Ghost Blade HD (6)

What is it about a schmup game, that makes the genre fantastic for the select few who enjoy that kind of unrelenting hell? A genre which has been pretty much left to decompose, while other more visceral shooters take the spotlight. It gets even weirder when you factor in a game like Ghost Blade HD, a throwback to vertical shooters of the past.

I’m talking games like Ikaruga or Battle Garegga, games that took the action from a horizontal space and flipped it so that the screen went vertical instead. I’ve got a lot of love for those games, intense titles that never let up once and barely gave you a chance to breathe. Ghost Blade HD is that kind of game, a shinier memory of a past that was filled with sweaty armpits, blistered thumbs and a bladder begging for sweet release.

Ghost Blade HD (4)

Only this time, it feels like a perfect introduction to bullet hell for newcomers.

Ghost Blade HD (1)

Ghost Blade HD isn’t exactly complex. You’ve got three ships, three different loadouts and a handful of stages to survive. Players can unleash an arsenal of wide spread-shots at the screen or focus everything into a tight beam of destruction that slows down their movements to a crawl as they trade speed for power. Simple, addictive stuff. But sweet Xevious, it’s fun if you’re into that kind of bullet hell action. Ghost Blade HD manage to capture a certain moment and flow that few other titles can. I’m a big believer in games having a flow, a sense of movement that absorbs you completely.

Ghost Blade HD (8)

Schmups at their best, completely separate you from reality. You’re existing in a state where it’s just you and the TV, a sweaty controller and fresh blisters on your thumbs as you work your way through wave after wave of endless hordes of enemies with the military budget of Trump’s America. But that’s the beauty of a schmup, of knowing that you face an endless and perhaps insurmountable obstacle in front of you.

Ghost Blade HD (3)

Good schmups take this idea and run with it. Excellent schmups know that by giving you that little bit of an edge in combat, you’ll feel like you’ve accomplished something. Maybe that’s why these games are tragic beauties. They’re projects where you’ll never ever really notice all the chaos happening in front of you as you become consumed by all of the action on the screen. It’s the most fleeting of artistic moments, and the genre is better for it.

 

Last Updated: February 28, 2017

Ghost Blade HD
While Ghost Blade HD isn’t for everyone, it’s hard to not appreciate it for what it is despite the fact that it’s as brutally short as it is challenging: An intricately designed experience of speed and shrapnel coming at you from every single angle. There’s a certain layer of subtlety present, but don’t expect Ghost Blade HD to redefine the genre. Rather, it’s a celebration of everything that made schmups fantastic so many years ago, wrapped up in a tight and bright package.
8.0
Ghost Blade HD was reviewed on PlayStation 4
62 / 100

4 Comments

  1. “You’re existing in a state where it’s just you and the TV”

    This is such am exhilarating feeling. I know this sounds weird, but there’s this moment in Schmups when you become one with the game. You see the bullets on-screen and your fingers just move with the flow of the game. It’s very primal and it’s as if your instincts just kick in.

    Hmmmm, that does sound overly dramatic, but still!….It’s true :p

    Reply

    • The D

      February 28, 2017 at 15:50

      You get me, maaaaaaaaaaan.

      Reply

      • Umar

        February 28, 2017 at 16:06

        I feel you, homeslice!

        Reply

  2. Original Heretic

    February 28, 2017 at 16:06

    My first love for a game like this was years back, one of them old arcade games at the cafe across the road. Dunno how many coins got dropped into that beauty.

    Reply

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