Irem was a video game publisher who made a lot of arcade classics like Moon Patrol, Kid Niki: Radical Ninja, Kung Fu Master, and R-Type.  They also made a lot of console games, including a couple of my favorites: Kickle Cubicle on NES and Steambot Chronicles on PS2.  Sadly they went out of business in 2011, but now you can play a handful of their arcade games in this collection.  There’s nothing that really ties any of these games together except they are all 2D shooters that march to the beat of their own drum.  This collection is available on most current consoles but reviewed on Switch here.  Let’s take a look at the games on this collection!

Mr. Heli

Mr. Heli was known as Battle Chopper worldwide, but I never saw it in arcades.  You pilot a cute little helicopter as you shoot baddies in areas that sometimes are free-roam, and other times autoscroll.  You can shoot straight ahead, use missiles to fire upward, or bombs below when you are on the ground.  There are rocks that you can shoot from above and below that’ll contain crystals for you to collect, and shops you can spend them on power-ups like better weapons.  But if you get hit too many times, you’ll have to start at the beginning of the stage with no power-ups.  And that’s really the main problem I had with this one is that it was too darn hard.  One cool thing is that they also let you play the PC Engine home console version of this game (the PC Engine was known at the TurboGrafix-16 in the US). It’s a bit more manageable, but still tough.

Mystic Riders

I had never heard of this one either.  It’s a 2D side scrolling shooter that definitely takes inspiration from Cotton as you pilot little witches on flying brooms.  I’m glad that this one lets you start right where you left off if you get a Game Over.  The graphics are beautiful to look at, but also the game’s downfall as the detailed backgrounds make it hard to see bullets and other things that can hit you.

Dragon Breed

And last is another 2D horizontally scrolling shooter with a unique hook.  You play as a little archer dude riding atop a dragon.  Both you and the dragon can shoot and get power-ups.  The dragon can deflect bullets but anything that touches your rider will make you lose a life.  Like Mr. Heli, it’s one of those games that starts you back at the beginning of the stage if you die, so it’s way too hard.

And those are all the games!  My only big problems with this collection is that there’s only three games, and none of them are real standouts.  Even though the games are way too hard, at least you can use rewind features and activate cheats.

Kid Factor:

Irem Collection Volume 3 is rated E-10 with an ESRB descriptor of Fantasy Violence. You can shoot flying machines and monsters that just explode and disappear when defeated and that’s it.  I grew up playing games like these and I turned out OK.  Reading skill is helpful but not necessary to play.  Younger players may find the games too difficult, though.

Tags: Game Reviews