Indie publisher Ratalaika Games has become most well known for retro styled games that have easy trophies and achievements. Almost every week they release a new title on consoles that fits that criteria. Recently however they brought back a classic game from the Mega Drive called Gleylancer and now they’re doing it again. Gynoug is their latest release and it’s another classic shmup from the past that you can now enjoy on modern platforms.
Gynoug is a side-scrolling shmup that first released on the Sega Genesis back in 1991. In the game, you control an angel named Wor and have to put an end to the demons and their leader the Destroyer in order to save the world. Across six levels you’ll fight all kinds of demons, mini-bosses, and bosses on your quest. The game isn’t very long but like most games from Ratalaika Games this one is very affordable so I think you get plenty here for the asking price.
The gameplay is like most shoot ‘em ups where you can move Wor around the screen however you want as the screen scrolls. Your main controls pretty much boil down to three buttons; one for attacking, one for your special attack, and one to rewind to get out of mistakes. Enemies are varied with lots of grotesque fleshy designs especially the bosses. The game is challenging as there is constantly attacks coming from all over the place that will quickly end you. You can upgrade your abilities by picking up gems and scrolls as you play but if you continue to struggle then there have been some features added here to make it easier should you need to. Not only do you have the rewind ability but you can also turn on cheats like invincibility, infinite lives, and so on. You can pretty much toggle these on and off anytime you want making it very easy to see the game through to the end even for those who aren’t great at shoot ‘em ups.
The graphics in the game look good considering when the game released but there are some not so great things. I noticed some flickering issues at times and the main character sprite also isn’t great. The enemy designs are the highlight as well as some nice background effects that make the scenes feel a bit more alive. Trophy/achievement hunters will find a pretty easy list in Gynoug which only requires you to beat all the levels and achieve certain scores to unlock all 13 of them. All of this is easy enough should you use the cheats provided to you.
Gynoug should be a fun trip for anyone looking to see what one of the oldest shoot ‘em ups has to offer. The game is punishing but newly added options make it so anyone can see it though to the end. It will only last you a couple hours but considering it’s only a few dollars you’ll get plenty of bang for your buck here.
*Gynoug is available now on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC. PlayStation 5 version reviewed. Review copy provided by the publisher for this review.