Line #13 VideoGame/TheRedStar


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/theredstar.jpg]]
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3	->'''!ALERT!'''\
4	DECISIVE ENCOUNTER\
5	FEALTY IS DUE
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7	''The Red Star'' is a 3D SideView BeatEmUp game developed by Acclaim Studios Austin, loosely based on [[ComicBook/TheRedStar the graphic novel of the same name]] by Christian Gossett, which takes place in an alternative future Soviet Union where there's magic. It was originally slated for a 2004 release on the Platform/PlayStation2 and Platform/{{Xbox}} by Creator/{{Acclaim}}, though following their bankruptcy, it would only see release on the [=PS2=] in 2007 by XS Games. In 2010, it was also ported to Platform/PlayStationPortable (lacking multiplayer in this version) and [[UsefulNotes/IOSGames iOS]].
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9	There are three playable characters:
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11	# Makita, a Nokgorkan rebel who emphasizes speed and fast melee combos.
12	# Kyuzo, a bodyguard who is slow but does a lot of damage.
13	# Maya, a "warkaster" (fancy name for war sorcerer) who gets more powerful when the protocol meter is filled. Unlocked after the game has been beaten once.
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15	The game at first appears to be a 3D ''VideoGame/{{Contra}}''-ish game with BeatEmUp elements, but [[UnexpectedGameplayChange then you reach the first mini-boss. The camera changes to an overhead view]], and you suddenly get [[BulletHell bullet patterns]] fired at you. This happens for about nine out of ten bosses in the game, with up to five bosses per stage for 19 stages.
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17	!!''The Red Star'' provides examples of the following tropes:
18	* ActionGirl: Makita, who is the best character in the game when it comes to melee attacks. Maya qualifies too, though she mostly lets her magic do the talking from a distance.
19	%%* BigBad: Troika, who also serves as the giant FinalBoss of the game.
20	%%* BulletHell: Not all, but the vast majority of the boss fights become this. Complete with a perspective shift to the standard vertical shmup top-down view.
21	* CoOpMultiplayer: Two players can team up against everything the game throws at you. Can be slightly disadvantageous in some of the BulletHell fights, as the characters can block each other.
22	%%* CoresAndTurretsBoss: Many bosses take this form.
23	* FireBreathingWeapon: One of Kyuzo's weapons is a flamethrower.
24	* GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere: The Susk Marauder shows up unexpectedly and is very different from everything else you fight in the game, being a giant insect and one of the very few bosses in the game that's not mainly a BulletHell style boss.
25	* TheGrimReaper: Skeletal, ghostly enemies with capes and scythes appear in the penultimate and final stages, and Troika himself seems to be going for the look.
26	* LightningBruiser: Makita is the fastest character, and has no problems racking up damage. The character select screen even labels her "Speed".
27	* TheManBehindTheMan: Troika is stated to be the chief assassin of the Dark Lord Imbohl in the manual, but said Dark Lord [[AllThereInTheManual doesn't show up in the game.]]
28	%%* MissionControl: Urik. Only seen in the stage intermissions.
29	* MightyGlacier: Kyuzo is slow, but makes up for it with serious firepower and the highest defense. Fittingly, he's labeled "Strength" in the character select.
30	* {{Mooks}}: As expected from the type of game, you'll be taking out a whole lot of them.
31	* MoreDakka: Most mini-bosses and bosses. Because, duh, BulletHell. Kyuzo's machine gun is going for it too.
32	* NewGamePlus: When you beat the game and save, you get to start at Chapter 01 again with all purchased upgrades carried over. You're not going to get everything maxed in the first playthrough, so...
33	* NonIndicativeName: The Crawling Plague? It's an RPG launcher, not a bioweapon.
34	%%* SequentialBoss: Sentry, Kontrawall II through IV, Pietrov Rotorkannon F2 through F4, Ikarius.
35	* ShoutOut: By the boatload.
36	** The whole game is a love letter to old arcade action. The most obvious are [[VideoGame/{{Contra}} Kontrawall]] and [[VideoGame/{{Ikaruga}} Ikar]][[VideoGame/{{Gradius}} ius]].
37	** A surprising reference to ''Film/{{Zoolander}}'' of all things: the third mission has a pair of tanks called "Blue Steel" and "Magnum."
38	* StationaryBoss: Most bosses just sit there and fire at you.
39	* UnexpectedShmupLevel: Yes, actually. Chapter 08 is a sidescrolling shmup battle against the Hydra [=SuperKrawl=].
40	%%* WaveMotionGun: Kyuzo's protocol attack is essentially a handheld one.
41	* ZeppelinsFromAnotherWorld: Multi-kilometer-long {{Magitek}} airships called "Sky-furnaces".

Context VideoGame / TheRedStar