Reviewed
07.17.2019
Publisher
Sega
Developer
Sega
R&D2
Format
4
Megabit
Origin
Import/Domestic
Available
1989
(US)
1989
(UK)
Exclusive
Yes
Difficulty
Normal
Dimensions
2D
View
3rd
person
Genre
Arcade
Space
Shooter
Player(s)
1
Options
Control
Pad
Control
Stick
Requires
n/a
Importable
100% |
| INTRO: |
|
> Galaxy Force for Sega Master System is based
on the original arcade version of the game. It was developed by AM2
(Sega R&D2) for the Sega Y Board hardware, and released
to arcades in 1988. Shortly after its release, Sega sought
to upgrade all units to Galaxy Force II, which was further
debugged and featured extra levels.
> Ever since I first played Galaxy Force in the arcade, I
dreamed of the day one could play it at home. Little did I know that Sega
would oblige me with a Galaxy Force port to Sega Master
System so quickly. Although I purchased Galaxy Force II for
Genesis first, the collector in me had to have the SMS
version as well. Strangely enough, this game was only released in America
and Europe. |
| GRAPHICS: |
|
> As expected, the graphics are comparable to Space Harrier,
and After Burner on Master System. In other
words, it's a simplified version of the arcade game. It has (choppy) scaling
sprites with the pseudo-3D, third person view that works pretty well for
8-bit. You won't see giant space ships, multiple solar flares, or somewhat
realistic asteroid fields. However, the explosions, solar planet, and lock-on
rocket animations are decent. Overall, somewhat impressive for hardware
that does not have built-in scaling. |
| CONTROL: |
|
> First of all, the player's spaceship is "flown" on rails with limited
movement. The gameplay is a tale of two stories. The open area flying parts
control much like they do in After Burner -- good. Once you
enter the bases, all bets are off. The narrow tunnels animate so choppy
that it's difficult to steer properly, especially since the ship moves
so quickly with the D-pad. Of course, with much practice, one can succeed.
Otherwise, the laser guns and lock-on missiles work just fine -- fire repeatedly! |
| SOUND: |
|
> The sound effects consist mainly of laser gunfire, missiles streaming,
and explosions. Good enough. The music represents a fine rendition of the
arcade tunes. Nothing to write home about in this category, and certainly
not bothersome. |
| FUN: |
|
> Galaxy Force contains four main levels (two parts each),
plus a bonus end level. It's essentially mindless space shooting for points.
Sounds like the point of most 80s games, right? |
| BOTTOM
LINE: |
|
> Galaxy Force was certainly a must have for gamers in the
80s to early 90s. It's a good home console port, especially when you consider
how lacking the previous generation (Atari 5200, ColecoVision,
etc.) of arcade ports were. There's no need to get it for Master
System, if you have Galaxy Force II for Genesis
or (especially) Saturn. At this time, it's for collectors
and retro-gamers that want it all. |
| RATINGS: |
| Overall:
7.5 | Graphics: 8.5 | Control: 7.0 | Sound: 7.5 | Fun: 7.0 |
~ Shinobi
~
|
