Video Game Review: Ghost Blade HD

Developer Hucast Games
Publisher 2Dream
Genre Bullet Hell
Game modes Single Player, Co-op
Players 2
Reviewed on Playstation 4

Available on Wii U, PC, Xbox One

Constantine104

Published March 24, 2017

I remember back when I was a kid, that rush I’d feel when sitting down and switching on my Super Nintendo console. I’d plug in one of those “30 in 1” game cartridges and marvel at how many options I had at my fingertips. Upon flicking through the choices a few time I would finally settle on Twinbee and then proceed to get lost in my very first vertical shooter.

This was to be the first of many vertical shooters in my life, which quickly became a life-long love affair with bullet hell style games.

Now admittedly over the years, I moved on to other games and genres and somewhere along the line I just stopped playing bullet hell games altogether, that was until Ghost Blade HD came into my life and onto my TV.

Once I pushed my finger down on that X button on the start screen I was instantly transported back to those action filled years.

I got that same feeling of exhilaration that I once felt and that tight knot of tension as I made my way through the tiny gaps dodging and weaving, spraying across the screen to destroy my enemies. That unmistakable feeling of disappointment and frustration at seeing the insert credit screen but then the utter elation and overwhelming feeling of triumph as I beat yet another boss and move to the next round.

All of this was there, but yet there was something missing. The rest of the game.

Ghost Blade HD is a remaster of the original Sega Saturn version of the same game and it aims to bring back the glory days of what bullet hell style games were, just with a modern feel to the models and an anime feel to the art. But somehow, it just falls short. The addition of 3D models for the fighters, as well as the enemies, is great, however, as you play the game the attention to art gets less and less and it feels like some of the backgrounds and wallpapers become more than just a little lackluster.

The games backtracks are very limited, offering only two varieties of tracks, and while the tracks that did make the cut aren’t bad it just feels like they could have chosen something that would psych you up and make that adrenaline pump during the ongoing intense hail of bullets you make your way through.

While I may not have kept up to speed with the latest and greatest bullet hell games over the last couple years, I like to think of myself as someone who is still fairly comfortable with the genre. Yet I came to find Ghost Blade to be, at first, a little bit chaotic with all the pickups and bullets and debris all over the place, at first glance the game is definitely overwhelming.

However, as I progressed through the first two levels, after much blood sweat and restarts, I found myself in a rhythm and managed to navigate seamlessly through the onslaught of bullets, debris, pickups and anything else the game threw my way. The only problem with that is that the game only has five levels, so pretty much the moment you get the hang of it and start to enjoy it its over and done with.

The aim is not so much to target the enemy, but more to dodge in the most strategic way through the vibrant array of bullets being shot at you so that (hopefully) you make it out alive while everything else is obliterated in a tirade of explosions.

Another drawback is that once you start the game, it takes no time at all for you to collect all of the power-ups for your ships weapons to reach their max power and those power-ups then stay with you until you either see the GAME OVER or CONGRATULATIONS screen, and while this is not necessarily the worst thing in the world for newcomers, it just doesn’t offer much of a challenge to the die hard bullet hell fans. And with a game like this, they really are your target audience.

Ghost Blade HD is an exceptionally short game, boasting only five levels and five bosses in its entirety. The game also only offers three pilots, however scantly clad they may be, with three different ships to choose from. The three ships also offer very little by ways of weapon configurations and the power-ups that you get don’t offer any real upgrade diversity to your weapons, only growing your fire size.

The ships, however, do have two firing configurations, spread or condensed, which is useful as the levels progress and things become more chaotic. Upon losing, or wining, you are taken to the age old leaderboards to submit your name into the ‘annals of high scores’ however, the switch from the final screen to the leaderboards takes FOREVER and I do mean forever. More than once I thought the game had frozen, this bug although not game breaking, is rather annoying as you can’t restart until you have gone through this step.

So as much as it brought back many fond memories for me and no doubt will for many others out there, for the price tag of R145.00 on the South African PlayStation Store, I feel that the game is asking too much and giving way too little.

I would only recommend Ghost Blade HD if it’s marked down on a sale and you are either completely new to the genre or a die hard fan looking for another bullet hell experience to add to the collection.

I remember back when I was a kid, that rush I’d feel when sitting down and switching on my Super Nintendo console. I’d plug in one of those "30 in 1" game cartridges and marvel at how many options I had at my fingertips. Upon flicking through the choices a few time I would finally settle on Twinbee and then proceed to get lost in my very first vertical shooter. This was to be the first of many vertical shooters in my life, which quickly became a life-long love affair with bullet hell style games. Now admittedly over the years, I moved on to other games and genres and somewhere along the line I just stopped playing bullet hell games altogether, that was until Ghost Blade HD came into my life and onto my TV. Once I pushed my finger down on that X button on the start screen I was instantly transported back to those action filled years. I got that same feeling of exhilaration that I once felt and that tight knot of tension as I made my way through the tiny gaps dodging and weaving, spraying across the screen to destroy my enemies. That unmistakable feeling of disappointment and frustration at seeing the insert credit screen but then the utter elation and overwhelming feeling of triumph as I beat yet another boss and move to the next round. All of this was there, but yet there was something missing. The rest of the game. Ghost Blade HD is a remaster of the original Sega Saturn version of the same game and it aims to bring back the glory days of what bullet hell style games were, just with a modern feel to the models and an anime feel to the art. But somehow, it just falls short. The addition of 3D models for the fighters, as well as the enemies, is great, however, as you play the game the attention to art gets less and less and it feels like some of the backgrounds and wallpapers become more than just a little lackluster. The games backtracks are very limited, offering only two varieties of tracks, and while the tracks that did make the cut aren't bad it just feels like they could have chosen something that would psych you up and make that adrenaline pump during the ongoing intense hail of bullets you make your way through. While I may not have kept up to speed with the latest and greatest bullet hell games over the last couple years, I like to think of myself as someone who is still fairly comfortable with the genre. Yet I came to find Ghost Blade to be, at first, a little bit chaotic with all the pickups and bullets and debris all over the place, at first glance the game is definitely overwhelming. However, as I progressed through the first two levels, after much blood sweat and restarts, I found myself in a rhythm and managed to navigate seamlessly through the onslaught of bullets, debris,…

Video Game Review: Ghost Blade HD

2017-03-24

Constantine104

Total - 3

30 3

While Ghost Blade HD is not the worst game I've ever played, it also doesn't deliver much to justify the price tag. Getting the original Twinbee on the Playstation Store will give you way more for way less.

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Constantine104

Gaming / Entertainment / Geeky Goods Author at Geek Node

Arielle "Constantine104" Pieterse, is a walking, talking, breathing contradiction to the age old insult that girls can't game. Yes she's for at playing The Sims, but she's also pro at other games... Or so she's said. She is a co-host of the NAG podcast and the full-host of a YouTube channel that can be found somewhere on the Internet machine. Her mother is her biggest fan, and her only viewer.

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Article Tags: 2Dream · Bullet hell · featured · Ghost blade HD · Hucast Games · video game review

Article Categories: Video Game Review