Review: Arcade Archives NebulasRay (Switch) - A CGI Deep-Cut After Decades Of Waiting

Namco's 1994 shmup has never been ported previously.

Namco's 1994 shmup NebulasRay is one of those games which arrived at an odd point in the history of arcade gaming. Launching many months before Rare stunned the world with the CGI sprites of Donkey Kong Country, it was one of the earliest examples of a 2D video game built around pre-rendered visuals, creating the impression of 3D depth. It was never ported to any home console, and that has only finally changed thanks to its inclusion in Hamster's Arcade Archives range—something we'd previously hoped for out loud back in 2017 when we reviewed the Namco Museum collection in Switch's debut year.

On the surface, NebulasRay is your typical futuristic vertically-scrolling shooter. You take control of the 'Fighting Ray' spaceship and face off against the sinister Master Force organisation. Your craft can equip two main weapons—a wide 'W' shot and 'G' a laser which fires forward—and picking up more of these icons powers up your selected weapon. You can also boost your craft's speed by grabbing the 'S' icons.

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