hostages detained
by a scourge of mutant heads;
time to set the bomb
Additional Comments:
Alien Syndrome is a game in which I'm completely unfamiliar with its origins and/or console kin. I've never played the original so as far as Alien Syndrome's port worthiness, I cannot say. Same goes for ports on other systems such as the NES, the Commodore 64, or some of the more archaic gaming computers. However, I'm under the impression, based on what I've read, that the original arcade was a thrilling maze shooter. How much of that excitement carried over to the Master System? Well, also based on what I've read, the game fell victim to the shortcomings of hardware limitation. But you know, that's to be expected with any arcade port. You have to be willing to accept a port as an inferior game, but sometimes there are those rare occasions where a port can manage to stand on its own. Turtles in Time comes to mind. Yea, it's no way near as incredible as the arcade, but as an SNES game, it's simply brilliant. While I can't attest to Alien Syndrome being likewise, I think it's safe to say that in a way, I'm rather fortunate that I have no prior relationship with the game outside of the Master System. In that respect, I can look at the game as an SMS title on its own accord. Otherwise, I wouldn't be surprised to fall in line with the other naysayers out there.
So what of it, then? Alien Syndrome is an...interesting(?) little maze shooter to be sure. I'm not sure if interesting is the right word - maybe quirky? On my first few casual attempts, I found the game entertaining enough to keep my interest, but eventually, the fidgety controls paired with the randomized spawns irked me enough to put the game down and play something else. The controls have a certain lucidity, but I'm not entirely sure if it's the game or the Master System's awkward d-pad. I just couldn't find a comfortable way to play this game - with thumbstick or not? I haven't had this problem with any other Master System game to date, but here it remained too much of a focal problem. Movement felt sluggish, yet strangely loose as a result, especially in the boss battles. It felt like I was fighting the controls more so than the monsters that inhabited each ship and I often lost lives in easily avoidable situations.
After several hours of fighting a losing battle, I couldn't take it anymore, and sad to admit, I moved on to MEKA. Suddenly, the game felt more fluid using my PS2-style controller. Does this make me a bad gamer? Probably. Do I care? No - especially with Alien Syndrome; mostly because this is one hell of a tough game. The levels aren't all that difficult, but the boss battles are merciless. On my initial attempts, it took me forever just to come to terms with Squime. Sounds hard to believe given that his weakness is more than obvious, but his hitbox seemed very amorphous. The difficulty, and faulty hitboxes, eased up on some of the mid-level bosses, but Mr. Mimi was an atrocious harbinger of death. Even on an emulator, it took me several hours and countless deaths to understand this ugly visage of doom. Once I realized an optimal tactic, I still had that dreaded timer countdown to worry about. Without the timer, Mr. Mimi is completely unforgivable, but with the timer, he's nigh on impossible. It takes far too many hits to kill him, and unfortunately since Urania is nothing more than a boss room, there's absolutely no chance to acquire any weapon upgrades. Yea, you have to kill Mr. Mimi with your weak-ass space pistol. Bullshit!!
Alien Syndrome was one of those games that when I finally beat it - of which I only had 10 seconds or thereabouts left on the timer - I promptly gave it the bird. It's a needlessly brutal game that not only gave me hell on the SMS but on an emulator as well, and to be honest, tools are irrelevant at this point. It reminded me of playing the SNES version of Battletoads on an emulator...with tools! Ok, tools helped me get past Speeder Bikes for once, but Tracktors pushed me into a maelstrom of unforgiving rage. Thing is, Alien Syndrome is not needlessly difficult in terms of an arcade game where lives matter. Heinous difficulty is required to keep children feeding endless amounts of quarters into the machine. One hit kills, limited lives, and creatures with nearly infinitesimal health is the norm. There's a lot more substance and meaning when proving victorious in an arcade game, especially if limited funds are used. Console ports don't quite carry the same prestige. Sure, there's a sense of pride when taking down an incredibly difficult console game, but there's no personal loss other than time to balance out the victory. Consoles don't offer that feeling of quarters well spent, so I have to wonder why ports are adamant about keeping one hit kills, limited lives etc. in tact. Overall, it feels like Alien Syndrome tried to remain true to its arcade origins for all the wrong reasons.
I'm not complaining about the difficulty because I have an aversion towards freakishly hard games - I don't. I'm complaining because the difficulty is highly mismatched and based on arcade-style mechanics that serve no purpose in its present form. And it's this more than the off-kilter control or even the somewhat stale gameplay that I credit an overall dislike towards this game. However, I can imagine the original arcade game working very well, even if the levels do tend to stagnate as you progress. I hate to chastise a game mostly for difficulty, but this game ended up feeling so lopsided and finished up on such a pinnacle of frustration. In the end, I regret playing the game further than the first or second level. My initial reactions, while not great, were reasonable enough to enjoy the game as a decent, yet quirky maze shooter. Sadly, all of that washed away as I insisted on beating the game. If I had to recommend the game, I'd do so purely as a 1-level demo; nothing more.
Nano-Rant:
There's supposedly a flamethrower upgrade in this game. I never found it. Guess I didn't look hard enough. Damn!
Rating: 2 brain-worms out of 5
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