Developer: Toaplan Publisher: Tengen Released: 1994 Genre: Shooter
The Genesis, like the Turbo Grafx, featured excellent hardware that almost seemed tailor made for the shooter genre. Many developers cottoned on to that fact as it featured a surplus of both original titles and arcade ports. While most of these were generally excellent in its later years there were titles that were a little too much for the black box to handle. Grind Stormer was not an especially great game in the arcade but was notable for its bullet density and visuals. Only one of those made the trip somewhat intact, leaving the game middle of the road in the system’s shooter library.
Grind Stormer was known as V Five in Japanese arcades. But the differences between the two versions go beyond just the name. Both versions of the game employ a different power-up system that has a direct impact on gameplay. The Genesis includes both options as a choice, allowing players to tailor the game to their play style. V Five mode features a Gradius style weapon grid. Speed Up, Shot, Search, Missile, Power and Shield make up the small list of options. The grid allows you to choose the appropriate weapon when necessary and is incredibly flexible. I would even say it is the optimal way to play.
Grind Stormer mode creates literal item drops with the power-up names on them. Generally they still appear in the same order as the grid. But weapon drops are unpredictable, sometimes frequent and other times scarce. As a bonus this mode gives you bombs. While they aren’t necessarily strong they do provide some protection while the blast goes off. Because you can’t switch freely like with the grid this mode is geared toward players already familiar with the game.
The list of weapons is small but they are all pretty potent. Your ship is well armed right off the bat. By default you armed with Shot and two options at your side. These fire at an angle or can be positioned to form up on your ship to produce a more powerful standard blast. Like the other weapons further shots increase the number of options. Missiles are self-explanatory although they have an excellent rate of fire. Search is the best weapon in the game. Unlike most games with homing options here they are incredibly powerful while being aggressive in their pursuit of enemies. Power increases the strength of your weapons and seems to appear the most.
Because your weapon options are limited you’ll need to adjust to the quirks of each quickly. Missiles only fire in a straight line, requiring you to position yourself in the line of fire frequently. The shot can produce a wide spread but also leaves gaps in offense; gaps that enemies can exploit. The Search is your best friend or worst enemy. They will aggressively mow down weaker ships before they even appear. But they have a habit of sticking to larger objects while leaving you wide open. They require a little babysitting.
Regardless of the mode you choose Grind Stormer is an incredibly difficult game. I would even say it is one of the most difficult of that generation that is not broken. One hit means death and sends you back to a checkpoint. Shields are rare in Grind Stormer mode, making every bullet that much more dangerous. Despite the rate at which the game throws around point bonuses extra lives from scoring are not common. And to top it all off the game has limited credits. Someone clearly did not want players reaching the end of the game.
Grind Stormer is only five levels long yet each stage feels two or three times as long. Its grueling as each stage seems to never end. Enemy waves are frequent and mixed with in with larger capital ships. The game does a good job of herding you into corners or enemy fire by having so many points you need to focus on. Yet the most dangerous element is enemy bullets. In the arcade it could reach as high as eighty to one hundred shots filling the screen. The home port only manages half of that but it is no less dangerous.
As impressive as it may be those same bullets are what cause the game to suffer from performance issues. Grind Stormer has some of the worst slowdown and sprite flickering I’ve seen on the system. The game slows down frequently, which can actually help in a pinch. Unfortunately it becomes so bad during boss battles that the game almost literally stops for a second or two. It adds an extra layer of difficulty on a game that is already hard to begin with. Next to its performance this Sega version also loses a large amount of detail from the arcade. Grind Stormer was a vibrant game while the home port is excessively dark. This is a game that works better on the 32X or Saturn.
In Closing
In the end Grind Stormer is middle of the road in the Genesis shooter library. There are too many better options to settle for an above average game.
