Solar Assault

Solar Assault[lower-alpha 1] is a three-dimensional shoot 'em up released by Konami in 1997. A spin-off of the long running Gradius series,[1] the title retains most of the gameplay characteristics of its 2D counterparts including the same powerups and display system.[2] The player takes control of one of three spaceships, battling enemies and bosses in settings like tunnels, planet surfaces, and space fields.

Solar Assault
Developer(s)Konami
Publisher(s)Konami
SeriesGradius
Platform(s)Arcade
Release
  • JP: July 1997
Genre(s)Rail shooter
Mode(s)Single-player

The game came in three versions, two wide stand-up arcade cabinet (one Japanese and one American), and a SpeedKing deluxe simulator. The SpeedKing is an enclosed pod which tilts, using pneumatics, according to the action occurring on-screen. The American standard version had its cockpit permanently attached with the game monitor, while on the Japanese version there were separated pieces for each one of them.

Gameplay
The player's ship, the Lord British, exchanging shots with enemy targets. To the bottom is the weapon meter, to the top is the score.

Solar Assault is similar to other rail-shooters like Star Fox and Galaxy Force, where the player must move both horizontally and vertically.[3][4] Like the other games in the Gradius series, there is no health bar, meaning one hit ends up in death;[5] however, this time the player may be able to collect a "shield" power up which can take one hit or two hits before the ship's destruction. The other major gameplay change is the ability to adjust the speed, which is necessary to time the avoidance of certain obstacles and enemies. There are three ships to choose from: the Vic Viper, Lord British and Alphinia.[3]

Release

Solar Assault Revised is an updated version of Solar Assault released later in 1997, and introduced a new arcade board that was co-developed by Konami and IBM which allows five boards to be stacked on top of each other, as well as several modifications to the game, like the all-new level "Fierce Blaze", new attacks to the "Speed Demon" level boss and a total revamp on the "Abyssal Forest" level, with a new color palette and some new enemies, making it much harder than the original. The US version of the game was based on this one, just simply renamed as "Solar Assault".[3]

Notes
  1. Japanese: ソーラーアサルト Hepburn: Sōrā Asaruto

References
  1. Levy, Stuart; Semrad, Ed; Sushi-X (November 1996). "JAMMA: Capcom Finally Unveils Street Fighter III!!!". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 88. Ziff Davis. p. 164.
  2. "NG Alphas: Solar Assault". Next Generation. No. 25. Imagine Media. January 1997. p. 150.
  3. Kalata, Kurt (February 28, 2009). "Solar Assault / Solar Assault Revised". Hardcore Gaming 101. Archived from the original on February 23, 2020. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
  4. "Time Extended - Gradius" (in Spanish) (4). RetroManiac. August 26, 2011. pp. 64–65. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
  5. Ken Ogasawara; Major Mike (January 1998). "The 1997 Amusement Machine Show: The Year of the Cobra". GamePro. No. 112. IDG. p. 50.
  • Gradius Portable Official Guide. Konami. 2006. ISBN 4-86155-111-0.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.