Alien Soldier

Alien soldier was made by treasure games(dynamite headdy,gunstar heroes, sin & punishment 1-2, ikaruga) for the sega genesis/megadrive in 1995.

It's a run n gun side scroller(let's call it an action shooter in the same vein as vanquish n pno3) that holds the Guinness world record for most bosses in a run n gun game(23 bosses).

Each boss is entirely unique,all have a weak point n a weakness against some forces, so it's up to the player to decide which force is best against a given boss.

It has 2 difficulty modes; SUPER EASY or SUPER HARD.

SUPER EASY has a feature that allows u to slow down the games speed to react better, the timer stays the same so u can still die from time over.

SUPER HARD raises enemy damage I think, life also.

It has many unique mechanics:

parry(counter force): deflect enemy projectiles which can be turned into life pickups.

Ceiling cling: after jumping u can stay on the ceiling, same movement applies.

Hover: remain in the air for a period of time.will fall if hit.
can be used twice after jump before landing, can use dash out of hover.

A dash(zero teleport) with I frames used to cross the screen n reposition to better fight bosses.
If u use dash with full life u do a super dash that can do massive damage to bosses, at the cost of depleting a small portion of life(SUPER EASY its 20, SUPER HARD its 50).

2 aim/fire modes which r colour coded to epsilon eagles armour:

stationary aim(silver) which means u can't shoot n move at the same time best for precise aiming when u don't want to move position to fire at a boss weak point.

Move aim(bronze) where u can move n shoot at same time, less precise best for certain forces that don't need fine aim(homing,ranger,flame) n against the more mobile bosses.

Real time 4 slot weapon wheel, ammo drains n recharges when not selected, u can take any combination of forces.
firing at ammo pick ups with your selected force will turn that pickup into your current force, which replenishes n adds to that forces ammo capacity.

6 weapon(force) types, each is unique n has its own use:

1.Buster force:straight forward basic shot, the all round weapon.more of a backup weapon while better ones r recharging, usually best for mobs since many bosses can deflect it.


2.Ranger force: 4 shot spread, too slow n lacking damage so best used against mobs not bosses.


3.Flame force: close range fire blast that does massive damage through sustained fire but drains ammo quickly, very situational.


4.Homing force:reliable chip damage fire n forget weapon that auto aims at foes, best used with bronze aim so u can focus on dodging. Great for mobs n bosses while others recharge.


5.Sword force:linear laser beam that does more damage the closer u r to an enemy. Decent alternative to buster, acts as a hybrid of buster n lancer.


6.Lancer force/lucky lancer:
most damaging force per hit in game, only has 6 shots by default before recharge is needed. super precise beam that is best used for big damage against bosses weak points, used by high lvl efficient players for these reasons.

U can change the HUD to display stats differently, these r player life, player ammo n boss life. U can even make hud unknown for handicap runs.


This one shows of a few weapons




This one shows some lucky lancer uses n some neat tricks.

I don't actually know all the mechanics or even remember the whole game.

Cool I was typing it up right now, had to start over my iPad is playing up.

I'll have to do another write up for bosses.

Game looks really cool and weird, love that style of game generally. I once recalled playing a Contra like co-op game on the SNES that featured light-sabers - need to look into that again as it was really freak'n fun.

Also love old arcade games. Outrun and Space Harrier are among my favorites - timeless classics.

Run Saber is the snes game, it's based on strider, another strider type game made by a lot of the original strider arcade team is called Osman/canon dancer for arcades, it's really good that one, u have upgrades that give u after image clones that deal damage via mimicking your attacks n remain stationary so u can deal damage n move freely.

They pretty blatantly based on strider but that's cool they sick games dog.

Alien soldier n other treasure arcade type games show how well action game fundamentals can cross over into others, when handled well. Like vanquish which takes from shmups n action games more than simply cover shooters. So vanquish n pno3 r what alien soldier would evolve into if in 3D.

Action games usually have elements of other action games in them, again vanquish, dmc n bayo have guns also, usually some amount of smhup aspects or whole stages. It's a game design thing, plus the creators really love those games, they just love games.

Do Japanese have a destination between smhups, beat em ups n action games in general?

It's a cultural thing i take. Japanese still love games that r games since arcades r still a thing, it's not that their trying to remember their childhood games, it's that they never forgot I think. As in how it's mainly western games becoming cinematic, Japanese devs seem to understand what a game is really. Just take how yakuza is massive in japan, that's a game that has tons of gameplay n story.

Well except re6 most of Leon's campaign, Chris missions where best overall since it was mostly raw action not trying to be spooky anymore.

Alien soldier is way ahead of its time. It's kinda offensive how good it is.

If I didn't say before it has checkpoints, no lives so u don't have to restart all over if u die. That's very nice I hate games where u ran out of lives n have to start all over with no choice, it's just tedious for me to have to start all over just to get to try the part I'm stuck on.

Wish dem kidz now knew about arcades, just some raw video game ass video game right their.

It's a simple game at its core, its mostly about learning each boss n experimenting with weapons on them, learning what u can parry.

It has each boss listed on a score screen, it gives your records for each boss, such as time beaten n deaths.

Great for speed runs. Roy u might have some fun with handicap runs. Custom hud options r really considerate touch too, even give u unknown hud options for each hud bar, for a game released in 1995.

Does it even look like a genesis/mega drive game? Looks nuts for a old system, looks more like it was made now then retro fitted for it.

The sound design n visuals r superb, super nice little graphical n sound touches bring its world to life, sound design makes it clear when u r not hitting bosses correctly(that poignant ding sound) n when bosses attack.

sound is very impressive given the genesis wasn't known for its great sound quality, snes usually one that argument.
Much of the genesis sound chip was ostensibly crackling sounds of arse, so it's even more impressive how it has such crisp sound design n a sick ost(favourite track is runnerAD2025).

Finally bought this game. Made me think of you Gabe, hope you're good wherever you are! Going to attempt to learn it, seems like a fantastic game so far.

Belated but how did you find it?

Damn Gabe, been a long time since I saw you! Hope you've been well these last few..must have been a year at least! Good to see you again!

And I really enjoyed it! I didn't get too deep into it as I found it..pretty hard to control on a Switch with it's Dpad and joycons.

I've been doing well mostly, got stuck in the hyperbolic time chamber so I'm a bit... chronologically displaced. Nevertheless I live a recluse and stable life so my affairs have gone largely unperturbed by worldly conundrums(like where did all the cheese graters go? Who took all the cheese graters!?) which is all I care to comment on the matter here.

I believe my last comment was in late 2018 about the Capcom Beat em up bundle, so at least 2yrs. Suppose it has been a long time, I remember when it was just the 3 of us holding the fort down, now there's a real community with all these 'posers' around haha.

Regarding Alien Soldier: I've just been obsessed with it lately, experimenting with the different loadouts, reading on development history details and the soundtrack(never get tired of Runner 2025 and Soltype). I'm still amazed by the attention to detail it has, details no one asked for, like "Let's create a level that's pitch-black save for the lighting created by the shots fired from the player. With the color changing depending on the shot, including green for the lancer when in bronze armor mode which is the only weapon that has an alternate color for no discernible reason! All for ONE Boss!!!"

I almost refuse to believe it's an actual MD game at times. It looks and plays more like a Kickstarter game that was backported to the system if that makes sense(like Gunlord X).

Anyhow nice to be back.

What the hell is this game? Absolutely fucking wild stuff. 6 weapons, (almost) boss-only game, full HP attack combining with parry that drops HP, stand on ceilings, nonstop level design changes.

Dynamism of boss encounters has a hint of Monster Hunter in it, especially with the importance of aiming/positioning. This came out in 1995?

It seems exceptional indeed. It's been a few months I wanted to play it but couldn't really find the time.

Also exceptionally expensive haha. I keep trying to find a used copy of the game but it's cheaper to buy a used PS5 than this title.

I touched it last night, and my first impression is "Resident Evil 4(original) in 2D but having parry and Wesker dash". It is a bit different with typical Run & Gun. You must set yourself somewhere like a turret, and use multiple powers and parrying to survive. I only get to 3rd stage, but it is quiet interesting.


...And unlike you guys, I just bought it from steam, Sega Megadrive genesis, like literally with one buck($1).