Regardless of what it looks like, we need to take it out.

[00:57:08] At the top of the screen you'll see a number. That number represents the boss's vitality.

[00:57:15] All we need to do is use the classic, shoot it until it dies approach to gameplay and

[00:57:20] we'll be all set. Just be mindful of the miscellaneous bombs and other projectiles that

[00:57:26] are going to be coming your way from the tree penis thing. Now as you fight bosses,

[00:57:33] you'll find that some weapon combinations can be more effective than others. That's not to say

[00:57:39] you'll need specific weapons in order to succeed but as you play, you'll learn which ones you may

[00:57:45] want to have when the time comes. For the penis plant, your rapid fire lightning will

[00:57:51] more than do the trick. See? Nothing to it. Now as we move forward, we come to a pyramid

[00:58:04] type structure that we have to climb up. While I don't have a lot of criticisms to level

[00:58:10] at Gunstar Heroes, I started to get annoyed by a few things right around this point and

[00:58:16] some of those annoyances would persist throughout the rest of the game. For one,

[00:58:21] when you do need to jump around and do some semblance of platforming, I didn't feel as though

[00:58:28] it was very, I don't know, precise. Sure in this specific area it seems pretty easy to

[00:58:35] see what it is that you need to do. Jump up to each block until you get to the top, but

[00:58:41] there are also parts of the pyramid that you can hang down on. It's not at all obvious where this

[00:58:48] could be done and when I was jumping, I felt as though I couldn't be as precise with where

[00:58:53] I wanted to land and I couldn't really quite tell where I could drop down and explore the

[00:58:58] area a little further. And sure, it didn't help that there were some flying enemies in

[00:59:04] this area constantly shooting at us, but in areas like this where platforming is needed

[00:59:09] in order to progress, this is where I tended to take the most hits by the enemy. Yeah,

[00:59:16] exactly like that. It is quite annoying. The other thing that can be tough is when you're

[00:59:22] shooting at tougher enemies that don't go down in one hit. Great examples are the flying

[00:59:29] enemies in this area that I just mentioned. Unless I'm completely missing the visual cues,

[00:59:35] I'm not seeing anything that indicates that I'm landing a hit on the enemy. They don't flinch,

[00:59:42] they don't blink or do anything to suggest that they're being hit or that the weapon

[00:59:47] that I'm using is even effective. While it's certainly not the worst thing, because if

[00:59:52] you're constantly holding down your fire button, the enemy is constantly being bombarded by your

[00:59:57] firepower, it is something that I noticed. I like to know what I'm doing is effective.

[01:00:05] Thankfully though, when you're fighting bosses, they do flash when you're dealing damage to them

[01:00:10] and their vitality meter is constantly visible on screen, so you do know how effective you

[01:00:16] are being in the boss battles. So there is that. Now really quick before we move on,

[01:00:23] I want to take a moment and acknowledge something that I've glossed over up until now.

[01:00:29] The visual presentation in Gunstar Heroes is fucking incredible. It's hard for me to really

[01:00:36] articulate this over an audio-only podcast, but I absolutely mean it. The character sprites

[01:00:42] and animations are silky smooth, and at one point I counted 13 enemies on screen all at once,

[01:00:48] not counting my character and all the lead that I was slinging around. Everything moves

[01:00:54] very fast and buttery smooth, and never once did I experience anything like slowdown,

[01:00:59] screen tearing, or flicker. It's kinda funny thinking about it out loud. The

[01:01:05] smoothness of this game was actually a little off-putting initially.

[01:01:10] I can't remember who said this to me, but someone told me their first experience with

[01:01:13] Gunstar Heroes was a quote unquote, assault on their senses. And it was very difficult

[01:01:20] to keep track of what was going on on screen and just what was happening in general.

[01:01:26] Personally, I kept getting myself lost in the chaos, and I kept taking hit after hit before

[01:01:31] I finally figured out where I was and regained control of the situation.

[01:01:36] As I played through though, it all seemed to clear up and my eyes were able to dance

[01:01:42] all over the screen, and eventually I was able to keep up with it all.

[01:01:46] I have no idea what Treasure did when developing this game to make the graphics and animations so

[01:01:51] smooth and fast, but god damn did this team put their heart and soul into this thing.

[01:01:58] Gunstar Heroes is the smoothest 16-bit game that I have ever played,

[01:02:02] and I'd venture to say it'll be the smoothest that I ever will play, period.

[01:02:08] Now speaking of the amazing graphical presentation, at the top of the pyramid is one of my

[01:02:14] favorite mini bosses from a presentation standpoint.

[01:02:18] When we get to the top, we're given the, the boss is approaching, warning text.

[01:02:26] Bravo Man flies on screen and all Bravo Man is is just a bunch of square blocks that take

[01:02:32] humanoid form. That sounds exceptionally boring, but the way this creature looks is awesome.

[01:02:40] The squares are obviously 2D, but the way this creature moves around, you would swear

[01:02:45] this thing was rendered in 3D. The way it walks, jumps, flies around and tries to attack you is

[01:02:52] almost captivating. Bravo Man has over 3000 vitality if I remember right, which means

[01:02:59] he's going to take some serious punishment before he goes down. Keep your finger on the

[01:03:05] trigger and when he gets too close, evade accordingly, whether that's jumping over him

[01:03:10] or sliding underneath. I actually found hand to hand techniques like the body slam and sliding

[01:03:16] actually did considerable damage to Bravo Man, but feel free to take this goon out however you

[01:03:22] see fit. Each stage in Gunstar Heroes is a unique experience and brings to the table much

[01:03:30] more than your standard run and gun shooter. Some stages are pretty standard like the one

[01:03:36] we just ran through a bit, but others are far more involved. Take for instance the Underground

[01:03:42] Mine level. In this level, your Gunstar Hero is positioned on top of a minecart and you will

[01:03:49] be blazing through this level at breakneck speeds. What's cool about this level is that

[01:03:55] jumping and then jumping again while in the air will have your minecart attach itself to

[01:04:00] the ceiling. Do it again and you'll return to the ground. This offers some interesting mobility

[01:04:06] options as enemies seem to constantly pour in on screen and you've got to find even more

[01:04:12] creative ways to evade them. You'll even encounter trains that you'll need to take out

[01:04:18] by shooting the enemy occupants. It is a fantastic and unique level and for a while,

[01:04:25] it was actually my favorite overall. I think the best part is when you encounter a train that has

[01:04:31] Not M Bison on it. He attacks you by literally throwing his own troops at you. What a dick!

[01:04:40] It's funny to see and adds sort of a layer of charm to the overall experience.

[01:04:46] At one point, you'll actually descend downwards and you'll have to bounce between the left

[01:04:51] side and the right side of the screen in order to avoid the enemy all while you try to take them out.

[01:04:57] It's exceptionally well done, all things considered. The boss that you have to fight in

[01:05:03] this stage, I argue, is one of the hardest in the entire game and that is the large

[01:05:09] transforming machine known as Seven Force. Seven Force is literally seven bosses in one and

[01:05:18] while it can be an incredible challenge to defeat all of its forms, what stands out for

[01:05:22] me more than anything is how incredible this boss looks. From the running animations it has

[01:05:29] in its soldier form to the deadly grates of its eagle form, Seven Force is a… well,

[01:05:35] it's a force to be reckoned with. When I first played the game a couple times,

[01:05:41] I could not defeat this boss to save my life. It's very easy to take hits and lose

[01:05:46] your vitality, provided you had any vitality left after going through the level itself.

[01:05:52] Movements of each form are almost erratic and while every boss essentially has a pattern

[01:05:57] that you can discern, I would constantly find myself getting trampled, stomped,

[01:06:02] or otherwise maimed. While the battle was frustrating at first, it was fun to slowly

[01:06:08] improve and get better as I went. I can't remember if I mentioned this before, pretty

[01:06:13] sure I did, but Gunstar Heroes has unlimited continues so while it sucked being killed and

[01:06:19] sent back aways, I could always get back to where I fell pretty easy. And more often than not,

[01:06:27] I was eager to keep fighting. At one point though, I stopped playing and then when I came

[01:06:32] back to it, I threw down on the easiest difficulty and I only had to defeat three

[01:06:37] of the seven forms before the game let me move on so that was kinda nice.

[01:06:42] Even though this particular boss kicked my ass, I couldn't help but respect it and the other

[01:06:47] bosses in this game. There's too many to mention and I really think you should experience them

[01:06:52] yourself, but I can't finish up this episode without giving them the praise they deserve.

[01:06:59] Every single one of them is unique and requires you to think through how you fight them.

[01:07:04] There's the snake-like creature of Evalion, the two-legged mech Pinky Roader,

[01:07:11] the giant rock looking monster called Korean Rice, or the massive screen dominating Super Gondola.

[01:07:20] Each encounter is unique and as I continued to play through for the first time,

[01:07:24] I was genuinely excited when I met a boss because I wanted to see what the

[01:07:29] development team had thought up next. And to add to that, I was most excited to see

[01:07:35] if the weapon combination I had on me at the time would make quick work of the boss or if

[01:07:40] I would have my work cut out for me. There is a lot I could talk about when it comes

[01:07:47] to Gunstar Heroes but I don't think I can end the show without talking about the weapons.

[01:07:55] The whole idea that you can combine any of the four available weapons into something new

[01:08:00] is such a simple concept but in execution it works incredibly well.

[01:08:06] There are a lot of weapons and weapon systems across video games but this system has quickly

[01:08:12] become one of my favorite. And it goes much more beyond the idea of just getting a new weapon.

[01:08:20] Now, math isn't my strong suit but I count 14 unique weapons that you can have in this game

[01:08:26] and that includes the base weapons without being combined with something.

[01:08:31] Some of them can sort of be similar but you'll find yourself doing one of two things.

[01:08:37] You're either going to experiment with every combination to see what's out there or you're

[01:08:42] quickly going to find what works best for you and you're going to try your best to stick with

[01:08:46] it. And really, either approach is okay. While some weapon combinations are more

[01:08:53] advantageous against certain bosses, every combination is useful.

[01:08:59] I personally enjoyed the fire weapon and combining it with another fire weapon to

[01:09:03] create the Ultra Flamethrower giving the flame some excellent reach.

[01:09:09] It did a ton of damage if you could keep the flame on your target

[01:09:13] and I found it made short work of a lot of the bosses too.

[01:09:17] When I couldn't get the flame where I needed it to go, I really enjoyed

[01:09:21] combining laser with a chaser weapon. The homing lightning would lock onto an enemy

[01:09:27] and just melt them like butter, it was incredible.

[01:09:32] Great for bosses with a tucked away weak point. Although the game didn't always

[01:09:37] lock on to the thing I wanted to kill so it was hard to attack something specific

[01:09:42] unless I was physically right on top of it. But that is the trade-off for such amazing power.

[01:09:48] And since my running and gunning days started with Contra, I've always had a soft spot for the

[01:09:54] standard issue machine gun. So sometimes I would just use Force and combine it with another

[01:09:59] Force and create a machine gun style Force of Nature that mowed everything down.

[01:10:06] But of all the things I appreciate most about this weapon system,

[01:10:10] it's how it adds to the game's replayability.

[01:10:13] You're encouraged to try new things and each weapon is unique enough that your way of playing

[01:10:19] the game can subtly change. You may find yourself getting into the thick of it with a close

[01:10:24] quarters weapon like fire, or you may prioritize movement and evasion while using

[01:10:29] a weaker weapon like the chaser. There's no right or wrong answer when it comes to what

[01:10:35] weapons you use. It just comes down to your skill, adaptability, and ultimately how you

[01:10:41] want to experience this game. And I will always appreciate a video game that lets me play the

[01:10:49] game the way that I want it to and not feel as though I'm being forced into the quote-unquote

[01:10:55] meta weapon build or something similar. Give me the tools and let me build the thing.

[01:11:03] And if it isn't something someone else likes to use, great! You do you,

[01:11:07] because I am going to do me.

[01:11:10] As we start to wind it down, I have to say, I could probably go on and on about Gunstar Heroes.

[01:11:17] The nuances of the weapon system, the incredible level design,

[01:11:21] graphical presentation, the replayability, the well-designed bosses, it almost never ends.

[01:11:29] When I first heard about this game and how it was compared to Contra,

[01:11:32] I went into this experience with nothing more than the expectation that

[01:11:36] I was going to be shooting all the things and that was about it.

[01:11:40] While the story set up nothing to write home about, I was pleasantly surprised with this game.

[01:11:47] Like I've already said, the weapon mechanic really adds several layers to the gameplay

[01:11:51] experience and you aren't really forced into any one specific playstyle.

[01:11:56] Everything works, and while some weapon combinations certainly work better than others,

[01:12:00] depending on the situation, your progression is never stunted in a way where you can't progress.

[01:12:07] I actually noticed that when you die and continue, any power-up pods you shoot

[01:12:12] sometimes drop different weapons than the time before, which gives the player something

[01:12:17] different to use if whatever they had at the time just wasn't cutting it for them.

[01:12:23] If I ever failed, I never really blamed it on my current weapon system.

[01:12:27] I would just find myself thinking, given the tools that I have, how can I win this fight?

[01:12:33] Do I need to be more mobile? Do I need to stand in a specific spot?

[01:12:38] Will jump shots be more effective?

[01:12:41] Sometimes Gunstar Heroes is like a puzzle to solve and any combination

[01:12:45] of the pieces you have available can get you through.

[01:12:50] At the end of the day though, I think what stood out for me more than anything was how

[01:12:54] my experience with Gunstar Heroes was truly my own.

[01:12:59] I love that this game gives you the tools and it's up to you on how you utilize them.

[01:13:05] And while this game can become incredibly difficult,

[01:13:08] the unlimited continue system certainly encourages you to come back and try again.

[01:13:14] The game doesn't want you to give up, and I feel like I was being silently cheered on the

[01:13:19] whole way. More than that, I was encouraged to play the game the way that I wanted.

[01:13:26] And when I finally completed the game and saw the end credits,

[01:13:30] I felt like what passed for a story in this game was my story.

[01:13:35] I wrote it how I wanted and took the actions that I felt best.

[01:13:41] The road was long and the opposition was certainly relentless, but at the end of the

[01:13:46] day, this game made me feel like a Gunstar Hero.

[01:14:26] And that will do it my friends!

[01:14:29] This has been episode 54 of the Retro Wildlands, Gunstar Heroes for the Sega Genesis.

[01:14:38] Thank you very much for tuning into the show today.

[01:14:41] There really is a lot to this game and I hope I did it justice by highlighting what I did.

[01:14:46] It's a shame how it seems like this game gets overlooked, especially if someone grew up not

[01:14:51] really getting into the Sega Genesis like myself. Whether you missed out on this game growing up,

[01:14:57] or it was a major part of your childhood, I highly recommend tossing in Gunstar Heroes

[01:15:02] and giving it a run. During my research for this episode,

[01:15:06] I discovered that Gunstar Super Heroes, a sequel to this game,

[01:15:10] was released on the Gameboy Advance in 2005. You can bet your ass that this gem is officially

[01:15:17] on my radar. If you've played the sequel before and you have a minute, shoot me a

[01:15:23] message on our social media. I am genuinely curious about your thoughts and whether or not

[01:15:29] this one will be worth my time. If you like the show and you want to

[01:15:34] show it and myself some support, please consider subscribing to the Retro Wildlands

[01:15:39] on your preferred podcasting platform. I play new games for the show, write episodes, record,

[01:15:47] edit and post them whenever I'm able so I don't really have a dedicated release schedule like all

[01:15:52] the other cooler more professional podcasts out there. Subscribing to the show will instantly

[01:15:58] inform you when I drop a new episode so you can get right back into the wild lands with us.

[01:16:03] Now if you really liked the show and you have a moment to spare, I would appreciate it if you

[01:16:09] dropped us a good review. You can leave us a star rating on Spotify or you can leave a written

[01:16:15] review over on iTunes, Podchaser and Podbean, the platform I use to host the show out of.

[01:16:22] Good reviews will help the podcast appear in searches which is awesome for spreading

[01:16:28] the word about us, but ultimately I would just love to know that you enjoy what it is that I'm doing.

[01:16:35] This show is a fantastic hobby that's allowed me to create something really cool and network

[01:16:41] with some awesome people so if you could let me know that I'm doing alright I would appreciate

[01:16:46] it. But as always, you are under no obligation to do so my friends. Just having you listen to

[01:16:54] my show is much more than I could ask for so above all else, I am thankful for you being here.

[01:17:03] So what's coming up next? I really hate that I've only been churning out episodes this year

[01:17:09] maybe one every three to four weeks and I want to give you all something to listen to sooner.

[01:17:15] That said, I decided I want to go back and create another top 10 episode like I used to do.

[01:17:22] I originally started doing top 10s as a way to create something quick when I needed time to

[01:17:27] put an episode together for a beefier game. And honestly, I really like counting things down so

[01:17:33] I thought it would be cool to try another one. But the question is, what would make a good

[01:17:39] topic? Well, after spending so much time with all the cool weapons in Gunstar Heroes, it got

[01:17:47] me thinking about other video game weapons. There are tons of unique weapons in video games and

[01:17:53] when I started to think about it, there are certainly ones that I would consider favorites.

[01:17:59] So next time on the Retro Wildlands, I'm going to be counting down my top 10 favorite

[01:18:05] video game weapons. It's going to be an awesome time so I'm hoping you decide to join

[01:18:11] us as we take a look at some of the tools that we use to conquer our enemies and save the world.

[01:18:19] Until then my friends, my name is Nomad and you can find me...

[01:18:25] Roaming the Retro Wildlands.