2008 Competition Results (1:Retro Remakes) Part 2

4. Space Fury Total: 300

Geekay:

Vector games are timeless; graphically they still look good and hold up to today’s standards. Adding nice warm glowy aura’s to these vectors and you are onto a winner. This formula has been applied to Space Fury and, my word, it looks great.

Not pretending to be anything else but a mindless shooter, we are presented with pretty much the same game as the original. Only this time, some magical chemistry has been applied to give a more modern experience. As mentioned, the glowy graphics work really well and made it look pseudo-new. With all this visual stimulation flying around, it would be a shame not to play this in an unlighted room with all-engulfing darkness so that you are absorbed into the experience completely.

The sound complements the atmosphere perfectly. I especially love the voice over – this is great modern interpretation of the original. The music is also very suited to the game – it’s cinematic without the pomposity. It’s like Sokurah has genuinely asked himself “What would this game be like if it was just released today?” That may sound like a dumb question, but this isn’t always a fundamental building block of people’s remakes. This isn’t just a remake it is also a rejuvenation.

Controlling the craft is as smooth as a wedding night’s Brazilian. In saying that, it does take skill to get the hang of the friction-free manoeuvres. Once you do, it turns the fun factor up a notch. Practice makes perfect, and not before long you are more adept than Buck Rogers with a bit of drive time space rage.

With all this praise, it’s a shame to knock Space Fury from its mantel. The games very endearing quality is also its hindrance – its simplicity. After all it is Aster**** for all intents and purposes. For as much as it oozes in style and flair, it certainly lacks meaty substance. In saying that, it doesn’t pretend to be anything more than a mindless shooter.

Overall, this is rare gem of a shooter than looks good in the “to keep” collection.

87%

Ian:

Feelings of déjà vu abound here. This game reminds me so much of Sokurah’s other game, Zektor, that you might as well read my review of that game to see what I think of this game. It shares all the same faults, although does add a few of its own.

I think that the original arcade game was created by SEGA employees after having heard somebody talking excitedly about Atari’s Aster****, but having never seen or played it before. The game lacks all of the subtlety and style of Aster****, instead replacing the good bits with annoying flaws designed to bring in more money for SEGA. Apparently there was a ColecoVision conversion of this title, but it would appear that neither Zektor or Space Fury were big enough hits to convert or update to any other system (as far as I am aware). I can’t say I’m surprised tbh.

Like Zektor, the game is very competently programmed, with good music and sound (what little there actually is) and a very smooth and fast vector graphics engine, but is so fuzzy due to the OTT fake vector glow, that the screen looks like it’s been smeared with Vaseline.

The game is pretty unbalanced in the way it plays – the first level, which should generally be seen as an introduction into a game, is actually harder than the levels that follow.

I would love to see more games using the vector engine used here (minus the OTT glow), but please don’t choose anything else from SEGA, as this game (like Zektor) just does nothing for me.

60%

Oogy:

Even though it was allowed to submit more than one game to the competition, I somewhat wish that the author of this game didn’t just use the same engine twice. It feels a bit like cheating in my opinion. When I started up this game, i thought i had made a mistake, because the intro is exactly the same as his other entry, and even the game menu is just about a direct copy.

Same graphic-style, same controls. And quite frankly, not as good of a game. Not because I am a little disappointed in the author, but because I simply do not have much love for asteroids-clones. And that’s basically what this is. Oh sure, enemies are morphed together from 4 separate parts after which they shoot at the player, but look at it. You rotate, shoot, thrust, and that’s about as asteroidy as it can get.

The sound however is a lot better than his other game. Music is very pleasing and fits the game, and the speech within the game is very well done. If he had added this game’s sounds to his other game, it would’ve been a better contender. As it stands though he ended up with one okay game, and one mediocre one. A shame really.

68%

Spray:

I’m not entirely sure what it is that makes vectors a great choice for space shooters, but, let’s face it, Sega knew what they were on about when they released Space Fury to the arcades. Although, on the surface, it looks and plays like any other Asteroids clone, Space Fury was, and now IS more, much more.

And it’s all recreated here, for your playing pleasure, by Sokurah. Yes, he’s had a little help in the audio department, no, you don’t get extra points for using the boss to do your music!

Everything is just right for this remake. From the cracking TARDIS title screen, through the pretty glowy vector gaming to the great vocal work it’s a great package that just happens to include a remarkable game in there. If only I was any good at space shooters …

85%

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