Alien Soldier

System: Genesis (Mega Drive)

Review

Game Type: 2D Platform
A run-jump-shoot a la Contra. Any of the eight weapons can fire in eight directions. Your character can also double jump, hover in midair, walk upside down on ceilings, block bullets with an energy pulse, and most importantly dash/teleport instantly (like Mega Man X except that you're invincible while dashing) for nearly a full screen.

Gameplay: 80/100
This game is developed by Treasure. It's a platformer, a damn good one, done in a style that would especially appeal to Americans. It was never released in America. Someone at Sega desperately needs to be fired.
From the move list described above platform fans are probably already drooling. As well you should be. Be warned, though, that the controls do take a bit of getting used to (it's to the point where they had to include a quick controller test before each game so you can practice the moves). Once you have the hang of it, though, the game flows pretty well.
The main stages are rather short which is good because they're not that well done anyway. Minor enemy designs are weak and there are a lot of cheap hits. That's okay though because each time you plow through a handfull of the thugs you'll arrive at a boss.
The boss designs are anything but weak. Gunstar Heroes fans are quite familiar with Treasure's trademark bosses in all their huge, ridiculously multijointed glory. And there are dozens of these suckers, each designed so that fighting them is a tense but enjoyable experience. The multiple joints mean excellent animation even on bosses as tall as the screen. They also allow the developers to give you little warnings each time they attack. "Okay, he's gone into a crouch. That means he's about to uppercut, so I better dash... now!" It's a great feeling seeing a boss whiff at thin air where you were just standing when you're already behind him, riddling him with bullets.
Somehow Treasure always manages to include some glaring fault in otherwise excellent games, though. In AS it's the weapon select. If you happen to run out of ammo in, say, a forced scrolling section, you have to stop where you are, bring up a little menu, switch weapons, and jump back out of the menu - while the game is still active. There's no way to do this while paused. If you do manage to switch weapons, you'll usually have taken at least one hit. If you know in advance what weapon you'll need you can work around this but it's rather annoying.
Weapon problems aside, though, AS is a gameplay marvel.

Graphics: 80/100
The enemy graphics could use some work, and the ugly color pallette brings the look of the levels down a notch. But the main character design is cool, and the weapons look good. And of course Treasure manages to pull special effects you never dreamed were possible out of the Genesis. I am completely convinced that these bosses could not be duplicated successfully on the sluggish Super Nintendo; they have too many sprites and animate too quickly.

Sound: 60/100
The music is quite original, but I'm afraid I can't say it's good. There are just too many angry warbles and bleeps to make it worth spending time in the sound test screen. It won't bother you during the game, though (and there's an option to turn it off). Ditto for the sound effects; they're all loud and explosive. It would be unwise to play this game with the stereo cranked; you wouldn't enjoy it and would most likely blow a speaker.

Overall: 80/100
"Visualshock! Speedshock! Soundshock!" hollers the title screen. I have to agree. Maybe it's just the loud music, the loud sound effects, or the loud colors, but for some reason playing AS gives me a headache. That doesn't mean I don't like the game, far from it. It's just very, very intense, more than some gamers will be ready for. Is it worth importing? If you liked Gunstar Heroes you won't regret it for a second if you do. The text is all in English (albeit very poorly translated English) with Japanese subtitles. And of course the gameplay and graphics are 100% Treasure. It's a shame the majority of U.S. gamers had to miss out on this one.

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