On the wings of the angels

The classic side-scrolling shooters usually hold up pretty well. It’s a simple concept, after all. Hold down the fire button, avoid enemies and their projectiles, and collect powerups and try to get the highest score possible. Gynoug is just one of those games. Even though I had never heard of it before, I knew exactly what I was getting into when I saw the first screen.

Also known as Wings of Wor, Gynoug has players taking on the role of a winged angel as he flies through multiple levels shooting demons and other evil looking creatures through different landscapes. There’s not much story here considering this is a shoot ‘em up from 1991. But it has a little more depth than just hold down the fire button.

Platforms: Xbox, PlayStation, Switch
MSRP: $6.99
Price I’d pay: $6.99

Players can collect upgrades to the standard fire that adds mor spread, faster shots, and even shots that fire from the back of the angel. Along the way, they can also collect spells they can use as a super attack of sorts. Some come in the form of shields, ground attacks, and elemental abilities. Granted, starting this game, it doesn’t really tell the player what anything means. I just started picking up items and pressing buttons.

This is one of those “one hit death” games. Taking even one hit will lose a life, lose all the lives, use up a continue, lose all the continues, and it’s game over. There is no randomization with the levels so theoretically, players can memorize each area and perfect their play, but luckily, Ratalaika has added some wonderful quality of life improvements to the experience. There are save states, a rewind feature, and a full cheat system that ranges from infinite lives to invincibility. Oh, and if I activated the cheats, I could still earn all the achievements. It’s a sweet little package that allows players to play however they want.

The look of the levels is pretty great as well. There’s a castle level that looks like something out of Castlevania, and the obligatory shmup level that looks like I’m inside a creature’s body with organs pulsating and veins all around. It’s a classic 90’s shoot ‘em up.

If you put on the invincibility, players can take down the final boss in maybe 35 minutes. It’s a quick playthrough but altering the cheats or challenging myself and trying to power through it all without cheating could result in hours of play time. For seven bucks, that’s not a bad deal. It’s a classic game that I don’t think many have heard of and one that shoot ‘em up fans will probably want to check out, and with all the features added into this release, it’s a solid package for the purists out there.

Review copy of game provided by publisher.