D-Force

Developer: Cream    Publisher: Asmik    Released: December 1991     Genre: Shooter

There is something to be said about trusting your gut.  During a time where most gamers relied on the back of the box to decide their gaming purchases that still wasn’t enough to convince me to buy D-Force.  I couldn’t place it but something about it looked off, maybe even cheap.  The fact that I saw it regularly on sale for $15 at a time when games cost $60 on average was another red flag.  My reticence was correct as D-Force is probably the worst shooter on the SNES.  This is a bad game from top to bottom with almost no redeeming qualities.

First thing first, D-Force is a technical mess.  The game runs at a subpar frame-rate at all times and only gets worse whenever there are a few enemies on screen.  Boss battles slow to a crawl and overall it is flat out embarrassing.  This isn’t the system’s fault, it is just plain sloppy.  On the art side D-Force is incredibly subdued and even boring to look at.  The exploration levels are the most interesting as they seem to take place in a different dimension and thus use new environments.  But even that is slight.  The game makes extensive use of Mode 7 but it feels tacky and forced.  Like I said before, even the screenshots on the back of the box couldn’t sell this game.

The gameplay does not make up for the lacking presentation either.  D-Force is incredibly simple; there is only one button and that is it.  Once you press the fire button there is never any reason to let it go.  To be fair you can use L & R to move between planes in the exploration levels but that is it.  The weapons “system” if you can call it that is just as simple.  Designated gunships drop an item that upgrades your sole weapon.  It becomes pretty strong and covers a wide spread and will eventually fire homing missiles as well.  Death only downgrades your weapon one level which isn’t much of a penalty.  You’ll run out of lives before demoting back to the default weapon.

D-Force divides its levels into two categories.  Shooting mode stages (odd numbers) focus on straightforward shooting antics.  These are the only stages you can collect power-ups which sounds unbalanced but trust me it is not.  The game showers you in so many you can die multiple times and still reach full power before the mid-boss.  The action is frantic, or at least it would be if the god damn game wouldn’t devolve in to a slideshow constantly.  These levels are long and repetitive which hurts it. The game recycles the same assets multiple times in a row to extend the levels beyond their natural stopping point.  It is bad enough the gameplay is brain dead simple but the dragged out levels don’t do it any favors.

The exploration stages are slightly more interesting.  In these (even numbered) stages you can switch between ascend and descend between two different planes.  You can dodge enemies and obstacles by moving between the different levels which adds a cool element to the game play.  Sadly even this has its flaws.  They zoom in so close on the lower plane there is little room to maneuver.  Your helicopter is already a large target and this makes it worse.  These levels are short, which is unfortunate as they are the only ones remotely interesting to look at.  The exploration stages take place in different eras such as the prehistoric age and ancient Greece.  If the game were solely comprised of these stags with some tweaks it would have at least been decent.  Oh well.

D-Force is not difficult so much as it is frustrating.  The constant slowdown will cause many cheap deaths.  There is no way to earn extra lives either but that was taken in to account.  You can set your starting count to nine in the options which is more than enough along with the unlimited continues.  Beyond the frequent slowdown the hit detection is all over the place.  I have been hit by bullets that were meters away. Meanwhile many bosses have weak spots that are not apparent until they explode.  The game might be too generous with power-ups, no doubt to prepare you for the exploration stages.  But it ruins what little balance it has by leaving you overpowered for the whole game.

In Closing

What a truly awful game.  When people say the SNES was no good for shooters it is because of games like D-Force.  Play another game or read a book instead of playing this tripe.