The Gadget Twins

This is an emulated version of the Genesis/Mega Drive game Gadget Twins. The emulator being used is Mednafen, which is generally not one of the better emulators for the Genesis, but it seems to do a decent enough job for this particular game. At least through stage 2 (out of 6), I haven't encountered any noticeable problems yet.
Piko hasn't included the original manual with this release, and I couldn't find a scanned copy anywhere online, but you can get brief instructions at Sega Retro
Even though Gadget Twins came out in 1992, it's a pretty unique game even today. It's basically a shoot 'em up, except both you and the enemies mostly use melee attacks instead of projectiles. You can attack in any of the four primary directions, which you can rotate between by pressing a button or key. All enemies drop coins, which are used in mid-level shops to buy basic upgrades for your weapons. There are also temporary power-ups that can be found by breaking open chests along the way.
As you can probably guess by the title, this game was designed to be played with a partner in co-op. It's very difficult solo, especially when fighting the bosses. There also isn't any difference in game balance between the two modes, except that in co-op you'll have to share the money instead of keeping it all for yourself. Then again, this version of the game also allows you to save anywhere by pressing the ESC key, so the overall challenge is reduced compared to playing on the original console.
Other than that save anywhere feature, nothing else has been added to this version of Gadget Twins. But since there's not any other games like it that I can think of, and with it only costing $4, I would still recommend it at least for shmup fans who are interested in trying something different.

Steam User 18

Reviewed 06.2021

This is an emulated version of the Genesis/Mega Drive game Gadget Twins. The emulator being used is Mednafen, which is generally not one of the better emulators for the Genesis, but it seems to do a decent enough job for this particular game. At least through stage 2 (out of 6), I haven't encountered any noticeable problems yet.
Piko hasn't included the original manual with this release, and I couldn't find a scanned copy anywhere online, but you can get brief instructions at Sega Retro
Even though Gadget Twins came out in 1992, it's a pretty unique game even today. It's basically a shoot 'em up, except both you and the enemies mostly use melee attacks instead of projectiles. You can attack in any of the four primary directions, which you can rotate between by pressing a button or key. All enemies drop coins, which are used in mid-level shops to buy basic upgrades for your weapons. There are also temporary power-ups that can be found by breaking open chests along the way.
As you can probably guess by the title, this game was designed to be played with a partner in co-op. It's very difficult solo, especially when fighting the bosses. There also isn't any difference in game balance between the two modes, except that in co-op you'll have to share the money instead of keeping it all for yourself. Then again, this version of the game also allows you to save anywhere by pressing the ESC key, so the overall challenge is reduced compared to playing on the original console.
Other than that save anywhere feature, nothing else has been added to this version of Gadget Twins. But since there's not any other games like it that I can think of, and with it only costing $4, I would still recommend it at least for shmup fans who are interested in trying something different.
Steam User 3

Reviewed 06.2021

This was my first shmup and it fostered a lifelong love for the genre. It's pretty dated and janky by today's standards but it remains one of the most unique titles out there. I dream that this game is one day remade in the Cuphead style.
Steam User 4

Reviewed 11.2019

Very difficult, very fun, very obscure.

The Gadget Twins

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