Genesis

Alien Soldier

Sound hard? It is. And it only gets harder from there. In some platformers, there’s occasional easy bits/downtime. There’s none of that in Alien Soldier. By far one of the most intense, imaginative, and overall tight platformers ever.

Even when compared to Treasure's own Gunstar Heroes, Alien Soldier still holds its own. If you're looking for a side scrolling shoot 'em up full of non-stop boss encounters, then look no further. It's not in the same league as Gunstar Heroes (in my opinion of course), but that doesn't change the fact that it's an enjoyable shooting game in its own right.

Uno dei migliori giochi d'azione (ma anche in assoluto) per il Mega Drive (chiamarlo così è d'obbligo, visto che per il Genesis non uscì mai). Originale, adrenalinico, esaltante e curato all'estremo. Un altro colpaccio nell'eccezionale carriera della Treasure. Non è roba da "casual gamer", comunque...

Treasure nous gratifie là d´un titre magnifique, magique, prenant, dur, il faut avoir le goût de la perfection au bout des pouces si vous désirez en voir le bout. Chaque erreur étant lourdement sanctionnée, nous ne comptons plus le nombre de gamers laissés sur le bord de la route, dégoûtés par tant de cruauté... Pour les autres c´est l´autoroute du plaisir !

How Epilson came to be may be a convoluted, overly-complex mess, but he and his adventures are not. You want something new to sink your teeth into? You want to hone those split-second reflexes in what may be the king of 2D shooters? You need look no further, my friends, salvation is at hand.

Alien Soldier is absolutely recommended for run-n-gun fans. The game is import friendly as well, as almost all the text is in English. A word of warning - you will need a converter to run Alien Soldier on a Genesis system no matter which version you have, as it does contain Sega's territorial lockout program. Alien Soldier is definitely one of the more sought-after MD games... I've seen copies on eBay (both versions) go for some ridiculously high prices... not quite as high as I've seen Radiant Silvergun go, but fairly close to it. Still, if you can afford it, it's definitely recommended. Of course, the ROM is available for download online as well, which is definitely a lower-cost alternative then buying the game outright.

Treasure's releases for the Mega Drive have been, almost without exception, incredible. Gunstar Heroes, Treasure's first game as Treasure, is considered by many to be the epitome of run-n-gun games, surpassing even the mighty Contra. Dynamite Headdy is a fantastic platformer, with a lot more depth and playability than most similar games released for the MD. Light Crusader was an interesting isometric-perspective RPG that was similar to Landstalker. There were a few other Treasure-created MD games too, but those in particular were a few of the standouts.