Developed and published by Sega in 1990 Follow me on Twitter:
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The game was ported and released for the Sega Mega Drive in 1991, later released in a three-pack compilation and was where I first discovered the title. It wasn't until much later that I became aware that the game was actually released first as a coin-op in 1990 - whilst my visits to arcades in the UK were infrequent, I don't recall ever seeing a cabinet in the flesh. As far as plot goes, Earth has been invaded by a race of deadly aliens and the only people capable of repelling the invaders are the Alien Busters, a crack special forces team that seem to double up as travelling purveyors of fast food! Supporting single or two players cooperatively, the objective of the game is to repel the aliens and liberate Earth and it's endangered inhabitants. On the subject of the aliens themselves, the designs are quite striking, even down-right disturbing. The betentacled, bubble-gum pink horrors that attempt to swallow the player whole are particularly gross - top marks must go to the art department in terms of originality! Conceptually, the game shares many similarities with another Sega classic, Golden Axe. The game is broken up into multiple side-scrolling levels that play just like a standard beat 'em up where the player must defeat waves of enemies while trying to reach the end of the level. Despite swapping swords and magic for flamethrowers and bazookas, the combat system between Alien Storm and Golden Axe is practically identical. Hitting the attack button performs a combo that stuns opponents, followed up by a knock-down move that knocks the opponent down for a short time. There are a number of different animations featuring different weapons that change depending on the distance between the player and the target. The sci-fi weaponry means that the designers could be more creative with the animations and the characters will whip out submachine guns, rocket launchers and all manner of gadgets to dispatch the bad guys. In another nod to Sega's previous game, Alien Storm features special moves for each of the characters, allowing them to attack all enemies on the screen with deveastating effects. The ability to perform these attacks is restricted by the amount of energy the player has stored in their backpack, as displayed by the energy gauge at the bottom of the status window. Whereas Golden Axe featured multiple levels of magical power and consumed all potions when used, Alien Storm uses a fixed damage model system that uses a set amount of energy per use. Although players can call on these attacks more frequently, they're arguably less visually impressive than the magic attacks from Golden Axe and are, in my opinion, somewhat of a disappointment. Whilst the side-scrolling stages are all well and good, arguably the game's most impressive feature must be the inclusion of first-person shooting sections. The Alien Busters team must clear aliens from stores, farm-houses and a variety of other locations using their weapons in what becomes a real test of the player's reactions. It's in these sections that the game demonstrates some if it's best visuals, boasting some impressive sprite scaling and super-smooth scrolling. Despite being one of the most visually impressive aspects of the game, I found them to be the most frustrating. Not only do enemies attempt to rake you with their claws/bite you with their teeth, but many will vomit projectiles at you, requiring you to shoot these in order to prevent taking damage. Dealing with the ensuing chaos can be nigh on impossible for a single player, whereas two players can effectively cover half of the screen each and have a much easier time of things. Although Alien Storm is fun arcade game, I can't help but feel it's not quite as enjoyable as Golden Axe. The familiar mechanics, increased difficulty and frustrations mean that I don't hold the game is such high regards as it's swords n' sorcery influenced predecessor. #retrogaming
