13 187 680At first I felt postively towards the game - the first two stages music is good, a version of the Compile weapon system is present and it looks and feels a lot like Final Soldier, a game I hold in high esteem for TG16 shooters. As it stands I don't look fondly on Lazing Blazers upon first inspection.
The music, while good, is more repetitive than I'd like and some stages ( 3 & 8 ) have awful music repeating constantly through the trademark (albeit shorter) Compile endless stages. The first two stages are a bit sparse which considering there are only nine in total, leaves little room for variety. Speaking of which the enemies aren't very dynamic either and pardon some threats in the final gauntlet on stage 9, navigating the bubble hell on a low power up on stage 8, or getting nicked anywhere else in the game beyond stage 2 forcing panic tactics to survive the stage (lots of bombing) its not that enjoyable. The problem for me might be the hitbox size, its huge and feels to jut beyond the sprite of the ship as frequently I wondered how I got hit and am treated with the subsequent supreme power-down. Reuse of the stage 1 boss on stage 7 no less than three times was disappointing too.
Its no bad game yet the checkpoints on stage 9 are infuriating essentially requiring a flawless run to pass through unscathed make a strong argument along with the points above. Aleste, Super Aleste (Space Megaforce), & Power Strike 2 are far more enjoyable fare for my money. Perhaps the Caravan version of
Gunhed is better.