Mobile Light Force

"Don't judge this game by its cover..."

I think this game might qualify for having the worst box art ever. I mean, three babes who you never see in the game? Believe me, the cover has nothing to do with the game, which is actually a pretty decent vertical-scrolling shooter. Forget Charlie's Angels or Danger Girl and think R-Type and 1942, and you're on the right track.

Story: Um, is there one? It has something to do with recovering a magic mirror. There aren't any cutscenes or dialogue, so you'll have to read to manual to find out the story. It's a shooter, who cares!

Graphics: Not a single polygon to be found, this is purely old-school sprites. Truth be told, I can't imagine the SNES not being able to handle the graphics, although the PSX's power means there's really no slowdown to speak of. Serviceable for what the game's trying to do. The characters on the selection screen show a nice anime-style design, but their in-game representations are too small to notice much detail.

Sound: Forgettable, for the most part. The music is bland synth/MIDI tunes, and it's drowned out by the sounds of you firing, anyway. The characters occasionally shout out a slogan or two in Japanese, but that's it for the voice work. Frankly, you'll miss nothing by listening to your own CDs while you're playing.

Gameplay: Here's where the game earns it's keep. Like most scrolling shooters, the game's insanely difficult, with lots of enemies and projectiles to avoid. Dodging enemy fire is extremely tricky, but surprisingly fun. And of course you have your own weapons, which can be upgraded several times with power-ups you collect by blasting enemies. You also have your ''bombs'', which clear out large numbers of enemies (and any enemy fire in the area). You have a limited number of bombs, but occasionally enemies will leave extras after you kill them.

Also, there are several characters to choose from. Their on-screen representations look slightly different, and their weapons and bombs work slightly different, but for the most part there isn't much difference among them. My personal favorite is Marion the witch.

The game is short, and you have an unlimited number of continues. However, in later levels using a continue returns you to the beginning of the stage rather than right where you left off, so some challenge remains. But just try and get through the game without using a continue! Also, there are 7 difficulty levels, but even the easiest can be a challenge, since one enemy bullet will kill you on any difficulty.

For $10, you can't go wrong with this game. Even if you're not a shooter fan, just pick it up to have a shooter in your collection. Believe me, it's a great stress reliever: there's nothing like blowing stuff up on screen!

Overall: 7/10

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 05/07/03, Updated 05/07/03