Super Star Soldier
Reviewed by Michael LoCascio
Don't be fooled by its title: Super Star Soldier is more of
a follow-up to NEC's own excellent shooter, Blazing Lazers,
than it is a true sequel to the old Star Soldier cart that
was released for the NES. As a matter of fact, the look and
feel of the game make it all too apparent that Super Star
Soldier is undeniably a direct clone of what was one of the
more successful Turbografx-16 games ever designed (as is
Soldier Blade, the subsequent entry into the series). The
second chapter in a trilogy of shooters that seemed to get
progressively worse as it went along, Super Star Soldier is
a moderately enjoyable game that offers little in the way of
freshness or innovation.
Super Star Soldier's plot is immeasurably complex: alien
beings wish to invade our world, and it's your mission to
stop them. All of the vertically-scrolling action is viewed
from an overhead perspective. Maneuver your mighty ship
through eight stages and you'll come face to face with the
demonic Mother Brain in the game's final confrontation. None
of this may sound incredibly thrilling or original - and
truth be told, it isn?t. There is some diversity in the
looks of the eight levels, although the variety in scenery
has no impact on the action itself, and the different
locations don't proceed in any type of logical manner.
The game play is just as mundane as the basic premise of the
title. You'll spend most of your time holding down Button II
(which fires your guns) as you maneuver your little ship out
of harm's way. Upon picking up option ships, you can use
Button I to rotate your small sidekicks and move them into
optimal position for defensive purposes. The controls are
obviously very simple, and the button layout works just fine
for this type of title.
Along with the options, you'll be able to deck your ship out
with homing missiles which can be powered up by grabbing the
appropriate icon. Snatching up crystals (which appear in
abundance) will allow you to change your main gun, as
different types of weapons work optimally in different
scenarios. Red crystals provide a boost to your standard
shots, while blue crystals equip your ship with a decidedly
weak ring laser. You'll probably want to keep an eye out for
the green and yellow crystals, which grant you the powers of
laser beams and spreading flames, respectively. Repeatedly
obtaining the same type of crystal will strengthen whichever
weapon you are using, allowing you to fire deadlier shots
and cover a wider area with your beams. Maxed-out weapons
are quite impressive in appearance; if anything, Super Star
Soldier may very well feature the neatest power-ups in the series.
If the non-stop action of the standard adventure in Super
Star Soldier begins to wear thin for you, the game contains
?2 minute? and ?5 minute? modes in which your objective will
be to score as many points as possible within a limited
amount of time. It can be rather enjoyable to take turns
with a friend and compete for the highest score in these
modes, and it is a relatively interesting concept. Still,
the level of appeal that these bonus modes will have for you
is dependent upon how much you actually enjoy the game itself.
The visuals in Super Star Soldier are merely serviceable;
there are no special graphical effects that will catch your
eye during your journey. Some of the bosses are rather huge,
but one can't help but feel that everything in the game
could have been drawn with a tad bit more detail. The sound
effects are decidedly underwhelming, which is somewhat
disappointing for a game that contains so much action. The
music is easy on the ears, but again, it is very low key and
doesn't have much of an impact on the game play.
The main problem with Super Star Soldier is that, while
relatively challenging and solid in most aspects, it is
somewhat lacking in intensity. It doesn't plod along like
the painfully tedious Soldier Blade, but it also doesn?t
soar like the exhilarating, exciting Blazing Lazers. While
Blazing Lazers demanded that you rely almost solely on your
instincts, Super Star Soldier calls for you to implement
more strategy in your methods of attack, which adds to the
game's challenge but actually detracts from the fun. It's
still an enjoyable title with surprisingly high replay
value, but fans of the genre will find nothing new here. In
the end, Super Star Soldier simply pales in comparison with
its masterful predecessor.
Overall: 7 out of 10
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