Tyrian

The Good
Really, I never saw the appeal of Shoot-em-up's. The screen auto-scrolls, you scotch-tape the fire button down, and get killed by swarms of bullets. I found these games, well, boring. When I mentioned this to a friend, he smiled knowingly and said, "You haven't played Tyrian, have you?"

Tyrian is shoot-em-up. But it is so masterfully done, the gameplay is so fast and addictive, the graphics and music are so vibrant, the shipbuilding and humor are so captivating, that Tyrian ends up being the best of the bunch, and defines the genre in the same way that DOOM defined first-person shooters.

Tyrian, like many games from the shareware heyday, is episodic. In between each mission, you can purchase parts, weapons, and new ships with the money you gained from killing swarms of enemies. Interestingly, the plot is revealed via datacubes, which can be picked up after you destroy certain enemies. You'd think a plot in a game like this would be throwaway, but again Tyrian surprises with humor and a surprisingly epic plot that truly entices you to proceed.

The game is split into four episodes, and has enough difficulty levels to challenge any veteran. Unique weapons and ship customization options abound, and playing though the game with a new ship build contributes greatly to Tyrian's replayability. And trust me, you will replay this game.

The Bad
Really, the only bad thing about Tyrian is the desire for more you're left with after you finish it.

The Bottom Line
If you don't like shooters, try Tyrian. If you do and you haven't tried it yet, you are in for the treat of your life. Tyrian is one of those masterful game that hits all the right notes, and so becomes something legendary. Tyrian is hands down the best shooter ever, and is so good it deserves to be played even by people who don't dig the genre.

The Good
I doubt even The Reap is better than this one; Tyrian is by far the best, most advanced and funniest vertical shooter ever to be developed. Designed by one of my favorite trackers, Alexander Brandon, this game features delightful graphics, wonderful soundtrack (especially with more advanced sound boards), a genuinely awesome and amazingly fast game engine. What truly makes this game unique, though, is its insane sense of humour - starting with the plot, which is practically mad and filled with bizarre twists, turns and characters. Secrets abound in Tyrian - there are at least a dozen secret levels (some more secret than others) and Version 2.0 adds weird subgames (Zinglon's Ale etc.) which add a lot to the replay value. The game also features from its first version secret subgames (Engage, Ninja etc.) which also add a lot to it, and the jukebox in the setup is simply astonishing. In short, a perfect game which deserved a lot more than it got.

The Bad
The only caveat in this game is its inability to run on anything stronger than a Pentium. It constantly crashes on my P2, which is a shame, shame indeed.

The Bottom Line
A great classic, best shooter ever, the first game for which I put Raptor aside. Simply brilliant.

The Good
Tyrian is one of my favorite games ever. It has exciting and unique layouts for the levels, and has one of the best weapon upgrade systems I have used. The story line is cool, and the music is great. I sometimes load up the SETUP program just to run the jukebox. Both FM synthesised and General MIDI soundtracks are well done (which happen to be the same music, of course). The mouse control is excelent, and even the keyboard control is good. Two player cooperation play is very fun, and the ability to join the ships together is usefull. (Make sure that the player with the mouse is the pilot and the player with the keyboard is the gunner!) The three episodes progress well in hardness levels; you can't just jump into episode 2 or 3 without finishing 1 because your ship will be too weak (unless you're really good :). And there is a fun realtime cannon fodder style game hidden within: type "DESTRUCT" at the main menu.

The Bad
I wish that the game was longer :) Which actualy shows how good it is!

The Bottom Line
Raptor doesn't even come close the power that is TYRIAN!