Manual Stimulation: Alien Syndrome (Game Gear)

I don't know if I've made this clear here, on Twitter, on Facebook, or elsewhere on the internet, but I adore Alien and Aliens. 

I'm specifically talking about the classic horror and sci-fi films, of course; not the, uh, beings from outer space in general.

I mention that because it should go a long way toward explaining my attraction not only to the 1986 arcade version of this game, but the boiled-down Game Gear port from 1992 I'm highlighting in this post.

After all, there's little denying Alien Syndrome was heavily inspired by James Cameron's classic 1986 sci-fi action film, Aliens.

This isn't to imply Alien Syndrome offers nothing new or unique. The enemies and especially bosses it throws at players are a world away from the ones found in the aforementioned flick.

To be honest, the low-level aliens you fend off in this Gauntlet-esque, run-and-gun shooter tend toward the lackluster. Thankfully, the end-of-stage guardians more than make up for it.

This version of Alien Syndrome isn't a straight port of the quarter-munching original, by the way. According to the intro, the Game Gear version a follow-up set five years in the future.

I can't say that's immediately noticeable while playing the portable iteration, but it's a nice bullet point all the same. 

Something else that's worth noting about this release is its brevity. The game offers up just four stages. Successfully finishing them is no easy feat, though, so at least there's that. Still, few are going to describe Alien Syndrome for the Game Gear as a meaty experience.

Most who play it are likely to call it a tense and thrilling experience, though. It absolutely nails that aspect of the source material. As such, playing through it again and again—or at least more than once—is joyful rather than annoying.

Have any of you played the Game Gear port of Sega's Alien Syndrome? If so, what did you think of it?

See also: the Bubble Bobble Game Gear instruction manual

Why didn't someone tell me Square worked to port its Aliens MSX game to the Famicom Disk System and that the ROM had found its way on line?

Anyone new to this blog may not yet know this bit of oh-so-interesting news, but I am an absolute Alien nut.

Both Ridley Scott's 1979 film and James Cameron's 1986 sequel (called Aliens, naturally) are among my all-time favorite pieces of cinema.

Combine that with my love of video games, and you've got a situation where a person (that would be me) scours the globe in search of quality games that were inspired by the above-mentioned films.

Sadly, that lifelong search has turned up only a few worthwhile possibilities, such as Konami's side-scrolling action game from 1990, 1994's Aliens vs Predator title for the ill-fated Atari Jaguar, WayForward's Aliens Infestation for the DS and last year's Alien: Isolation for PS3, PS4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One.

Is the awkwardly named Aliens: Alien 2, made by Square for the MSX computer platform all the way back in 1987, another example? I've never played it, so I have no idea, but videos such as this one certainly make it look like a contender.



I share all of this because I just--well, a couple of days ago--became aware of the fact that the fine folks at Square worked on a Famicom Disk System port of Aliens: Alien 2 at some point in time.

For whatever reason, though, the company's higher-ups weren't happy with the effort and scrapped it before it could be released.

Amazingly, some wonderful person got his or her hands on the game's not-quite-finished prototype and leaked its ROM onto the Internet in 2011--another piece of news that only recently reached my ears.

If you, too, are an Alien buff and this is the first you're hearing of the Famicom Disk System port of Square's Aliens: Alien 2, you may get a kick out of the footage included in the video above.

Personally, I prefer the more minimalist aesthetic of the MSX original, although the FDS version is far from unappealing. What do all of you think?

R.I.P. H.R. Giger

You may wonder why a gaming blog is offering up condolences regarding the sad and untimely death of Swiss artist H. R. Giger yesterday.

For starters, I'm doing so because I've been a big fan of Giger's work since I first encountered it while watching what has become one of my favorite films, Aliens. (Giger was responsible for the design of the eponymous creature that has been the focus of all four Alien movies.)

Each of the Alien films has spawned a number of video-game adaptations, of course, so I think Giger's death is well worth noting here for that fact alone--despite the fact that few, if any, of said adaptations have been all that enjoyable.

Another reason I'm noting and commemorating Giger's death here: his surreal designs were utilized in a handful of games over the years--Cyberdreams' spooky, point-and-click PC games, Dark Seed and Dark Seed II, as well as Hudson's Jaseiken Necromancer, a gory (for its time) PC Engine RPG, among them.

I've actually owned a copy of Jaseiken Necromancer for some time now (the photo above is of my own HuCard), but I've yet to play it because of the language barrier.

Maybe I'll finally pull it and my PC Engine Core Grafx II out soon and give them a go in honor of Giger's life. And, who knows, maybe I'll even use the experience as an excuse to re-start my Japanese studies?

The Great Gaymathon Review #22: Alien Crush (PC Engine)

Game: Alien Crush

Genre: Pinball

Developer: Compile

Publisher: Naxat Soft

System: PC Engine (HuCard)

Release date: 1988

Considering the PC Engine is one of my all-time favorite consoles and Aliens is one of my all-time favorite films, is it safe to say that Alien Crush is one of my all-time favorite games? I wouldn't go that far, but I'd definitely say that this H. R. Giger-esque title, which was developed by Compile and Naxat Soft, is one of the better--or at least one of the more enjoyable--pinball games I've ever played. (Controversial aside: I prefer this title to its generally-better-received sequel, Devil Crash.) Chiefly responsible for my love of this game are, of course, the aforementioned Aliens-inspired graphics. (I'm especially fond of the multi-eyed "queen" that takes up a large portion of the lower playfield.) Granted, you'll become well acquainted with those graphics, as the play area in Alien Crush is just two screens high, but at least they're gorgeous. (Thankfully, a bonus round helps break things up a bit.) Also adding to this game's allure: Its throbbing, rock-ish soundtrack. Sadly, said soundtrack consists of just two tunes--a few more if you count the tracks played during the bonus rounds and on the game-over screen. So, what's not to love about Alien Crush? Well, aside from its somewhat-repetitive graphics and music, I'd say the game's biggest negative is one shared by most pinball games of the time: The physics are far from perfect. Oh, and the screen doesn't scroll smoothly from one section of the playfield to the next; rather, it uses what some folks call a "flick-screen mechanism." If you're not anal about such things, though, you should find a lot to like in this release.

See also: Previous 'Great Gaymathon' posts

Curiosity of the day: Square's Aliens game

I don't know about you, but I didn't know--until a few hours ago, at least--that more than two decades ago the folks at what was then known as Square made a game (for the MSX) based on the 1986 film Aliens.

I found out about it after watching said film (for, oh, the 20th or so time) last night--which prompted me to search the Interwebs for games based on James Cameron's blockbuster and its Ridley Scott-directed predecessor. That search led me to this destructoid.com article and this Wikipedia page--both of which mention Square's Contra-esque shoot 'em up.

Here's what it looks like in action:



Honestly, I don't think the game looks bad at all. It certainly puts to shame the Pac-Man-esque Alien title that appeared (five years earlier, admittedly) on the Atari 2600.

See also: 'Curiosity of the day: Sega's Mega Jet'