Developer: AlfaSystem Publisher: Working Designs Release: 08/10/98 Genre: Rail Shooter
Working Designs, while famous for localizing many a RPG that would have never left Japan, would also publish games spanning a variety of genres. Often their odd choices would come down to games that their staff had a particular liking to such as Silhouette Mirage and Iron Storm. I mean you have to really like shooters to start a separate label to publish those games at a time when the genre was on life support in the US. Even by that standard Elemental Gearbolt is a weird pickup. With its fantasy setting and anime cutscenes Elemental Gearbolt has more in common with RPGs than rail shooters. Yet those features help it stand out in an otherwise routine genre. Whatever their reason for picking this one up we as gamers win as it is one of the best rail shooters of all time.
The world of Elemental Gearbolt is home to two races, the Sulunkan and Audo. The Sulunkan face oppression from the Audo and give rise to numerous resistance groups. One resistance leader, Bel Cain, rises through the ranks and becomes crown prince. His innocent drive to end the class struggle soon becomes a war of conquest using advanced technology. His two daughters join the resistance but die in action. But their deaths are not in vain. One of Bel Cain’s technologies, the Neural Network malfunctions and begins a self-destruct sequence. It revives the two girls and arms with two holy weapons and one goal: finish the job and destroy the network.
It is curious as to why Sony did not publish Elemental Gearbolt in the US. They put a lot of money in to the production of this game hiring studio Madhouse to animate the cutscenes and legendary director Rintaro to direct them. Apparently someone at Sony Japan had a thing for light gun games as this is the second such lavish production from them behind Project: Horned Owl. Elemental Gearbolt is far better than that game thankfully. It seems they learned their lesson: extravagant cutscenes cannot hide shitty gameplay.
Mechanically Elemental Gearbolt is similar to most light gun games with a few twists. You control the targeting reticule using any light gun peripheral, the PlayStation mouse, or the controller. When enemies spawn a shrinking green box signifies enemies that are about to attack. This allows you to prioritize targets. You do not need to reload: instead the game has three weapons you cycle through with different firing rates and attributes. The blaze phoenix is the most powerful and the standard. Thunder tiger is a spread shot that is best for collecting coins or shooting bullets. The water snake has rapid fire but has the least power. Ideally you will switch weapons as the situation dictates. But in my experience I did little and was fine.
Unlike games like Virtua Cop and Time Crisis that are essentially shooting galleries Elemental Gearbolt is a journey. It has a lot in common with Panzer Dragoon. There is a sense of melancholy as you proceed through each stage. The mood is established through the excellent soundtrack and the animated cutscenes that reveal the backstory of the world and add weight to your actions. This somberness does not carry over the action however. The pacing of each stage is measured to enable combos. Chaining hits without missing raises the combo counter which in turn increases your experience and/or scoring. At first this is manageable. But by the second half of stage two it require near perfect accuracy to maintain a high combo count. Luckily this only becomes an issue if you are playing for score.
The difficulty curve is steep and begins early. To help manage this the game has a leveling system. At the end of each level you can allocate experience to either score or leveling up. Raising your level increases your maximum health and thus your survivability. Technically the max level is 16. But unless you are a maverick with pinpoint accuracy more than likely you will only hit six or seven in one run. You need the extra health to survive the later stages as they are brutal with a boss gauntlet at the end too. Scoring is only for bragging rights at this point. When the game was current Working Designs held a contest to win $10,000 which was pretty cool. It encouraged players to pick the game apart to maximize gameplay to achieve ridiculous scores. That shows the depth the game has if you look for it.
Compared to many of their releases Elemental Gearbolt has few changes although they are significant. The game’s backstory was told in a radio drama included with the game. Rather than dubbing it the instruction manual summarizes it. You can no longer complete the game on easy; it is a tutorial and ends at stage three. This would not be a problem if the difficulty were not increased significantly. Where the Japanese game had a smooth curve there is a sharp spike at stage four in the American version. It comes out of left field and is frustrating. I was able to play the game with a controller up until that point. But from there it becomes impossible. Even with a light gun or mouse the challenge is massive and not in a good way. I know this was to combat the rental market but it could have been handled better.
In Closing
Elemental Gearbolt is a fantastic rail shooter with an enchanting fantasy world, rich story, and blistering action that will keep you occupied for days. The pacing and intensity of gameplay is up there with the best of them and while it will kick your ass it remains fun the entire time. I was skeptical of this one but it has quickly become one of my favorite light gun titles in years. You will have to search hard for this one but it is worth it. Chances are it will never see a re-release.
