The youngest among us probably did not experience the golden age of shoot’em up, today a video game category not under-represented, but aimed at a niche audience. If the “asthmatic” pioupious of 8 and 16-bit consoles such as Super Star Soldier were still accessible to ordinary mortals, often due to technical limitations, things have changed and those who are called with fear and deference “ bullet hells” or danmaku in Japanese today represent an important fringe of this genre which has become very confidential.
Originally released in 2017 under the Henteko Doujin label specializing in ultra-indie and back today in an improved version on our home consoles in collaboration with the publisher Sanuk Games, the title of Bikkuri Software represents a point of entry both interesting and accessible to this ruthless universe. For the sum of € 14.99 on the Xbox Store, he offers to introduce us gently to this type of game by taking us by the hand throughout.
To all the shmups I’ve loved before
If the 90s had marked a certain variation of atmospheres and mechanics of this particular genre, such as the excellent Pocky & Rocky (KiKi KaiKai: Nazo no Kuro Manto in VO) of Natsume on Super NES, Graze Counter GM does not venture very far and remains within the limits of the historical clichés of this type of game.
- Look around to find the opening
Classic ships, classic shots, a bonus system limited to what is strictly necessary (a shield, a score multiplier as well as a filling of the two special attack gauges) as well as minimalist decorations, it’s not madness great evenings but it allows you not to be distracted.
From a graphic and sound point of view, Graze Counter GM smacks (perhaps too much) of mothball nostalgia. Pixel art on all floors and chiptunes galore, the game alone is a time capsule that takes us very violently back thirty years. This retro style is completely assumed, even if it does not at all pay tribute to the capabilities of our dear current consoles despite an adorable cast. On the other hand, the action doesn’t suffer from any slowdown and that’s a good thing, the opposite would have been unacceptable for a 2D game that could fit on half a CD-Rom.
- Exchange of jokes before making the powder talk
Finally, and this is anything but a surprise, the scenario is of course only a pretext for action and is of purely anecdotal interest: a faulty AI is holding millions of people hostage within a utopian virtual reality and two intrepid heroes in schoolgirl outfits will come to their aid using a backdoor in the Matrix. Our chibi-kawaii duo is joined over the games by other pilots, some encountered and defeated during the different levels, each of them presenting some subtleties offering variations in the gameplay.
There’s a taste of meatballs, meatballs…
As its name suggests, Graze Counter GM invites us to study closely and master step by step a well-known mechanic of modern shmups, for example at the heart of the gameplay of a certain Psyvariar or the different iterations of the Touhou Project: grazing . Behind this curious term (and its variants) that we imagine rather adapted to the farming universe hides the fact of brushing against the many projectiles as well as the enemies in order to charge a special attack bar while blowing up its multiplier. score. It is therefore necessary to go into contact (but not too much anyway) and to constantly flirt with danger. It is even possible to brake your ship using a specific button for even more precise movements.
- End of level summary
Once this reserve is filled (this “Graze Counter” which gives its name to the title), it is possible to fire a huge laser for a few seconds ignoring all opposition, the effect being accompanied by temporary invulnerability. Enemies and projectiles destroyed in this way then turn into stars that fill a second bar, the Break. In turn, the Break once unleashed functions as a bomb, destroying all on-screen projectiles and briefly changing the primary fire to an overpowered version, but for once without an invincibility effect. All the interest of the title therefore relates to the optimization of these different mechanics in order to achieve truly indecent scores.
But we are great beginners
For laymen, the first part of Graze Counter GM in Novice mode can be a bit confusing, even with the default options which are the “nicest” in terms of difficulty. The quick tutorial explaining the mechanics mentioned above is quickly dispatched and it takes a little time to adapt to understand all its elegance.
- The joy shared with our pilot to launch the Graze Counter
Our priority remains survival and if the real hitbox of our ship remains limited to the few pixels of our cockpit, we are sometimes tempted by pure reflex to make large disorderly movements to avoid a threatening burst when a simple very slight shift is often sufficient while allowing you to fill your Graze bar on the way.
In accordance with the canons of the genre, it is possible to choose between two routes during chapters two and four. The enemies gradually gain in size, resistance and number of pellets fired, forcing us to use the system to our advantage. The various bosses, presented during a short sequence of dialogue, this verbal contest being sometimes weighed down by some quirks of translation, are very resistant but their attack patterns only surprise us during the first encounters.
- Know the boss chains well
As a good trainer, the game stages all the possible configurations to hinder our progress by forcing us to adapt to them: huge lasers targeted at our position, more or less rapid homing shots, enemy rush on our ship, creation of barriers that are difficult to destroy without the Graze Shot, uninterrupted bursts of barrage, etc.
I will never let you down, I won’t let you down
The last of these bosses takes up all the attacks of the previous major enemies and allows you to validate (or not) that the lessons have been learned at your fingertips and synapses. Each game ends in about twenty minutes and unlocks access to new game configurations in addition to characters. Among them, the “Mission” mode offers thirty tests of increasing difficulty, accompanying us step by step towards perfection.
- 5 million in 25 seconds: mission not impossible at all
After that ? This is where the success list takes over to guide us, always with a view to improving our piloting and shooting skills. So, among other things, you have to finish the game without using “Continue”, in a single life, with different pilots, in “Pacifist” without the main fire (only the Graze is available) and in infinite difficulty with the addition of the classics “ suicide bullets” sneakily dropped by enemies upon death, forcing us to constantly readjust our trajectory.
Three additional difficulty levels are available (un)fortunately without success, the game preferring to leave us the freedom to continue our training alone with no other carrot than that of the search for excellence.
- It’s time to panic or rox
The increasingly vexed face of the character during the selection represents a good indicator of the violence to come, the Novice mode being only an amuse-bouche for tourists. We also have the option of giving up the initial rechargeable shield for two improvements to our firepower.
Graze Counter GM ultimately offers us the prospect of a nice progression curve as well as immense replayability, as long as we hang on. And who knows, maybe decide to take the plunge and then tackle more modern and more complex productions that we thought a priori out of our reach, this time with solid knowledge in the field.
Tested on Xbox One and Xbox Series X
