Sturmwind - New Dreamcast Game review!!

Taken from my site - http://www.segagagadomain.com

Game Data
Title - Sturmwind
Developer - Duranik
Catalogue No. - TBA
Type - Horizontal Shooter　

Where to begin? Well, as I said to Duranik, Sturmwind wouldn’t look out of place if it was released on the XBOX 360 under Arcade Live. It really does look that good. The use of fully animated pre-rendered backgrounds along with many graphical effects often only seen in demo scene tech demos really do make this one if not the most beautiful 2D Dreamcast game ever made. The attention to detail not only in the background but also to the enemy craft is amazing and don’t get me started on the boss characters. Man, they are massive and easily rival and sometimes surpass Cave’s efforts in games such as Death Smiles.

So we know Sturmwind looks like a dream but that means nothing if it plays poorly. Thankfully it doesn’t. The team behind Sturmwind certainly know their shooters and you can clearly see this with all the inspired ideas taken from games such as Axelay, R-Type, Gradius, Thunder Force and so on. So first let’s talk about the weapon system. You start the game with a choice of 3 weapons being a Vulcan type that’s heavily inspired by Axelay in that you can spread the fire around your craft by holding or releasing the fire button. A wider spread / wave style shot and the good old green laser style shot. Each can be fired forwards or backwards thanks to a quick tap on the weapon direction button which soon becomes a necessary part of the game play mechanics. That’s not to say the game is crazily hard but more that it has you on your toes at times.

Each weapon can be powered up by power-up icons dropped after destroying certain enemies. Every icon dropped is the same, however by shooting them they will change power property allowing you to charge up each individual weapon type. Make sure to have the correct weapon type equipped before collecting the power up icon though, otherwise it will be wasted. You’re craft is also equipped with 1 smart bomb (more can be collected throughout the levels) that not only kills everything on screen but also looks amazing. If you thought the explosions in Psyvariar 2, Border Down or Under Defeat looked good then you’ve seen nothing yet. Finally, your ship can be equipped with option drones. I would say these are like the ones found in Gradius but to be honest they’re more like the ones found in R-Type. The drones can be set to fire forwards or backwards. This comes in very handy for when things start to get a bit busy.

So we’ve talked about the arsenal used within Sturmwind but what about the game you use them in? Well, there are 2 modes of play being Normal mode and Arcade mode. The arcade mode consists of 6 levels for you to blast through with no continues. This may seem a bit tough but to be honest it isn’t. Sturmwind was developed for all gamers, beginners to professionals. I reached the 4th level on my first try on normal level setting. The Arcade mode sure is fun but the real game comes in the shape of the Normal Mode. This mode consists of 16 levels!! Don’t worry, they’re not all long scrolling levels. Some levels may only contain a big boss type battle. Going through the whole normal game in one sitting is a bit too much and it seems Duranik knew this. So they’ve added the option to continue from the last level you played at or any previous completed level with full life count and smart bomb. This certainly makes the Normal mode a lot easier to get to grasps with for the novice gamer.

At first, you’d be forgiven in thinking the backgrounds in Sturmwind are far too busy leading you to crash in to enemies and not know what ground objects can and can’t be touched. And to be honest I thought that way too at first. I think it’s due to the shear awe in seeing the Dreamcast pull off such wonderful visuals. Once you start to take your eyes away from the beautiful eye candy and concentrate on the game do you realize that you are playing a highly addictive and challenging shooter. Fans on bullet hell Cave style games may not be too happy with what is on offer here as Sturmwind is geared more towards the more traditional style of shooters and I for one am glad of this. That’s not to say there’s no memorization to be had as with Cave shooters. Oh no, there’s plenty of that if you play on the more higher difficulty levels. Just don’t expect a screen jam packed full of colourful tinny balls with hidden narrow paths through them all.

There are many homebrew shooters on the Dreamcast but none come anywhere near the level of professional finish that this game has. Don’t put your nose up thinking this is just another cheaply made homebrew game, it’s not. As I said at the beginning, this game could easily feel perfectly at home on XBOX Live or PSN. That’s how good it is. Duranik have even gone to the trouble of adding trophy achievements and unlockable bonus material to give the game a more modern appeal. Add in the VGA compatibility, Rumble / Buru Buru Pack compatibility, SD Card support for bonus and future contents, internet WEB code Hi-score tables, 3 level settings, fully configurable controls, adjustable screen position and full digital or analogue controls and you have yourself one extremely polished product.

Support Duranik by buying Sturmwind. You’ll not only be helping out a homebrew developer but also be buying a quality game that would have no problem standing up to shooters made by the big boys in the world of shumps.

So now that you’ve read my views on Sturmwind, why not check out the video !

 

Great review Mark! Are you able to post the video here? Your review is telling me to view the video

Sounds good, I might think about picking this one up

 

It finally got released... Nice review there too.
I had to look up Death Smiles, because you made me think it was DC-released. Odd

 

Nice review Yakumo! Also we cant wait for this epic game! ^^

 

been waiting a year and more for this and it sounds like its going to be worth the long wait ^^ ! unlike some games that get delayed such as duke nukem forever :LOL

 

The game isn't released yet and I don't know when it will be but probably before summer.

To see the video head on over to YouTube and type in Retro Core 3 Volume 14. That's my internet game show. I also have an official site that hosts a true 720p HD download of the show. Not the recompressed YouTube 720p crap.

Yakumo

 

Guessing you were on your iPhone, but I'll embed the video here for everyone...



I love the music in this game, can't wait to get it! Didn't know I wasn't subbed to your channel, just did then. Great stuff!

 

Good review, very nice of duranik to send you a copy/preview of this beautiful game. I am happy to learn they've put a lot of attention to the gameplay, so now we have best of both worlds.

 

Thanks for embedding the video for me, HeXiGON. Yeah, I was on the phone just before so I couldn't do it myself.

dutchconsolefreak, Duranik actually sent me two!! The first disc was smashed to bits in the post but the top guys in Germany sent me out another right away. The least I could do for them is write up a long review and post it everywhere

Yakumo

 

I had only vaguely heard of Sturmwind, but the video and review have sold me.

Thanks Yakumo.

 

Ah, I kept forgetting to pre-order the LE of this. Seems I made need to hurry up and do so!

 

Very nice review! I pre-ordered the LE immediately after the article was up for pre-order. Can't wait any longer for Sturmwind...

 

Loved the video review!!!
Time to think about getting a DC...

 

Although it does look very very pretty, and looks to play better then every other homebrew the preview did not scream at any point that the game might involve any sort of skill, the firepower Yakumo got early on in the game did seem that the first couple of levels a monkey could complete, I could be wrong but Normal did look frightfully easy with a smattering of enemy bullets...

 

Who's to say I was playing on Normal level setting for the video . Editing can make people think all manner of things. The game isn't that tough though for the first 6 or so stages but after that it really pics up. Also the level of the fire power from stage 1 is no different than many other shooters out there. The power up system works just like in Macross on the SFC.

 

That is the point, most of the videos I have seen of this game do show lots of levels but none of the levels look that tough. For a lot of the first level you played the number of enemy bullets would be shameful for a Megadrive shooter let alone a Dreamcast one, any of the commercial shooters on the DC in the last five years of it's life do look tougher on easy then stormwind does. Also you mention it would not look out of place on the Xbox Live or PSN, true, although if the videos are anything to go by it would seem pricey at 10 euros let alone 35... Maybe you could show a couple of levels on hard, although I have feeling that you could complete the level by holding fire and not moving...

 

I'd really like a firm release date. It's been so long since I paid for both the standard and Ltd Editions, I can't even remember. I'm sure we're getting close to 9 months now, at least.

Whats worse is they seem to be telling fibby lies. Apparently this was delayed due to the CD pressing plant going out of business back in December 2011. Well if that's the case, why is the game still having pointless features like SD card support added? If the game was finished 6 months ago why hasn't it been pressed and delivered? What have they been doing with the money?!

 

Believe me, this game is not as easy as it looks. I will do a video on hard level setting and upload it to my site on Monday for you to take a look. As for the XBox Live price, well I'd pay 800 points for it without even thinking about it. There are loads of shit on download services that charge way more than they should. By the way, I have no idea how much 800 points is in Euros but that's how much I'd gladly pay.

The SD support has been in the game for a while i believe, even before the CD pressing plant issue. It is true that they are taking their sweet time with the release but you only have to look at how long ASSEMbler is taking to get Geist Force pressed to know it can't be that straight forward.

Yakumo

 

Thanks a bunch for the review, always a pleasure to watch Retro Core. That game is simply amazing, will pre-order asap!!! It does have a little bit of Thunder Force indeed I'm in!!!

 

So Yakumo, what happened to this video of Stormwind on Japanese Normal, er I mean Western Hard you were going to upload then?