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System:
MasterSystem
Genre:
Shoot 'Em Up
Publisher:
SEGA
Developer:
-
Players:
-
Release date/year:
1987
Other systems:
Arcade
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- Alien Syndrome
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1987 SEGA - MS
Sega has always done a fantastic job at creating action games and action shooters for the arcade and for the home systems. In Alien Syndrome, you take control of a soldier battling their way through a complex filled with aliens and weird looking muck that saps your energy if you step through it. Based in a complete overhead view, it is strangely familiar to the old dungeon sequences of Phantasy Star 2 and Phantasy Star 3! You can acquire different weapons through killing various aliens, and then continue on your quest to face off against the vile alien hordes.
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-The Game Play-
Alien Syndrome is your basic run and gun type of game with all of the addictiveness of a good puzzle game! You'll spend most of your time trampling through various mazes, looking for the exit, and blasting aliens along the way. As you continue through, you'll find that the aliens vary in size and shape, as well as toughness, and that they'll swarm you if you don't keep moving! The difficulty of the game really doesn’t have a baring on how well you do throughout, in which you merely have to stay alive long enough not to get yourself killed.
The pure challenge of the game is getting through the stages and doing so in such a way that you don’t get aggravated with the length of some of the stages. Weapons that you might find in the game are minimal and there really isn’t much of a difference between the stages other than the layout of the maze. If you can make it from one end to the other without getting wasted by the alien horde, then you’ll find that the game is your basic dungeon crawler. All in all, it’s cool if you’re playing with a friend, but rather boring if you’re trying to accomplish the game by yourself.
As good action games go, being able to run from place to place, and shoot your enemies is what makes the game. The control here is easy enough to use, and you'll find that anyone can learn to use the simple controls and blast their way through the complexes with little or no practice! What the game seems to be lacking on the other hand, is anything special with the control that makes it better than any other dungeon crawler out there. If you’re looking for something special to do with the weapons on the control, then you might as well look for a different game.
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-Visuals-
It's not the most visual of games, and everything looks rather flat despite the overhead view that you encounter. Each stage looks pretty much the same, and only the color scheme of the floor that you traverse changes as you progress! The aliens themselves are well thought, but with the time and limitations, you'll find that the detail leaves plenty to be desired and even the weapons aren't all that great in their animations. The lack of special effects is what will catch the eye of any recent day gamer, and it does tend to date the game horribly.
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-The Audio-
Standard action fare, the level music is somewhere between up-beat and dance like as you progress through the game. But be prepared that the game doesn't offer a lot to listen to as each stage music loops together in an endless stream! The sound effects are also your usual assortment of explosions, grunts, squeals and gun fire, again your usual fare of action game sounds. This also creates the illusion that the game has something going for it in the audio department, yet it doesn’t. With the lack of music selection and the lack of sound effects that change, players might find it a turn-off to listen to.
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-The Verdict-
While it's not the most original of action games, Sega did do a good job with creating Alien Syndrome in terms of addictive levels. It'll take plenty of patience to get through the game, and you'll find that the further you get, the more aliens you'll be facing off against! In later stages, you'll see that the computer takes a swing for the worst when the aliens start to overwhelm you. With the lack of detail, and even the lack of sound and music, you'll find that Alien Storm leaves a lot to be desired in the audio/visual department but does do a good job in the most important aspect of the game, which is the game play. If you’re a Master System collector, then this is an average game to have in the collection, though other gamers will probably want to stick to the Alex Kidd games.
6/10
//KasketDarkfyre
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