The Red Star Review

The Red Star was a game about to launch. That is, until its publisher went bankrupt. Acclaim, a company which had a really hard time plugging the holes in its sinking ship, collapsed in the summer of 2004. Selling off everything, the company left The Red Star nearly finished to the dustbin of time. It was never expected to make its way to store shelves, yet XS Games, a budget publisher with hot properties like Super Trucks Racing and Funkmaster, decided to resurrect the project. In all seriousness, The Red Star is the biggest title to ever have the XS logo on it.

As you could probably guess with just a fourth grade education, The Red Star is based on Soviet Russia. The URRS (not a typo, that’s what they call it in the game), using its Red Fleet army, is amassing power, technology and weapons. Apparently it is all based off of a comic by the same name. The only problem with the story is the game never makes very good use of it with cut-scenes or anything. I never got a real sense of Soviet Russia. At any rate, I’m actually glad that little stock was put into the story and far more into the gameplay, as that is what this game is all about.

Old-school gamers have reason to be pleased. The Red Star is a scrumptious treat down memory lane. The game was designed to combine melee beat-em-up type action with the old-school shooter genre. What you get during various parts of the game is one part Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, one part Contra and one part Metal Slug, with a little hint of R-Type mixed in. It sounds like a weird combination of game mechanics, but trust me it works, and that’s the best description I can give you.

At the start of the game, you choose between two characters: Makita and Kyuzo. The female is faster, but takes less damage. Kyuzo is as slow as molasses in January, but can take a licking and unleash some punishing attacks. I played through the single-player game as Kyuzo, but the game allows you to play with a friend in co-op at any time, which can be very useful in later levels. The enemies aren’t incredibly smart, but when numbers become a factor, gameplay can get intense. It took me seven levels until I died for the first time, but I managed to make it through the next several just barely. Let me warn casual gamers that this is a difficult game from the start.

You are simply not going to mash a couple buttons and expect to do well in this game. You have to be methodical and attentive to do well. The game plays as a 3D side-scroller, that changes from horizontal to vertical movement. Each enemy has a weakness, as well as a unique attack. Their weakness may be a melee attack, a projectile attack or a combination of the two (for instance, one enemy has a shield that you will need to break before you can fire on him). Furthermore, some enemies will only be vulnerable to a single attack. Those with shields simply must be dealt with using your melee weapon.

The boss fights are probably the most interesting part of The Red Star. These come straight out of the 1980s and early 90s. Streams of laser fire from the boss will make their way towards you in almost artistic patterns. Bosses will adjust their attack and may even have more than one form throughout the level. You will encounter helicopters, huge tanks, giant monster-like creatures among many other varied boss fights. As I mentioned earlier, there is even an R-Type level where you fly in space shooter fashion.

Finally, a budget title worth buying. The Red Star was never intended as such, but when you sit on a shelf collecting dust like it did for three years, your value drops a little bit. That doesn’t change the fact that this is a damn good game. Other than God of War II, this is the best game that I’ve played on the PS2 in months. If you claim to be a fan of old-school shooters and beat-em-ups, The Red Star is simply a game you can not miss.