Soldier Blade

"Soldier Blade is one of the Turbo's finest games"

Soldier Blade is the last and best installment of Red's Star Soldier series(including Star Soldier on NES, and Super Star Soldier and Final Soldier on PC-Engine).First of all, this game is in no way a sequel to Blazing Lazers-that classic Turbo shmup was coded by the masters at Compile, not Red. Futhermore, Sodier Blade squashes Blazing Lazers in almost every category.

SB's graphics, while not as bright, are incredibly more detailed than BL's and some of the best seen on the system. It also features some nice parallax on some stages. The music is great, too, much better than the silly, drum fill intensive tunes in Compile's favorite son.

When it comes to gameplay let me just say this. You will be hard-pressed to find any game on any system that matches the intensity of this game(just set it to 'hard' mode to get the full effect). There's nothing like wading in an ocean of lasers and orange spinning bullets, and emerging unscathed(really, there's not!). I'll admit that the weapon selection is somewhat limited(only three different blasters), but how many does one really need to unleash destruction to a horde of merciless alien aircraft? Besides, the somewhat nifty system of collecting power-ups that also act as super weapons is really quite cool and unique. And just as a brief aside, if you are looking for a super-difficult arcade shmup (ie.Gunbird 2, Batsugun etc.), this is not one. This game fits into the ilk of the console-bred shooter(ie.MUSHA, Space Megaforce etc.). Whether or not that's good or bad is a personal matter of opinion- in my case, both are good.

Some will argue that Soldier Blade is ''just another shooter.'' Well, I guess it is another shooter, but not many shooters perform as well as this one does. Heck, hardly any games nowadays do. Sure, you won't get an epic 40-hour quest with over an hour of CG cut scenes. You won't even get a story, really. However, you won't have to curse at the game because of a poor camera angle(aaahhhhh,the wonders of 2-D!), a low frame-rate(no slow down here), or the lack of any semblance of gameplay. That's right! Soldier Blade actually features gameplay that makes you want to play it over and over and over again. So, if you are up for a little mindless fun and <gasp> excitement then by all means get a TG-16, drop the thirty or so bucks it'll cost you for this game, and play it and love it. And then play it some. You will, as I have, come to the conclusion that Soldier Blade is a wonderful game that epitomizes all the great aspects of this thing called ''the shmup.''

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/30/01, Updated 11/30/01