

On the plus side, the graphics are rather unique with sprites that look like they're rendered via stop motion as they're detailed yet their animations are choppy. Minotaurs don't like being shot in the face It all comes together to make one tedious and messy shoot 'em up. The bosses definitely look cool but they're not entertaining to battle in the slightest. After a few brief rounds of that, you'll fight a boss. Obviously, mashing the melee button while avoiding attacks from other enemies just isn't enjoyable. Anyway, the stages basically consist of a whole hodgepodge of enemies that either shoot the odd stream of projectiles at you or confront you face-to-face.
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Strangely enough, it seems to be only in the chest so feel free to get shot in the head all you want. For starters, your character is fairly large and doesn't have an obvious hit box so you have to deliberately get hit a few times so you can memorize where the bullets actually hurt you. The most glaring issue is just how sloppy and boring the gameplay is. Unfortunately, as you may have guessed, Sol Divide doesn't even come close to the quality of other Psikyo shmups. When you combine the different characters, melee attacks, and spell system, you'd think that Sol Divide would be a pretty great shmup so let's see if the gameplay actually holds up. There's also a magic system that essentially acts as Sol Divide's bombs because each spell uses up a substantial amount of MP and is impressively powerful in its own way. Where things become interesting is that you have to slash your melee weapon whenever enemies get too close. The basic gameplay isn't far removed from your average shoot 'em up as you dodge projectiles and shoot. I enjoyed playing as Tyora because her long-range attacks were quite useful. Kashon, Vorg, and Tyora each play differently with their own strengths and weaknesses so it's a good idea to play a few stages with everyone before deciding who clicks with you best. 🐻 Is this a screenshot of Jason and the Argonauts?īefore you begin playing Sol Divide, you must select a character. has been obsessively gaming since the late '80s and is just as passionate about video games in 2023. However, was Sol Divide worth digging up from the past? Study up on your magic and let's find out. There's something about rediscovering classic shoot 'em ups that always makes for an interesting time. Sol Divide: Sword of Darkness is also available for PS4, Xbox One, and PS1 Maciejewski playing a Nintendo Switch on March 24, 2018 Could they have the been the very same folks whom handled the distribution of the later Strikers 1945 II/III, Zero Gunner, Sol Divide and Gunbird 2 PCB conversion kits as well, stateside? Hmmm.Reviewed by A.J. It's a well-known fact that the American arcade subsidy, Jaleco USA, distributed both the Psikyo produced Gunbird and Strikers 1945 Jamma PCB conversion kits to arcade distributors/arcades in the USA (even came shipped with full-sized marquees that the original JPN region PCB conversion kits didn't include). Playing SD in Mame/Mame32 emulation doesn't offer that unique PCB experience in playing the real deal that's available to the serious arcade PCB hobbyist/collector these days.

So it's nice to revisit/replay the SD PCB and PSX ports (JPN & USA) from time to time. In the arcade PCB version of SD, the opening intro is all based on the in-game sprite engine whereas in the PSX port, they are two to digress at your leisure (FMV and in-game sprite engine based on the arcade PCB version) - Psikyo went the extra mile in crafting a superb FMV based SD opening intro the second time around. Of course, with the yen/quarter/pence muncher aspect, they both were designed to eat them by the handful if playing them casually/for the first time/learning the ropes of what makes them tick. Tried them both out for the first time and was stoked at the fanasty elements used in SD. It's, also, quite simple to change from JPN or International region if so desired with the SD PCB (as they're both available/present on the PCB anyways).īack in January of 2000, an indoor go-kart track business based out of Stockton, CA, had both Psikyo's Strikers 1945 II & Sol Divide PCBs up & running on a pair of Dynamo upright cabs. So its's nice to be able to save your SD arcade mode's scores for posterity as it should be (the SD's PCB version doesn't save scores whatsoever if powered down for the night - it's quite an awesome experience to be able to play the original SD PCB as it was meant to be whether it's of the JPN or International flavored variety indeed). I like the original JPN PSX version of Sol Divide that was released by Psikyo themselves as it has memory card saving functionality (whereas with the USA PSX release of the same name from XSGames, that particular functionality was removed entirely).
