No-one can beat the Kobayashi Maru
In a week that has already been pretty sweet for shmup fans, the hits just keep on coming, as Hamster bring another old school arcade shooter to the Nintendo Switch in the form of Irem’sImage Fight.
Hitting the arcades back in 1988, before being ported to several home platforms including the NES and PC Engine,Image Fightlaunched just a year after Irem blew away the market with their space shooterR-Type. Choosing to go vertical rather than horizontal,Image Fighthas the unique setup of taking place within a holographic simulator, designed to test out pilots’ abilities in battle.
If the player can make the grade in a series of stages featuring simulated combat, then they will progress to taking on enemy forces in “real” combat. One ofImage Fight’smain gimmicks are the “Pods”, small globes that can be picked up and used for additional firepower. Players can also adjust the speed of their craft on-the-fly, best befitting the accuracy needed in any given situation.
