As someone who plays old games almost exclusively, I'm constantly reminded of how big the jump between console generations could be.
Look at a PS4 game vs. a PS5 title, or an XBox One game vs. a Series S game and it can be hard to tell they are even from different generations. Sure, if you look more closely you can see the newer consoles are superior, but the differences don't always jump off the screen at you. But compare a PS1 game to a PS2 game, or an NES game to an SNES title and you will know the difference immediately. This was a major part of Sega's marketing strategy in the late 80's and early 90's, when the 16-bit Genesis was still competing directly with the 8-bit NES. Sure, the NES may have boasted a much larger library of games featuring some classic titles, but it was much easier to point to a simple screenshot of a Genesis game and say "look." Sure, it was a lot easier to do with some games than others. I've reviewed some earlier Genesis games, like E-Swat, that really don't look that much better than top line NES titles. But there are plenty of examples, even from the early days, of just how big the jump from generation 3 to generation 4 was. Alien Storm was one of those games.
Originally released as an arcade cabinet, Alien Storm was ported to the Genesis in 1990. It follows a similar format to Sega's much more well-known Golden Axe series, allowing players to pick from one of three characters to take on hordes of enemies, beat 'em up style. But here, the swords and sorcery aesthetic has given way to an alien invasion of earth. You move from left to right, blasting everything in your path to reach the end of the level. There are no power ups outside of energy, no upgrades, no alternate weapons, all you have to do is reach the end of the level. Most of the levels end with a first person, gallery shooter style section that feels similar to a lightgun shooter, though some do end with vertical scrolling sections. This is an arcade port and it shows, you only have two goals: beat the level and don't die. But remember, this was the early 90's, this was common at the time and Alien Soldier had plenty of things to make it stand out.
In case it wasn't apparent, the first thing anyone is going to notice about Alien Soldier is the graphics. This is a great looking game, it's obviously not as good as the arcade version but it's still awesome. The enemies are extremely well designed and detailed, some of these aliens are extremely grotesque and they wouldn't have the impact they do if they weren't so well animated. Your characters aren't as well done, but they still look good and some of their attacks look really cool. The stages don't always have a ton going on, but they are clean and well presented, they do just enough to set the stage without being distracting. The most impressive part of the game would have to be the first-person sections, you get to see all of those aliens up close in all their gruesome glory. These sections would look impressive at any point during the fourth generation, but it's downright shocking to see something from 1990 look that good. This was the kind of game that you would immediately pay attention to if you saw it play side by side with an NES game. Unfortunately, the sound doesn't quite match the level of the graphics, but it's still solid in its own right and the Genesis' metallic-y sound really fits the theme and aesthetic here.
Drawing gamers' attention is one thing, but keeping it is another entirely. Fortunately, Alien Storm does a great job here as well...at least for a little bit. The action here is great, anyone with any level of familiarity with the beat 'em up genre will feel right at home and anyone who isn't will pick it up quick. A attacks, B dives and C fires off your special, its that simple. You can sometimes chain dives and attacks together, but I never felt like I could get the same thing to happen consistently. Weapon attacks and the special, a screen clear, use energy, which is found throughout each level. All three characters have different weapons and seem to move a little differently, but they all play pretty much the same. Enemies will attack you in waves, so its up to you to figure out how to get them in one-on-one situations. Anywhere between one and five hits will knock them down, with another hit to a grounded enemy finishing them off. The horizontal scrolling sections lock you in place, you can only shoot and jump, while the first-person sections have you aim at targets via a cursor. These are reminiscent of lightgun shooters, Time Crisis, Lethal Enforcer, Terminator 2: The Arcade Game, whichever it is you most associate with. Sometimes stuff like this is awful on a controller, but it works well here and you can use the sections to collect tons of enemy powerups. It's a nice, complete package and it's a really fun time while it lasts.
The problem is that it doesn't last very long. Alien Storm is a very, very short game, even by the standards of its day. There are only 8 levels, actually an increase from 6 in the arcade version, each of which can be beaten in a manner of minutes. It's possible, nay probable, that you will beat this game in under an hour. It may seem a bit difficult at first, but once you figure out how the enemies behave and that you can't stun lock them like in most beat 'em ups, you will be able to complete the game with ease. There are few bosses and rarely are you faced with unbearable amounts of enemies. One thing that does add a little bit to the challenge was the lack of health powerups, I don't think I found any outside of the first-person sections, and enemies do hit pretty hard. But once you realize what their patterns are and when you need to attack versus when to roll, you can take them out with relative ease. I really do wish the game were longer, there was a lot of quality stuff here and it would have been nice to see more of it. It's a balancing act with beat 'em ups, super long levels tend to drag but super short ones make for a lack of content. This was definitely lacking in content and it would have been a bit upsetting to have spent $50 for this back in the day.
I guess that's all there really is to say here. I realize that it's a short review, but this is a short game. That really is the biggest problem with Alien Storm. It's technically well put together, with good controls, fair hit detection and addictive gameplay. It looks great and sounds alright too. But there just isn't enough here to put it in the upper echelon of Genesis games. A lot of developers at the time were still grappling with how exactly to port arcade games to home consoles, and it was evident here. They nailed the technical aspects of the process; this looks about as close to the arcade version as you could get on a 4th generation console. But you also need to factor in the need for additional content, home console games need to have a level of replayability that arcade games just don't. They tried a little bit here, but it wasn't quite enough. It's absolutely worth tracking down and playing, but I don't think it would be worth paying money for. It's a really fun diversion and a great way to kill an hour. But it's not really a game you can sink your teeth into.
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