The late ‘80s to early ‘90s were such a golden era for the shoot ‘em up (shmup for short) as it became one of the most common and revered genres. I find shmups often work best whenever they are associated with either Japanese fanservice style visuals or extreme sci-fi vibes. Rainbow Arts understood the assignment and produced X-Out all the way back in 1989 for platforms like the Amiga and Commodore 64. ININ and Ziggurat have since decided remake the title and make the most of the recent shmup resurgence by challenging gamers to X-Out once again on modern platforms. Let’s see if it’s worth the deep dive into X-Out Resurfaced.
Setting Out
X-Out Resurfaced (pronounced “Cross Out”) sees an alien menace rise from the deep sea. It’s up to you, the baddest submarine diver, to take them out using modified subs made of alien tech. That’s the story, that’s all you’re gonna get, and by the gods of the shmup, that’s all you need.
I will however chuck X-Out Resurfaced a quick bonus point from the get-go for having a brilliantly well-drawn initial cutscene sequence. It absolutely embodied the Amiga vibes (given its original release platform) and I mean that most respectfully and lovingly as someone who publicly has nothing but appreciation for that system.
Cross Section
X-Out Resurfaced is a traditional title which remasters a somewhat cult-classic horizontal “Euroshmup”. These differ from Japanese-style shmups with reliance on scenery that can kill you instantly, more samey levels, and basic bullet patterns that require prior knowledge more than pure skill. This isn’t a criticism per se, but this sort of design is common to Euroshmups and gives the sub-genre something of a reputation. Otherwise, the gameplay is pretty standard: screen scrolls, enemies come at you and you shoot them down. The main difference between X-Out Resurfaced and its peers is it takes the nautical theme to a whole new level, with you piloting a submarine rather than a conventional air or space ship, and the game is based around an in-game store.
X-Out Resurfaced has a responsive 8-way control system (fortunately with no momentum stored with your movement), 8 levels to swim through each culminating with a boss fight, and a rather basic scoring system in that the more enemies you destroy, the more points you earn. This game is on the side of more survival-based gameplay over score-chasing.
Workshopping
To make the game stand out from the crowd, there is a “shop” system. Whenever you start a run, you are given a certain amount of in-game credits to buy a ship of your choice and choose its various features. For instance, you can choose shot type, whether it has “option” ships (i.e. support ships surrounding your main one), and having secondary fire. After each stage, you’ll return to this shop. The main loop of the game involves you finding out which submarine works best for you, and once you figure that out the cracks in the sea floor start to form.
The game is incredibly unbalanced at the start. Once you have memorized the first two stages though, you can quite easily fly through the game. The only major issues I had were the scenery that has a habit of instantly killing the player, or just not getting enough points to convert to credits to buy extra ships that count as lives. This feature to get extra lives isn’t communicated at all in the game and had me trying my hardest to beat the game on one life for far too long until I figured that out.
Shop system aside, there isn’t a whole lot to set X-Out Resurfaced out from the crowd, especially in today’s era of abundant, quality shmups. Unless you really have a passion for the more retro-feeling shmup or just got tired of games like R-Type Final 3, this is certainly aimed more for fans of the original or hardcore shmup fans who need to savor every one-credit clear.
Lights and Sounds
Visually, X-Out Resurfaced keeps the Amiga sprites from the original but tidies them up a little to work with higher resolutions. I liked this very much as it helped keep the game’s identity.
What I didn’t like was the whole attempt at modernization by throwing bloom effects on just about everything making it look like an over-the-top mobile game giving it a really cheap and tacky look to it. This is a problem when taken together with the atmosphere of the game, given you’re supposed to be a sole unit taking it to an alien menace in the deep sea. The lighting effects are at odds with the background and theme, and make it look more like you’re in space. When one of the selling points of the game is that you’re in a submarine in the deep ocean, it’s a shame the game feels like it was made to appeal to a modern audience by making it light up like Vegas.
The soundtrack is an absolute standout, especially for retro heads. The music is scored by legendary composer Chris Huelsbeck, who is famous for titles like Turrican, The Great Giana Sisters, Jim Power, and the Star Wars Rogue Squadron series. X-Out Resurfaced fits right in his esteemed catalog with some fantastic guitar focused tunes that just fit the shmup vibe oh so well.
Verdict
X-Out Resurfaced is a bizarre proposition. There isn’t anything particularly bad about the game, nor is there anything amazingly standout aside from the soundtrack or the opening cinematic, leaving it as little more to me than just a curiosity. I enjoyed my time with the game (and even more when I found out you can have more than one life), but I genuinely don’t think I’ll be returning to this one again due to it lacking much in the way of outstanding qualities.
It’s a pick for inquisitive fans of the genre, but unless you’re starved for something to play or just HAVE to have every Shmup on the market, there isn’t much here with X-Out that you can’t get elsewhere with less bloom.
WAIT FOR SALE ON X-OUT RESURFACED
If you are looking for another shooter to satisfy that shmup itch, check out our review of Under Defeat. We have also covered a wide variety of shmup titles which you can check out here.
Many thanks go to ININ Games for a Nintendo Switch review code for X-Out Resurfaced.
Pride of utopia & greatest thing ever, I found the One Piece, Collected the Dragon Balls & won the Mortal Kombat Tournament in one night, it was quiet for me that night! Follow me on Twitter @powahdunk
