Life Force

Reviewed by Marc Golding (January 03, 2004)

Take on a massive brain/Cyclops, press through tight spots raining volcanic rock, and reach the famous fire level. It might not look like much these days, but the raging, pseudo-sentient arcing flames were a technological marvel at the time of the game’s release. Was the NES really doing this? Yes, it was, and it still is.

Reviewed by Rob Hamilton (January 31, 2007)

But, like I said, there is one alteration to this formula in Lifeforce. Here, the second, fourth and sixth levels are vertical instead of the standard horizontal. And they don’t just look different, they play different, as well. Many of those fiendish traps I described aren’t present here — but there are a good number of indestructible asteroids and other, more organic, obstacles that plummet from the top of the screen, forcing the player to use twitch reflexes here and there. And even when series staples such as the rock-spewing volcanoes or Moai heads get dusted off, the change in viewpoint almost makes them seem like an original challenge.

Reviewed by dagoss (January 13, 2008)

If you have seen the movie Silent Hill then you may remember the moment before Rose descends into the underground labyrinth to confront the so-called "demon". She stands briefly before a map, closes her eyes, and attempts to commit the path she must follow through those winding halls to her memory. Her experiences thus far in the film have taught her to expect any assortment of horrifying abominations to obstruct her way, thus any misstep she might make would likely result in her death....

Reviewed by psychopenguin (September 12, 2003)

Gradius was a very fun game released by Konami during the old days of the NES. It was one of the original horizontal shooters, and it proved to be a lot of fun, and brought lots of innovation to the table in an attempt to prove it just wasn't another lame shooting game. They succeeded and managed to make one of the most interesting and action-packed shooters of its generation, despite the relative slow pace of the game.