ZeroRanger (2018)

ZeroRanger takes "love letter" to an extreme conclusion, creating a shmup stuffed with references to other great shmups. It may have some missteps along the way but creates a tight and engaging experience that is well worth playing through.

On an Earth-like planet called Daikon, aliens called Green Orange have invaded to destroy the planet. Two remaining fighters rise up against their planet's hijacked defense force and a fallen fighter in order to destroy the main Green Orange vessel. While I won't spoil the details, there are surface level themes of enlightenment (complete with lotus imagery) and a little bit of time travel along the way. It's not a particularly impressive shmup story and grates with cryptic self-importance but it doesn't interfere with the game's main experience.

The player has access to two types of ships (wide and focused range fire) with three pairs of weapons they can choose from, ranging from back/side fire, charge/lock-on shot, and a special mode that incorporates a sword and drill. While the first two pairs are standard (but helpful!) the sword and drill transforms the character into the game's most unique premise - a close combat action spectacle. There's even the opportunity to map a slow button to help control speed as this game plays very fast and loose.

The game has a checkpoint system that rewards players with practicing/grinding for score, allowing players to make it through on a fair amount of lives. They'll need it, because this game spikes into an insanely hard difficulty near the end that can get pretty frustrating - along with a second loop, there's also a nasty path for a good ending that deletes players' save data (all checkpoints, all that progress) if they fail a deceptively difficult segment. It's not ZeroRanger's best idea and is more aggravating and stressful than groundbreaking.

As for the style, ZeroRanger makes incredible use of pixel art and a limited color palette, with shades of green and orange (along with some other colors later on) throughout. The game struggles a bit with an identity of its own, mostly since its entire style is chock full of references to other games and anime (Gainax mecha, specifically), Expect Evangelion, Kotsujin, Cho Ren Sha, Undertale, and a Gurren Lagann drill along the way. For fans of all these games/series it's a dream come true, but ZeroRanger is a tad bit less memorable than its inspirations.

All things aside, ZeroRanger isn't my favorite shmup but it's a fairly well designed game that caters to fans of the genre and while it's deceptively inaccessible at parts it's well worth a shot if you're up for the challenge and want to spot some references.

ZeroRanger is just as much of an experience as it is a fantastically designed shmup. There are countless layers to this game's presentation of which I wasn't expecting at all just from its first stage. I was also surprised that the story never gets in the way of pacing on replays. I've enjoyed my subsequent playthroughs just as much as my first. Coming from the perspective of someone just getting into shmups this year, I thought ZeroRanger was fantastic.

Nearly everything in ZeroRanger is a reference to the likes of Gurren Lagann, Evangelion, Gradius, R-type, and ... Undertale? If you have any history whatsoever with shmups or mecha anime you'll recognize more than a few of its pretty deliberate references. Even the music borrows cues from other shmups, which I'd prefer not to spoil from where because it's used as part of the experience. The references never impede on ZeroRanger's core themes and aesthetic, which I absolutely love. It's hard to describe exactly. Stuff like seeing the Moai in Gradius for the first time is really weird, and ZeroRanger really captures the type of weird soul that shmups often have.

ZeroRanger is very forgiving with its checkpoints, but going for score is heavily emphasized. The game has a pretty clever way of tying how well you do in the game into the story. When the true test later in the game comes, you have to be prepared and have played well. It achieves a nice balance for those who just want to see the sights and those who are going for the best score possible. I think it also does a great job at encouraging those new to the genre to focus on going for the best score possible rather than just surviving as long as you can. The game completely respects you to figure out the deeper nuances to both its story and gameplay. If you've been paying attention to the themes of the game, you'll get through just fine.

From what I've seen online, this game is seriously underplayed considering how much pure love for shmups was put into it. I loved it and i'm going to remember it for a long time.

Do:

1. Not
2. Give
3. Up

WARNING

MAY YOU ATTAIN ENLIGHTENMENT:

1: BLAZING BLOODLINES

2: TOUCH THE UNTOUCHABLE

3: BREAK THE UNBREAKABLE

I'll preface that I've never been one to completely grasp the appeal of a shmup. That genre in general can get too masocore for me especially from the touhou games I've sampled. That being said, ZeroRanger comes along and blows any expectation I had of the genre altogether. The green orange aesthetic is excellent and it is positively gorgeous in artstyle and music. It borrows heavily from buddhist philosophy to generate a strong NEVER GIVE UP energy the likes of which I haven't felt genuinely since Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. The gameplay is stellar, featuring intensely strong bullet patters and tight enemy and boss designs. Best ones of note are 1-2's claustrophobic danger zones, 1-4's grueling maze that requires pinpoint positioning and on-the-fly routing, and literally everything about 2-3's boss. For those experienced with shmups the exemplary mechanic here is your ability to use the gundam version to slash/drill away bullets and clever use of swapping between gundam and ship format gives interesting strategy for top score runs.

Since I also suck, this game throws me a bone with an increasing amount of continues, which is justified by encouraging score-heavy runs and a final final boss that your continues won't be enough to save you if you're not ready. There are however a couple issues, specific really to the bullet patterns having a very clear cap on complexity and that it doesn't get nearly as hard as shmups of its ilk. There is a hard mode on the way and some sort of second campaign in development which could in theory fix this issue but for what it is right now it hits my standard. I absolutely adored my time with it. (9/10)

ZeroRanger is a nice little gem I had the pleasure of playing last year when it was released. I was gonna add it to my list on a whim as I saw it already wasn't and saw how very few people here are aware of this game(or maybe they are). Though that's not much of a surprise with SHMUPS in general as you're either in the know for these games or they fly past your radar completely. ZeroRanger has a little bit of history behind it, as it was a game conceptualized back in 2009 and has gone through a hefty amount of changes and additions, taking inspiration and ideas from games such as Ikaruga, Eschatos, Guxt, and even Undertale.

The game feels very... arcadey in both its simple style and presentation, featuring a single color palette of orange and green. It is a very traditional shmup without too much going on under the hood at a glance. You're a fighter ship going up against the aptly named alien race, GreenOrange, threatening humanity. You start with your normal shot and as you defeat bosses, you have the option of adding one of two special weapons to your arsenal, including charge shots, back shots, a sword, and a drill. Seamless change between all weapons you pick up provide variety on how to tackle stages and their bosses, as well as how you tackle scoring if you're going for that. As the developers wanted ZeroRanger to be accessible to anyone, the game features a checkpoint and continue system, allowing the player to continue from the current stage they game over'd at. This allows new players to SHMUPS to practice comfortably and learn the game's mechanics and individual stages until they clear the game. Each stage is very well crafted, providing plenty of hectic sections and fast and short but intense boss encounters, coupled with a phenomenal soundtrack befitting that of a ship fighting to save humanity.

All I've said so far is what ZeroRanger is at a glance without too much seemingly going on. It's a traditional SHMUMP through and through. The farther you go though, the more you'll start to realize that not everything seems as it is. ZeroRanger boasts a surprisingly good story and surprises the more you progress through the game. Through very minimal and clever story telling told through Intro Stage quotes and Game Over messages, something starts to seem off. What exactly.. are you fighting? What is GreenOrange? What IS ZeroRanger? Takes inspiration from Undertale?.. The farther you go and the more confusing things get, the better ZeroRanger gets and this is where the game really shines. Suddenly you're wondering whether the checkpoint system is there to actually help new players..

Without saying too much, as I think it spoils part of ZeroRanger's charm, I'd highly recommend this as a SHMUP, and given it's low entry difficulty, I'd highly recommend it as a game just for its short but very neat story.