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Preview  Phalanx
- By Mike Schneider [Editor In Chief]
A mysterious alien race has seized the colony of Delia IV, the solitary Terran planet among a maze of floating rocks and ice in the outer frontier arm of the Adromeda Galaxy. You are Riki Sanada, a genetically enhanced pilot with reactions thirty-three times faster than ordinary humans. You exist solely to fly the Phalanx A-144, a prototype strike fighter equipped with the most advanced weapons ever created. The Andromeda arm is teeming with an armada of powerful alien spacecraft. You’re the only Terran pilot for thousands of light-years.
That should make the odds just about even.
Sounds good so far, right?
Phalanx is set to be essentially a port of the Super Nintendo game of the same name, but nonetheless, it should be an entirely new experience for many GameBoy Advance players looking for a sophisticated side-scrolling action arcade shooter – especially considering this gem was overshadowed by Gradius on the SNES.
One of the things that Kemco is priding itself on is the challenge of this game. That’s not to say the game will be impossibly difficult, but it will not be “dumbed-down” and offer minimal challenges. Furthermore, a feature that more games could use, you can adjust the difficulty settings in Phalanx.
As evident from the screenshots, there’s going to be an emphasis on blistering fast action, rather than state-of-the-art visuals. The graphics look very average for GBA; however, there will certainly be a lot taking place on screen. Moreover, you can freely adjust the speed of your plane in three different levels, and you can equip up to three kinds of weapons. In addition, accumulating power-ups to augment weapon strength is a pivotal aspect of succeeding in Phalanx. Also, some enemies are weaker or stronger against certain weapons – another aspect you must consider as you duke it out in space. Obviously, as your plane takes enemy fire, it loses energy until all energy has been depleted – in which it explodes. The GBA version also contains a new bomb attack that can be used to eliminate all enemies on screen.
Finally, the game showcases eight unique missions of galactic proportions, as well as cut scenes with continuing dramatic storyline development between missions. That italicized stuff shown above should really come to life with the cut scenes.
To top it all off, Phalanx can be played with a friend – presumably for co-operating while going through the missions. Co-opp hasn’t been confirmed to us yet; however, it is the most likely way to allow a second player to jump into a sidescrolling shooter.
If we find out more on Phalanx, we’ll get it to you. For now, this game is definitely one to look for as it nears its release.
- 6.26.2001 |
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