Super Aleste

Older systems, more than any other, enjoyed the possibility of a future alien invasion. Hundreds of games were set in or around space and had either cybernetic or squishy extraterrestrials for you to explode. It was the golden age of the Shoot 'Em Up (later abbreviated as Shmup) where the objective was to fly around in your ship and destroy all; and I do mean all! Platforms such as the SNES and Mega Drive both made a large series of these games and made them thrive, even if they all resembled each other.

To stand out from the pack, many developers went to crazy lengths to make their Shmup more challenging and/or flashy, to the point of delirium. You might remember the sleeper hit Ikagura on Gamecube, where thousands of bullets drown your screen in, what seems to be, an imminent epileptic attack. That wouldn't even be the hardest one out there, for that tendency spawned a niche for players to brag about completing incredibly hard games. So forget about Ninja Gaiden; Shmup as a genre is where it's at!

Circle weapon in Super Aleste (aka Space MegaForce)

Super Aleste is one of these many shooters that tries something special to entice audiences. But instead of ridiculous difficulty and seizure screens, you'll get more, and upgradeable, weapons. These don't work without flash, but in general you'll still be able to overview the screen without dying. With a simple presentation and clean graphics, most attacks remain discernable; which is key to survival in the fast pace of shooters. This fast pace also gets cleverly integrated in level backgrounds, where the scenery moves backwards as you move forward. It gives the game a heart-pumping sense of speed that is unique to its kind; like playing a racer hybrid.

It's too bad that the sound isn't always up to the same excellence; though it's only comical during 16-bit-emulated speech. Explosions will always sound like a distorted blur anyway, so there's no shame in not perfecting that sound. The same goes for weapon discharges, although some more detail could've made a big difference. Luckily, an invigorating soundtrack does make the adrenaline flow nicely.

Regardless, the game plays smoothly and the mechanics are well done. Weapons and upgrades float around on your screens as power-ups and are available frequently. It makes leveling easy and offers a lot of variety during a playthrough. But more importantly, the level system also doubles up as a hidden health bar for your ship. Whenever you get hit, your weapon level decreases, until it is depleted. It gives you some leniency to take sucker punches and not having to suffer a quick death, like most 1 hit kills in the shooter history. You still could endure the classic Shmup error: Dying once means you are doomed to fail, because you need to face the same world with less power. Luckily though, this probability lessens severely thanks to the level system.

Also, whenever you die, you can immediately return to your crash site a few times and pick up there. It's a lot handier, though trickier, than being reset at the level beginning. If you have superbombs handy, those would be the opportune times to clear your screen 1 or 2 times, until you've picked up enough levels to give you some breathing space.

Lastly, and I find this so liberating, is the fact you don't die whenever you touch a pixel of something that is supposed to be scenery! You have no idea how irritating it is to swerve through the constricted space of a billion bullets, only to die at the hands of Sir Wall. These are the controller crushing moments that wrecked many a shooter and completely killed your drive to play. I commend this game for thinking outside the box on this one.

All these things make Super Aleste on SNES not only one of the best shooters of its period, but also one of the most accessible Shmups in history. This doesn't mean that the game is easy, as it is still jam-packed with plenty challenges. However, these leniencies make failing and getting up so much more pleasant. So, whether you are a Shmup elitist or just out to blast some space scum, Super Aleste is the kind of game that will give you the enjoyment you need. After 12 Areas and boss fights, this game draws to a conclusion, after which you can try a harder difficulty. But for now: Good hunting, soldier!

Daav Valentaten, NoobFeed.