Vulgus is a 1984 vertical-scrolling space shooter and is best known for being the first-ever video game developed by Capcom, an obscure video game company that nobody’s heard of… they churned out a few arcade games that made tons of money… yup, never heard of them.
Right, back to the game…
Given that Vulgus is an early game, its mechanics are rather simplistic. You control a little spaceship and must battle alien forces attempting to take over the world in an endless struggle. Ah yes, one of those scenarios. Never gets old.
There are no power-ups or weapon boosters; only your basic cannon and a limited number of missiles (that you can collect more of along the way). There are various items, but these serve to alter the enemies you face, whether it be their speed, firepower, or ship design that changes. Without reading any instructions or familiarizing oneself with the controls, Vulgus is very easy to get into and understand. The premise is simple, the difficulty is decent, and the controls are competently responsive. So it’s a whole straightforward affair.
For a title that came out in 1984, Vulgus looks pretty decent with well-defined backdrops and smoothly-animated spritework. The levels are dull though; you’re on a sandy world, then over a body of water, then outer space, then the whole thing loops again, but with a new wave of enemies. The game looks fine for the most part, but it can get boring after a while.
The sound in Vulgus is the game’s sole low point. The sound effects used in the game are pretty bad and the “music” playing in the background is roughly ten notes long and also annoying. This “tune” is the only piece you’ll be hearing throughout the game and it keeps on going until the game ends… or until the power goes out. Whichever comes first.
Although it’d be difficult to find Vulgus at an arcade these days – finding an arcade is difficult enough these days, actually – it has appeared on a number of Capcom-released compilations, most notably the Capcom Classics Collection release on PS2 and Xbox. While the game is ultimately unspectacular and antiquated, it is a fine first effort from the company who would eventually spawn a dozen other popular franchises and is worth a few playthroughs at best. If you do get a chance to play it, then do so. You’ll actually like it… somewhat.
BREAKDOWN
Graphics: 8/10 (decent graphics, but little variety)
Sound: 2/10 (droning tune and awful sound effects)
Gameplay: 9/10 (keeps it simple, controls well, competent gameplay)
Challenge: 7/10 (fairly difficulty by SHMUP standards, but constant)
Replay Value: 6/10 (dull, generic, but quite fun actually)
OVERALL: 7/10
dtm666 