Aerial Assault

"Nicely done side scrolling shooter."

Aerial Assault is a Gradius-like shooter for the Sega Game Gear. It looks just as good as it's Master System counterpart, and is quite addictive. This game is a very good side-scrolling shooter, especially for a hand held system.

Graphics: 8/10

The graphics on this game are very well done. They are all in color, which is a plus compared to the other hand held systems. Well, the foreground is the best part of the graphics. The background graphics look mediocre at best. There are only a few that actually stand out from the rest. The foreground looks good, though. You obtain different types of shots to use, some of which look really good considering that the Game Gear came out about 10 years ago.

Gameplay: 10/10

A perfectly executed side-scrolling shooter. The game gets increasingly tougher. Your jet will upgrade and become faster and easier to control. The game runs at a moderate pace and is pretty smooth, so if you're good at this kind of game you'll realize that your ship moves quickly and the controls are actually very nice. The control pad responds very good with this game, and you can move every direction smoothly. You'll find it that you can easily avoid the enemy's fire, and trust me, there will be a lot of enemy fire.

Sound: 9/10

While the sounds are very nicely done and the music is a plus. The music is perfect for this game. While the sound on the hardware is kind of limited, the music is really good, and goes great with the game. The shots have different sounds depending on how you shoot them, and that's a pretty good feature for a Game Gear game. The crash sounds are, well, not quite realistic, but you can tell that they are explosions. The shots sound like the type of ammunition you're firing off, and it's actually much like a console game.

Replay: 8/10

The replay value gives this game a good advantage. You will often find yourself hating the game so very much when you lose, but coming back to see if you can get farther. As you find yourself playing this game more, you'll find yourself getting increasingly good at the game, and loving it more the better you get at it. Sooner or later, you will most likely be playing to see how high of a score you can obtain.

Overall: 8/10

A very good, nostalgic shooter. The multiplayer mode is very fun. You control two ships through the game, and it's much easier. Trust me, that's a good thing. The only problem is that the two Game Gears, cables, and cartridges are hard to come by. But if you own the Game Gear, and see this game cheap, which it will no doubt be now, it's definitely worth picking up.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 05/28/03, Updated 05/28/03