Must confess to not being huge on this genre of gaming, but this this was a great deal of fun. Thanks to the save ability, it is manageable but I'm certain back in the day it would be almost impossible to finish, as it's very difficult.
This game operates vertical rather than left to right, and enemies not only come from above, but from side to side and occupationally behind. The games secondary fire, combine with the directional button allows shooting from any direction, make it (more or less) 360 degree combat.
Like R-Type and others of it's ilk, the player can pick up alternate weapons, some acting as defense, others increasing blast radius, some slower but target seeking and so on... This adds nice variation and it's fun picking up stuff to see what they will do, this coupled with various enemies that need prioritized and managed creates rhythmic, on the fly strategy.
Unlike the Game Gear Power Strike II title, which became almost impossible to follow due to backgrounds being as detailed as the enemies on the foreground, Aleste (the games other title) sensibly subdues the background for simplicity as to not needlessly confuse the player, because there is alot going happening, it happily throws dozens of enemies at once to the point of noticeable frame dips. The visuals aren't quite R-Type, but they are serviceable with pleasant music to accompany it.
There only has 6 levels, like many games of the time, short. But it's still a good 2 hours worth spending on a boring weekend.
Aside from difficulty (which is appealing for certain mentalities) never had any issues with this title, it's hard but not cheap, track the screen, learn the patterns, overcome.
Ultimately It's just an enjoyable pew-pew experience.
