Look: 7/10 Basically 1942, with very similar backgrounds, but with a bit of a cute sensibility (tho I didn't really notice that tbh... are bells cute? are flickering lightbulbs cute? [by the way, those are enemies... not power ups...]). I suppose the colors were a bit cuter than 1942, like the green here which reminds me of a nice rpg world map heh

I purposefully died so I could show the great font/color for the hiscore screen ha

Sound: 8/10 The music is absolutely phenomenal, and what pushed me to continue when I found the second stage a bit tough and the gameplay unrewarding (for someone who recently played 1942).

Play: 7/10 The gameplay was what I wasn't connecting with at first the most. The Sound was definitely keeping me going... It just felt less enjoyable than the other vertical shoot em ups I've played so far, and wasn't in love with how the shooting worked. I also didn't care for how the power ups were bells (why would I think to run into that ha), and that you could shoot them away.. or that some of them can turn red and become actual power-ups as opposed to just points if you shoot them enough? I dunno, I suppose I should read up about the mechanics, usually shoot em ups you can just learn as you go. But over time, like usual, I got used to the quirks. And also like usual with my new appreciation for shoot em ups, I pushed through and kept playing it. There were a lot of clever mechanics for the bosses that made them feel unique and special . Surprisingly, despite the utter bullet hell that parts became especially in Stages 5 and 6, my finger/hand never got as sore as they did with 1942 :-p even tho I was constantly spam shooting :-p

Feel: 7/10 For a while I wasn't sure if I wanted to push on. I felt like I had played the game before, whether through Xevious or 1942 and its sequels etc. Otherwise it was just the music and the look that added anything different. The struggle was particularly harsh during the Stage 3 boss. But I finally got through it! Hmm, halfway... will I keep pushing? I have to acknowledge the boss mechanics are interesting--once I finally got a clear shot, the boss was dead! But gosh was it hard surviving till I could get that clear shot. I wish it were clearer how to get the bell power up things red (cuz then it became not red again after another couple shots ha), but sure does feel nice when you get a red bell and have that forcefield around you!

Attachment: 7/10 When I got close to giving up again (I wish I were a better gamer...), I got a green bell powerup! That enlivened it a bit! And then, I was already at the Stage 4 boss! And lol why was that boss so much more doable?! (probly helps I had the multi ship thingie from the green bell). Ahhh, just 2 more stages....

In the end, not as overwhelmingly cute a Look as I expected, and the song was just the same one throughout. Honestly, the Look could have been 1942 as far as I really noticed lol, it wasn't particularly cute to be called cute em up (to me, Funky Bee was more clearly a cute em up/intentionally cute and playful look, and it was 3 years earlier... and it gets so little recognition!). However, as often happens to me with quality games, even if this wasn't as amazing or as cute or as innovative as I had hoped, I kept pushing through..

And indeed, right before the Stage 5 boss, I died and lost a slew of powerups I had accumulated (and was getting more and more into the game). But I managed to beat the boss! Just one boss left! A lot like 1942, I find myself pushing through this, maybe I do like shoot em ups more than I acknowledge... but I'm not sure I'm necessarily having a blast... or just clenching and feel obliged to try to get through it all ha. I still had lives left when I finally beat the last boss (who wasn't necessarily much harder than Stage 3 or 4 etc. makes sense it's a re-cylce/infinite loop type game), and as usual, I had no desire to re-cycle through for a higher score. I like that some shoot em ups actually have true endings, but it makes sense to allow re-cycling for the hiscore competition vibe. But anyway, at last!

Completion: All 6 unique stages, Score 394,650 before quitting Playtime: ~1.5 hour