The first game has some great potential, albeit hard but hey that's what you get when it's produced by Inafune. It has some great gameplay mechanics and the boss battles kept me on my toes. The final boss of the normal ending is hard but once you get it down it can be a breeze. The true ending's final boss, Asimov is extremely frustrating and his 2nd phase is ungodly hard for most 1st tries, it's an ending in a game I don't plan on going back to. Boss rush wasn't the easiest either, changing various lenses and guns and just hoping to get enough SP ain't fun, and don't even get me started on the Japanese play through's (IE: Viper's 3rd phase, I still can't dodge it no matter how much I try, it's possible don't get me wrong). The game lacks a good narrative, but I can look past that if the gameplay is good, which it is. Copen is extremely easy with the right SP usage. Elise is frustrating if you're not quick enough to kill the 2nd "personality" and her final encounter is absolute crap, I hated how her final attack is another resurrection! It just makes the battle twice as long as it should. I tried beating all the challenges, still can't, most stages are EXTREMELY hard to S+ rank it (SS if you're playing the Japanese version). It's overall a solid game that did a great job on gameplay, the only thing hurting it are the extras like boss-rush, getting the secret/true ending (Like one of the gems my god.....). With some memorable bosses, solid 8/10. Also Nova's final death scream is absolutely hilarious. Oh yea, Zonda was in there, why did I wait? Well the thing's in the game for like 3 seconds. (Mighty GunVolt fleshed Zonda out more.....)
The second game arguably is great, but just falls flat of meeting the potential the first game showed. Another game that's great by gameplay standards, but like the first game, it's not something I'd complete (at least not with the current sanity), right off the bat Zonda's the main villain which is fine. It's Loli "real" form is quite honestly not that creative? They barely used the uniform Zonda in the original so props to the devs there. Playing as Copen is fun and I like his gameplay style a lot, the conversations he has with Lola are absolutely ADORABLE, and I love the interactions Copen, Lola, and Nori have. The bosses however are nothing I'd write home about, they're just fun, hard bosses. The one I have the most frustration with is Tenjian the first boss at the beginning of the final stage, his seven slashes in GunVolt's story is garbage, you shouldn't have to dodge an attack to get the true ending honestly.....In the normal ending it ends on GV and Copen pointing guns at each other, it's technically the same ending regardless in the true ending just with an extra final fight. On a quick side note Chibi-Joule is OK, and that's about it, not many of her lines stand out and it's hard to enjoy her and Gv's conversation for the most part, I just end up turning them off in GV's story....And all the bosses aren't really that hard with prior experience from the last game. And Loli-Zonda's final attack isn't as hard as the insta-death star Nova fires at you in the last game, plus "singing"?! I get the idea to sing resurrection (I could the tell the moment I saw the first few words), but I just ended spatting words at the 3DS and I could damage Loli-Zonda, sorry I can't sing Japanese Inafune....Also quick note, the soundtrack at least is still on-par with the original, my favorite tracks are Zonda's boss theme, Igniter, still resurrection, and Indigo Destinies (personal favorite of this track). And for the game's true ending; in Copen's story, Loli-Zonda's last attack is easy, just dodge all the crap the other bosses fire at ya, and fighting Copen in GV's story is like fighting Asimov, except in the 2nd phase of the true ending's fight, Lumen/Lola goes to the other side and buffs the shit out of your foil (Copen in GV's and GV in Copen's). It ain't fun.....I give this game a 6/10; Good gameplay, if a little rehashed with another minimalist story, I get it's not about the story but a good game can borrow from a good narrative, I'd take CaveStory for example which does that well.
Might GunVolt is OK, for an 8-bit game it does what it needs to do well, except it's really easy for what should be a gameboy-esch port of GunVolt 1, the angel-girl's name (can't remember) is easy mode, nothing to it, GV is normal mode, basic and easy, and BECK IS HARD mode. For a game that came years before Mighty No. 9(-ty nine), I'd argue Beck's gameplay is way better, despite using GunVolt level's. The only 8-bit track I remember from this game is the boss theme. Fun yet boring after beating it on all characters. 3/5
