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Also known as Bullet Fighters. Released as Stellar Assault in Japan and Europe. There is some confusion regarding the different titles. Stellar Assault was listed as the title on release rosters in early 1994, but the name was changed to Shadow Squadron for its American debut. Sega reused the name Stellar Assault for the Sega Saturn sequel (when was only released in Japan.)
A
32x exclusive. This little-known 3-D shooter is the best game of
its type on the 32x, and one of the finest titles in the 32x library. Shadow
Squadron is similar to other space shooters like Colony
Wars and the
Wing Commander series in that it allows
for complete 3-D movement through space, unlike some "rail" shooters like
Star Fox or Panzer Dragoon that confine you
to a predetermined environmental path. The feeling of absolute control
is just incredible, much more immersive than the flawed presentation of
similar 32x shooters like Star Wars Arcade and Star
Trek. Gameplay is simple and direct, consisting of straight-forward
combat missions involving a variety of enemy craft, including quick-moving
fighters, various stellar arrays, and hulking dreadnoughts that fill up
the entire screen. Your radar tracks the position of every enemy craft,
and a unique targeting system lets you determine the position and time-distance
of all targets. You can fly solo or with a friend acting as a gunner, utilizing
either a cockpit or a behind the ship view. There are two ships from which
to choose, both with their own strengths and weaknesses. The various polygonal
models are mighty impressive and exhibit no pop-up whatsoever, though the
graphics tend to be a bit bland due to a complete lack of texture mapping.
Shadow
Squadron is one of the few titles that really utilizes the 32-bit
hardware, and most gamers will be quite impressed with the graphics and
total absence of slowdown. You even have the option of changing the entire
color scheme! The soundtrack, on the other hand, is less of an asset and
more of a liability. Intense, action-oriented shooters generally require
a musical score that matches the action, not a cart filled with light,
keyboard-pop elevator music. The explosion-filled sound effects are more
appropriate, helping to ease the pain of the mediocre soundtrack. Shadow
Squadron's biggest flaws, aside from the music, are the high difficulty
level (you have a limited number of continues) and the general lack of
mission variety, though these faults are easy to overlook when you're closing
it on a massive starship that's firing huge energy bursts straight at you.
Shadow Squadron rates very highly, right up there with DarXide
in terms of graphics and overall playability. One of the few must-have
32x games.
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