In my opinion it's the gold standard for arcade game design; super easy to understand and pick up and play, with the replay value being not just because of difficulty, but also because of the underlying depth and complexity and secrets to uncover which can result in even replaying early levels being a different experience now that you can utilise those hidden mechanics. It's why i'm very fond of shoot-em-ups too!
Thank you! Loving what you've got going on your site too, super cute. Was just thinking about Tomb Raider yesterday and how I still really need to play through Tomb Raider 2 (I've beaten both 1 and 3 multiple times so I have little excuse ahaha)
In my opinion it's the gold standard for arcade game design; super easy to understand and pick up and play, with the replay value being not just because of difficulty, but also because of the underlying depth and complexity and secrets to uncover which can result in even replaying early levels being a different experience now that you can utilise those hidden mechanics. It's why i'm very fond of shoot-em-ups too!
P.S. the story gets even goofier with revelations introduced in Rainbow Islands