Developed by Masaya and published by NCS Corporation, Gynoug was originally released back in 1991 for the Sega Genesis. Received with a decent reception back then, Gynoug however has been a title that did not get any sort of sequels or new titles in the franchise until a Wii Virtual Console release in 2008. Fast forward to 2021, and we see the return of this classic side-scroller shooter thanks to Ratalaika Games, a studio that is responsible for the port of a lot of other classic titles from the 90s. This is our review of the PS4 version of Gynoug in which we take on the hordes of demons and fight some of the greatest bosses we have ever seen in a side-scroller.
Gynoug follows the epic journey of an angel known as Wor who comes across the demons of Iccus, led by The Destroyer. The game is played in the form of a side-scrolling shooter which was an iconic genre back in the early 90s. Following the same formula, Wor flies in the sky shooting at demons and enemies coming at him from all sides.
The gameplay is a basic two-button and joystick gameplay where you use the left joystick to move Wor around on the screen and press X to fire his main weapon. Wor also has magic at his disposal however these magic attacks are not unlimited like his main bullet attack. You pick up these powerful magic attacks by killing enemies and then grabbing their pickups on the screen. Later, you can switch to the magic attack of your choice and continue to use it until it runs out.
At one time, you can pick up and stock up to three different magic attacks however you can only fire one at a time. Switching to another magic attack removes the currently equipped magic attack and replaces it with the new one that is next in line. Each of these magic attacks is unique and works in various ways. Some of them are offensive while some of them are defensive. Some even combine both of them giving you the best of both worlds. You get the likes of big energy balls shooting in different directions of fast, lightning bolts arching in front of you by your fellow angels or two angels coming to your defense in the form of a shield. Each of them is good and gives you a choice to choose between offense and defense.
Apart from your magic attacks, you can pick up various pickups that power up your two attacks as well. You have the blue pickups that power up your main attack while the red orbs power up your magic attacks. Apart from powering up your shots, you can also pick up different types of attack patterns as well such one the one that shoots at the back as well as forward or the one that shoots in five different directions ahead. Each type of attack pattern has its own unique pros and cons and it all boils down to your gameplay style about what sort of attack pattern you want to choose.
For me, I preferred the five forward shots because this was covering the entire area in front of me and not many enemies were coming from the backside. It did hurt me in various locations however once you get the attack pattern of all of the enemies in a level, you can pretty much use any combination and still ace the level. Since Gynoug is along with the concept of angels and demons, the enemies in the game are designed according to that as well. Each level in the game is set on a unique concept and enemies in the level are according to the level as well.
Each level has a mini-boss that comes during the half of the level and then you must beat the final boss before you move to the final boss of the level. Here, I must say that Gynoug features some of the creepiest of the bosses I have seen in a side-scrolling shooter from the 90s. The bosses are all based on humanoids however they are designed in a creepy way that will surely give you goosebumps when you look at them. Each boss has one weak point, and you must hit this weak point if you want to defeat it. Some of the bosses have moving weak points so each of the bosses possesses a unique challenge that you will need to overcome in order to defeat all of them.
The final level throws all of the mini-bosses at you followed by the final boss fight and this level is one of my favorites in the game. You can easily complete the whole game within an hour and if you are looking for making the gameplay fun, you can head to the port menu and activate some cool cheats as well. The game comes with its port menu where you can save the game’s state, change controls, change visual filters and settings such as adding a CRT filter with many tweaks, and also activate some cheats such as infinite health, infinite magic, and invincibility. If you want to become the ultimate angel and never die, just activate some cheats and have some fun.
The PS4 version comes with full trophy support as well and all of the trophies are easy to obtain as well. I remember I was in the fifth level when I was able to obtain all of the score-related trophies and once I had reached the final screen, I had unlocked the Platinum trophy as well. This is a very decent port of a classic title however it somehow feels short and apart from the boss battles, you are mostly just sitting there killing enemies. The enemy design is great and all however there are very few instances where you feel like the game is throwing everything at you. The levels are relatively easy and short, but the boss battles simply make up for it. It is a great title that deserves your attention if you like playing classic side-scrolling shooters.
Final Verdict:
On its own, Gynoug is a great title however when compared with other recent modern ports in this genre, it somehow falls short both it terms of gameplay and options. The six stages are not that long however what it lacks in gameplay time, it makes up for enemy design and epic boss battles. It certainly does not fall short when it comes to boss fights even though the main stages somewhat feel less competitive. Even with that said, this is a great port of a classic title and if you have been enjoying the recent onslaught of side-scrollers coming back to life as ports and remasters, Gynoug is a great addition for your library on modern consoles. It is great for short gaming sessions and with some cheats, you can really feel invincible in the game. It is also an easy platinum.
Final Score: 8.0/10
