Power Strike II

[anagrama]

Believe it or not, we're almost one-third of the way through 2005 already, and as we enter the 15th week of this GotW cycle it falls to snowblind to provide us with a tasty morsel to cogitate & digest over the next 7 days...

So, what's it to be?

[snowblind]

My choice is a game which has consistently remained among my fave SMS games for many years, even though it was only recently that I managed to finally buy my own copy of it.

This week: Power Strike 2!

In my humble opinion it's the single most technically impressive game on the system, combining insanely hectic action with solid gameplay, all the while maintaining great graphics (despite some sprite flickering when the screen gets too busy) and responsive controls. The gameplay is like most vertical shoot 'em ups - dodge enemy fire, collect countless power ups for your own ship's weapons, scrape through each level to reach the boss battles at the end - but Power Strike 2 feels like it's gone that extra mile in every aspect. I remember reading a review for it in 1993, then later playing it on a friend's master system, and not quite believing it was on an 8-bit system. But most of all, it's a great challenge and a lot of fun!

It's hard to come by, it can be expensive, but it's well worth it for a shoot 'em up that for me surpasses any other from the genre on the Master System.

I hope you enjoy this week's GOTW

p.s. I recommend going for Absorbtion when picking your ship's weapon type.

[dezanuebe]

here´s a superb choice. Power Strike 2 is an awesome shoot´em up that proves once again that the SMS was an excellent system with an hardware capable of doing the impossible when handled by the best programmers. This game has everything, exquisite graphics, good sound and a difficult level that you won´t find in many SMS games.

... Congrats snowblind for an excellent choice!!

[smsfiend]

Any one happen to have an extra copy of this game laying around? I would be happy to take it off your hands. I love vertical scrollers, almost as much as hack and slash. I've heard great things about this game and would like to get my hands on a copy.

[JellyCrystals]

Too me this is the Smurfs 2 GotW choice of the year so far.... Probably not as uncommon as S2 but equally un-gettable to be. But I liked Power Strike, so I assume the sequal is pretty sweet... based on all the excellent raps that it gets

[onyx]

ive got a few that anyone can have for £30 each plus postage cost's ?
it will take me a week or so though to get the game as a large chunk of my sms stuff has been put into storage and needs sorting ... sorry montag ! ill make the wait worth your while ...

other than that i could loan it out for £5 per week but id need your grandmas wedding ring as a deposit !

[Hades]

10/10

the single most technically impressive game on the system

And it's hella fun!
Improved on the first in every aspect, and this one is a little harder which is good cause I found the first fairly easy.

[anagrama]

Comparing it to Smurfs 2 rarity-wise really isn't fair - yeah, it's fairly hard to find and can get expensive, but not always - I got a complete copy for a pretty reasonable £10.50, and since it was also released in Australia & Brazil (unlike Smurfs 2), copies do show up fairly regularly.

[tmc]

great choice for an amazing game.

with so much going on on-screen combined with the 'water swell' backdrop of level 2 it's simply sublime.

both a technical and playable masterpiece.

[Roth]

I played this for the first time on an emulator a few days ago at the recommendation of Stan. Yeah... this game rocks! When I started playing it, I was thinking, "Man, this is like a beefed up Bomber Raid!" I love that game, so I instantly fell in love with Power Strike II. D*mn Sega for marketing more abroad than in the States!!!

[smsfiend]

Had to try this one out on an Emulator and enjoyed it immensely even though it is hard to play with a keyboard. The graphics are stellar, not far off from some of the lower end sega genesis games. The question that came across my mind last night while I played it briefly, was if it runs this fast on the master system. Using Meka (Thanks Bock and associates for a great emulator) this game absolutely flew, your aircraft really "wizzes" around almost to the point where it is hard to control. So does it run that fast on master system? How many levels are there and has any one beat it yet?

[Tonto]

smsfiend said:

Had to try this one out on an Emulator and enjoyed it immensely even though it is hard to play with a keyboard. The graphics are stellar, not far off from some of the lower end sega genesis games. The question that came across my mind last night while I played it briefly, was if it runs this fast on the master system. Using Meka (Thanks Bock and associates for a great emulator) this game absolutely flew, your aircraft really "wizzes" around almost to the point where it is hard to control. So does it run that fast on master system? How many levels are there and has any one beat it yet?

It is seriously fast on the master system. I've never used meka, but it's one of the fastest playing games I've known on the sms.

[Stan]

Damn it, I really didn't want to beat this game until I played through the first one. I was playing last week and actually shut it off because I didn't want to see the ending. Guess I have to give PS one a blow first before I tackle this.

[CRV]

Stan said:

d**n it, I really didn't want to beat this game until I played through the first one. I was playing last week and actually shut it off because I didn't want to see the ending. Guess I have to give PS one a blow first before I tackle this.

Umm, why? Not like one's tied to the other...

[smsfiend]

Well late this evening, neglecting multiple papers, I made it to the third level. This game is alot of fun. Unfortunatelly it is one of thoes vertical shooters that screws you once you die because it is hell a hard to get anywhere without your weapons at max level. There hasn't been much discussion about the game, how are you guys *and gals doing ? I am going to have to disagree with snowblind and suggest the napalm weapon is the best weapon. Although the absorption weapon require less attention, automatically attacking enemies on the screen, the napalm produces a valuable sheild of protection. It lacks on offensive power but sure makes the game alot more easier.

If this dosen't generate some talk I am going to have to start a thread on George W Bush