Latest in my attack on (at least) one title from my 632 game backlog every day that the UK is in 'lock-down'.
I'm not planning on completing them, just playing them for long enough to know: A) What they're all about and B) If they're good enough to continue playing ASAP
A step forward from the GBC yesterday to the GBA today as the randomiser has chosen...
Glory Days on the Game Boy Advance
Way back in 1984 there was a game on the Apple II called Rescue Raiders. A forerunner of Choplifter, it featured similar gameplay to that later game combined with light Real Time Strategy elements. 3 years later, initially on the same machine, came the slightly better known Wings of Fury. Similar to Rescue Raiders with it's side on view but with a more attack focused outlook and the helicopter swapped for a WWII, carrier launched, Hellcat fighter.For some reason, 20 years after Rescue Raiders first saw the light of day, a french developer called Neko (who spent most of their days phoning in cash-grab licensed games for whomsoever hired them) decided to take these two classics, smoosh them together, and remake them into a game called Glory Days which was then rebranded to the mind numbingly generic 'Super Army War' in the US.
Being a wholesale rip-off of two good games means that Glory Days is itself a good game. You fly either the chopper or the Hellcat over the battlefield as the good-guys advance from the right and the bad-guys from the left, attacking with the weapons specific to either vehicle.
During their advance your troops capture bunkers, these generate extra cash, which in turn generates extra troops. So in destroying the enemy you help the ground troops advance to the next bunker and eventually to the enemy base for victory. Pretty standard RTS stuff, just simplified into a side on view.
The depictions of the troops, tanks, choppers, and fighters are all small but quite detailed. The style is pseudo-realistic and while it looks nice, to my tastes the pixels of Wings of Fury on the Amiga - or even the GBC - were more attractive. Glory Days is by no means a bad looking game, it just lacks a little personality. Additionally, on the original GBA or even the front-lit SP, Glory days can be quite hard to make out when there is a lot going on. It looks great on the Micro though and if that's not an option the DS is a great alternative.
I'm not generally a fan of the RTS genre but so much is taken care of automatically in Glory Days that I found it didn't bother me at all. In the earliest levels strategy is as light as choosing which targets to hit, more depth follows later in the game but it never takes away from the feeling that your actions in the air are having the most direct impact on the tide of the battle.
Basically, this is game that steals directly from too highly addictive classics and essentially lets you play them both at the same time. It may leave a bad taste in the mouth for some, but on pure entertainment value it's a hard game to fault.
Glory Days (GBA) - Perfect pocket plagiarism. 'Wings of Rescue Raiders' if you will.
Previously...
Day One was the excellent Luminees II on PSP
Day Two was the fun-but-probably-better-in-co-op Sanctum 2 on PC
Day Three was the pretty ropey but maybe worth a second chance on PS2 Dead to Rights 2 on Xbox
Day Four was the utterly stunning Pyre on PC
Day Five was the horribly aged but undeniably addictive skate it on the Wii
Day Six was the endearing and surprisingly competent Enduro Racer for the Sega Master System
Day Seven was the fun for a (very) quick burst Space Pirate Trainer in VR
Day Eight was the disappointingly awkward Draconus on ZX Spectrum
Day Nine was the idiosyncratic Ring of Red on PS2
Day Ten I lost half my text while trying to explain how Assassin's Creed Syndicate on PC was a pleasant, is simplistic, surprise.
Day Eleven was the utterly broken Perfect Dark on GBC
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