The birth of Capcom and the YashichiOVERVIEW
Not sure what the story is but you are just some random space fighter going up against random aliens who are invading your planet and they are let by the eponymous enemy Vulgus.
GRAPHICS - 8
I'll give the game credit for its wonderful layout design including land, sea, ice, and space. The colors stand out vividly and the enemies are well drawn graphics. The player character I don't really care for.
SOUND - 4
I honestly don't care for the sound in this game. This game really only has one track and it plays for the whole game and it's gets annoying after all. The sound is almost non-existant. When you die, you explode but it sounds almost like a splash of water.
ADDICTIVENESS - 5
I'm neutral on the matter here. If you enjoy playing for points then more power to you as there is no ending to this game.
DEPTH - 7
I will give depth a 7 as there is more to this game to offer than meets the eye as you are more than likely going to die in the first few minutes of this game. Despite there being no endings, you can defeat Vulgus and the game will loop from there. It takes a good 20 -25 minutes to loop if you avoid dying.
GAMEPLAY TIPS
You have no continues in this game and only one hit can destroy you. Avoid some combat as much as possible if you want to get far. On the other hand, if you just playing for points then try to shoot any enemy in sight without getting killed.
When you see a formation, refrain from using a canon to kill the last of the formation. all you will get is points for using the cannon. What you want to do is get close but avoid being hit by the bullets and fire as fast as you can. The background shifts from land to outer space throughout the game.
On land, you face the opposition full force. In space, you will fight only a series of formations with an accompanying megaenemy one at a time. Use this time to rack up serious points.
There are times where you will also be fighting over some icy land. The layouts look like this to see how you are progressing. Dirt, space, jungle, space, ice, space, defeat the Vulgus and begin again.
The black squares appear in the later part of the game. Shoot them while they are spinning because they are hard to kill when they become a square and there is a risk of crashing into them.
Don't worry bout trying to beat the game. There is no ending. The game is just going to increase in difficulty till all lives are lost. But you can prolong that with enough points to earn an extra life. However, the end point can be considered beating the Vulgus. To defeat the Vulgus (A volcanic rock), shoot at it while avoiding the rocks it shoots at you and watch out as the rocks shoot bullets at you too.
You will see the Pow icon and the Yashichi's (though unnamed) for the first time in this game. The latter will serve as an enemy but it becomes a helpful item in later games.
OVERALL - 6
I'll rate this a 6. It's Capcom's first outing and they did a better job than most companies did with their first games.
Graphics
8 Sound
4 Addictive
5 Depth
7 Difficulty
7