61. Volguard II (dB Soft, Famicom, 1985)

Volguard II is a horizontally scrolling shooter that is a sequel to a game released one year ealrier on the Japanese MSX computer. As we would expect from a 1985 shooter, the game is very simple: all you can do is move and shoot, though shooting emits both a horizontal bullet, as well as a bomb that falls down to the ground at the bottom of the screen in a parabolic arc. The game is also not much to look at, with static, overused backgrounds and few enemy types.

Interestingly, the game uses a power meter that is a stand in for both ammo and shot power. The bar depletes when you are hit by enemy fire, but also continues to decrease every time you fire a shot. It is balanced out by the fact that every enemy you destroy adds to the meter. There are also periodically refuel ships that fly down and will fully replenish your power meter. The game also uses a health meter instead of a one-hit-kill design, which is a welcome change from the more punishing shooters (though Volguard II does only give you one life).

I found that the best strategy for racking up points was to fly as low as possible. This way, the flying enemies mostly stayed well above my ship, while I was able to easily bomb the point-rich buildings that dotted the landscape while maintaining a basically neutral power meter. The bosses are strange floating islands (the first and second bosses were exactly the same), but once you know where to shoot, they are not much of a challenge to deal with.

2/5, a boring shooter with an unusual power system