"A respectable shooter"

The Virtual Boy is one of those systems you probably haven't heard of. It was Nintendo's attempt to cheaply cash in on the virtual reality craze of the early 1990's. Everything is in red and black. People complained of eye troubles. As such the system didn't last very long. A few games came out for it, one being Vertical Force. It is a vertical scrolling shooter that even non-shooter fans can enjoy.

Game Play
You pilot a plane as you try and avoid more and more enemies and gun fire. Fans of shooters will find that the typical elements are there such as power ups for weapons and shields. What makes this game different is the fact that there are different altitudes you can fly at. You can fly close to the ground or up higher, avoiding tanks and small mountains. Sometimes you will have to fly under archways meaning you have to go to the lower altitude. The game makes sure you switch between the two often but doesn't force you to all the time. You can usually pick only one altitude and with a few exceptions, stay at it. I really enjoyed this concept, as it isn't one I have seen before (keep in mind I don't play a lot of shooters).

The power ups are simple. Each time you upgrade your weapons, you get another direction that you can shoot in. There are drones you can collect that will shoot things for you and you can set the altitude to be opposite of yours to rack up more points. There are only two different types of weapons you can get, with variations to the one you start out with being the first. Every now and then you can grab a laser, which is very powerful but shoots a lot slower. I find it best to actually avoid the laser all together because of how slow it is.

There are several stages, each broken in half. At the end of the first half of each stage you fight the same boss. To keep things slightly interesting, said boss has a new ability each time. The bosses at the end of each level are always new and quite challenging. The bosses will alternate between altitudes or be on both altitudes at the same time giving the game some challenge.

Your ship has a lot of life and seemingly endless continues (I didn't try to die over and over again so they may be finite). This does take away from the challenge some what. When you do in fact die, you start at the beginning of the half stage you are on. Perhaps this makes the game fairly easy, but I think in the end, it is a good way to draw those who don't like the difficulty of shooters into the genre.

Score 8

Controls
The controls are simple for the most part. The directional pad moves the ship around on the altitude you are on and responds very well. Your ship moves at a good speed and doesn't jump ahead or go too slow so you can avoid bullets fairly easily. Changing altitudes is just a press of a button and drones are controls with the right directional pad. Drones can be a little confusing at first, especially if you aren't used to two directional pads. With a little practice, you will get the hang of things though.

Score 8

Graphics
Ignoring that things are all red, you will find the graphics to be of average shooter quality. There is a small variety of enemy ships that do repeat often, which does bring things does somewhat. Sometimes your drone will look like another enemy ship which you will try and shoot once in a while.

The biggest problem with the graphics is because of the altitudes. With two altitudes it is difficult to tell what enemies are where. I found my self trying many times to shoot gun turrets on carriers that were well below me and not shoot able at the higher altitude.

While the graphics are slightly in the third dimension you only actually see two dimensions at any given time. There is smooth motion when your ship or the enemies ships' switch between the altitudes and once they switch, it is a lot easier to tell which one they are on. Perhaps if there were more colors, the graphical problems the game experiences would have been different.

Score 6

Sounds and Music
This is another area where the game lacks ever so slightly. While the intro music is fairly decent, it is about the only music in the game. It is nice because of the way the Virtual Boy's speakers are set up, you get it in stereo sound. However, without any music playing during the game, I can't help but feel like some corners were cut.

The sound effects are adequate. They sound like typical shooters do, with small explosions for when ships go down and a little chime for when a power up is obtained. What I dislike is that the gun fire is so repetitive it become annoying before you finish the very first level. If there were more weapons to give off noises, perhaps things would be different, but with only two types of weapons, you only get two sounds and it may make you turn the volume down.

Score 6

Overall, Vertical Force is a decent game. I find it to be slightly on the easy side, and I am sure fans of games like this will find it ridiculously easy. However, that not withstanding, this is a pretty good game for the Virtual Boy. I feel that this is a good game to start out on if you are just getting into the shooter genre. If you own the Virtual Boy, this is one game you shouldn't over look. If you don't own the Virtual Boy, this may be something to consider as a reason to buy one. The sounds and graphics may be a little on the poor side, but the game play is what shooters are all about and it is solid in that category.

Pros:
1. Good shooter to start out on
2. A good game for the Virtual Boy

Cons.
1. Fairly easy and short
2. Gun fire noise is annoying

Final Score 7

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 06/08/07