Overview – developed by CLOUDs INC with publishing handled by First Press Games, Osyaberi! Horijyo! Gekihori is a cutesy scrolling shooter with vibrant on screen chaos. Play as Anna Holinski as she blasts her way across the universe, fighting an alien empire to recover stolen precious stones. This title is available exclusively for the Nintendo Switch platform, with a link to the game at the bottom of this review.
Disclaimer: before I get into the review, I would like to thank First Press Games for providing the copy of Osyaberi! Horijyo! Gekihori that was used for this piece. The provision of this software has not influenced the content of this review, all thoughts and opinions contained within are my own.
Now with the introductions out of the way, let’s get into the review, starting with the story.
Story – Anna Holinski is a treasure hunter, drilling around the world to collect gems and precious metals. However, she is awakened to the news that all of the planets minerals have been stolen, with the culprit being invaders from another world. Now with the help of Dr. Chikanomiz and the mysterious alien Meteo, Anna sets off into space to recover the stolen treasure and bring justice to the invaders.
Gameplay – this title is a scrolling shooter, where the player travels through the various worlds, battling enemies and collecting precious ore by mining special areas. The player controls Anna Holinsky, who has set off to space, armed with her special suit, drill and engine to reclaim the stolen minerals. The game is made up of multiple stages, called zones where the player will fight various enemies, while dodging the bullets that they fire.
As the player makes their way through the different worlds and the vacuum of space, their progress will be charted via Phases. During a phase, different patterns of enemies will appear, as well as special terrain that the player must mine through. When enemies are defeated or the ore fields have been mined by the power of Anna’s drill shot, materials will drop that can be collected. These are then added to the cargo for use later.
Alongside the drill shot, Anna has a special force field, which can slow down the bullets that are fired at her. This allows for the player to move through the hail of fire, dodging the projectiles on screen while also potentially changing their path. To help the player avoid taking damage, there is a star on the player model that shows their hit box. These systems make this an accessible gameplay experience, which can ease players into it well.
The different ore materials that can be collected vary in type and include Coal, emeralds and Silver to name a few. There is also a special power-up system, which takes the form of special emeralds that will appear throughout the game. These gems are made up of three colors, with red for the high speed crash barrier, the blue drill laser and the green drill energy. The drill energy pick up is the most important of the gems during play.
As the player makes their way through the stars, there is a fuel meter that will deplete over time, but that isn’t the only way that energy will be lost. When Anna takes damage, she will lose an amount of fuel based on the type of damage taken. If the fuel meter reaches 0%, the player will have one last chance to get back on track, but if they are hit then the game is over. This makes for an interesting experience, replacing lives with a more flexible system.
The other gems are more combat focused, with the red crash barrier charging through the different spaces, burning through space at high speeds. Then the blue drill laser will blast everything on screen, using a focused beam of energy that fires in a straight line. Both of these power-ups only last for a short time, but can be very useful, especially during the more intense sequences, especially during boss encounters that happen regularly.
Throughout the game, there are sub-bosses that will appear, with the player getting 30 seconds to take them down. Based on the performance and time taken to destroy them, the player will get rewards and a ranking. The rewards consist of ore drops that will be added to the cargo, as well as power-up gems. Then we have the end of stage boss battles that occur during each of the worlds, with a warning before they appear.
The player will be warned before they are thrown into the boss battle, with the enemies that the player faces each having their own gimmicks. These bosses have multiple phases and can be very challenging, with large screen filling attacks that can devastate Anna’s fuel reserve. The different bosses are each based on the location that you fight them, with a watermelon cyclops for plant world and a sea angel on water world.
Defeating the bosses will give the player a lot of ore rewards, adding them to the players cargo. Speaking of the cargo, there will be the Manbow shop that will appear during play, which the player can fly into. When in the shop, the player can sell all of their ore for coins, which can be used to buy upgrades. The upgrades include stronger weapons, improved engines and better gem abilities, with upgrades carrying over between playthroughs.
The last thing to discuss is the extra content for this release. Along with the standard game, there are extra modes that can be unlocked, including a hard mode, time attack and more. There is also a special collection mode, where the player can look at the different things that they have encountered, as well as achievements they have unlocked. This adds a lot of extra depth to the experience of the game.
However, there is more than just the standard release. Included in this special release is UMELDA Mode, a special version of the game that continues the story that was established in the main game. This functions in a similar manner to the base game, with extra stages to battle, new secrets to unlock and achievements to obtain. These two story mode campaigns provide the same amount of content as two individual titles, providing significant value to the player.
Now with the gameplay covered, it is time to get onto the other aspects of this release, starting with the controls.
Controls – there is a very simple control method for this release, with Anna controlled by the D-pad/thumbstick and the drill shot firing through the face buttons. The controls have an arcade feel to them, reminiscent of other titles in the genre. The game is very comfortable to play with the action being responsive regardess of the controller used, when in either handheld or docked mode, with an arcade stick for the best experience.
Difficulty – this is a very fun but tough title, with a difficulty curve that is gradual but can be quite rough for newer players to the genre. However, there are ways that an ease the difficulty that can be faced. If the player takes their time and upgrades their abilities enough, the bosses and tough sections can be cleared easier. There is also a checkpoint feature, where players can jump right back into the action after being defeated.
Presentation – the visual style for this tite is very cute, with vibrant colors and adorable characters designs that work very well with the gameplay. The story scenes and worlds are all drawn beautifully, giving the overall package a distinct and charming look. The sound for the title is also a treat, with a soundtrack that fits the fun space adventure feel. There is also very enjoyable voiced dialogue, exclusively in Japanese but there are subtitles in English.
Final Thoughts – I love a good cute em up shooter and this is the textbook definition of the genre, with all of the staples that make for a fun experience. There are also elements that are fairly unique to this title, making it stand out among the other established titles, which is a real treat. I have no issue recommending this title to everyone, as there is so much content included that it felt like I got two games in one pack.
I had a wonderful time playing this game, with the easy to pick up but difficult to put down nature of it being a fast paced score based shooter. I sent hours grinding out to make myself as strong as I could, going through the modes multiple times to get all of the achievements, secrets and even beating the main game in one shot. I am happy to say that this is one of the better modern shooters, with nothing to complain about aside from it being a bit tough for newbies.
In the end, I give Osyaberi! Horijyo! Gekihori a final score of 4.5/5. This is one of the better modern shooters to come to the switch, with fast paced action, secrets to unlock, colourful worlds to experience and entertaining characters to interact with, making for a complete package with tons of content. If you want to pick this title up for yourself, a link to the game will be below.
Link to Nintendo Switch version (HERE)
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