~ BURNING ANGELS ~
Naxat Soft
HuCard
1990
Burning Angels has managed to get itself some attention (and fetch slightly higher prices than many other HuCard verts) by starring a couple of scantily clad tough-gals. Not surprisingly, the "chick element" doesn't really make much of an impact as far as
the game itself goes, but I'm not gonna yap about it being "gratuitous." BA is actually a darn good shooter, and if featuring two anime girls showing a bit of skin earns it some attention that it deserves for its gameplay anyway, well then, let's have it.
Thing is, this chip should be known for so many other things, like allowing two players to partake in the action simultaneously. The two craft are far from identical; each has its own very distinct set of weapons, and each set is effective and enjoyable to
use. Even when undertaking a single-pilot mission, the player can use either ship, which ups the game's replay value and makes up for the adventure counting a mere five levels. Aside from a stretch of wasteland in Stage 2, all of the strips look quite nice, boasting
appealingly brilliant colors in some cases and multilayer scrolling in others.
The action here is very heavy and requires you to dodge relatively large projectiles despite your relatively large hitbox (but the leniency of the game's life-bar system should ensure that frustration levels remain low for most players). Bullet-spraying
enemies are abundant and call off their assaults only to allow the occasional mini-boss to step into the fray. Toughest of all are the end-of-stage giants: you'll think you've got their attack patterns solved only for them to break out new techniques to batter you
with.
To combat those behemoths, you can make use of special dual-ship attacks that you acquire energy for by collecting capsules that appear throughout the levels. Wreck your opponents with a mega beam a la Soldier Blade, or sear them with phoenix fire a la
Terra Cresta II.
Succeed in defeating them and you'll get to hear a surprisingly awesome Stage Clear track, one of the game's many quality numbers. You'll also get to view some "girl break" cinematics, but thankfully, that stuff is the afterthought here, not the
action.
