Last year, we held a poll to see how many indie game consumers were actually able to finish Last Hope. We purposely did not differentiate between Last Hope and its update Pink Bullets.
Surprisingly enough, only 20 percent reported they beat the game. Given the hardcore shmup players on the Dreamcast, I was surprised that only 1/5th of the people who bought the game were able to finish it. Conversely, 42 percent, basically 2/5th of the players, said they were unable to finish the game.
In addition to the “Yes” and “No” options, I added a “Did you buy the game to support the scene?” option, and it turns out that 2/5th of the people did not plan on beating the game. I have to say that is a little sad; no one should invest their hard-earned money on something they don’t really plan on utilizing. I suppose the rationalization for it is that if you support the indie developers, they will continue to support the Dreamcast. However, if you are not going to play their games then what is the point of them making games for the system?
Fortunately, investment in NG:Dev.Team has paid off as their new games are much more playable and more importantly enjoyable.
I personally purchased Last Hope last year via the Beginners Bundle with FastStriker and GunLord. While I was unable to survive beyond the fourth stage in Last Hope, I successfully beat Fast Striker multiple times – twice on Beginner mode and once on Normal mode. One day, I will probably beat the game on Hard Mode.
I still haven’t gotten around to playing GunLord, especially since last year was so busy!
By the time you read this, the next poll will be live.
