Image Fight was a shooter that I did not have a high opinion of. My only prior exposure to the game came from the lackluster NES port which sadly lacked what made it great. The PC Engine version of Image Fight is an excellent port of a great game and one that provides an ample challenge for veterans of the genre. Damn shame it never saw a release overseas as I feel its structure would have made it stand out against the plethora of other shooters on the platform.
In terms of weapons Image Fight is a little bit light. Your two main weapons are the pods. Blue pods fire directly ahead and are more powerful. Red pods can target 8 directions and fire in the opposite direction of your movement. Up to three of these can be held at once and while it’s tempting to mix and match the game is heavily geared toward the red orbs. I would go so far as to say many levels are impossible without them. Your pods can also be sent out in a blitz attack although it isn’t very strong.
For your main weapon you have a few choices. There’s the V-cannon which follows its namesake and is near useless, seeking lasers that target the closest enemy in a straight line, a piercing laser, reflecting shot, and homing missiles. These attach to the front of your ship and can function as a one-time shield. Annoyingly you have to destroy your current weapon to grab a new one which is just plain stupid. These weapons do not appear as often and are destroyed so fast they aren’t worth it.
Structurally Image Fight is set up differently than most shooters. The first five levels are considered training missions, with your performance being graded at the end of each stage. Only by earning an average of 90% will you be allowed to progress to the main game, its final three levels. If you manage to fail the game warps you to the penalty zone to give you one last chance to move on. See, they want you to succeed! You’ll just have to work for it as the penalty zone is probably tougher than the rest of the game.
This set up creates a completely different dynamic than in most shooters as you are forced to place yourself in danger at all times in order to achieve the best possible score. The level design is very dynamic as it splits into divergent paths and traps. They do a good job of making you panic and make mistakes. As tough as it is to shoot down every enemy the boss battles have an even greater significance as they account for 50% of your ranking. There’s an invisible clock and if you take too long the game simply moves on, completing tanking that stage.
Eventually through skill or dumb luck you will make it to the main game. Once there the game informs you, this is not a drill. The final three stages are a grueling ordeal that make the introduction look like child’s play in comparison. You’ll need to memorization stage layouts and enemy spawn points to slowly make progress since I can guarantee you will die repeatedly. Some of the deaths are cheap; there are maze like layouts that give no indication that there are dead ends ahead, forcing you to die. Funny enough the final boss is an absolute joke compared to actually reaching the bastard.
Image Fight like most of Irem’s shooters is absolutely brutal in terms of its difficulty. Most of this falls on the game’s heavy leanings on the red orbs. While they are versatile they lack power and due to the level design it isn’t practical to rely on the blue orbs instead. The few special weapons that replace your main cannon are easily destroyed; you won’t notice when it happens. The sprites are pretty large and while impressive it also means there isn’t much room to move around. This quickly becomes an issue late in the game as it becomes more chaotic, requiring near perfect play to even survive. In spite of some of these frustrations I had fun with Image Fight but can’t say that it isn’t unfair at times.
In Closing
This version of Image Fight is truly great and a far cry from the stripped down NES port. It is graphically fantastic with an alright soundtrack to boot as well. It seems strange that this was passed over for a US release. However it doesn’t matter as the game is completely in English anyway, not that it is necessary. Avoid trash like Deep Blue and Ordyne and pick this up instead.
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