Welcome to VC Weekly, N-Europe’s guide to the wonderful world of Nintendo’s download service. Written by Sam C Gittins

If you like to 'run-and-gun' then you're in for a lot of fun with this latest release. Anyway enough from me and on with the game!
 
Available for download this week we have...     

Shock Troopers


 
Points: 900
Publisher: D4 Enterprise
Developer: D4 Enterprise
Released: 1997
System: Neo Geo

If you mention 'run-and-gun' as a genre then chances are the first games that spring to mind will be those from the Metal Slug series but if you were then to ask someone to name one that has an 'overhead' perspective then they will probably mention the legendary Commando as quite simply there just don't seem to be that many which have employed that same underrated point of view but Shock Troopers is one such rare example that takes the same approach and uses it to great effect. This may not be a huge revolution within its genre but everything that this game does right it does with such a wonderful sense of style that you won't really care about its lack of innovation as you'll be having too much fun keeping your trigger-finger happy.

Blasting everything from start to finish is the order of the day here before facing off against a boss at the end of the stage so pick a character, jump in and get shooting! You have a choice of eight distinctly different characters each of whom have their own weapon set plus a unique special attack helping to add a bit of variation to the proceedings, of course naturally if things get a little bit too hectic then you can always chuck a grenade in there for good measure which will help you out of a few situations. The control scheme always feels tight as you can easily dodge out of harms way at the press of a button plus you even have the ability to strafe while continually firing which can be invaluable at times; also something of a life-line are the power-ups which include the additional ammo, extra lives and of course more weapons, it soon becomes apparent that you'll need to be collecting these frequently in order to survive while taking out waves of enemies so that you can go the distance.

You get two ways to play here as Lonely Wolf lets you pick a character so you can play solo through the entire experience however Team Mode gives you the chance to choose three characters from the full roster which you can switch out at the press of a button as you play, this mode really helps to mix things up a bit adding both variety and also some strategy which will please some players who like to think a little inbetween all the shooting. It all seems really well balanced too as the difficulty curve is certainly fair offering a decent challenge for players regardless of experience and thankfully it never seems to reach any 'unfair' level of cruelty that other examples of the genre often choose to exhibit, wearing with pride like a medal... reast assured you'll certainly have fun with this game.

Graphically there is a reaonable amount of effort that has been applied here but overall the presentation is far from spectacular, naturally there are a handful of moments which will genuinely 'wow!' you but there isn't really anything here that you won't have seen before but at least the level of animation is decent even though it's far from say Metal Slug quality. The music shows a bit more effort as there are some nice tracks that are very representative of the time that this was released which are sure to keep a smile on your face as will the rather substantial sound effects even if they do tend to overshadow the background music at times.

Ultimately if you love the genre then you will get a lot of enjoyment out of Shock Troopers as it provides a decent experience even if it does fall a little short in certain areas there is plenty of fun to be had here even by newcomers though I'd advise trying a more accomplished example of the genre such as Metal Slug if you're at all unsure just in case you don't get on with it. Providing you can 'hold fire' for a while you might actually be better off waiting it out
for the more refined Shock Troopers 2nd Squad which is certainly a more superior offering but if you've got points burning a hole in your virtual pocket and an itchy trigger-finger then you still can't go far wrong with this.         

Verdict : A satisfying shooter which lacks lustre but makes up for with substance.

That's it for another installment of VC Weekly which will return again soon. So until then, enjoy the rest of the week and Game On!