ININ Games, Tozai Games and Ratalaika have been doing a fantastic job with releasing retro collections, especially the collections of classic Irem Games. These collections may not contain a large amount of games, but they do add a number of features that make them stand out more. Volume 3 of Irem Collection goes back to Shmups as a focus and contains three more classic titles, as well as a PC engine version as well.
First up we have Battle Chopper and its PC Engine port Mr. Heli’s Great Adventure. This is a cute em up that sees you take control of a helicopter on a horizontal scrolling adventure. You take on waves of enemies and find secrets along the way and for a simple premise, it works well. That said, you have a lot of control over where to go, and can also change the screen to scroll vertically and backwards.
We mentioned secrets, and that is tied into how power-ups work in the game. Enemies do not drop power-ups here and instead you must blast gems out of the landscape and use these at shops to buy power-ups. This change is a neat one as it completely alters how you approach upgrades. You will know where the items are and can plan out where and when to get the best items and strategize accordingly.
Mr. Heli’s Great Adventure is pretty much the same as Battle Chopper, but with changes made to accommodate a console release. The difficulty and enemy patterns are a lot more balanced for instance, and the controls are more responsive on a d-pad, which makes sense given what the PC Engine used. The graphics take a hit, but it does make for a decent alternate experience to contrast the arcade release.
Dragon Breed is an interesting game that could have been amazing. The premise of riding on a dragon to take out enemies is one that works well in video games ( heck, it has been done repeatedly because it is such a good idea), but the experience is rather lacking here. Dragon Breed is just not fun and it is clear it suffered from the hardware limitations of the time.
There is a large screen for your character, but this works against you as much as it helps, given the way the game approaches item and enemy placement. Power-ups feel utterly pointless here as they never get better and actually end up getting in the way most of the time and give the feeling that they were included as an afterthought. If you engage in the usual Ratalaika enhancements to help keep yourself alive, you get the counter effect of the game becoming far too easy and giving you no incentive to keep playing, but without the cheats, the difficulty is just too frustrating.
The last game on the other hand, Mystic Riders, is the shining jewel of this collection. You play as a wizard ( or two in multiplayer) and take on a number of enemies by blasting them or hitting them with your broom. This is a vast improvement from Dragon Breed and goes all out with vastly improved visuals, power-ups and enemy design and placement.
If anything, Mystic Riders feels like Irem’s attempt at making a Cotton game, and while this is not as well known as that iconic series, holds its own in many ways. There are bright visuals here, brilliantly designed goofy enemies, and amazing music that feels like Irem threw everything they had at this title. The enemies range from slimes, to black cats and even the grim reaper, but it always feels fun to see these encounters.
Mystic Riders is a game that pushes you to do better constantly. It sets off fireworks when you do well, and throws so much at you that the game starts lagging, but never in a frustrating way. This doesn’t feel too challenging, if I am being honest, but it does feel very fun.
As with any retro re-release worked on by Ratalaika, there are a number of enhancements and options to choose from. These include rewind, difficulty settings, cheats, save states,and so on, that let you go all out, while also having a classic mode for a more authentic experience. The only real downside here is that there are still only three games included in this collection, albeit with additional versions of the games.
Overall, Irem Collection Volume 3 is a fun collection but does not highlight the best of Irem. These are not classics you will want to play all the time, and Dragon Breed is a lacking experience, but then we have Mystic Riders which is amazing, giving the collection an uneven feel but one still worth playing. It would be ideal if more games could be included in these collections and not limiting them to three games and extra versions and fun, but otherwise, these are excellent preservations of classic games. Now bring on volume 4.
Disclaimer: A review key was provided
