Super Hydorah

2022-03-04

Super Hydorah is a non-linear horizontal homage shmup by Locomalito. This is an upgraded version of the free game Hydorah. Locomalito has released many homage freeware games and Super Hydorah is one of two upgraded versions (the other is Maldita Castilla EX, inspired by Ghost n Goblins).

Gradius is the most obvious influence but I get a lot of Salamander, X-Multiply, R-type, and Super Metroid vibes from this one and Locomalito says the game is influenced by nearly 100 shmups, making it “The bastard son of a hundred classics,” which is arguably the best video game blurb ever. The player traverses a map and chooses a path, gaining new weapons along the way. Planetary collision is death, a la Gradius, and the pace is slower, almost puzzle-like in some areas. The levels have checkpoints. There is a rookie (shields) and pilot (no shields) mode for one or two players and a single game save. This game does require a certain level of trial and error and route memorization, and replaying levels with different combinations of weapons to see which ones work best. Generally speaking the most recently unlocked weapons tend to give an edge, but that’s not always the case.

I’ve mentioned before I’m not a big fan of puzzle shmups, and I’m actually not a fan of Gradius either (which would earn you the cone of shame in some classic shmup circles), but I like R-Type-style shmups and I like this one too. Super Hydorah brings in a lot of elements from many different games in an interesting way. The pixel art is beautiful and there are so many small details, such as the human bases in level 2. The game has a story and voiced cut scenes. It’s clearly a labor of love and very much a joy to play, even when dying.

This was a day-one purchase when it released on Switch in 2018 but I got stuck about halfway through and shelved it. I recently revisited and I’ve played a lot of shmups since then, so I guess I’ve gasp improved, because I actually got a bit farther this time, but I’m still not gonna beat it.

To use Backloggd parlance, this type of game tends to be permanently “shelved” for me, meaning it’s a game I will return to over the years because I never complete it. Contrast that with most of the bullet hells. I usually play that sort of game until I beat it, and if I really like the game I’ll work on scoring runs or (ha) 1CC, but after I’ve had my fill they are “completed” and I may not ever revisit it.

I don’t really expect to beat Super Hydorah, uh, ever, and that’s okay. There is so much going on here I feel like I could return to this game every few years and discover some new joy in it. I don’t think Super Hydorah could ever be “completed” in that sense. Marking this game as “shelved” gives me joy. See you next time, Super Hydorah!