EDIT: I still STRONGLY recommend this game run-n-gun and Contra fans, it's a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ amazing love letter to the Contra and Metal Slug games that I positively adore. Fantastic music that recalls the adrenalin-feuled FM-powered rock and synthwave of the arcade and the genesis with memorable melodies and badass vibe. Exhilirating level, enemy and boss design that is as interesting to engage with as it is surprising. A genuine, action film romp. However I do have some gripes about it having played it as much as I have. For one, dodge rolling would be better if it had a dedicated button. This isn't the end of the world--contrary to what some other reviews would complain about, it IS physically possible to stop aiming down, jump, then aim down again (shocking, I know)--but it would make the game that smidge more intuitive to have dodging as its own button. There is some satisfaction in pulling off the jump-then-aim-down thing, but I think the experience of accidentally dying from an unintended roll is more frustrating than that is satisfying, creating this weird, slight negative in the experience. Note that I know Contra: Hard Corps has this exact same issue and I LOVE that game. The difference is, the Genesis controller had 3 face buttons and no shoulder buttons. Modern controllers have at least 4 face buttons and 4 shoulder buttons. This leaves at least 3 buttons open for use in Blazing Chrome's current control scheme.

Continuing down that line of thought, a dedicated melee button would be nice. This has some more difficult design issues though, since being able to spam melee on a whim is most likely overpowered alongside a ranged toolset (SHMOILER: hell, that's the other two characters' main design gimmick: melee-on-demand ). This has some potential fixes, including A) still requiring enemies to be in range, and B) having a general cooldown on a whiffed melee that serves as punishment for missing. This second issue of melee I bring up is less concrete, I should say. There is something inherently satisfying about timing a melee attack with the shoot button that I cannot deny, but it's frustrating when I WANT to shoot but throw out a melee instead. Or vice versa. More control is what I'm advocating for, but I think either design decision is valid at the end of the day.

The best solution to all of this is the following: have different control options that allow for these kinds or input. Checkbox for dedicated melee and checkbox for dedicated roll in the settings menu. I'm sure all of this is a pain to implement though, and I'm just grateful this game exists. Seriously.

Thank you, Joymasher and Allone Works, for providing such a phenomenal arcade action experience <3.

Also, to the two people reading this edit: CHECK OUT MOONRIDER!!! It's Joymasher's next game and it looks SO ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ impossibly sick that I can't wait to play it. It looks like Shinobi 3 + Mega Man X and that ♥♥♥♥ has me positively beaming with excitement. Geocrusher theme from Moonrider, by Dominic Ninmark, I've listened to a hundred times and it JUST SLAPS. Just go look it up dude pls

Original review:

This game is pretty much on par with the genre staples.

That's very high praise coming from me.

Finely tuned gameplay, strong visuals and music, and memorable set pieces / bosses. I'll be replaying this one multiple times.

If you like run 'n gunners, or just challenging arcade titles in general, buy this.

EDIT: I still STRONGLY recommend this game run-n-gun and Contra fans, it's a fucking amazing love letter to the Contra and Metal Slug games that I positively adore. Fantastic music that recalls the adrenalin-feuled FM-powered rock and synthwave of the arcade and the genesis with memorable melodies and badass vibe. Exhilirating level, enemy and boss design that is as interesting to engage with as it is surprising. A genuine, action film romp. However I do have some gripes about it having played it as much as I have. For one, dodge rolling would be better if it had a dedicated button. This isn't the end of the world--contrary to what some other reviews would complain about, it [i]IS[/i] physically possible to stop aiming down, jump, then aim down again (shocking, I know)--but it would make the game that smidge more intuitive to have dodging as its own button. There is some satisfaction in pulling off the jump-then-aim-down thing, but I think the experience of accidentally dying from an unintended roll is more frustrating than that is satisfying, creating this weird, slight negative in the experience. Note that I [i]know[/i] Contra: Hard Corps has this exact same issue and I LOVE that game. The difference is, the Genesis controller had 3 face buttons and no shoulder buttons. Modern controllers have at least 4 face buttons and 4 shoulder buttons. This leaves at least 3 buttons open for use in Blazing Chrome's current control scheme. Continuing down that line of thought, a dedicated melee button would be nice. This has some more difficult design issues though, since being able to spam melee on a whim is most likely overpowered alongside a ranged toolset (SHMOILER: [spoiler]hell, that's the other two characters' main design gimmick: melee-on-demand[/spoiler] ). This has some potential fixes, including A) still requiring enemies to be in range, and B) having a general cooldown on a whiffed melee that serves as punishment for missing. This second issue of melee I bring up is less concrete, I should say. There is something inherently satisfying about timing a melee attack with the shoot button that I cannot deny, but it's frustrating when I WANT to shoot but throw out a melee instead. Or vice versa. More control is what I'm advocating for, but I think either design decision is valid at the end of the day. The best solution to all of this is the following: have different control options that allow for these kinds or input. Checkbox for dedicated melee and checkbox for dedicated roll in the settings menu. I'm sure all of this is a pain to implement though, and I'm just grateful this game exists. Seriously. Thank you, Joymasher and Allone Works, for providing such a phenomenal arcade action experience <3. Also, to the two people reading this edit: CHECK OUT MOONRIDER!!! It's Joymasher's next game and it looks SO fucking impossibly sick that I can't wait to play it. It looks like Shinobi 3 + Mega Man X and that shit has me positively beaming with excitement. Geocrusher theme from Moonrider, by Dominic Ninmark, I've listened to a hundred times and it JUST SLAPS. Just go look it up dude pls Original review: This game is pretty much on par with the genre staples. That's very high praise coming from me. Finely tuned gameplay, strong visuals and music, and memorable set pieces / bosses. I'll be replaying this one multiple times. If you like run 'n gunners, or just challenging arcade titles in general, buy this.