Adding to my Arcade Archives collection on Switch, I picked up a copy of Moon Cresta earlier. This is a game I was broadly familiar with but I don't think I'd ever actually played it — rather, I had a game on Atari 8-bit called Space Eggs which, in retrospect, is a complete ripoff of Moon Cresta, right down to the "stacking" ships.
Anyway, one of the things I've discovered I absolutely love about Moon Cresta is that it has some of the absolute best retro game noises I think I've ever heard. I can also say with confidence that I've found the source that Jeff Minter has pinched most of his sound effects from — the ones which aren't from Defender, that is.
Moon Cresta is interesting in that it occupies a space that is clearly at the tail end of the "fixed shooter" and trying, trying so desperately to push on into being a vertical scroller and just not quite getting there. It's good fun, though — it reminds me of some other early shooters like SNK's Ozma Wars, but with slightly more fair-feeling balance.
I'm interested to try Terra Cresta, too — and I'll have a good familiarity with them both by the time that new Platinum shmup comes out, whenever that shows up. (checks) Oh, apparently December 9. Good timing, I guess?
Anyway. Play retro games. And Blue Reflection: Second Light. That is all. Good night!
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