Soldier Blade

The Good
The title “Soldier Blade” conjures up a particular image for me. But this image (a commando with a samurai-sword!) is quickly dispelled as soon as the title-screen boots up. For only a fool would think that this game is anything else but an out-and-out shoot-em-up. The heavy use of primary colours and mech-inspired art direction remove any doubt. We see that “Soldier Blade” may be the title of the ship you will be piloting, or maybe it’s just a bad translation of another more suitable title – either idea seems equally valid! But it doesn’t matter really. Its all part of the charm right?

A choice of game modes is available, but apart from the “Normal Game” option, there is an interesting choice of either “2 Minute Challenge” or “5 Minute Challenge”. These are obviously time-limited high score setting modes that differ significantly from the main game. It’s a more free-for-all kind of grab for points, with subtle game-play changes. It’s not a bad distraction from the main mission.

So, you take control of your fighter (it sort of resembles a fighter-jet of the future as imagined in 1992), and with button 1 you fire your primary weapon of choice, while button 2 is your special attack. Like most vertical scrolling shooters, all the action takes place on a single dimensional plane – that is, enemies on the ground and in the air are disposed of with your all-purpose steady stream of fire. Speaking of which, the style of your fire can be one of three types. There is the blue laser-type, the green wave-type, and the red bullet-type. The best of these is really a point-of-view – most times they seem equally suitable. Button 2 unleashes a kind of special move. This is delivered by your co-pilot or option*, and has varying affects on the enemy. The downside here is though, that once you use a special, your regular fire-power downgrades a notch. Risk and reward!

The game is broken up into what are called “Operations”. This gives them a delicate or even sophisticated sound, almost as if you were a spy dealing in various espionage dealings. That however, is about as misleading as it could be. Really, in this game, it is your job to just wipe everything out. Nothing sophisticated here; it’s just a matter of lining up your ship with the overwhelming force of fighters, turrets, mech-units, battleships, and all other kinds of floating fortresses. It’s a pretty manic experience, and there’s never really a dull moment.

The Bad
But, it must be said that although you’re constantly occupied, it’s almost always the same game-play. The enemies come on screen in all sorts of pretty patterns and formations, but as mentioned, it’s really only a matter of moving a bit left or right to take them out. In fact, the game is even courteous enough to left you know of an encroaching enemy from behind. A convenient “alert” is both heard and seen. Thanks, evil armada.

Overall, this game is a pretty relentless and admittedly challenging iteration of this classic genre. It’s mostly visually pleasing, and the soundtrack really is fun. (If you can imagine Vangelis on speed, you’re half-way there). I’m not sure what it is, but the TG16 games seem to have a certain fuzziness to the graphic quality. It’s almost as if the video in these titles has been drawn to a more constrained resolution than say the SNES or the Megadrive. This title seems to be set to a pretty low resolution, but the speed of the game play never falters, and this may be part of the reason.

The Bottom Line
So “Soldier Blade”, a sci-fi shooter, not a Vietnam war run ‘n’ stab, is a respectable and challenging shooter well worth a look.

*I’ve noticed that your option/co-pilot is invulnerable. Why they didn’t make your ship out of this miraculous material is anyone’s guess, but it would certainly make the game easier – or maybe there would be no titanic struggle against good and evil to begin with…