NCS Game Notes
/\/* There is no cinematic intro
but little images of the characters from the game
flip and flick in the title screen. The main hero is
a masked ninja who swings a sword and blasts shots
while he flies vertically upwards. The sword serves
a dual purpose - one to attack foes and another to
deflect bullets.
/\/* Upon pressing START, the
options are as follows:
1) START New Game
2) GAME Configuration / Set the amount of lives,
amount of bombs, difficulty level, sound mode,
continue capability, monitor aspect ratio, the score
upon which another "Continue" is gifted, controller
settings, and ranking reset.
3) SAVE/LOAD game data and set AUTOSAVE mode if
so desired.
4) GALLERY / View five pages of character artwork
and sketches. Only three pieces may be viewed at the
outset but an additional 52 pieces of artwork may be
unlocked as one battles through the levels.
5) RANKING / Check out the top 25 scores in the
game. The default initials in this are HMR but we
soon hit 8th place and replaced HMR with NCS. The
top score is at 1000000000 and 25th place scored
4000000.
/\/* After starting NEW GAME, a
short tutorial teaches the different attacks and
systems that are in effect.
When the game starts, the sun is setting amidst a
hazy cloud-filled sky and the color is fiery orange.
Our hero flies downwards through the clouds with
cape fluttering and onto a level where temples and
buildings lie underneath. He's en route to Osaka
Castle for a fight against a boss named Kobayakawa.
The movement of the hero may be controlled through
the D-pad or L-analog but the L-analog is preferred.
Red circular objects attack first and they fire
off slow motion bits of laser fire. Hit either the O
or SQUARE button to shoot while the X button swings
a sword but once swung, it is not available again
for a 5 second interval. Listen for the sharp ping
sound and wait for the greenish hue to swirl around
the hero before swinging again. After the red
enemies, robotic machines with propellers attack
followed by blue warriors who shoots out a distinct
patter of fire. To set off a screen clearing blast,
hit the L1 or R1 trigger.
The first level boss is a laughing caped fiend
named Aki Kobayakawa who battles with a massive
tank-like robot as a backup partner. The tank fights
first and it seems like it's not much of a boss.
Then it starts shooting out star shaped buckshot
bursts that radiate outwards to confirm that its not
much of a fighter. The starburst shots which are
followed by slow-moving snowball shots may look
impressive but they're easily avoided with proper
timing and twitch maneuvering. At the beginning of a
starburst shot from the boss when the shots are
tightly compacted, and before they radiate, try
swatting them back with a sword attack. Our highest
shot hit-back was 245 but we're sure that higher
numbers are possible.
Once the tank is destroyed, the caped Kobayakawa
enters the screen, mumbles a few words, and
transforms into a massive demon with sharp toenails
and leathery green skin. Added accessories include
lengthy pincers which are attached to its shoulders
and a gnarly tail. It shoots out closely compacted
red and blue shots that aren't too difficult to
maneuver but then it shoots out a laser beam and
alternates tightly spaced shots with fast moving
streams of red fire that converge on your location.
Then there's the bluish-white blobs which all
conspire to fill up the screen with a maze of shots.
The demon's a little tougher to beat but
conservative use of the deflection slash and copious
amounts of fire will eventually bring it down. When
beaten, it sprays out a foggy haze of green ichor
and crumbles to its death. A few seconds later, it
blows up in a powerful cloudy green explosion.
/\/* As mentioned earlier, enemy
shots may be smacked right back at them by swinging
the sword. When smacking shots back, there are times
when you'll swat back 100 shots and be rewarded with
1000x100 points. To put the shot-smack move to the
test in the first level, wait until there's a bunch
of blue warriors on the screen. They'll release a
conglomeration of blue shots. Just as they're about
to hit you, press the X button and you'll see many
of the shots quickly shot back at their shooters to
wipe them out.
/\/* The second level takes
place over a forest and a craggy mountain area in
Iga Ueno and the boss is Hattori Hanzo aka Devil
Hanzo. His namesake is proven when he changes from
ninja warrior into a dark winged demon.. Enemies in
the level include big bats and smaller winged
enemies. The early part of the level is tricky
mainly because there's loads of enemy fire mixed
with cascading gold coins for a visual overload of
little objects on screen simultaneously. The
mid-level boss blasts out a nifty flame effect and
also shoots out a veritable constellation of shots
and a literal web work of firepower that requires
herky jerky joypad action to maneuver through. There
are a couple of chances to earn 1000x100 shot-whack
bonuses in this encounter. Later in the level, the
bats shoot out a thick arc of red shots that require
even more shot-whacking. The end level boss Hattori
is a doozy with a fast moving attack where he shoots
out shots and quickly moves from location to
location to mix it up. Similar to the first level
boss, it will eventually transform from a ninja to a
dark demonic creature that spits out streams and
streams of fire. Streams.
/\/* The sword attack has a
different effect when it is used directly on the
body of an enemy instead of their shots. Hitting an
enemy with the sword will cause every object on
screen at the time of the attack to freeze for a
split second. A ray of destruction then passes
between the frozen enemies to destroy them all. For
an added wrinkle to the gameplay, try going through
the entire game by only using the sword attack to
swat back shots and to trigger the freeze-attack
effect. It is possible to battle the bosses with
just the sword attack also. Enemies that are
destroyed in this manner will release coins that
will fly to your player directly without you having
to claim them.
/\/* When coins are collected, a
clattering sound effect may be heard. It's
reminiscent of old school shooters if you're into
nostalgia. There's a little attraction between the
player and the coins although it's not strong. While
the coins won't be drawn into the player, they will
gravitate towards him when he's close to them. If
they are far, they'll just drop downwards out of the
screen.
/\/* In each level, there are
two paths to the left or right that may be chosen by
moving underneath either scroll that appears on
either side.
/\/* Homura is a highly
enjoyable shooter with interesting sights and a
gimmick that works well. Instead of unlimited swats
to beat back shots, the 5 second interval moderates
the difficulty level. The bosses put up a fairly
good fight and skill is required to flit from area
to area in order to avoid their attacks. The first
level is simple and introduces the player to the
mechanics but the subsequent levels bump the
difficulty up a notch. The game also doesn't give
unlimited continues - only a few are allowed before
the game ends. There are extends however if you
reach certain scores to allow for an additional
continue. The first extend is earned when you reach
150,000,000 and the second extend at 300,000,000.
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