Starfighter Sanvein is a multidirectional shooter for the Playstation 1.
(I've played this game on the PS3 and its surprisingly good)
How do I describe the gameplay: The objective is that you control a spacecraft and you get a choice of one of 3 primary weapons and one of 3 secondary weapons each with a specific characteristic, for instance one primary weapon is a laser that shoots straight and another is spread gun, secondary weapons include a cluster of homing missiles and another an even stronger laser. You choose one of the levels and then you fly around destroying everything in seconds, paving the way to fight a boss battle, all the while the time of 400 seconds (I actually think it goes quicker then that) ticks away quickly leaving an adrenaline feeling that can leave you on the edge of you couch.
What makes the game interesting is that as you clear stages, you get an attack bonus, depending on how many cleared stages surrounding the next one. The more cleared stages surrounding this the more firepower you pack. The maximum is 6, which is usually reserved for Boss stages. In other words if you clear the stages surrounding a boss stage you get so such a hige firepower bonus that the boss becomes a cakewalk where if you didn't it would take more firepower and time to take out. Once all boss stages are cleared, the player takes on the primary boss before moving on to the next level.
What makes this game intense is that you're fighting against the clock, you get extra time of 140s when you defeat a boss but lose 90s when you are hit, so room for error is minimal.
While the game offers unlimited continues, they add an interesting elemenet to counter those who dislike unlimited continues by locking your score after using one, meaning that to get the best score you've got to playthrough without running out of time, which is the biggest challenge.
What can hamper the game's enjoyment is the controls: For one, the game is incredibly slippery, its about as smooth as an ice skating rink. The other problem is that you can't strafe left or right without turning to avoid enemy fire. The game doesn't support analog stick either so you have to manoeuvre with the D-pad.
There's no story in this game, while there is a little information in the instruction manual, thats about it. You don't get any backstory in the game.
Final grade: B-
Would I recommend this to VGC? I think he should give this a try. I know he loves shooters and I don't think he's ever played a game like this.