
Developer G.Rev may not be all that familiar to those who weren’t fully immersed in the shoot-'em-up scene of the early noughties. A boutique independent, it was assembled by former Taito employees who previously contributed to the likes of RayStorm and G-Darius. G.Rev’s most famous work, and the one that put it on the map, is Border Down: a wonderfully original 2003 shooting game for Sega’s Naomi arcade hardware and Dreamcast console. It was followed in 2006 by Under Defeat, switching from the horizontal to the vertical and trading sci-fi for a grounded militaristic theme.
Not to be confused with that other Dreamcast helicopter shoot 'em up, Psikyo’s Zero Gunner 2, Under Defeat pits pink-haired German soldier girls against the enemy forces of “The Union”. While any real-world similarities are dispelled by impossibly giant gunships torn from the pages of anime fiction, one of Under Defeat’s more interesting aspects is how hard-boiled it feels.

There aren’t any world-breaking power-ups, barking hidden mascots, or zany thematic intrusions. Its desaturated world of dirt paths and jungle enclaves is peppered with tanks, enemy choppers, and naval destroyers; a landscape of smoking metal and phosphorescent detonations, base encampments and soaring missiles. Graphically, it’s quite beautiful, especially with the high-definition upscaling and redone textures, and its numerous terrific explosions never get old.
Your gunship has one of two movement options, normal and inverted. Your craft can’t fully turn back on itself, instead tilting on an invisible pivot with a large diagonal range. Holding the fire button locks it in place, allowing you to strafe. It may sound basic, but these mechanics are what makes Under Defeat so compelling. Tactical positioning is everything, and learning where to camp, where to angle, and where to lock yourself into safe spots will make or break a one-credit clear attempt.
While the campaign is relatively short at 30 minutes end to end, it’s no walk in the park. While not as difficult as Border Down (few are), Under Defeat’s five stages require real learning. Its angles of fire can take some getting used to, and enemy bullets have a slow, but unusual downward-sloping trajectory that can regularly catch you out if you don’t prime your position.

Your ship comes with a set of bombs that should be used with prejudice, as you’re regularly granted replenishments; and, while you can’t power up your shot, alternating pickups allow you to switch between one of two secondary weapons: a Vulcan cannon that pumps out an additional stream of machine gun fire, or a single, powerful rocket.
The only drawback with your secondary weapon — deployed by a satellite that pops out, fires, and then detonates — is that you need to completely release the fire button for a couple of seconds to have it recharge. For the rocket, this takes a little longer, owing to its heightened power.
A major survival strategy, then, is picking the right secondary weapon for the right juncture. An early example would be the giant naval destroyers on stage two, where the heavy-duty rocket will deal more damage to their various gun emplacements - but you’ll be more frequently dancing with death during recharge windows.

This particular release of Under Defeat is mostly the same as Under Defeat HD, released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 back in 2011. As well as completely overhauled graphics — many totally redrawn by the original team — it features three modes: Arcade; New Order Mode (adapting the action to a full widescreen format and allowing your craft a greater deal of horizontal firing range); and New Order Mode Plus, which is an arrangement that mixes up enemy layouts and firing patterns for a new experience. Practice modes are provided for all, and they’re well worth using, allowing you to modify your starting position by area, as well as configure secondary weapons and rank adjustments.
There are now four stellar soundtracks on board that can be applied to any mode, providing plenty of audio variety. Composer Shinji Hosoe (Ridge Racer, Street Fighter EX) is responsible for Original, Arrange, and New Order cuts, while ‘Boosted’ comes courtesy of Yousuke Yasui, taking things into a techno overdrive, that, while cool, isn’t quite matched to the tempo of the action.
Swedish publisher Clear River Games has billed this as Under Defeat’s ultimate release, and we’re more inclined to agree than not. There is, at least, nothing missing from the package. It’s stuffed with modes, galleries, online rankings, and screen and audio configurations; and for the first time the occasional audio chatter between pilots is now subtitled. It also unlocks all the DLC previously behind paywalls, meaning you can choose up to four ship types from the outset, each with varying sizes, speeds, and shot properties.

The New Order modes also work really nicely in handheld, with bright enough bullets to make the widescreen display fizz, and the whole things runs incredibly smoothly. No doubt, owing to the lag that the Switch seems to produce as a matter of course, purists will be counting the frame digits and publishing them online soon enough, but for us there was no real disabling impediment, especially on a TV with a decent game mode.
Most important, however, is the quality of G.Rev’s original product. While sadly, the studio never quite reached the heights of Under Defeat again, on the upside it remains brilliantly made and eminently playable. It's a game that tortures you with its rank, tightening the screws based on how efficiently you play, but thrillingly rewards any effort to learn your way through the maelstrom. The lock and fire system is perfect, even if it takes some getting used to, and figuring out boss patterns and enemy formations from one step to the next is utterly thrilling.

It feels boldly hardcore, its warring map of gritty landscapes flourishing under some of the best explosions in the business, with plumes of smoke barrelling in the wind. There’s a depth to it that feels unique, and, while the boss designs are somewhat unremarkable, the opening of stage five remains one of the genre's more poetic moments.
Conclusion
Where helicopter gunship-themed video games are concerned, Under Defeat is one of the best ever. It signifies a point in time when the shoot 'em up was being propelled by a new area of creativity, and young development studios like G.Rev were leading the charge. Love it or loathe it, its lock-shot strafe and creeping bullet patterns work terrifically once you get a feel for them, and there’s a cinematic scale to it all that feels somehow poignant. It’s not the longest game, nor the most visually diverse, but it does what it sets out to do exceptionally well.
Comments 24
I will be buying this for sure. I had no idea it was coming to Switch. Funnily enough, just this morning, I saw a post of some guy's physical shmup collection and I spotted Under Defeat among the 50 or so games. Weird that.
Thanks for the review, while I'm not personally interested in this or at least not anytime soon since I'm going to give easier shmups a try first when I can I'm glad to hear it's overall great also on Switch!
This is the kind of game I love to watch other people playing because I totally suck at shooters in general, let alone bullet hell ones
I play Aero Fighters 2 from time to time, but I just can't get good at more hectic games of this style
Thank you Tom! As always, another top-notch review from a true connoisseur of the genre.
I've liked military-themed shoot'em ups since Flying Shark (or does Time Pilot count?) and since I wasn't buying many shmups back in the PS/Dreamcast days, I'm making up for it now in the Switch era. When City Connection previewed Under Defeat for their Japanese release last year, I thought it looked and sounded great and preordered their nice collector's edition for it. I played a few credits' worth of games on it upon delivery last Xmas, and it didn't disappoint! It's one of my fave helicopter shmups, for sure.
Had this on my Dreamcast for 4 years now!
Very hard game, nice visuals, great to have Tate mode even on the Dreamcast
Oh I played this game on DC and it ain't easy, but good!
This looks great, but man do I suck at bullet hells.
Mine's arriving in the mail today! I can't wait to play it.
@OldManHermit As do I, I don't even try them, but this looks much less bullet hell-y than a normal one.
Absolute classic, i have on Dreamcast.
I almost forgot I hd the 360 version, and the DC version too, so will probably buy this, price is ok, though it was more expensive in Japan (40s) but that might be wrong
We support City Connection in their efforts to bring back the games that not even Hamster remembers.
We support Clear River for localizing them and releasing them to retail in PEGI territories.
We support the firing of Josh Fairhurst because his logistics lines are so mismanaged as a distributor North America gets games on a 2 - 10 month delay due to incompetentlce alone.
This is a great game had it on Dreamcast for years can be a bit tricky but once you get the hang of it it’s fantastic this and Zero Gunner 2 are amazing to have on Switch
This makes me want to play Desert Strike/Soviet Strike/Nuclear Strike
Thanks for another in-depth Shmup review Tom. I should pick this one up, then!
I will be grabbing the Japanese-only physical release for now - I think I'll be fine attempting to find the button to start a run and do some proper blasting without issues.
Nice seeing this getting the Switch port treatment.
I'm holding out for the physical version! Can't wait.
Loved it on my beloved Dreamcast
Strong consideration. I love stg with helicopter characters
Somebody can tell me if the arcade mode have Tate?
The Shmups Forum has had an annual "Top 25 Shmups of All Time" poll for 20 years.
Over that time, 64 shmups have made the Top 25 at least once.
Under Defeat is one of those games.
@Teksette
Thank you for that, really appreciate it.
@Rentaro
I'm sure you'll love it!
@Falange
Yes, you can rotate the screen in arcade mode for Tate play.
Like a turbo Tiger Heli sequel. Excellent review @Tom-Massey
It's great to know there's someone out there reviewing these games who actually knows what they're talking about.
The one thing that could have improved this package would've been M2 style gadgets for the arcade mode.
Got it on PS5 before Xmas, but may get on Switch for on the move play. Looking forward to the Strania - The Stella Machina review.
@Satan
I agree, it could have used more 'new' additions, but as it stands it's still the most comprehensive package of the game, with one new soundtrack arrangement, current online features and all the DLC unlocked.
Thanks so much for reading!
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