PC Engine Look - Override

About a year and several months ago, I dug through the PC Engine's shmup library looking for something to chew on for an hour. Eventually, I came across Override, a title that caught my attention because it was developed by Sting. You probably know them from such classics as Psycho Chaser, Melfand Stories, and The Jetsons: Invasion of the Planet Pirates. After a couple playthroughs, I came away impressed by their understanding of the genre's fundamentals and willingness to play with established mechanics. At the time, however, yours truly was still living a lie, acting as if he'd never write about a video game again. Override was set adrift on the river of pleasant memories. 

Fast forward to a couple of few days ago, I went looking for another PC Engine shmup to nibble on. Sure enough, Override had somehow returned. After giving it another go, I felt that there was something missing. Bosses were taking too long to destroy. Upon reaching the final boss, a sliver of a thought drifted across my mind. Last time I fought this thing, I cheesed the fuck out it. My ship, possessed by the faintest recollection, drifted to the corner of the screen. Sadly, the cheese strategy was lost in the ether. It wasn't until after that attempt I realized "Oh, my dumb idiot ass forgot about the charge-shot." With this reacquired knowledge, the next attempt went much smoother. I mean, it isn't often that I get a 2-loop clear with 22 lives to spare. 

There are two ways to play this game, and I've done them both. Ignore the charge-shot, and you'll be treated to a STG experience that's in-line with what most everyone else was doing on the PC Engine. The ship has a standard cannon that's strengthened via P accumulation. Four flavors of orbs serve as the secondary weapon. Purple is the side-shot, green is the- just use red or blue. Red's homing shot is actually quite good for most situations. Blue's laser is great against bosses and other heavy-duty baddies. While the ship can take four hits before exploding, it isn't uncommon to fly into the wrong situation and get struck four times in seconds. Recovering from a death isn't nearly as nasty as in some games, but it might take players a second or even third life to get their groove back. Don't worry though! I died a ton of times and still eked out a 3-life 1CC on my "Forgot-the-charge-shot" clear. Just be aware that bosses are going to take forever + five minutes if fought without secondary weapons.

In case I wasn't being obvious enough: the charge-shot blows Override wide open. Learn when to use it, and you'll cruise through the most frightening scenarios. This beastly weapon requires the player to let go of the fire button for a few seconds. They must also take great care to avoid enemies and their bullets, because a single hit will interrupt the charge. Once the ship starts flashing, a screen-filling, bullet-canceling, barrage of destruction will occur the instant that fire button is pressed. Use it to crush mini-bosses, erase bullet-spreads you'd rather not try to dodge, and cheese the absolute fuck out of the final boss. Sting made a shmup that was destined to be bullied, and you don't even have to be pro to do it. 

I didn't stick around to see if the third loop had any surprises. The differences between loops one & two were already negligible. Enemy bullets fly slightly faster, which compromises one or two safe spots, but nothing extraneous happened. Anyone seeking a revenge-bullet fix will have to seek elsewhere. This is an almost too easy game. The only way its difficulty can grow with the player is if they purposefully make things harder on themselves by ignoring the charge-shot and decent secondaries. Well, someone could attempt a no-hit run, but the ship is a little too chunky for such a challenge. There's a surprising lack of finesse to this shmup, though I can't be surprised considering its all-or-nothing weaponry. 

All in all, Override is solidly put-together. I just don't feel like playing it ever again. Do give it a go if you need a confidence-booster though. 

Loop 3, stage 2 with full health and 21 lives. This is where we part... forever.