Border Down Review

[kabuki]

Is there a place where I can research this "border system" ??

[Melf]

Yeah, I finally realized what the system was for. It's a bitch that you kind of get punished for dying on a stage, but it really motivates you to keep playing.


I like the differences in stages but have only reached the level 3 boss. I almost got him but he nailed me when my break laser ran out.

[Frogacuda]

Yeah, I finally realized what the system was for. It's a bitch that you kind of get punished for dying on a stage, but it really motivates you to keep playing.

Actually it doesn't work that way. The game bumps the difficulty down when you border down. So if you die twice and get to the red border it'll be way easier than if you started on the red border.

[AaronChance]

Actually it doesn't work that way. The game bumps the difficulty down when you border down. So if you die twice and get to the red border it'll be way easier than if you started on the red border.

I noticed that too. The mini boss and the first stage boss have harder patterns if you choose red border at the beginning rather than dropping to red after having died twice. Unless my mind is decieving me again.

It was a mistake buying this game at the same time I got Disgaea because I'd really love to play it, but now have no time for it.

[Frogacuda]

Is there a place where I can research this "border system" ??

Basically, how it works is you have 3 ships, like any shooter. The twist is that the 3 ships are taking 3 different routes to get to the target (boss), so when you die with the first ship, you switch over to a different path. It's pseudo checkpoint based, but it actually sends you to the nearest checkpoint, even if that's up ahead.

The different borders can just be variants on each other, like for example, one might be an upside down version of the other, or just have different enemy patterns, or they can be completely different. For example, the entirety of level 4 red border is a different level from level 4 green border, leading up to the same boss. And then after 5 levels, depending on how much time you spent in each border you can go to one of 4 completely different final stages.

It's not revolutionary, but it does lend itself to replay and experimentation, much like Darius' branching system, except it's actually based on your performance. I like it.

[Melf]

Thanks for clearing that up Frog.

I guess I'll be sticking with the green border until I don't suck as much.

[kabuki]

Is there a place where I can research this "border system" ??

[Frogacuda]

Thanks for clearing that up Frog.

I guess I'll be sticking with the green border until I don't suck as much.

Red Border offers big scoring opportunities though. You can crack like 8 million in level 1 alone if you do it right.

[kabuki]

Excellent Frog, thank you. I'm buying this... eventually

[gameoverDude]

And now, my take on Border Down.

Review with 9 screenshots
Ten additional screenshots

The border system is nice IMO. Things get interesting when you have the ability to voluntarily Border Down at the start of a stage- give up a life for a shot at more points.

Scoring is a nice break from the combo systems found in Mars Matrix and DDP- here, you find the right times to use the Break Laser. When you're tearing up the large battleships, there are some high value parts on them that can get you a lot of points when included in a Break chain.