Developer: Manjyudo Publisher: Pack-In-Video Release: 03/23/90 Genre: Shooter
I like shooters. I am going by the old school definition of the word, or what we call shmups today. From my early days with Gradius and R-Type to even today, the genre has and probably always will hold my attention. But even I have a limit to what I will play. To say the genre is over saturated is an understatement; one need only look at the libraries of the 16-bit consoles and the arcade in the early 90s to see that. It meant that there was a lot of generic pap out there, of which Formation Armed F counts. This is as standard as shooters get and the fact it stayed behind in Japan says a lot. The game is not bad but it certainly is not exciting either.
Space Point X1Y7Z94 is a mysterious blank spot in the galaxy that has remained a mystery for years, a place where ships disappearing is common. While most avoid it it continues to grow and eventually becomes a black hole. A galaxy federation fleet exploring the area is suddenly attacked by unknown assailants in the sector, showing that it is now a threat to the galaxy. The Milky Way Federation sends the latest developed star fighter in their fleet, the Vowger RC30, to Point X1Y7Z94 to investigate the area and eliminate the forces responsible for these events and save mankind.
Your diminutive little ship has access to a large variety of weapons. Aside from the standard speed and options there are lasers, homing missiles, a weird sideways weapon, and a strong disc shaped weapon. Every weapon is strong and has their uses throughout the game because of the structure of the levels. Power-ups drop often enough that you can and should experiment as the game was designed for it. The weapons and their various quirks go hand in hand with the formation system that governs your dual armers.
The formation in the game’s title refers to the control you have over the game’s two armers. At the touch of a button you can send your armers out in a number of formations for a few seconds. They can rest at your side, behind you to provide covering fire and sent forward to intercept enemies early. But power-ups limit the use of this feature. Its silly to limit the one notable feature your game has and make the game worse but there you go. It is like if R-Type had a mentally handicapped younger brother. To its credit Formation Armed F provides you with plenty of formation power-ups so that it is not an issue most of the time. But later in the game when you need to freely change rapidly to be effective it becomes an issue. They knee capped the game for no reason.
Formation Armed F is an agonizingly slow game. There is nothing wrong with that per se. However the lackadaisical pace gives you time to examine the game’s flaws. Enemy placement can be tricky which is great. That gives incentive to switch weapons to deal with the situation and play around with the formations. But at the same time the limited use of such puts a damper on that and makes the game more frustrating than it should be. The formation system could have helped the game rise above mediocrity. The times you do get to use it frequently it can be fun. But the overall sluggish pace and ugly graphics will make you wonder why you aren’t playing one of the many better shooters on the system.
The one feature that Formation Armed F had going for it were its graphics. In the arcade the game’s art direction sold the alien landscapes of each planet and looked wildly different from most shooters of the time. The PC Engine is unbearably ugly in comparison. The intricate artwork in every level has been paired back, making the game hideous and generic. This is not a case of the system being unable to handle the game. The need to use a four-megabit hucard forced the cutbacks on the graphics side and the game suffers for it.
In Closing
Formation Armed F is not necessarily a bad game. But without its decent graphics it is another painfully generic shooter on a platform bursting at the seams with them. You can skip this one and miss nothing. The only thing worse than a bad game is a boring one and Armed Formation F fits the bill perfectly.
