Otomedius Excellent Review (XB360)

There nothing like a good side-scrolling shooter.  There should be intense action, lots of shooting, and anime girls straddling guns with handlebars.  What?  That's Otomedius Excellent in a nutshell.

Anyone who's ever play the Gradius series will instantly be familiar with the gameplay.  First you select a girl and pick what weapons you want her ship to have.  Then you engage in intense shooting action, trying not to get hit by anything.  Don't let the cute anime girls fool you. It's harder than it sounds.  Unless you have Jedi reflexes, you will get your ass kicked a lot.

Which girl you choose goes deeper than aesthetics.  Different girls have access to different weapons.  You can unlock more weapons as you beat level but you can't use them until you beat the game.  Some even have a special weapon other girls can never get.  Also, the order of the power-ups might be different.  For example, Speed is usually the first power-up. but with some girls, it's (strangely) the third.  So knowing what you'll get and when you'll get it should be apart of your strategy.  There are plenty of girls and weapons to choose from, so you can put together some powerful combinations.

Just one of the many girls you can blast through the game with.

There are a lot of weapons of varying power levels.

Each level starts off with an easy section in space, where you will have a chance to power up your ship.  Then, the real level begins and you'll be torn a new butthole within seconds.  The biggest reason why is because there's simply too much stuff to dodge.  On top of that, every time you die you reset to nothing, making you a slow weakling waiting to be raped.  With practice, you can get through entire levels without getting hit.  Even if you don't, you have unlimited continues and you'll need each and every one of then.

At the end of every level you fight a big battle ship being piloted by none other than...a cute anime girl.  Some are easy, some are hard, but all have your annihilation in mind.  Some are unfairly cheap, with unavoidable attacks (like that trollop at the end of Level 2).  Never fear, though.  If you can't kill the boss in within a certain period of time, she flies away, letting you advance to the next level.  This is bullcrap, leaves you feeling unsatisfied, and (coupled with unlimited continues) takes away the need to actually become better a player.

The graphics can be good or bad at the same time.  As mentioned before, the screen gets awfully cluttered.  Things you can see often mask things that are barely visible.  There are these weird transparent enemies that will kill you unless you realize they are enemies.  This is really a problem in some levels, as the background can even work against you.  Some enemies can travel right through solid surfaces and by the time you realize that, it's too late.  Enemy bullets can blend in with the background.  Sometimes, enemies will just materialize out of nowhere, you will take plenty of cheap shots.  This is BS, but it does keep you on your toes, which DOES contribute to being a better player.

The music is intense and energetic with some cute, girly, and nerdy vibes mixed in for good measure.  The soundtrack also features a few remakes from Gradius for a bit of nostalgia.  Good music is what any shooter needs.  Often times, you'll have to chose between rocking your head to the music or getting shot to ribbons by everything you can (and can't) see.

Now, for the other stuff.  There is DLC you can download to extend the life of the game.  You can also try different difficulty settings.  Obviously, you can try your luck with different girls and weapon set-ups.  There's also the constant challenge of trying to avoid getting hit and kill all of the bosses instead of just watching them fly off.

So, what the final breakdown?  It's it fun, but flawed shooter.  There is a lot of BS (ghost enemies and bullets you can't see), but there is some bona fide challenge mixed in for nice balance.  Good music, lots of characters, and lots of weapons will keep you coming back...if you can stomach the cheapness of the enemies and bosses.  Try it with caution.