Game Debate #68: Gunstar Heroes

[Reed Rothchild | 9,522]

[Californication | 1,477]

i have had a very difficult time trying to enjoy this game. Haven't given up on it yet, but have not found it fun.

[Sumez | 2,950]

I feel like I should like the game more than I do. I had one moment like ten years ago where the game finally clicked, and I played through it credit feeding. But every time I tried going back to it since then I lost it. It's just chaotic and confusing, kinda similar to Alien Soldier which I also feel like I should enjoy a lot more.

I don't know, I guess Treasure aren't really the big thing for me that they used to be blown up to be. Still a good game though, and probably one of their best.

[DefaultGen | 5,401]

Lots of cool bosses and lots of running to the right while holding fire while everything just blows up. It’s fun and looks great but I don’t think I put it at the top of the Genesis hierarchy where it seems to usually be. 7/10

[Strange | 1,700]

Like others here I recognize that it’s a high quality title and the pedigree of the people behind it but I haven’t spent enough time to really give it a proper go and thus I haven’t enjoyed it as much as others have. I think it’s good but I can’t call it a favorite, at least not yet.

[rdrunner | 422]

Not voting since I have yet to finish playing it.  Want to give it a fair chance.

That said, I've had plenty of opportunities to play this game and keep losing interest.  Not a good sign.

[G-type | 2,480]

looks great. distinctive. lots of fun run'n'gun action. Combining weapon types to make interesting combos is a cool mechanic

[Reed Rothchild | 9,522]

Echoing Sumez a bit, I do really like the game, but it's nowhere near the top of the Treasure heap for me personally.

[GPX | 1,369]

If you like run’n’gun games, this is one of the best example there is. I consider this to be in the top 10 best Megadrive games of all time.

The game caters for those with the itch for fast-twitch gameplay, nice graphics, sounds and inventive bosses. What Contra III did for the SNES, Gunstar did for the Megadrive.

[Nintegageo | 582]

8. Dope game

[Bighab | 58]

I'm a big Genesis fan and it was just a 5 for me. Don't even have it in my collection. I prefer Contra Hard Corps personally. I used to see this game used all the time in the early to mid 2000's and I'd buy it.  It was great trade bait. Fun fact as I look back at my Gametz trades I see that I had traded/sold it 6 times.

[phart010 | 1,707]

I think Sega kids hyped it up way too much because they needed something to compare to Contra. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a great game, but something about it (can’t put my finger on it) feels lacking. 

[Gloves | 11,776]

I like it a lot. One of the very few games I own for the Genesis. 

[DarkTone | 984]

7/10. 

[Tanooki | 4,933]

Never got nor saw a reason for all the gushing appeal a very vocal small minority toss at this one, it's not perfect or near perfect... it's decent at best, but hey Treasure made it, so it must be a treasure right?  Nope.

 

I've tried both the Genesis (and gen emulated) but also the GBA release of this one too, and to me, it's just another run and gun, a few stand out strange moments with some story bits and weird bosses at times, but does it stand out large from a good many others?  Nope.  I could not care less if I ever play it again, I'd be fine doing it or not, but making the effort to play it I won't.

[Sumez | 2,950]

3 hours ago, Tanooki said:

but also the GBA release of this one too

You know that's a sequel and a completely different game, right?  

[Sumez | 2,950]

On 9/26/2021 at 7:13 AM, phart010 said:

I think Sega kids hyped it up way too much because they needed something to compare to Contra.

I don't think this makes sense at all.

The MegaDrive has absolutely no lack of exciting arcade'ish action games, and when people want to compare the two consoles, this is one of the areas where the Sega console usually comes out strong if not on top. While I do also think Contra III is the better game of them, MegaDrive still had two incredibly good games by the same designer in Rocket Knight Adventures and Contra Hard Corps, as well as plenty of other great things like Alien Soldier, Ranger-X, Twinkle Tale, Atomic Runner, and so on.

Even though I'm not that big on Gunstar Heroes either, I think reducing one of legendary game developer Treasure's seminal masterpieces to "sega fans needed something to compare to Contra" is incredibly reductive. Everything doesn't have to be about the "console wars", and it would really help discourse if people could leave that part of the 90s behind.  

[Andy_Bogomil | 815]

On 9/24/2021 at 3:38 AM, Californication said:

i have had a very difficult time trying to enjoy this game. Haven't given up on it yet, but have not found it fun.

Same. One of those games I heard nothing but hype before I played it, and while it isn't bad, I didn't get much out of it the few times I played it. 

[phart010 | 1,707]

6 hours ago, Sumez said:

I don't think this makes sense at all.

The MegaDrive has absolutely no lack of exciting arcade'ish action games, and when people want to compare the two consoles, this is one of the areas where the Sega console usually comes out strong if not on top. While I do also think Contra III is the better game of them, MegaDrive still had two incredibly good games by the same designer in Rocket Knight Adventures and Contra Hard Corps, as well as plenty of other great things like Alien Soldier, Ranger-X, Twinkle Tale, Atomic Runner, and so on.

Even though I'm not that big on Gunstar Heroes either, I think reducing one of legendary game developer Treasure's seminal masterpieces to "sega fans needed something to compare to Contra" is incredibly reductive. Everything doesn't have to be about the "console wars", and it would really help discourse if people could leave that part of the 90s behind.  

Besides Contra Hard Corps, Gunstar Heroes is probably the most similar game to Contra. Also Hard Corps came out after Gunstar Heroes. 

My whole point is that the amount of hype behind Gunstar seems exaggerated. It is a great game, but honestly I’d much rather be playing any Contra game, even Hard Corps (which is also a Sega game but doesn’t get as much hype in my opinion while being the better game).

[Californication | 1,477]

6 minutes ago, phart010 said:

Besides Contra Hard Corps, Gunstar Heroes is probably the most similar game to Contra. Also Hard Corps came out after Gunstar Heroes. 

My whole point is that the amount of hype behind Gunstar seems exaggerated. It is a great game, but honestly I’d much rather be playing any Contra game, even Hard Corps (which is also a Sega game but doesn’t get as much hype in my opinion while being the better game).

Contra is way better. Matter of fact - I think the controls and hit detection are better than Contra lll.

 

[Sumez | 2,950]

I think they are very similar in that department. The only thing that really puts Hard Corps behind Contra III IMO is the huge amount of boss fights that just come down to very simple pattern memorization, and that one really tedious one that consists of like 95% waiting around

But both games are super good. 

[WhyNotZoidberg | 585]

7!

I get why some people consider it top tier. It looks great and things move fast on screen, but I find it too "mechanic-y" for my tastes. The controls never felt organic when I played it and that prevented me from sticking to it until they did, if that makes sense.

Edited September 27, 2021 by WhyNotZoidberg

[Tanooki | 4,933]

10 hours ago, Sumez said:

You know that's a sequel and a completely different game, right?  

Yes, but mechanically it's about the same, and I've played both.  My comment on the franchise if you want to go that far with it, stands...it's just not worth gushing over.

[MagusSmurf | 577]

Great game, prefer it to Contra III.

[LHCGreg | 111]

I played this just a month ago. I played through all the difficulty levels from easy to expert in order. On easy, I breezed through and bosses didn't even last long enough for me to learn their patterns. On each difficulty jump after that I had to get better and better at the boss patterns and further and further refine my strategies as battle plans that worked on lower difficulties didn't cut it on higher difficulties. For Hard and Expert I had to leave the console on overnight while using countless continues. After making it through expert, I went through easy, normal, and hard again and only needed 0, 2, and 3 continues respectively. It really pushes you to improve your game at each step. You're missing out if you only play through once on a single difficulty level.

I was on the fence and voted 7 but I'm regretting that now and would change it to 8.