Korean Soul

A curious specimen that can compete with Defender of the Freedom (also presented on our website) for the title of the very first South Korean shoot 'em up for PC. Despite some "unsightliness", this game was released not just as a commercial product, but in a real cardboard box, while being a colossal rarity until a certain point, hidden from the public by greedy people. Plot: South Korea is attacked by aliens, and a local pilot, sitting at the helm of the latest fighter, fights alone against them; That's all, but more is not needed to justify what is happening.

The gameplay is quite standard for the subgenre. The perspective of the view is a view from above; The airplane moves forward automatically, but at our command it can go left and right, as well as "brake" and "accelerate". Ammunition in the form of missiles is infinite; Shooting is carried out with the help of the "space" (alas, you can't just hold down this key - you just need to press). There are only six levels, and there are four "lives" (the number of remaining ones, that is, not counting the current one, is displayed in the lower left corner of the screen), and within each of them, which is not very typical for shoot 'em ups, there is also not the smallest margin of safety, expressed in the form of a decreasing red vertical scale along the left border of space; In case of death and in the presence of "attempts", the plane respawns instantly in the same place where it exploded. In the course of the passage, you can collect a variety of bonuses (one of their types, interestingly, is national flags); Apparently, all of them strengthen our attack in one way or another, which is manifested in the addition of some additional effects to its visualization. The contents of the "arsenal", divided into categories, are available for study on the left side of the screen - and it is noticeable that when firing, the stocks of the corresponding contraptions decrease. In addition, there are special items for restoring the "health" of the airplane.

Opponents are represented by various futuristic aircraft and robotic entities of various shapes and sizes; some die almost instantly, while others need to be hit a fair number of times before they explode; It seems that in fact individual enemies move below or above us, since contact with them is sometimes (but quite rarely) harmless. Some adversaries just fly from top to bottom on the screen and, although they shoot, they do not attack us intentionally, so it is possible to avoid them; others, on the contrary, attack precisely purposefully and can even "reverse". In general, the concentration of enemies is quite high, so the gameplay cannot be called easy; However, its main difficulty lies not in the most responsive controls, to put it mildly: maneuvering is carried out with great difficulty (technically, regardless of the amount of free space), and it is impossible to set up "barrage" fire (although if the shots are enhanced by several bonuses, then the damage to enemies and the range of the striking wave are decent).

From the point of view of graphics, everything looks simple, but quite nice: our airplane and the objects opposing it look like toys, and the urban landscapes spread out below (and shown on the title screens) are drawn quite carefully and atmospheric. If you remember that this thing is one of the very first South Korean PC games, then the impression becomes completely positive. Yes, shoot 'em uThere are enough works made much more professionally in all respects nowadays - but the historical significance and cultural value of Korean Soul are enormous, plus it is relatively entertaining in itself, attracting attention, including patriotic pathos, albeit somewhat amusing.