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Progear
Progear no Arashi / Progia No Arashi / Storm of Progear
Review date: 7 Nov 2003
Platform: CPS-2
Release date: 2001
Company: CAVE
OVERVIEW:
Progear takes several key Cave shooting game elements and tosses them into a horizontal environment. Bucket loads of bullets, a two button weapon system, wholly intense boss fights, and a sharp presentation round out Caves one and only horizontal shooter.
GAME SYSTEM:
If youve played any of Caves other shooters, you probably wont have any trouble feeling right at home with Progear. Miniscule hitboxes, massive swarms of bullets, a two-button weapon system, and grandiose boss battles are just a few of the feature components. Progear is wholly manic right from the start the game wastes no time in trying to throw hundreds of bullets in the direction of your tiny craft early in the game. The patterns are both treacherous and beautiful. The bullets do not simply move towards your ship: the formations they take on can be wholly complex and mind-bending.
How you can overcome these deadly patterns ties in directly to your ships weapon system. Each ship features a so-called Shooting and Gunner mode. Shooting mode is the typical attack system accessed by rapidly tapping fire. This initiates your ships primary weapon. However, holding fire initiates Gunner mode, or your secondary weapon. The secondary weapon is of the missile-type variety and has several degrees of homing capability, depending on which Gunner pilot you select. Holding fire also results in the slowing down of your craft, which is essential to avoiding bullets while navigating the more colossal patterns. In addition, switching between firing modes is essential to effective scoring, which I will explain below. Your bomb is accessed by pressing B, and works in a fairly basic manner except for one thing: its power is directly influenced by your Jewel count, which is also explained below. In short: more jewels more powerful bombs.
SHIPS:
Upon inserting your credit, you are prompted to choose from two pilots and their respective ships. Ring Type A represents the obligatory wide/weak shot type, and Bolt Type B pilots a narrow/strong ship. After selecting a pilot, you have a choice of three Gunners: Chain, Nail, and Rivet. Chains weapon is a quasi-homing bomb. It does not home into enemies as well as Nail and Rivets weapons, and it also slows down your ship to a greater degree as you hold fire. Nail features a more effective homing cannonball that shoots straight ahead and tracks enemies as you move up and down. Nail does not slow down your ship as much as Chain when in Gunner mode, and she is also slightly faster than Rivet. Rivet has the most complex homing weapon-a missile that does not shoot in a precisely straight direction. Her missiles have bit more freedom, so to speak. Rivet and Chain are somewhat equivalent in terms of power and how their weapons function, but Nail is significantly different.
SCORE SYSTEM:
Progear features a system called Jeweling, which turns enemy bullets into Rings and Stones. This system is essential for scoring, and it also helps in avoiding large bullet patterns by transforming the bullets into these items. When in Shooting mode, you can transform bullets that are within a certain distance of the enemy craft into Rings. You can then vacuum the Rings by holding fire, or you can collect them manually which does not work too well 95% of the time. There are different levels of Rings, some being larger and worth more points than others. By increasing your Jewel level as you collect more rings, your Stone level likewise increases. Therefore, if you switch to Gunner mode when your Ring level is maxed out, you can collect Stones by transforming the bullets as enemies release them. Each Ring has an equivalent Stone level, but the Stones are always worth more points. This may sound confusing, but it becomes second nature with some practice. It is not a very straightforward scoring system, and it does encourage players to wait for large groups of bullets before they kill off enemies in Shooting or Gunner mode.
There is also a difficult technique which involves a constant vacuum. It is very abstract and difficult to perform with consistency. If your Ring level is maxed out and you switch to Gunner mode to inflict damage on enemies without actually killing them, they will continue shooting bullets that are immediately transformed into Stones that vacuum directly to your ship. If you hit fire while the Stones vacuum to your ship, the process will end and they will continue firing bullets. Confusing, yes.
In addition, your Jewel count drops every time you either die or use a bomb. Similarly, at the end of each level, you are awarded a bonus depending on your Jewel count.
STAGES:
The stages are remarkable in terms of design and are certainly a highlight of Progear in general. While the first three stages of five total are strictly horizontal, the fourth stage is actually vertical. While it may sound disorienting, the vertical switch works very well for the game. It opens up a lot of possibilities for some very unique enemy formations and bullet patterns. The fifth stage is actually both horizontal and vertical with some diagonal movement thrown in for good measure.
Its just damn cool, in plain English. The difficulty curve throughout these five levels is pretty much perfect.
Progear also features a second loop in which, of course, everything is significantly more difficult.
A mid-stage death results in your return to the start of the stage and there are some bullet types that cannot be transformed into Jewels.
PRESENTATION:
Despite being developed for the CPS-2 hardware, Progear retains a very sharp presentation. The stages are very vivid, with lots of bright colors and smooth scrolling. The enemy designs are very appropriate, and the boss designs are nothing short of spectacular.
A mechanical whale and a flying fish-esque boss are just a few of the crafty designs that await your presence. The characters are of the cutesy variety, but they are very appealing. Joker Jun is responsible for all of the artwork, so you know that youre in for a treat.
The music is enjoyable, but its nothing mind-blowing. It fits the overall atmosphere, and the songs are catchy.
FINAL WORDS:
Plain and simple: I adore Progear. No matter how many times I became frustrated with the game, I always came crawling back with a fanatical desire to clear the games first loop. Progear is worth your every penny: the elegant boss battles, the complicated bullet patterns, and the endearing design make for one very finely-tuned shooting game. If I have any complaints, its that the scoring system is a bit less straightforward than one might like.
