If there’s one thing I’ve learned from Griffin for Game Gear, it’s this: if a blue-haired anime girl is chilling next to a tank, you’re about to have a good time.
This tank shooter is like a regular shoot-‘em-up, except you’re not a fragile little space ship. No, you’re a freaking tank – built to crush, shoot, and laugh in the face of anything stupid enough to get in your way. You can stop, line up the perfect shot, and obliterate enemies with style. Terrain isn’t just decoration here, it’s strategy. Use it for cover, shielding you from enemy fire as you line up your own.
And thank the gaming god, one bullet won’t kill you. You have a health bar because, again, tank. It takes real effort to take you down, and even if you’re feeling worse for wear, some power-ups will patch you up.
Yes, let’s talk about power-ups. If you kill the right enemies, a power-up will fill your
... toon meerIf there’s one thing I’ve learned from Griffin for Game Gear, it’s this: if a blue-haired anime girl is chilling next to a tank, you’re about to have a good time.
This tank shooter is like a regular shoot-‘em-up, except you’re not a fragile little space ship. No, you’re a freaking tank – built to crush, shoot, and laugh in the face of anything stupid enough to get in your way. You can stop, line up the perfect shot, and obliterate enemies with style. Terrain isn’t just decoration here, it’s strategy. Use it for cover, shielding you from enemy fire as you line up your own.
And thank the gaming god, one bullet won’t kill you. You have a health bar because, again, tank. It takes real effort to take you down, and even if you’re feeling worse for wear, some power-ups will patch you up.
Yes, let’s talk about power-ups. If you kill the right enemies, a power-up will fill your health bar back up. But other power-ups give better primary weapon. Or even better, bombs as your secondary weapon.
And the weapons? Excellent. You start off with wimpy fire which takes multiple shots to take down an enemy. But keep fishing for those power-ups, and soon you’re dishing out flaming bullet carnage and screen-clearing bombs that turns everything into quivering wrecks.
You want to talk about bosses? Griffin doesn’t mess around They are absolute units, and will throw everything but the kitchen sink at you. The first boss lulls you, but by level three, you’re in a fiery deathmatch with a steel juggernaut that throws everything short of actual nukes at you.
Occasionally, the game sticks you in an airplane instead of a tank. It’s fine, but honestly, being a tank is so much better. I spent those moments thinking, “Yeah, this is cool, but when can I get back to rolling over fools on land?”
Graphically, this is fairly decent for 1991 Game Gear fare. Vibrant colour, identifiable sprites, and some nice 8-bit terrain. I should also mention that between levels, there’s pictures of that blue haired anime girl in suggestive poses. Nothing explicit – just enough to make you wonder, “Wait, what kind of game is this?”
The weak spot? The awful first level music. It loops endlessly, and you’ll want to mute it. Thankfully, the later tracks improve, and the sound effects make up for it with satisfying explosions and weapons fire.
Controls are mostly good. I had no trouble traversing the terrain and shooting. I have a small quibble: sometimes it’s tough to move diagonally. But otherwise, movement was fine.
Telenet Japan developed Griffin, and this title stayed in Japan – never finding its way to North America or Europe. Telenet is also known for making the Valis series, which has a small cult following. Other notable titles made by them include Arcus Oddysey and El Viento. Sadly, Telenet Japan no longer makes video games.
If you like shoot-‘em-ups with a twist, Griffin deserves your attention. Sure, the sprites are simple and the first level’s music is trash, but this is a high octane tank brawl with surprising depth. Plus, blue-haired anime girls and tanks. What else do you need?