Crimzon Clover: World Ignition

This game is all about tiny space ships, giant bosses and a million colourful bullets and explosions everywhere on screen at all times. The hitbox is very small, though, so it's not as hard to dodge bullets as you might initially think. Overall, it's pretty easy to complete the game as you get infinite continues and there's a novice difficulty level as well as boost mode, which adapts the difficulty dynamically to how well you play. However, the hard part is getting as far as possible in one continue while scoring as many points as possible. It's really the whole point of the game. If you don't like chasing for high scores, you'll probably tire quickly of this game - if you like competing for high scores, though, it's great, long-lasting fun, and fairly easy to get into due to very straightforward mechanics (especially compared to a more 'puzzley' shmup like Ikaruga).

Never before have I played a so called bullet hell shoot em up. All I knew from shoot em ups are the ones like 1942 and co from the 80s. I bought Crimzon Clover because of the many good and very good reviews of the game and I really don't regret it. Being a newbie to the genre I first tried the lowest level of the game and after a short while I really thought that the devs (and prople who play such games) must be crazy because I could not really see the screen anymore - two much bullets and explosions. Then I realized that the dangerous bullets have a brighter colour and are pretty slow and all those explosions and stars around me are a sort of distraction. So I started to focus and started to use my second and third fire button and slowly I gout used to the game . Yes, the game has a normal firemode and two special fire modes: one for locking on targets and another one which can only be used if you have collected enough stars to fill a special bar. Depending on how high this bar is filled you can either drop a sort of smart bomb, get super fire or even crazy mega super fire (at that momet I though the whole screen exploded at once). The game is pure fun, crazy like hell and the soundtrack is great. The game also gives the possibility to use your widescreen Monitor turned 90degrees so you really can fly vertical. I tried it and it felt like ... well - it's hard to describe. But this game has more to offer than pure fun. Of course the main goal in such a game would not be to finish it but to get highscores. In order to learn from your mistakes or just because you want it you have the possibility to record your gameplay AND save it. After that you can play or fast forward it in two steps. Since there is so much going on on the screen this could be the only way for you to see what it was that you blasted in 1000 pieces ;) There is however a big downside to this game. Once you have startet it's a time killer and it's really addictive. Buy it right now.

Crimzon Clover is a game based on the now-proverbial bullet hell formula that made CAVE and Touhou famous, but also both GigaWing and Mars Matrix for instance. Enemies pour cascades of intricate bullet patterns you're supposed to craftily zig-zag inbetween while shooting enemies and whittling away at the bosses to milk them for every single score point. Also if you 1-credit the game you get the secret boss and true ending (good luck). Also, you have bombs to clear away the bullet mayhem and a hyper mode (which can double-down into hyper hyper mode) that destroys enemy projectiles while finely mincing bosses (engaging Double Hyper always sticks a wide green to my face, go figure), and of course, kicking Graphics are fine and animations rich, the screen is VERY busy at all times and includes sceneries such as deserts mountains with cascades, plains and even outer space. All standard fare, somewhat inspired by Raiden. Everything is extremely colourful and explosions and megalazors flash and shimmer (epileptics beware). Also, bosses are phase-based and as such, transform during the fight, so even more eye-candy. What's not to likE? Playing in "tate" mode (true arcade-style vertical screen once you've flipped you physical screen) really brings feeling of an arcade cabinet (wish I had an arcade stick for my PC). Controller support is fine and responsive, keyboard works fine, and while I mostly play on Novice mode (I'm no shmup expert, me just play for pew-pews 'n' booms), I mostly play for the fun and the catharsis. With three ships (plus an unlockable one) with different playstyle (balanced, slow-stronger, fast-weaker), there is plenty of straight arcade fun before you get hooked on doing score runs, and it's reasonably priced I'd say. A fine addition to your library if you like arcade shmups, and a very good one in its category.

An excellent game for newcomers and veterans alike. My experience with shmups is more with older style retro games. This is one of the new breed of bullet hell with a busy screen, explosions galore, high-scoring numbers and colorful bullets everywhere! It seems overwhelming, but you get used to it quick. Novice mode is challenging but a 1cc is absolutely doable. I did mine after about 8 hours of playing and it was exhilarating. The game has a wide variety of modes, including Time Attack, Boost and Original. There is a very good training mode too, that allows you to practice stages and stage bosses. At the start, there are three different ship to choose from, each with different characteristics. A fourth and powerful ship can be unlocked after collecting a certain amount of medals. The game explains its system very well at the beginning of a playthrough. You ship has a regular wide shot, and a laser that does huge damage. The laser can only be activated once its meter is full. You can bomb once your meter is about 20% full, though the more you use the bomb, the higher percentage requirement gets. This can be reset by picking up items from defeated bosses (you can choose between meter gain, more medals, bomb reset or, in novice mode only, an extra life) If you like shooting games, I absolutely recommend this. If you haven't played many bullet hell shmups but wish to learn, I also highly recommend this game and start with Novice mode. If you're looking for a casual playthrough, the game can still be fun, but to get the most out of it, I recommend challenging yourself and not credit feeding (continually continuing). It's a skill-based game and pactice will be required to get good.