Developer: Produce Co. Publisher: Hudson Soft Released: February 22, 1991 Genre: Shooter
It’s interesting to look back at the reception of the Turbo Grafx-16. In America it was a distant third place behind the SNES and Genesis. But in Japan the PC Engine was a solid number two and enjoyed excellent support. But even with that in mind the system’s hardware and feature set could not keep up with the other machines as the years passed. NEC created the Supergrafx as its dedicated successor. With true 16-bit hardware it was supposed to carry them for years. However it would go on to become one of the biggest failures in the industry. A grand total of seven games were created for it which is pretty dire. Aldynes is one of them.
There were some interesting titles in that small lineup however. Of its exclusives Ghouls N’ Ghosts and Aldynes were the showcases of the hardware. It is easy to write off Aldynes as just another shooter. Lord knows the PC Engine buckled under the weight of its ridiculous number of shmups. However there is always room for one more so long as it is great, which this more than qualifies as. It doesn’t offer any new features in the genre but succeeds by being excellent in every category.
There is no reason to dance around it; the biggest reason Aldynes exists is to show off the Supergrafx. It does so with aplomb. Over the course of its seven levels the game avoids most of the video game clichés. There are no ice and fire levels. In fact Aldynes mostly takes place in man made environments. Where the Turbo Grafx was not capable of parallax scrolling in hardware the Supergrafx has no such limitation. The scrolling is often six or seven layers deep and amazing to see in motion. Stage three in particular is a stand out, with layers as far as the eye can see amid legions of massive enemies. The game pushes pretty hard but only suffers minor slowdown in a few spots.
Anyone familiar with the Turbo Grafx library knows the system excelled at featuring large sprites and characters. Aldynes continues that tradition with massive screen filling bosses and enemies. They are so large in fact you barely have room to move! If there is one negative about the presentation it would be the subdued color palette. The game heavily front loads it’s most impressive moments. By the second half you’ll grow tired of the machine grey environments and enemies. That being said it is still pretty impressive overall.
Even the music is pretty catchy; the sound hardware is the one area the Supergrafx did not really improve on the Turbo Grafx yet the composers have graced the game with a great soundtrack. Unfortunately the sound effects lack any impact which dulls the overall aural component.
But how does it play? Aldynes has a smaller roster of weapons compared to most shooters. There are only three primary weapons and while they are all useful I wish there were more. The laser is your typical thin but powerful nuke. The spread shot covers the majority of the screen and is the go to choice. Kind of like Contra actually. The rebound laser travels along any surface and is perfect for enclosed spaces, not so much boss battles. Each can be powered up three times and the game is fairly generous with power-ups. There are no shield power-ups because you can create your own by holding the attack button. This is an important mechanic and key to reaching the end.
The weapons don’t end there. Like any good shooter Aldynes has options. Like Gradius 3 you can have up to four options. That isn’t impressive in itself but here they are far more versatile than in most games. Your options can be set in one of three ways. Fixed formation focuses all firepower directly ahead. By holding the button they can rotate around your ship in a make shift shield pattern. The most useful formation sees your options aggressively attack any enemies that get too close. Theoretically it should break the game but the enemies are so relentless they can barely keep up. They also have a tendency to get stuck in the environment. While not intentional it is a roundabout way of making you experiment.
Aldynes presents a moderate challenge that I like. Overall it isn’t as relentless as some of the toughest games in the genre but has its moments. Personally I’m not a fan of the random enemy spawns that take you out with no warning. That style of gotcha! gameplay is my least favorite. Death sends you back to a checkpoint with no power-ups which is rough. This is more generous with power-ups than most but is still pretty tough. The second half picks up considerably with even more tricky bosses yet I still found the game to be fair. I wish more shooters were this balanced.
In Conclusion
Aldynes is a great game that is better than the sum of its parts. It doesn’t introduce new mechanics to the genre but can rely on its solid gameplay to provide a good time. Sadly your best bet to buy it now is on the Japanese PSN store. You really don’t want to buy the system and game as both will run you over $300. Its good but not that good.
