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Super Aleste/Space Megaforce
(My favourite shoot 'em up on the Snes.)
Super Aleste is a vertically scrolling shoot 'em up with the standard 'lone fighter in a small spacecraft versus hordes of aliens' premise.
Your ship can be equipped with 8 weapons, each of which can be powered up through 6 stages. These weapons are:
an R-type type weapon;
some balls which circle around you, obliterating enemies;
the standard multiple shot;
little droids that copy your moves - like the options out of Gradius;
a scatter shot, which explodes when it hits an enemy, sending little shots
which hit more enemies;
a multi direction shot, which fires in the direction you are moving;
and my personal favourite - lasers.
When powered up to their maximum level, you have the option of either having all the lasers firing from in front of you, protecting you from that side, or to have a front and rear laser, and two homing lasers firing from your left and right.
The latter obliterates all the enemies on the screen while you avoid the projectiles, and the former can be useful with some bosses.
If you take a hit, then instead of dying immediately, your weapon goes down a few power levels. If it was too low when you got hit, you die.
You can get 'backup lives' by accumulating enough points.
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how far I got: completed
the normal game and short game on normal multiple times
and tried the other difficulty levels, which I have yet to get very far on.
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rating : 45
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It has been said many times that the main ingredients of a shoot 'em up are big baddies, big explosions and big weapons. Super Aleste has all 3.
One reason why I like this game is because of the great weapons. Just read the information bit above and you'll be in no doubt that these are quite possibly some of the most powerful weapons in any shoot 'em up.
'Okay', you may be thinking, 'But with such powerful weapons, surely the becomes game ridiculously easy to play through?'
Well, no. In fact, one of the reasons why I like this game so much is because you can't relax for a second.
Right from the start of the game, so many enemies attack you, firing so many bullets, that you need to weave in and out of all the mayhem and the smart bombs will be found essential in later levels. The action is frantic.
Whilst it's not that hard a game (just remember to use the smart bomb), I wouldn't call it easy. It took me a while before I could complete it on the easiest difficulty setting, and whilst the ending is a bit rubbish, I've since enjoyed completing it again. I've yet to make a serious dent on the higher difficulty levels. A few magazines did indeed criticise the game for being to easy, so maybe I am just crap at shooting games...
Another reason why I love this game is because it has so many little bits that stand out.
//WARNING - LITTLE BITS REVEALED - DANGER RATING 1 (VERY SLIGHT)
The space ships that leave a trail of deadly smoke. The rock diggers, that use the scenery as weapons. The level where you fly over a space station, which zooms in and out as it rotates using mode 7 technology. The level which speeds up to ludicrous levels, threatening to trap you on the scenery.
//END WARNING - DANGER EXTINCT
I won't list everything, but believe me - a lot of time and effort must have gone into designing this game.
More importantly, it seems to have paid off.
Overall, the main reason why I play this game, and why I recommend you to buy it is because it's fun.
I enjoy playing it.
I can feel frustrated when I die, but I enjoy it.
If you don't have the time to play through the whole game, you can play the equally challenging short game. As you go through, the enemies, scenery and level structure is always changing. I enjoy the satisfaction I received when I finally finished it (even though the ending was rubbish). Basically, I enjoyed it.
And, if you like shoot 'em ups, you might well like this too.
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends