In the early 1990's, before the fighting game boom really hit fever pitch in 1993, STGs (shooting games, called shmups today) were still a popular quarter muncher for arcade operators. Games in the genre were typically either presented as vertical or horizontal scrolling affairs, so when Viewpoint came on the scene in late 1992 gamers took notice due to the innovative but not entirely unique isometric viewpoint. Viewpoint, get it? The name of the game is literally a pun. 

The little known game studio Aicom developed Viewpoint under commission of Sammy to be released on SNK's new Neo-Geo hardware. Aicom had quite a few game credits to their name by this point, but they were often used as a ghost developer with little credit outside of a mention on the title screen or ending credits on their published games. A few Aicom games you may be familiar with are the excellent Legendary Axe for the PC Engine (Turbo Graphix 16) and Astanayx for the arcade and Nintendo Entertainment System among others. Aicom would go on to develop more games for the Neo-Geo, like Viewpoint's spiritual successor Pulstar, and would go on to be a full subsidiary of SNK with a name change to Yumekobo in 1998 to coincide with the release of their horizontal shooter hit Blazing Star. Yumekobo would go on to produce many games for SNK, including a fair number of Neo-Geo Pocket titles and the obscure Athena adventure game on the Playstation 1. 

When Viewpoint was released gamers and critics alike were blown away by the visual deign of the game. The isometric viewpoint harkens back to Sega's 1982 Zaxon, of which Viewpoint takes liberal inspiration from. Unlike that game, though, you do not have a Y (vertical) axis to deal with making the game play more like a traditional horizontal shooter of the day. While the game was well received, the outrageous difficulty, that is certainly fair but not for the faint at heart, was a pont of contention for some critics while other saw it as a virtue. Still, Viewpoint sold well for both SNK and Sammy, garnering RePlay's award of the 15th best selling arcade game in the US in their April 1993 issue. In addition to its arcade and Neo-Geo home releases, there were a number of ports to various consoles and even some sequels that ended up being canceled for a variety of reasons. Let's dive in and discover why Viewpoint is so well regarded. 

Viewpoint's chief gimmick is its isometric playfield. In the game, players move diagonally toward the upper right-hand corner of the screen rather than directly to the right like a traditional horizontal shooter. This makes lining up shots and dodging bullets take a bit more work for your brain to process due to the spacing between shots and your targets always being at an angle rather than in a cardinal direction. Unlike your more traditional shooters, your ship is thankfully impervious to the walls that line each stage. This is super handy due to the times where you'll need to closely hug a wall to dodge bullets, kill a string or popcorn enemies, or destroy an enemy spawn point. 

The five full stages in Viewpoint all carry a unique theme, and the isometric nature of the game created an interesting canvas for the developers to include many non-traditional environmental hazards along the ground. In stage 2, for example, there is a tough spot where columns will rise out of the ground in patterns all the while a large, mechanical fish on the top side of the screen shoots at you. Each stage becomes an intricate waltz around bullets, enemies, and clever environmental hazards that is always challenging but hardly frustrating. 

All stages have at least one mid-boss you'll have to deal with, like the aforementioned mechanical fish, that can be quite a pain if you don't have enough fire power. For all but a few of them, you also have to contend with normal enemies that swoop in and try to snipe you from the side while dodging the bullet spreads from the mid-boss. This is all well and good, but due to the isometric view and fast action around the very tiny enemy bullets, it can take quite some time to learn the patterns well enough to make it through these tough spots unscathed. 

Thankfully there are a few power-ups you collect along the way. Unlike many shooters with stacking power-up systems, you only gain one upgrade for your normal shot in the form of a pair of options that hover along each side of your ship. These options double your normal shot firepower and provide additional spread coverage. You can also charge your normal shot for a powerful burst of plasma energy that will rip through most small and even many larger foes in a single hit. 

In addition to your charged shots and options, there are three varieties of bombs to collect. A Fire Bomb produces a wave of fire that travels the length of the screen destroying all enemies and most bullet types in their way. The Homing Missile is great to clear yourself of swarms of enemies, and the Plasma Bomb is great for area of effect damage best for most bosses. You can also collect a rare shield which will protect you from a set number of hits before disappearing. These are often placed in hard to access spots but they are integral to your survival for the long-haul. While it's not a terribly deep system, the simple mechanics present a more straight forward game that keeps you honest. 

Viewpoint is difficult - maddingly difficult at points. As I mentioned before, though, it's hardly frustrating. There is way around every attack, so a 1cc isn't off the table - it will just take you much longer to get to know the stages and patterns inside and out than many other games in the genre. The game is fluid to play, and responds perfectly to your inputs - but it's all a tad on the slow side. Moving in certain directions, like trying to retreat to the left side of the screen for safety, is slower than moving forward which leads to many unintentional deaths until you get the hang of how to swing around enemies using the push/pull momentum of the ship's movement speed.

Unlike many other arcade shooters of the 90's, Viewpoint uses a more antiquated checkpoint system that is both welcome and cursed at the same time. On one hand you have more opportunities to power back up before you to reach the stage's boss. On other hand, the checkpoints are spread pretty far apart and are at least a quarter ways or more from the boss forcing you to often trudge through the hardest section of each level before heading to stage's boss battle. 

Bosses are fun and interesting fights, but the one-hit-kills and checkpoint system make learning boss patterns when playing on an actual cartridge a lesson in tedium unless you have unlimited time on your hands. Using an emulator and save-states to learn sections of the game, then going back for a play on legitimate hardware is the best way to learn this game in the modern age. Still, Viewpoint is ultimately satisfying for players that like a hearty challenge, while others will be impressed with the graphics and sound but quickly bounce off to play more approachable games. 

Viewpoint also includes an intricate scoring system, like many shmups. There are far more qualified historians than I that can explain this system, so make sure to check out the link to Gemant's Viewpoint overview at the end of this review for a full explanation of not only the history of the game, but also the ins and outs of the mechanics. While I love Viewpoint and other shmups for what they are (and am quite good at a handfull of them), I'm more of a fighting game guy. 

The spine on Viewpoint's Japanese AES game case reads "Hyper Visual Shooting Game," and I can't think of a better way to describe it. Aicom delivered a game in the early 90's that looks like it was created on CGI workstations then translated to 2D pixel art - much like their 1995 shooter Pulstar. This is not the case, as every piece of art is 100% hand-drawn - which is impressive as the entire aesthetic of the game is clearly inspired by mid-1980's computer graphics that have a weird sense of the uncanny where everything looks great but is a bit unsettling. For a game that is only 78 megs in size, there is a boat load of variety in stages, effects, enemy types and abundant animation. Everything moves with a graceful fluidity. This is a stunning game in screenshots, but it's one of those games that needs to be seen in motion (especially Stage 2 with its awesome water effects) to really appreciate the artistry on display. 

Sound design is also top notch with down-tempo house beats and jazzy undertones that keep you engaged and bouncing along despite taking a beating. The music on the AES/MVS original is killer, and the Neo CD version takes it up a notch by providing cleaner remasters of the tunes you can listen to outside of the game directly off the CD! All other sound effects and explosions are excellent if not standard shooter fare. That soundtrack, though - it's on an entirely different level than any other game music I've ever heard and is well worth a listen to when studying or working as excellent background music that will keep you grooving. 

Viewpoint is overall a fantastic arcade shooter that is a bit too hard for some while providing a serious but fair challenge for others. The excellent audio and visuals of the game are well matched with methodical pacing and fantastic stage design. Viewpoint is easily the premier shmup on the Neo-Geo in its early years and paved the way for future legendary Aicom/Yumekobo shooters like Pulstar and Blazing Star. 

If you want to paly Viewpoint on Neo-Geo hardware, you have a few options. On AES, expect to pay upwards of $1200 for a complete Japanese copy or around $800 for a decent US copy. This is one of the very few AES releases where the US version is the more common variant. The MVS release is becoming harder to find in the modern retro game market, but will run you around $300 or so, so it's still much cheaper than the AES release. Coming in last, and the greatest value for modern retro gamers, is the Neo CD release. At less than $100, it is identical to the AES/MVS release and only loads once at the very beginning of the game! It's an excellent CD release full stop, is arcade perfect, and presents the modern-retro gamer the most bang for their buck. You can also get the game on the Arcade Archives series for $8 or play it on any multi-arcade emulator or FPGA device if modern-retro solutions are your fancy. 

In addition, Sammy commissioned other ports of the game to the Sega Genesis, FM Towns, Sharp X68000 and Sony Playstation. The Genesis port is great for what it is, despite a generous amount of slowdown and sprite flicker. The lower color depth and sound differences are expected, but the overall experience still makes for a decent port to much less capable hardware. The X68000 port isn't the strongest, with some missing effects and animations along with removing checkpoints in favor or instant respawns (which admittedly throws off the difficulty balance quite a bit). Unlike the other versions of the game, the Playstation port redoes the graphics from the ground up in a horrible CGI inspired mess of metallic ugliness and the original soundtrack is replaced by some unfitting electronic garbage. It's bad - don't play this port. In addition to the released ports, the Sega Saturn was set to get a twin of the Playstation port that was canceled mid-development, and a sequel on the N64 began development but was ultimately dropped. 

For my aspiring Neo-Geo collectors, Viewpoint is a worthy game that folks could add to their library at any point. It's only rising in value on all platforms, though, so a sooner buy than later would be advisable if shmups are your thing. Due to the over abundance of fighting games, many other shmups on the AES especially are in short supply and are all highly sought after making this genre one of the most expensive on the hardware overall. In a few years time Viewpoint could be a $2000+ game on AES, with the MVS version pushing higher than $500. So, get it when/while you can if you must have a physical copy. For everyone else, play it on Arcade Archives or an emulator for the best experience and stay away from the classic ports unless you have personal nostalgia for one of those releases.