Phalanx is a perfectly average SNES shoot-em-up, so utterly unremarkable and lacking in personal identity that they famously had to put a banjo playing grandpa on the cover to catch people's attention. I'll admit, I had no idea what this game even was until just a few years ago, but the cover always stuck in my mind, so mission accomplished!

I barely remember playing this thing. There's just not much going on here to differentiate it mechanically from other shooters, and a lack of memorable set pieces make this game entirely too forgettable. Then again, that also means there was nothing so offensively bad about it either. Graphically it's very nice, and I think the only reason I can recall any of this game at all is because a few of the levels just look really great. Even then, I don't think I'd say it's the top of its class. R-type III is far more aesthetically pleasing and has a more stylized look to it, for example.

I wish I had more to say about this one, but unfortunately the cover and the story behind it is far more interesting than the game itself. Just one of those cases where the one thing people latch onto is really the only thing to latch onto.