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>>Rafael Fernandes: 2011 was undoubtedly a year full of news for retrogamers.

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Among the blogs we have seen a lot of things:

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poorly done games, people listening to music and dying, conspiracy theories,

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tizzies, trollings, videos, twenty years of Sonic, new Zelda,

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new Streets of Rage, nipples, drunk people,

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[pause for breath]

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and memes or memes.

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Anyway.

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In a joint collaboration of the retrogamer blogosphere,

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I present to you some of the games that I played in this year that is ending.

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Are you ready then?

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Ready

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Go!

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What I played in 2011

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If there is a game that deserves the title of most played in 2011, this is RayForce.

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The Taito shoot 'em up from 1993 is one of the best games of the company,

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with considerable success in the arcades of the time and two sequels,

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called RayStorm and RayCrisis.

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It's very likely that you've heard of this game.

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The problem is that it can also be called Gunlock

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and in the port to Sega Saturn it was named Layer Section,

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whose American version was renamed Galactic Attack.

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Wow!

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With so much confusion,

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is very difficult to find even the ROM to play in MAME,

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unless you were actually looking for it,

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which was my case.

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RayForce differential is in the gameplay.

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In addition to the enemies that come in the same direction of your spacecraft,

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there is also a lower plane,

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where the player has to aim and shoot with the laser before they come toward you.

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It's possible to lock the target on various enemies at the same time,

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thus being able to make a combo and score more points.

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Stage bosses also have several other weaknesses

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that can only be hit with the laser,

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thus being able to set new strategies to defeat them,

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which are many.

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With this game mechanics,

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RayForce takes full advantage of the scale effects that the Taito F3 board had,

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however, the game uses a number of other visual effects such as rotation and transparency,

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generating images that simulate 3D and look really awesome,

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quite reminding Super Nintendo's Mode-7,

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but much better.

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It's also worth mentioning the game's story:

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according to the subsequent games,

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RayForce's plot is focused on the creation of a supercomputer called Con-Human,

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that when accidentally connected to the brain of a human clone,

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eventually becomes conscious and consequently

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destroys and annihilate much of the planet.

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The few survivors escape to a space colony,

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where they prepare an offensive to destroy the supercomputer

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and consequently our planet.

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In short, it is a suicide mission, practically,

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where the heroine, yes, the heroine,

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have to sacrifice herself in order to prevent Con-Human acquiring more power

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and conquer the universe.

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Complex, eh?

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Thus, the journey of the entire mission is based on a re-entry to the planet,

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descending by more and more deep layers

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to get to the core and find the supercomputer.

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This just shows that the game has a great design,

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not only in relation to the story,

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but also the stages and enemies, especially the bosses,

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that seem having come out of an anime.

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The only weak point in this regard is that the game itself,

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being an arcade, has no indication of its complex story,

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leaving players without really knowing what would be the reason

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for all the conflict that happens the game.

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But the main reason I played RayForce throughout this year is on the soundtrack.

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All the songs were composed by this lady there,

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called Tamayo Kawamoto.

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She began her career in Capcom composing for games like Son Son,

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Legendary Wings and Ghosts ‘n Goblins! Yeah!

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But here in RayForce,

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she produced a perfect blend of jazz, new age and electronic music,

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that I believe it was the first time a shoot 'em up used songs in that style,

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since prior to 1993 shmups

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had a soundtrack more focused on the rock and the jazz fusion.

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It's worth remembering that the soundtrack of the arcade version has a different sound,

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more muffled,

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so that it could be reproduced in the sound chip that was on the board.

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The Sega Saturn version has the songs that are possibly in their original versions,

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since they are the same that are on the CD of the soundtrack of the game released in 1994.

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Despite the different instrumentation,

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both compositions are still sensational.

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That's why I recommend to anyone to play RayForce at least once in life,

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either the version for MAME,

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that doesn't correctly emulates the sound, but it's something,

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or the ports for PC, Sega Saturn,

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and as part of the Japanese collection Taito Memories Jōkan,

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that was released for the PlayStation 2.

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The game is a unique and much better experience than its sequels RayStorm and RayCrisis,

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which are also very good games,

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but don't reach the level of fun of RayForce.

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But it's also worth remembering that the game is almost impossibly difficult,

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so much that to this day I use at least 7 coins to finish the game.

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That's because I'm always practicing.

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The difficulty of the game reaches some absurd moments and especially treacherous,

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partly because the enemy always fire randomly,

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then memorizing still helps,

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but what really matters here are quick reflexes to deal with the constant chaos.

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Still, it's a very fun experience that does not become frustrating,

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at least for me.

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Maybe I'm a masochist… But anyway.

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And this was the video review of RayForce.

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If you have enjoyed,

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don't forget to bookmark or to like it on the YouTube page.

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Stay tuned for the next edition with the review of Space Channel 5: Part 2.

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See you there!

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Produced by Rafael Fernandes
@rafafernandes64