Ok,
now I know that Malc started the review on this one, but with only
three screen grabs and a short little review, I just couldn't sleep
at night knowing that this gem of a shooter was only half completed.
What an underrated game this one is... huge bosses, tight play control,
high challenge level especially on the most difficult mode... after
a lull of reviews, I had to put the finishing touches on my 8th
favorite shmup.
E-Down
reminds me of, and maybe a sequel to, Hellfire (I think this is
the one), where you start the game with three or four different
weapons: a frontal attack, a back attack, and a diagonal attack.
Rather than grab a powerup to switch between them, you hit a button
to switch and powerups increase the strength of all three collectively.
E-Down has the same sort of weapon system. Forward plasma, diagonal
missiles, and back arrows, along with a standard front laser which
is the strongest weapon when fully powered to a thin white beam
(like dental floss).
E-Down
has many mini-bosses and different level situations, such as the
missile field Malc mentioned, two giant twin trash compactor things
to contend with, a choosable path in one level, and a dimension
spanning battle to end things off. While there is no earth shatteringly
new about ED, the graphics, game play, and level design just seem
to click right into place. Down's music is also a little above average,
and the tunes seem to fit the level. This game is similar to R-Type
in that you have to know the levels well enough to choose the proper
weapon, else it's a quick defeat for the hero. ED also features
a little mini-game in the options menu, where a grid of ships is
displayed on the screen, and your duty is to move a square onto
every ship that moves and blast it, with the game starting out very
slow and ending at blazing speed. A nice little addition to a great
shoot'em up... the only downside is the NAME! Yes it's different,
but why?!?!?
Eliminate
Down - Soft Vision
