GRAPHICS SOUND CONTROL FRUSTRATION FUN FACTOR OVERALL

NES 1 Player Shooter This is an unlicensed game that was made by Tengen. Tengen probably made the best games out of all the unlicensed companies and this game is one of their best. It's a port of Sega's semi-popular arcade game of the same name. In the game you pick from Ricky or Mary and you have to save hostages on alien infested planets and spaceships. There are seven levels you have to play through with a different alien boss at the end of each one, until you reach the elusive, KING CORE!!!! Graphics: Everything is nice and smooth to the extent that you can easily tell what everything is. All the alien enemies are different in each level you go to, which is a plus. All the bosses are original and look really great. The game closely resembles its arcade counterpart in almost every aspect. All the ships look good too. They are all big, but yet it's not hard to tell if you have already been to that spot on the ship. For an unlicensed game Tengen did a pretty good job with the graphics. Sound: The music is pretty bland. It's the same tune throughout all seven levels and after a while it does get annoying. It sort of sets the mood of being on an alien ship in space, which helps out a little. The music, when your fighting the bosses, rocks. It's this kind of fast paced music that is lousy, but pulls off the job well. The sound effects are like they should be, shooting makes a sound like a shot being fired, etc. Gameplay: This game involves you fighting through alien territory rescuing hostages. You must find 12 "comrades" in every level then go to the exit door at the top of the screen. This door will then take you to the boss of that level. Like I've already mentioned, the level bosses are really unique. Each has its own weak spot that you must hit it in, then when the boss is hit enough times, it goes to its second form. Each of the levels has a different set of enemies, each harder than the last. In the game you pick up one of 4 weapons, the S which is just your normal gun (I don't know why they actually made a power up for it when its the gun you start out with), the FB which shoots fire balls that look more like boxing gloves, the F which is a flamethrower that doesn't have very good range, and the final and the best, the L which is a powerful laser beam that can shoot through enemies. You will mainly use the laser through out the whole game since it is the best weapon you can get. You do get a map to use in the game, which helps you find out where all your comrades are and really comes in handy later in the game, especially since all the levels have a time limit before the ship "explodes". The controls in this game are good. Everything is responsive, but it can get a little hard on the fingers with all the moving. Replay: This game isn't overly hard, unlike other Tengen games. Once you learn all the boss patterns and find out where all the L power ups are in each level, you will pretty much have the game beat. Some of the ships are really difficult if you don't act fast, which can get frustrating at times, but after you overcome that minor frustration factor you will be hooked until you conquer the game. After that, you most likely won't come back to it, except maybe to look at all the cool bosses again.. BOTTOM LINE: One of Tengen's better games. It is fairly common and you can probably find it easily. I recommend picking it up if you just want a simple minded shooter to play, or if you want to marvel at the elusive KING CORE.. -lynx 561