Alien Syndrome

[anagrama]

Well - another Sunday, another GotW... This time it's Sinistral's pick, so it's over to him...

[Sinistral]

After much thought I have decided to make the game of the week Alien Syndrome

Game Overview

The game is a challenging arcade shooter in which the goal is to rescue the hostages from various alien spacecrafts before they blow up. Along the way you will pickup different weapons to aid you. After you successfully rescue all the hostages on a level the music will change, at this point you must proceed to the door marked “exit”. Once you reach the exit you must face the end-of-level guardian to proceed to the next. Each guardian is unique and requires to be hit several times on their “weak spot” before they can be defeated.

My history with this game

I first received this game as a birthday present in 1989; I remember how difficult I found the game to be back then, not much has changed! I still to this day find the game to be extremely difficult, and the furthest I have ever been is the end-of-level guardian for level 5. If you manage to get a score better than 185600 then you are doing better than I! My reason for choosing this game is because I feel it to be an under-appreciated game in the SMS library, let’s see what you guys make of it!

My Opinion on the game

As I said above I found this game to be extremely challenging, because it is quite difficult it is also a very rewarding experience the first time you reach a new level. I remember seeing this game in the arcades, the master system version is graphically not very similar to the arcade game, but is still a great game and has same basic gameplay. In my opinion the major problem with the game (much like many other master system classics) is that you don’t stand a chance if you die on a guardian, having lost all of your power-ups.


For anyone that does not have a copy of this cartridge I have uploaded a copy of the ROM to my web space, I recommend Meka or Dega for play (oh and if your using the save feature then your cheating!)

www.sinistral666.fsnet.co.uk/Alien%20Syndrome.sms Right click (save target as name.sms)

My Mini-Boss-Guide (only to boss 5 –See accompanying screenshots for weak-spots)

Boss 1

Very easy, hit him with any gun (although I find fireball to be best) on the red stripe just below his mouth.



Boss 2

Slightly harder, you really can’t miss, I recommend Laser gun, fire as quickly as you can! Don’t worry too much about the helpers and don’t bother trying to kill them, more will appear, you can destroy the guardian before they even reach you if you’re quick!



Boss 3

Getting slightly tougher, you can only damage this guy when his eyes disappear and all of his veins are showing, I recommend fireball for killing this alien swine!!



Boss 4

This is where the battle begins! Be careful, this guys jumping pattern allows him to travel far distances extremely fast, he can also be difficult to hit. Hit him when he lands then run off. (Target the “squiggly bit” below his head) – both weapons have advantages and disadvantages against this foe – the fireball limits your attack range but increases chances of hitting him up close, the laser can be difficult to hit him with but allows you to shoot from a distance.



Boss 5

This is the Son-of-a-pregnant dog that’s got me beaten; his weak spot appears to be his “clitoris” but he seems to take an amazing amount of hits, eventually he will come right close in, if you try to run up the side he will shoot a “3-way” gun so be very careful. If you lose your weapon at this stage your finished as the normal pee-shooter rifle simply doesn’t do enough damage and you will have to be right next to him to do any damage at all.





GOOD LUCK!

[dezanuebe]

Another one i never really played, ok i will give it a try!!

[anagrama]

Great intro sir! It's another somewhat-neglected game in my collection, so I'll fire it up and give it a whirl...

[Retrobob]

I have this on the Game Gear, but will use the ROM I think. Great intro Sinstral!

[transbot]

every Game of The Week from now on should make a big entry like this - makes it seem more of an event. You should show a cover shot too if you can, and sort of theme the thread around the game - like it's a celebration

[Skeletor]

Very good intro, This is the game where I needed new controler's, Back when I also got this game (89) This game pissed me off so much, I smashed the controler off the ground in frustration, (Not much has changed today, d**n Playstation2) But they were only $10.99 Canandian for one! Thanks e-bay for the replacements,

[RetroReserve]

Haven't played this game for about 10 years. Looks like I'm going to have to start using an emulator for the game of the weeks as I don't have this one either. I'll let you know how I get on later in the week.

[Retrobob]

I'm using the emulator, it's a pretty fun game, I played for about 10 mins last night and nearly finished the first level.

I also pulled out the game gear version which is quite different, it still follows the top down - kill aliens, rescue hostages, but the sprites and level design are quite different.

After a while the first boss on the GG version became a strange neck and head thing that killed me - is it the same on the SMS version?

[anagrama]

Certainly another toughie this one (or maybe I'm just crap?).
I had a go last night and have been playing again today, but still haven't made it past the first boss.
It's a shame that it glitches when used with a Megadrive pad, since it would probably be better than trying to pull off tight diagonals on the MS pad.

I'll keep at it though, I'll probably stand a better chance if I can get to the boss witout losing stupid lives beforehand...

[Sinistral]

Yeah the megadrive pad problem effects me too


I think this is one of those game where you simply have to know the levels inside out to finish it.

[Stevenma]

A very good review Sinistral, I agree that it is under rated and under appreciated. I owned this game when I had my SMS and the furthest I ever got whilst playing it was level 3. I have played it a few times on the emulator and without cheating (save state function) i have got to the boss of level 3.

I have actually completed this game using the save state function and all of the bosses are tough especially the last one whilst some of the stages are complex. The key to beating this game is by knowing the layout of the levels so you know where to rescue the prisoners. Defeating the guardians requires a strategy, you yhave to know their weakspots, attacks and movements. I can get through stage 1 and 2 with ease on this game.

[Stan]

This game never really caught me right for the SMS or the NES. On the NES the aliens get just too d a m n fast later on and you can forget beating it outside of luck. The SMS version fared much better aside from toned down music. The bosses seemed a bit easier, but there was something about it that made it really hard. I can't remember now because I haven't played it in awhile. Still, it's something everyone should pick up.

[psychofox]

I havent got this game

gonna have to go emulate. My copy of Smurfs arrived today so Ive been playing that all day, im pretty impressed actually. anyways, time for some aliens....

[Sinistral]

Anyone having any success with this game then? Ive been playing a bit this week and still am unable to beat level 5 boss