Deep Blue: A review

Lord Thag · 05/09/2009, 12:33 AM

Yesterday, right before I got off work, I was talking on the shoutbox when a certain, hammer-wielding moderator (who shall remain nameless

) threatened me with impending bodily harm if I continued to bag on his favorite shooter, Deep Blue.

Long story short, he convinced me to give it another whirl, and so I did. The first time I played it, I popped it in between several A-list titles, thought it sucked, and went my merry way. So, last night, I made myself sit down and play a game or two to see if my first impressions were wrong. Here's the result:

At first, my impressions were the same. The first level is bland, the powerups are awful, and your fish/sub thing moves slower than a fat lady with an oxygen tank at wally world. I died pretty quick. Now, the advice i was given was 'don't judge before you get to the second level', so I was determined to do just that before I gave up. So I played a few more games.

As I played it, I discovered that it plays kind of different from your regular shooter. First off, the powerups have this kind of rock/paper/scissors relationship with the different schools of fish you shoot. A power up will suck against one kind of foe, and obliterate another. unlike most shooters, the strategy seems to be to switch weapons frequently in response to whatevr enemy you happen to be facing. Once I figured that out, I began to like them. Also, I noticed that the game is less about flying around and dodging madly, and more about positioning and fine adjustments of your sub. Once you get that down, the difficulty (which was murderous) tones down to something more manageable.

Next thing I knew, I was flying through the first level like a pro. The boss was pretty simple, but neat looking. The second stage was much better. Lots of totally new enemies, prettier graphics, and a much better flow. In fact, about halfway through that, I noticed something: I was having fun. It's not the best shooter on the system, not by a long shot, but it's fun, and it's different, and it's FAR better than my first impression indicated. It really does put it's worst foot forward in the first level, and it suffers because you will get killed if you try and play it like, say, one of the Star Soldier games.

Much to my surprise, I got home today and the first thing that popped in my head was "I want to go play some Deep Blue". Who would have guessed? It's actually pretty fun, you just have to change your approach, and be willing to grind through the first level and learn how the game plays. Sure, it's no Lord of Thunder or Sapphire, but it is exactly what it tries to be: a unique, rather fun little shooter, with an odd take on powerups.

Like the man said, don't give up on it until you've seen a few levels.

nat · 05/09/2009, 12:38 AM

Awesome. Just.... awesome. That is all.

Arkhan Asylum · 05/09/2009, 03:34 AM

a girl at my highschool had a cousin with a turbo and we were talking about it on accident at her graduation party and the first thing out of her mouth was

"Deep Blue kicks so much ass. If it were a person id hump it"

then me and my friend joked that we wished we were deep blue, but thats besides the point.

Lol

Lord Thag · 05/11/2009, 06:46 PM

Ok, quick question. I've made it to the end of stage 2 a couple of times, and the stinkin' jellyfish boss kills me in one hit everytime by bumping into me. I'm too slow to dodge. Am I missing something obvious, or is this guy just a cheap boss?

Any experts on pixilated turbografx undersea combat tactics?

VestCunt · 05/11/2009, 09:55 PM

I was 12, standing in Toys R Us, trying to decide which $10 game to buy. I picked Deep Blue over World Court Tennis. It certainly didn't impress any of my friends and I was bummed about that, but I did play it a fair amount (my collection peaked at 8 games the first time I bought a TurboGrafx). After a while I remember making it to the forth and final level. Don't recall any strategies though, sorry.

nat · 05/11/2009, 10:40 PM

Get the swirl cutter (blue weapon) and stay in the far lower left corner so that you can still hit the jellyfish. You'll probably need the turbo buttons turned on.

Quote from: guest on 05/11/2009, 09:55 PMforth and final level

Heh, that's what you think....

Lord Thag · 05/11/2009, 11:49 PM

Ah, ok. I was coming in too high. Thanks nat!

nat · 05/12/2009, 06:28 PM

It helps if you are able to power up the cutter weapon a couple times by avoiding being hit between powerups. If you power it up 2 or 3 levels and keep it that way until you face the jellyfish, he'll go down ridiculously fast.

geise · 05/13/2009, 10:32 AM

Hmmm...sounds like I need to put Deep Blue back in and give it a couple more tries. Think I'm on a mission to beat it...if that's even possible. Nat I take it you've beaten it?

spenoza · 05/13/2009, 03:27 PM

Nat, you need to make for us some YouTube videos of playing (well) some of these under-appreciated (or bad, depending on your take) games.

nat · 05/13/2009, 11:40 PM

Quote from: geise on 05/13/2009, 10:32 AMHmmm...sounds like I need to put Deep Blue back in and give it a couple more tries. Think I'm on a mission to beat it...if that's even possible. Nat I take it you've beaten it?

Yes.

Quote from: guest on 05/13/2009, 03:27 PMNat, you need to make for us some YouTube videos of playing (well) some of these under-appreciated (or bad, depending on your take) games.

I have to admit, I'm not really up on the whole YouTube generation. I don't think my computer is equipped to handle a video signal input, and there's no way in hell you're gonna catch me playing a game in emulation for video capture. If I ever figure out how to set up my computer for video input I'll consider it, though.

spenoza · 05/14/2009, 12:19 PM

USB capture cards are pretty cheap but they introduce lag. You could probably tap two different video outputs or split the video signal, however, and play on a TV without lag and record to the PC without having the lag affect your gameplay.

Lorfarius · 05/18/2009, 06:55 AM

This thread needs screenshots

exile · 05/19/2009, 02:26 PM

Seconded Also thanks to your review I may go out and add it to my shooter collection. Whats a fair price for it?

Nazi NecroPhile · 05/19/2009, 03:08 PM

Quote from: exile on 05/19/2009, 02:26 PMSeconded Also thanks to your review I may go out and add it to my shooter collection. Whats a fair price for it?

They should pay you to take it off their hands.

Seriously though, you should be able to get it for $5 or so (plus shipping).

exile · 05/19/2009, 06:08 PM

ROFLOL Damn who on the boards will pay me to take it?!!!!