After being delayed for more than two months, Otomedius Excellent by Konami finally arrives on Xbox 360. This Gradius-style 2D shooter returns the genre to its roots with gameplay that is much slower than your traditional hell shooter.
There are seven female characters with their own unique vehicles and weapons to choose from — Aboda Anoa, Erui Tron, Madoka, Diol Twee, Tita Nium, Arnval and Gesshi Hanafuuma.
Once a character has been selected, you must choose from one of three level one weapons — missile, double winder, or laser. Afterwards, a menu appears with five different Weapon Cards. These cards will boost your character’s firepower and improve defense.
The cards vary per character, but some of them include weapons like the T Missile (a weapon that travels along the ground and destroys gun turrets and other ground-based objects) and the F. Mine (a floating mine with a large blast radius), among many others.
For the novice, Otomedius Excellent includes a practice mode where the character’s hit box is shown. This helps the player avoid bullets and incoming enemies. The other modes include Easy, Normal, and Expert.
Otomedius Excellent plays like an old-school shooter. The screen scrolls from left to right and the enemies follow very predictable patterns. Your primary weapon is extremely weak and does very little damage. Enemies will drop power ups when destroyed and these will increase your firepower.
It is possible to customize your weapons, but you must collect a certain number of power ups to correspond with the number of weapons in your list. If you want to use the laser, you must have three power ups to activate it. However, certain power ups may work better with your base weapon than others. It’s up to the player to figure out which combination works best.
Combat can be frustrating at times. Being hit by a bullet or an enemy will reset your weapons, canceling any power ups that were collected. Some levels will also force you to shoot at barricades with no way to avoid them. If you happen to get hit right before a barricade appears, there is no way to destroy it with your base weapon. When this happens, expect to continue often.
Despite some of the gripes mentioned earlier, Otomedius Excellent does have some redeeming qualities. The player is rewarded experience points from every game that is played. There are also achievements to unlock for every character despite the game difficulty.
Throughout the game’s 8 stages, boss encounters are frequent and varied. Each boss is piloted by a scantly dressed female that is represented by an animated, full-screen drawing before the encounter. Like the enemies before them, the bosses follow easy-to-learn patterns.
Bosses can absorb a great deal of damage, so it’s important to avoid everything and not lose your weapons. If a boss cannot be defeated within a certain amount of time, it will flee the stage and any additional bonuses will be lost.
Otomedius Excellent plays more like a first generation title with average graphics. Surprisingly, most of the sprites look pretty bland for an Xbox 360 game. The backgrounds vary in detail, but it depends on the stage. Some background effects are worth mentioning, like the ocean that reflects the clouds. Even the water ripples as it moves from the background to the foreground.
Otomedius Excellent is not a terrible game; it’s a challenging shooter that demands tremendous amounts of skill to play. It may not be as good as the game that inspired it (i.e. Gradius), but the replay value alone will keep gamers busy.
Mike Pittaro
Platform: Xbox 360
Developer: Konami
Publisher: Konami
ESRB: T (Teen)
Price: $29.99 ($49.99 Special Edition)
| Review Score | |
|---|---|
| Graphics |   |
| The graphics resemble a first generation release. | |
| Sound | |
| Decent music and average sound effects. | |
| Gameplay | |
| The experience system gives Otomedius Excellent plenty of replay value | |
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| Otomedius Excellent is a challenging, but frustrating, shooter. | |
