#33 - Alien Syndrome

Thankfully, if the aliens touch your buddies, they don't die like in Zombies Ate My Neighbors.

Sega and Tengen team up again to bring another illegal cart to the NES! Unlike "Afterburner," their previous team-up, Alien Syndrome has average amounts of enjoyment to be had, provided you can get past some limiting elements.

When I first popped this game in, I was having flashbacks to last night with Alien 3. In both games, you are supposed to rescue prisoners from the alien menace, but unlike Alien 3, Alien Syndrome gives you plenty of time to rescue them AND provides you with a map to locate your buddies. The levels are not nearly as confusing as that LJN monstrosity, either. It was refreshing, but I will say that it made the game fairly easy. The enemies that get in your way are a cinch to take down, even with your lamest gun. The only difficulty comes with the bosses, but more on that later. Throughout the levels, there are power-ups to upgrade your weapon, such as lasers, flamethrowers, etc. but they all seemed to do a similar amount of damage. This is pretty much the entire game right here. It's as simple and pick-up-and-play as they come.

As much as Alien Syndrome doesn't arouse the bile from the back of my throat, there's not much to recommend here either. It's average at best, and many other NES games have provided gameplay like this, only better; Contra would be a glaring example. The overall mechanics of the game are OK: graphics are decent for 1987, music is your typical action-packed sci-fi fare, and the controls work well until you get to the bosses. I really wish the developers would have given you a jet pack or something, so you could move around a little easier. Your character seems to turn into a stiff automaton when you're trying to fight a boss, and it's zooming all around you or coming right for you, but there's no way to avoid it.

Still, the game isn't bad, it's just average; like a boy or girl who's really sweet and nice, but you just aren't interested in them because they're so plain and they lack any self-esteem. If only Alien Syndrome would have asserted itself a little more, perhaps it could have been special.

C-