''Last Hope'' is a single-player horizontally scrolling shooter for the

Neo Geo AES The , stylised as NEO•GEO and also written as NEOGEO, is a cartridge-based arcade system board and the fourth generation home video game console released on April 26, 1990 by Japanese game company SNK Corporation. It was the first system in ...

Neo Geo CD The is the second home video game console of SNK Corporation's Neo Geo family, released on September 9, 1994, four years after its cartridge-based equivalent. This is the same platform, converted to the cheaper CD format retailing at per titl ...

, and

Dreamcast The is a home video game console released by Sega on November 27, 1998, in Japan; September 9, 1999, in North America; and October 14, 1999, in Europe. It was the first sixth-generation video game console, preceding Sony's PlayStation 2, N ...

systems. It was developed by

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

developer NG:Dev.Team in 2006. While the Neo Geo version was self-published, the

version was released by RedSpotGames in January 2007 as an unlicensed title. In 2009 the

version received a reprint in the form of a

director's cut A director's cut is an edited version of a film (or video game, television episode, music video, or commercial) that is supposed to represent the director's own approved edit in contrast to the theatrical release. "Cut" explicitly refers to the ...

called ''Last Hope: Pink Bullets'' which addressed several gameplay-related issues. A

Neo Geo Neo Geo is a family of video game hardware developed by SNK. On the market from 1990 to 2004, the brand originated with the release of an arcade system, the Neo Geo MVS and its home console counterpart, the Neo Geo AES. The Neo Geo MVS was ...

version of ''Pink Bullets'' was released in February 2011.

Plot

An evil empire from another galaxy is heading towards Earth. Barely 24 hours beforehand, they had penetrated the last line of defense in Earth's galaxy, the Arsion Laser Belt. Millions of innocent people perished in outer space colonies, and 70% of Earth's fleet was destroyed during first contact. Intelligence reports six days until their arrival. As conventional weapons cannot stop them, the last hope is in the playable pilot's hands: the Z-42 Warpstar. The pilot's mission is to warp into the enemy's territories and destroy their leader before they reach Earth.

Development

Release

July 10, 2006: NG:Dev.Team produced 60 Units of the game for

and sold it directly via their website. January 30, 2007: RedSpotGames published 2500 Units of the game (500 copies were reserved for sale with the Limited Edition). May 3, 2007: The Limited Edition of ''Last Hope'' was released with 500 vinyl-styled compact discs containing the soundtrack. November 19, 2007: NG:Dev.Team produced 500 units for

. September 4, 2009: NG:Dev.Team produced 1000 Units of ''Last Hope: Pink Bullets,'' which were distributed Internationally by RedSpotGames. As a response to criticism regarding the game's difficulty, NG:Dev.Team released an updated version titled ''Last Hope: Pink Bullets'' for the

on September 19, 2009, with a

version releasing on February 21, 2011. This edition features improved on-screen visibility in comparison to its first print due to the titular pink bullets, as well as various other features to make for a more accessible gameplay experience with an emphasis on scoring. Since only 60 copies of the

version were ever produced, and were only available for purchase directly from NG:Dev.Team, this is an extremely rare and collectible title. Due to the low availability and high cost of producing the cartridges, the game was sold for €550 (around $730). In contrast, the

version sells for $40, and the "Limited Edition" with bundled soundtrack CD was sold for $80. Van Basilco and Play-Asia were the only online stores approved to sell ''Last Hope'' for the

. The Limited Edition was limited to only 500 units and is already a highly sought after item. It sold out 5 days after the release day and currently prices up to $259.

Reception

Comparisons were drawn to "old school" shooters like ''

R-Type is a scrolling shooter, horizontally scrolling shooter arcade video game developed and released by Irem in 1987 and the first game in the List of R-Type video games, ''R-Type'' series. The player controls a star ship, the R-9 "Arrowhead", in ...

'' and '' Gradius'', but especially of '' Pulstar'', with its "tactical"

gameplay Gameplay is the specific way in which players interact with a game, and in particular with video games. Gameplay is the pattern defined through the game rules, connection between player and the game, challenges and overcoming them, plot and pla ...

and

pre-rendered Pre-rendering is the process in which video footage is not rendered in real-time by the hardware that is outputting or playing back the video. Instead, the video is a recording of footage that was previously rendered on different equipment (typi ...

backgrounds and sprites. The game has been criticized for featuring very hard to distinguish enemy-bullets which are almost the same color as explosions/debris. Some reviewers have commended ''Last Hope'' as technically impressive for Neo Geo standards, while others focus criticism on gameplay issues. The

version of this game features higher visibility due to pink colored bullets, which are better to distinguish between explosions/debris. In response to the criticism, ''Last Hope: Pink Bullets'' was released in 2009 for

. The ratings range from 54% (MAN!AC,

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

) to 80% (GamesTM, UK) or second best score "good" (PC Action,

)

References

External links