Ikargua receives the lion’s share of praise as the ultimate Dreamcast shooter/shmup, but it’s 2001 Mars Matrix that inspires me to dust off SEGA’s finest system and put the trigger finger to work. Developed by Takumi and published by Capcom, this manic shooter fills the screen with rainbow colored bullets, but adds some fresh tricks to balance the gameplay and give you a fighting chance at survival, unlike its unnecessarily brutal brothers in the Takumi/Capcom “trilogy” GigaWing and GigaWing 2.
Mars Matrix is the game that I would present to anyone that would dare dub me a graphics whore. To put it kindly, Mars Matrix‘ visuals could have benefited from more time in the oven; to put it not so kindly, the game is one of the best examples of the need for visual consistency.The pre-rendered enemy vehicles clash horribly with the sprites resulting in a mish-mash that will make you cry bloody tears. Fortunately, huge bosses make up for the uneven visuals; they fill the screen, transform, and spew pearls of bullets onto the playfield that requires one to have a Neo-like ability to read firepower patterns.
The gameplay is built upon the Mosquito system, which relies on absorbing enemy bullets and spitting them back at the attackers. You can, of course, use your ships normal shot or more powerful pierce cannon to inflict damage on the enemy armada, but when the screen is filled with hot lead, the Mosquito systems is the key to successful moving forward from level one. Holding down the reflection button activates the Gravity Hole Bomb that absorbs all of the firepower on unleashes it in one huge blast that wrecks everything in its circumference.
Defeated foes leave behind floating cubes that, when collected, builds your XP and starts a chain. Your chain meter (located beneath the score and XP bar) shows how much time you have left to collect other cubes in that particular chain, the benefit of which is the faster building of XP. Cubes are worth +1 , +5, +10, and +50 depending on the size of the enemy craft destroyed, and the points derived from them can be used to purchase more ships, levels, continues, tutorials, and faster Gravity Hole Bomb recharge time, making Mars Matrix a shmup with tons of replayability. But the best gift of all is flying semi-recklessly into a sheet of bullets to pick up those last few cubes; it’s simply one of the most intense and visceral moments in shooters. In a wise move that immense helps game balance, you can actually fly over ships – - you don’t explode on impact when your ship overlaps another.
The thumping electro-techno mix provides a suitable soundtrack for finding your zone, discovering enemy patterns, and laying waste to all things that dare move. Explosions are satisfyingly crunch, and lasers have a nice, futuristic zappy sound.
Mars Matrix packs just six levels, but they are six of the most awesome, fun-filled levels you’re going to find in a shooter. It should be noted that you may not feel that way initially. Mars Matrix will kick your ass repeatedly, but when you acheive that moment of clarity when you know the precise moments weave, fire, and use the reflector to gain tiny instances of invulnerability, the game becomes more than a mere shooter. It becomes a reflection of your determination and focus, with each success or failure representing all that’s right with gaming, and yourself.
