"Geimos" - NES/Famicom

We've hit another Famicom title that doesn't even have an English Wikipedia page. So let's take our Japanese for another spin.

You might think that this was a port of an arcade game by having a look at it, but it turns out it was actually published by ASCII (publishers of Astro Robo SASA) for the Famicom directly. This game was developed by Micronics, whom we saw previously on Elevator Action, and I admit that doesn't inspire me with a lot of hope for the amount of fun I'm about to have.

That's... really about it, except that the JP Wikipedia mentions it's a 3D shooting game with 6 levels. Seems doable (...?). It also mentions that in the manga ファミ魂ウルフ, or "Famicon Wolf," with the '-con' being a play on words, as it means something like "spirit," had a chapter in it where the characters played this game and challenged each-other in a race to loop the game.

I don't have anyone to race with, but I'll play it anyway.

I'm not gonna lie, that's actually a pretty exciting looking title-screen.

----- Playthrough -----

Gay Moss (as Google Translate chooses to call it) comes with two modes to try out, so in a tradition as old as time, we'll try the first mode first.

In Mode A, you'll be flying forwards with a stationary camera behind your back, and the ability to move to some degree within the bounds of the screen. Enemies are coming at you in various locations, and your goal is to fly around and shoot them, lest you not shoot them and they shoot you instead. Cruel world.

This is purely in self defense, just so you know.

Pressing B will shoot, and pressing A will drop a bomb at a 30 degree or so angle from the bottom of your ship, which can be used to hit ground targets, which generally don't fire back-- until they do, which is sometimes.

Keep your wits about you and plow through the level without taking any hits, and you'll eventually encounter "Phobos," a big ship with interdimensional warping capabilities, who chooses to use those abilities to pop up and shoot at you for about 20 seconds. If you don't land your five or so shots on him before he disappears, you'll have to play the entire level again for another shot. Sorry.

I would highly recommend killing him in one go rather than the alternative, personally.

You can do this 6 times, which will move you along the solar-system to look at various renderings of the various planets, which is all very exciting, however the game never really changes in any meaningful way. You'll always fight the same enemies and the same boss, generally just in different colors.

Wheeeee! Orange!

Anyway, defeat Phobos 6 times to loop the game and start back at the beginning for more exciting Geimos fun. But instead of that, let's play Game B now.

Game B is basically just Game A with a reference change. Before, the camera was stationary and you moved within the boundaries. Well, guess what buckaroo-- now you're stationary within the camera and the camera moves around within the boundaries.

What will they think of with these crazy video-games next?

There's really nothing else that's different here. You're given a reticle now for aiming your bombs, and your shots are still pretty much as hard to aim as before, except you can at least know that they always are aimed towards some general area of the screen now, and you can rely on lining yourself up with enemies horizontally instead of just guessing where you are like in Game A.

After messing around with Game B for a couple levels I decided to call it quits and write the review already.

----- Review -----

How long did I play?
20 minutes

How much did I beat?
One loop of game A.

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Intuitive Design: 

How easy is it to intuitively understand the game?

There's not really much to do here but move and shoot, so I would say to all but the least willing to experiment and observe, this game couldn't really be more intuitive.

Gameplay: 

How rewarding does playing the game feel? Too difficult?

Trying to aim your shots can be a bit of a crap shoot, but overtime you can start to intuit where your shots are going just from experience, even if you can't really tell. Shooting enemies in groups and hitting them all is satisfying, and the game is generally pretty much fun-- the difficulty is medium to low, especially if you land shots often and avoid having to dodge frequently.

Depth: 

How deep/long is the game?

Well, I completed a loop in 10 minutes or so, on my second try, so if you're only going to play to that extent, not very long. I imagine if you're going for a high-score or something, you could probably squeeze some more entertainment out of it, but we're really talking arcade length.

The depth of the game is pretty shallow as well. You can bomb and shoot, and dodge. That's pretty much it.

The calculus differentials part of the game is not reviewed here.

Presentation: 

How's the sound? How are the graphics?

The 3D effect is honestly pretty good for the NES, though with all games of this type I really just think it makes the game harder to play. It was okay in Exerion for instance, because at least the game itself was 2D, only the background was 3D. Here we have to deal with both being 3D, but it could be worse (and some games will get it worse I assure you).

The sounds are mostly just basic shooty pew pew noises, and the 'music' isn't really worth mentioning. There's a level start jingle, and then just an oscillating high-pitched noise the rest of the time you play, pretty much.

Personal Chord: 

Does the game have that undefinable "something" for me?

No, not really. Here we have a pretty standard NES shooter with little exciting to really say for itself. It's fine, but not special. Much like myself.

Should You Play: 

Is there a reason to even bother with this one?

Probably not. I could really only imagine spending your time on this game if you were doing a run of all Famicom shooting games or something.

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