Crimzon Clover WORLD IGNITION Review: Fine, Fresh Bullet Hell

Crimzon Clover WORLD IGNITION is a perfect reminder of why old Arcade games could keep you glued to a screen for hours and still keep you coming back for more. Created by Japanese developer Yotsubane, Crimzon Clover was originally released in Japan for Windows back in 2011, before a worldwide version was released on Steam in June last year, where it was met with very positive reviews. Being a fan of most retro titles, it was as if the secret love I harbor for Xenon 2 Megablast suddenly came forth and commanded that I play this game. And so it was precisely when the neon colored menu screen seared into my visual field and I heard that classic electronic backing track that I just knew this game was going to be epic.

I began my modern age shmup campaign with the basic tutorial that the game offers, which is highly customizable and allows you to do things like tweak your ship type, alter the level difficulty, select your desired stage or boss to fight against, and more. This prepared me well enough for the main game, which you can play in either Novice mode or Arcade mode. These modes break down further into Original mode, Unlimited mode, and Time Attack mode, although the last two are not available if you play on Novice like I did, since I wanted to get a basic taste for the gameplay. Even though it’s described as being great for beginners, Novice mode still gives you a good run for your money, especially if you try and complete the game without using a continue. Before you begin, you can select one of three types of ships, each with different speeds and attack radii. After experimenting with all three, I decided that the swiftness of Type III was perfect for dodging the relentless rain of bullets waiting ahead of me.

The game begins with a short cutscene that depicts a tiny space ship emerging from a docking bay, and then the bullet blasting begins. Masses of alien ships will quickly descend upon you, forcing you to shoot back continuously. You can also lock onto other ships for more precise shooting, but this will slow down your top speed. Your objective is simple: Defeat all enemies on the screen without dying and progress to the next stage. What complicates the process is the large number of ships trying to kill you, and figuring out a way to maneuver around the pyrotechnic frenzy of their attacks.

In return for defeating them, your ship attracts stars which you need in order to get a high score. Numbers frantically splash across the screen for each ship you kill, something which helps fill your ‘break meter.’ When the break meter fills up a certain amount, you can equip bombs that wipe the whole screen with a waterfall of fire, or wait until it maxes out completely to launch ‘break mode.’ Break mode is like heaven in this game. Not only does it increase your attack radius, it also increases your bullet speed, which makes you virtually invincible for a temporary amount of time.

Visually, Crimzon Clover bears a strong resemblance to a Cave game and has high octane, high energy gameplay with a perfectly suited electronic soundtrack. It is a fine tribute to Arcade shooters of yesteryear, both in terms of its visual 2D style as well as its level design. Impressively, each stage feels fresh: Despite the obvious repetitive nature of the shooting mechanic, I was drawn into viewing each stage as a different experience every time.

Difficulty-wise, the stages were hard, but always fair. I never felt like rage quitting, but getting past a whole barrage of alien ships and taking down those bosses at the very end certainly wasn’t a breeze. Overall, Crimzon Clover succeeds in capturing the essence of a good shmup game without question. The sweet satisfaction of blasting aliens to smithereens will never get old, and each time I activated break mode (and more rarely, double break mode), the joy of being able to shoot with reckless abandon was just wonderful.

There is this profound and complex bliss in shmup games that contrasts with their paradoxically simple nature, and not every recent title captures that magic that the classics seemed to do so effortlessly-but Crimzon Clover does. I did have some difficulties finding the pause button mid-gameplay, as well as the start menu, but this didn’t sour the experience too much. It was later on that I discovered these button configurations could be changed at the very start of the game via the initial screen menu, but not knowing that upon launching the game had me feeling frustrated that I couldn’t restart a game, skip cutscenes, or even pause the game to take a breather.

Once you’ve plowed your way through Original mode, Crimzon Clover lives on through its Unlimited mode, which is nothing but hardcore bullet hell craziness, and Time Attack Mode, where you have precisely three-minutes to obliterate as many enemies as you can to earn the highest score possible. Unlimited mode is definitely not for the faint of heart. It bumps up the difficulty level a few notches, which would most likely cater to more seasoned, hardcore shmup fans; but nevertheless, I still recommend this mode for anyone that is looking for a good challenge.

Unlimited mode is fiendishly, and unashamedly, difficult

Time Attack mode is the sole reason why I think we need a new abbreviation like FPS (frames per second), but it should instead be called DPS (deaths per second), because the amount of times I died in this mode is ridiculous. As you can see in the screenshot below, there is an infinity symbol on the left under the ‘lives’ section, so you can always respawn no matter how many times you’ve died. Combined with all the previous game mechanics like the challenge of shooting all enemies, and engaging break mode, I still found Time Attack to be enjoyable, but I feel it is constrained by its single level stage design, and would present the player with more adventure if multiple levels were added.

Time Attack mode provides you with unlimited lives to unleash your inner wrath for the highest score possible

In short, Crimzon Clover is absolutely brilliant. If you are a fan of 2D shooter games, and you want to relive the glory of the Arcade days on your computer in full HD resolution, this is not to be missed. You can buy Crimzon Clover WORLD IGNITION on Steam for $9.99 USD today. It’s an absolute gem for a very fair price. And don’t forget to let me know your high score.