W - RING
THE DOUBLE RINGS
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(c)1990 Naxat Soft
Release: 1990-09-28 (¥6300)
HuCard (3 Mbits) NX90005
Shooter / Horizontal
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W-Ring is a horizontal shooter by Naxat Soft. Once again,
the player takes control of a small and heavily armed spaceship and decides
to fry up an entire alien invasion. It all starts on Saturn and
the game will take the player to the edge of our Solar System and throught Pluto's
Star Gate. Stages are vast and the screen scrolls
vertically to reveal more scenery as the ship moves around the screen. Controls
are straight forward, one action button fires the main weapon and drop bombs, the
second button, however, only changes the ship's speed. Special pods fly around every stage
and release powerups when shot. Five weapons are available and include green Ring Beams,
blue Laser, pink Multi-Way, Missiles and Gyro Shields. Each weapon can
be upgraded several times, but take a single hit and it's back to the default, and weak, vulcan gun.
Powering-up also automatically builds a special ring (hence the game's title) around the ship
and protect it from enemy fire, making bullets literally bounce from it. It can also be moved
at the front or behind the ship and offer a better protection for that matter.
Other pods are hidden in each stage and give various extra powers to the ship,
like increase its stock of bombs. The most intereresting, and rarest, are the Mystery
(symbolized by an interrogation mark) and Extra icons
which varies the main weapon's behavior. For instance, the multi-way pink laser
will bounce off from walls or missiles will fire in straight lines.
As expected with such title, a powerful guardian awaits for the player at the
end of every stage and, interestingly, flashing targets reveal the
opponent's weak points before each encounter.
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Add your Pov here !
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W-Ring, also known as Double Ring, is an average but good shooter.
Reminds me (somehow) of Konami's Gradius, but without all the clever
parts though. The game flickers from time to time, but it doesn't dramatically affect the gameplay.
Graphics are really detailed and I quite like the idea of using small sprites, so you can
throw a lot of them on the screen at the same time, and good sized sprites just end up
looking bigger than they are. Stages are sadly not really connected and some are really
generic, like the traditional Alien like tunnels or the greenish 'electronic' scenery.
Others are very unusual though, like the impressive 3rd stage and its caverns and upside
down rivers. Finally the game is fairly easy, but nothing prevents you to crank the
difficulty level way up. W-Ring is not groundbraking, or some kind of masterpiece,
but they have packed some interesting elements in there making it fun to play.
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