ACA NEOGEO Last Resort

Genre: Shmup

Players: 1-2 Co-Op (Local), Online Leaderboards

.

Review:

Last Resort is a Shmup released in 1992 in arcades and on the NEOGEO home console, with a port to NEOGEO CD in 1996 after being a launch title for the platform in its Japanese release. This modern release sees the game coming to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch in 2017.

Last Resort is one of those Shmups with gameplay built around an indestructible external drone acting as extra gunfire and a shield, with the ability to shift its position on the fly. It takes a bit of getting used to, but once you do this becomes an excellent component of the gameplay.

On the downside, this game is a bit on the tough side when it comes to Shmups, particularly because dying forces you back to the last invisible checkpoint. What’s more, the game suffers from some nasty slowdown and flickering. The game is also notoriously short (well, it expects you to play through each of the levels twice to beat the game, which isn’t a great way to extend the game’s length). Additionally, this is one of those Shmups that made you repeatedly tap the fire button to fire, though thankfully you can change this in the ACA NEOGEO options.

This release of the game includes a new “Hi-Score Mode” that challenges players to score as much as they can in one run before seeing a game over screen. There is also a new “Caravan Mode” that does much the same, but with the limit being five minutes. In addition, this release of the game includes both English and Japanese versions, and gives players a decent array of options, including various display options, sound options, challenge modifiers, button mapping, and online leaderboards.

In the end, despite its flaws I think Last Resort is a solid Shmup, although it’s a solid Shmup with problems. The slowdown, flickering, unforgiving difficulty, and short length all contribute to a game that’s not nearly as good as it clearly could have been. Still, if you’re looking for good Shmups on the Nintendo Switch, this one isn’t one I would overlook.

tl;dr – Last Resort is a Shmup focused on a game mechanic where players have an invincible drone rotating around the ship firing and protecting you. The core gameplay here is great, but it’s tarnished by horrible slowdown and flickering, an overly-tough difficulty, and a short game length. This one is still worth getting, but I wouldn’t put it near the top of your “must-have Shmups” list.

Grade: C+

^{You can support eShopperReviews on Patreon! Please click HERE to become a Sponsor!}

^{This month’s sponsors are Jamie and His Cats, Ben, Ilya Zverev, Andy Miller, Johannes, Francis Obst, Gabriel Coronado-Medina, Jared Wark, Kristoffer Wulff, and Seth Christenfeld. Thank you for helping to keep the reviews coming!}