Alien Syndrome

released on Jan 01, 1987

The time bomb is set. It's the only sure way to get rid of these aliens. For good. They're vile. Vicious. And villainous. And they've infested our outcolony. They're holding hundreds of inhabitants hostage. Some of them your friends. So get in there. And get blasting. Inside, you'll find state-of-the-art weaponry. It's yours for the taking. There's sector after sector to purge. Each more intricate than the one before it. And there are Super Aliens to confront. Each more hideous than the one before it. Get the hostages out. And get as many aliens as you can. Before the blast gets all of you.


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A great run and gun shooter with varied levels, creepy body horror enemies, an ominous soundtrack and competent controls.

I played Alien 3 last year. A game I had fantastic memories of playing on the Sega Megadrive over 20 years ago. The visuals to it are still fantastic but what I'd forgotten was the game was set to a timer where you explore samey looking environments looking for survivors with no map running around lost. Roll forward a year and I'm trying Alien Syndrome on the Sega Master System. My main experience of this is running around samey looking environments looking for survivors with no map running around lost.

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To add to this the collision detection is wonky so firing at enemies is often going to miss if you're not on exactly the right 2D plane despite the shot connecting with the pixelled alien in question. It's actually easier due to the pointless timer to avoid most enemies anyway and run through screen by screen as enemies sort of phase in a second or so after you enter a screen, sometimes on you, sometimes killing you. The action packed gorgeous cover art really isn't the experience playing it.

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I got to stage 5 before giving in. Each level is almost a colour swap of the last with a couple of different enemy types. Mindlessly running around lost just isn't my idea of fun and the weapon power ups are kind of boring, the lack of a map makes it a slog and the timer beeping down is grating.

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I like some of the boss designs though, they are pretty nightmarish in appearance even if the fight themselves is a fight against the collision detection as much as them. Maybe this was a pretty cool little game in 1986 but coming to it for the first time in 2023 and it's going to be a challenge to win people over I think.

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God I hate that obnoxious timer.

Two-player mode on NES was a blast!

yeah, this game deserves way more respect. not sure what the low ratings here are for! it's pure '80s arcade goodness: shades of gauntlet, a little smash tv, and even a little zelda with the scrolling 'rooms'. i love its art direction, which is kind of an airbrushed quasi-giger style... my kinda shit. you run around saving people, gathering power-ups, blasting aliens, and escaping before the timer runs out. what's not to like? (play the arcade version.)