Developer Hucast Games is an indie developer that is responsible for developing a myriad of shooters for Sega’s now defunct console system, the Sega Dreamcast. Ghost Blade HD for Playstation 4 – which is the company’s first release on modern home consoles – is an HD remake of the Dreamcast original of the same name, but with vastly improved graphics.
Like most bullet hell shooters, Ghost Blade HD includes three levels of difficulty (i.e. Easy, Normal and Hard), co-operative play and additional game options (i.e. Training Mode and Score Attack). The game also includes an online Leaderboard.
The game itself closely resembles most Cave shooters (i.e. Bug Princess, Espgaluda II, etc.) due to its frantic pace, large on-screen sprites, and endless amounts of bullets. In fact, Ghostblade HD could easily pass as a coin-op release due to the developer’s uncanny ability of replicating the genre so perfectly. This is no easy feat.
Ghost Blade HD spans 5 levels of intense, arcade-style action, as the player battles countless enemies in one of three spaceships. The environments can be destroyed by the player (i.e. buildings, gun turrets, enemies, etc), and gold stars appear for every object that is obliterated. These stars can be collected for additional points. The game also uses a combo hit counter that keeps track of each enemy the player kills. The more kills the player amasses, the bigger the point bonus given.
Gameplay is based on the different firing styles of each ship, which can drastically change the pace of the game. For example: By pressing Square button, the ship’s projectiles are condensed and more powerful, but they cover less of the playfield. The opposite happens when pressing X button, allowing the player’s ship to fire a wide spread of projectiles that can hit almost everything on-screen. Unfortunately, this method deals less damage.
Boss encounters can be approached in the same fashion. Depending on the ship being used – and the power ups collected – the player can easily defeat the game’s many bosses when the right firing method is used. Like all shooters, it boils down to trial and error.
Graphically, Ghost Blade HD is a beautiful game. The choice of colors used for the environments and 2D sprites are bright and very pleasing to the eyes. The bosses – which are massive in size – are the most impressive sprites in the game. And this doesn’t include the other enemy sprites, which all vary in size.
Always challenging, but never too difficult to play — Ghost Blade HD is a fantastic tribute to classic 2D shooters from the 1990s. It never fails to entertain, even when a level (or boss) ends up being more challenging than anticipated.
Mike Pittaro
Platform: Playstation 4
Developer: Hucast Games, 2Dream Corporation
Publisher: eastasiasoft
ESRB: T (Teen)
Price: $9.99
Ghost Blade HD Official Website:
http://www.eastasiasoft.com/index.php/games/playstation-4/ghost-blade-hd
| Review Score | |
|---|---|
| Graphics |  |
| The choice of colors used for the environments and sprites are bright and very pleasing to the eyes. | |
| Sound | |
| Ear-shattering explosions compliment the intense arcade action. | |
| Gameplay | |
| Incredibly difficult to master, but fun to play. | |
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| Ghost Blade HD is a fantastic tribute to classic 2D shooters from the 1990s. | |
