Cleared on June 17th, 2023 (SEGA Genesis Challenge: 12/160)
This game is a very strong contender for my favorite Sega Genesis game. I won't say that it is until I've cleared my challenge, but I would be surprised if anything else could even top it.
You play as Epsilion and as you'd expect from a game like this, you run, you gun, you jump, and you maneuver against enemies. This game is brought to you by the same developers of Gunstar Heroes which is considered their own take on Contra. You might think they should've just made a Gunstar Heroes sequel, but Alien Soldier is a lot more different than just another Contra competitor, and dare I say, I don't think I've run into another game quite like it.
On top of the traditional abilities that you have, you can also dash across the screen which will give you a brief window of invincibility while letting you reposition against the enemies, and you will need it. The game was built with this mechanic in mind.
You can hover in the air which lets you get better precision against the enemies although you can't move unless you dash which then cancels the hover. Pressing the hover button again will let you double jump. You can move on ceilings, and when your health is full, you can dash to unleash a devastating Phoenix Force except it takes a small chunk of your health. It's really negligible and only applied so you can't use it repeatedly.
On top of that, you can use a "Counter" which lets you convert most projectiles into health orbs. While they also drop from enemies, they won't usually be present in bosses and thus learning this mechanic is crucial to survive.
And guess what? The Treasure developers actually corrected the issue Gunstar had that didn't let you switch between Free or Fixed mode on a whim, and here, they have a combination that lets you switch although it's more complicated than what Contra Hard Corps would simply have you do. In fact, the controls in this game are actually very complex for a Sega Genesis game.
Some things are simple enough to understand like Jump, Shoot, Run, Hover, and Weapon Switch. However, to switch between Free and Fixed mode, you need to press the Weapon Switch button + Down. To dash, you need to press Down + Jump at the same time. To counter, you need to tap the Shoot button twice.
Keep in mind that you need to factor all of this in, master the mechanics, all while managing the four weapons you have active at a time because they aren't unlimited, so switching between the weapons you got is mandatory, but what are the weapons?
Buster Force is the standard straight line shot that fires repeatedly. It's not a bad weapon to end up with although you may have trouble getting it to connect with some of the bosses in the game.
Ranger Force is the spread shot weapon that's damage is so lacking that you should definitely avoid using above all else, especially in the mid and late game.
Flame Force is the close ranged high damage dealing shot and pretty useful if you can afford to get up close.
Homing Force is a weapon that, as the name suggests, homes projectiles at nearby enemies making it quite possibly the most versatile weapon in the game and it's not bad at dealing with bosses as long as you aren't playing Superhard Difficulty.
Sword Force is a thin beam of light that is similar to the Flamethrower that getting up close deals more damage, but the difference is that it deals more damage up close while being weaker the farther you are. I never realized it in my playthrough.
Lancer Force is my favorite weapon as it just a beam of light that deals immense damage and a must have to be able to clear out bosses much easier although it has very low ammunition count, so it's more high risk high reward.
So there is a lot you need to understand and it's not just your character you need to understand, but the bosses as well because there are 25 stages and each of them has a boss at the end. Yes, there are 25 bosses in this game and that's what the game's primary focus is on since it doesn't usually take long for you to get from one boss to the next and during these intermission periods, you're just shooting up lesser enemies to collect health orbs and countering their projectiles for that same reason, all while finding these weapon capsules which can either let you swap weapons or, by shooting it, you can force rotate it to the weapon you shot with and upgrade the ammo count.
The bosses can range from fairly easy once you get it down, notably the earlier fights, to being really tough and in general, this game is just really hard. However, there is a mercy aspect to the game called "Supereasy mode". If you are put off with being forced back to the beginning after 3 game overs, I feel you. It can be quite tedious, but given this is developed by Treasure, they took a page from Gunstar Heroes unlimited continues and incorporate it here although they don't do so by default. In order to access Supereasy mode, you need to go into the settings. On top of that, they slightly nerfed the health of the bosses which is considered a boon given how bosses all have a time limit, yeah, I did not mention that part. Plus, you can even slow down the game to give you time to react to the boss mechanics or otherwise give some extra time to switch between weapons because it's not like Ratchet and Clank where the whole game pauses to let you switch weapons.
Backed up with amazing gameplay is the space anthropomorphic aesthetic that reminds me a lot of Star Fox, and many of the bosses have impressive and creative designs. There is one I really want to gush over, but it comes too late in the game, and I don't want to spoil it even though the game came out in 1995. But let's just say you'll want to look out for Level 23.
The music itself is also pretty good and really fits the badass feel of the overall game. Charging through the enemy lines and barraging aliens in your wake. There is also a Gunstar Heroes track that was used in this game which I thought was kinda cool.
And the thing that surprised me is that the majority of the game was done by one person. He eventually had to get help to meet the deadlines and they originally planned to have 100 bosses (if it did, then this would've really been the Dark Souls of the 90s), but for what they were able to get in the game, it's impressive. I'd say I'd recommend this game to anyone looking for something really exciting, but even with the unlimited continues, I understand that the complicated controls may be too much if you aren't familiar with the Contra style of games. My advice, in this case, is to play Gunstar Heroes first and then go into this game. Even if it seems too much still, just know that the game will let you get accustom to the controls as long as it takes before you even get to the first level.
This game is a very strong contender for my favorite Sega Genesis game. I won't say that it is until I've cleared my challenge, but I would be surprised if anything else could even top it.
You play as Epsilion and as you'd expect from a game like this, you run, you gun, you jump, and you maneuver against enemies. This game is brought to you by the same developers of Gunstar Heroes which is considered their own take on Contra. You might think they should've just made a Gunstar Heroes sequel, but Alien Soldier is a lot more different than just another Contra competitor, and dare I say, I don't think I've run into another game quite like it.
On top of the traditional abilities that you have, you can also dash across the screen which will give you a brief window of invincibility while letting you reposition against the enemies, and you will need it. The game was built with this mechanic in mind.
You can hover in the air which lets you get better precision against the enemies although you can't move unless you dash which then cancels the hover. Pressing the hover button again will let you double jump. You can move on ceilings, and when your health is full, you can dash to unleash a devastating Phoenix Force except it takes a small chunk of your health. It's really negligible and only applied so you can't use it repeatedly.
On top of that, you can use a "Counter" which lets you convert most projectiles into health orbs. While they also drop from enemies, they won't usually be present in bosses and thus learning this mechanic is crucial to survive.
And guess what? The Treasure developers actually corrected the issue Gunstar had that didn't let you switch between Free or Fixed mode on a whim, and here, they have a combination that lets you switch although it's more complicated than what Contra Hard Corps would simply have you do. In fact, the controls in this game are actually very complex for a Sega Genesis game.
Some things are simple enough to understand like Jump, Shoot, Run, Hover, and Weapon Switch. However, to switch between Free and Fixed mode, you need to press the Weapon Switch button + Down. To dash, you need to press Down + Jump at the same time. To counter, you need to tap the Shoot button twice.
Keep in mind that you need to factor all of this in, master the mechanics, all while managing the four weapons you have active at a time because they aren't unlimited, so switching between the weapons you got is mandatory, but what are the weapons?
Buster Force is the standard straight line shot that fires repeatedly. It's not a bad weapon to end up with although you may have trouble getting it to connect with some of the bosses in the game.
Ranger Force is the spread shot weapon that's damage is so lacking that you should definitely avoid using above all else, especially in the mid and late game.
Flame Force is the close ranged high damage dealing shot and pretty useful if you can afford to get up close.
Homing Force is a weapon that, as the name suggests, homes projectiles at nearby enemies making it quite possibly the most versatile weapon in the game and it's not bad at dealing with bosses as long as you aren't playing Superhard Difficulty.
Sword Force is a thin beam of light that is similar to the Flamethrower that getting up close deals more damage, but the difference is that it deals more damage up close while being weaker the farther you are. I never realized it in my playthrough.
Lancer Force is my favorite weapon as it just a beam of light that deals immense damage and a must have to be able to clear out bosses much easier although it has very low ammunition count, so it's more high risk high reward.
So there is a lot you need to understand and it's not just your character you need to understand, but the bosses as well because there are 25 stages and each of them has a boss at the end. Yes, there are 25 bosses in this game and that's what the game's primary focus is on since it doesn't usually take long for you to get from one boss to the next and during these intermission periods, you're just shooting up lesser enemies to collect health orbs and countering their projectiles for that same reason, all while finding these weapon capsules which can either let you swap weapons or, by shooting it, you can force rotate it to the weapon you shot with and upgrade the ammo count.
The bosses can range from fairly easy once you get it down, notably the earlier fights, to being really tough and in general, this game is just really hard. However, there is a mercy aspect to the game called "Supereasy mode". If you are put off with being forced back to the beginning after 3 game overs, I feel you. It can be quite tedious, but given this is developed by Treasure, they took a page from Gunstar Heroes unlimited continues and incorporate it here although they don't do so by default. In order to access Supereasy mode, you need to go into the settings. On top of that, they slightly nerfed the health of the bosses which is considered a boon given how bosses all have a time limit, yeah, I did not mention that part. Plus, you can even slow down the game to give you time to react to the boss mechanics or otherwise give some extra time to switch between weapons because it's not like Ratchet and Clank where the whole game pauses to let you switch weapons.
Backed up with amazing gameplay is the space anthropomorphic aesthetic that reminds me a lot of Star Fox, and many of the bosses have impressive and creative designs. There is one I really want to gush over, but it comes too late in the game, and I don't want to spoil it even though the game came out in 1995. But let's just say you'll want to look out for Level 23.
The music itself is also pretty good and really fits the badass feel of the overall game. Charging through the enemy lines and barraging aliens in your wake. There is also a Gunstar Heroes track that was used in this game which I thought was kinda cool.
And the thing that surprised me is that the majority of the game was done by one person. He eventually had to get help to meet the deadlines and they originally planned to have 100 bosses (if it did, then this would've really been the Dark Souls of the 90s), but for what they were able to get in the game, it's impressive. I'd say I'd recommend this game to anyone looking for something really exciting, but even with the unlimited continues, I understand that the complicated controls may be too much if you aren't familiar with the Contra style of games. My advice, in this case, is to play Gunstar Heroes first and then go into this game. Even if it seems too much still, just know that the game will let you get accustom to the controls as long as it takes before you even get to the first level.