Looking back the Sega CD managed to build up a decent shooter library all things considered. While a sizable chunk of its library is composed of Genesis ports with terrible FMV the original titles are what made the system worth owning. While Robo Aleste is my favorite shmup on the system Android Assault is not far behind. This unassuming title got middling reviews at the time but is better than the press gave it credit. It’s also dirt cheap at this point and worth seeking out.
Weapon selection is a bit low for the genre but each weapon is pretty effective. The Thunder Cracker is your default Vulcan cannon. It upgrades to a wide shot but actually isn’t that great due to a lack of power. The Burning wave is your typical laser that upgrades to a wall of five (!) lasers. The Chase Cannon is your standard homing missiles. Fans of Macross will recognize their spread although it is the weakest weapon in the game. The Satellite Bombs have their uses in select situations but aren’t my favorite. Gathering power-ups is easy as they are plentiful, enabling you to get back up to speed after death. After your third power-up your ship transforms into a mech. While it looks cool it isn’t useful. You become a large target and its only use is as a one hit shield.
As I’ve outlined most of the weapons have a drawback. While in most cases that would be damning the charge meter makes most of the weapons actually worth using. It’s like R-Type except here when you aren’t attacking the charge meter fills up. There are three levels of charge and as a bonus the meter fills quickly. Each weapon changes pretty dramatically; the satellite bombs unleash a cluster of bombs that leave a large explosion in their wake. The most impressive is the chase cannon. A fully charged chase cannon turns into a fiery snake that sticks to its targets until death. The only downside is that you are defenseless while it goes to work. You’ll be using the charged shot to take down most bosses as the normal weapons are weak on their own.
Compared to the vast majority of shooters Android Assault is slower paced. The game makes use of an elevated playing field as in Darius and Thunder Force. That means while one part of the screen is busy the other half is lightly populated. This allows you to choose a lane and stick with it. It’s also balanced so that you aren’t being targeted off screen. I really like the implementation here as it loosely allows you to tailor the game to your play style. Despite the laid back pace the game certainly has its moments although it almost never reaches the insanity of the best in the genre.
Compared to the punishing difficulty inherit in the genre Android Assault falls on the easy side. The charge meter plays a big role in the game as the pace of the action allows for its constant use. Certain weapons are grossly overpowered and will make the game a breeze up until its final stages. There is a significant spike in difficulty towards the end, most notably the last stage. The game pulls out all the stops there and certain weapons make the final boss near impossible. That being said with its generous scoring system and credits I can’t imagine most will have trouble seeing this through to the end.
Android Assault is a real technical showpiece for the Sega CD. The art direction is superb, like something out of a 90s anime with its giant mechs and sci-fi theme. It’s actually similar to Devastator minus the hand drawn cutscenes. In many ways it reminds of Gate of Thunder. There are often six or seven layers of scrolling in every level which never stops being amazing. The added CPU grunt enables the game to toss around tons of sprites. They do push the system a little too hard as there is some heavy slowdown during later boss battles. My only gripe would be the color palette; bullets often blend into the background leading to cheap deaths.
As much as I like the graphics I’m pretty sure it could have been done on a cartridge. The awesome CD soundtrack however could not. Android Assault has a bitching rock soundtrack that fits the frantic action well. Even the little bits of voiced dialogue during the brief intro are well done.
In Closing
Android Assault is a nice solid shooter on a platform that wasn’t blessed with many. It isn’t original but that hardly matters as it packs an entertaining experience onto its disc. This holds up pretty well against many of the better Genesis shooters in my opinion. For the few dollars it will cost you can’t go wrong.
