Otomedius Excellent

The lovely ladies of Otomedius Gorgeous are back!

JP release: 21st April 2011
NA release: 1st November 2011
EU release: N/A
Developer: Konami
Publisher: Konami
IGN Review: 5.5/10
Platforms: 360
Version Played: 360

Otomedius Excellent is a shoot-’em-up that Konami made for the Xbox 360, and it’s a strange one. It’s a spin-off of Gradius – much like the Parodius series – where you play as anime schoolgirls that get attached to “space ships” that go around their hips. Surprisingly, it got a North American release, although that might just be because the Xbox 360 performed terribly in Japan.

As a shumup, it’s rather boring. It has dull backgrounds, boring enemies and nothing feels like it has any weight to it at all. Your character is large with a wonky hitbox and it’s just slow and plodding. I’m no expert in the genre, but this is still nowhere near the Parodius games.

As for the Castlevania connection, the DLC lets you play as Kokoro Belmont, who is possibly the sister of Julius Belmont. She has a laser whip weapon and missiles based off the holy water, axe, dagger and cross sub-weapons. Other than the arc of these weapons, she still plays through the normal campaign and there’s not much to it.

Poor

Usually I’ll take whatever Japanese arcade shooter I can get, but Otomedius Excellent is outdated and overpriced. It’s got two things going for it: cute anime girls (if that’s your thing) and an addictive upgrade system. Were this a downloadable game asking a third of the entrance fee, I would say it warrants a look for shooter fans, but with so little flash or innovation, I have a hard time recommending it. I guess collectors might want to pick it up because the fact that this was released on disc in North America is pretty amazing.
Daemon Hatfield, IGN

Remake or remaster?

Perhaps in a collection.

Official Ways to get the game

There’s no official way to get Otomedius Excellent