Isolated Warrior
System: NES
Release Date: February 1991
Developer: KID
Publisher: NTVIC
Genre: Shoot ‘em Up
Become a one man wrecking crew in Isolated Warrior! An unknown alien force has attacked, consuming all living things, machines, and buildings. Without trouble, the aliens defeated the fighting force tasked with defending the planet. Well, all but one. Captain Max Maverick has decided to stay behind and take out as many aliens as he can before they get him. Seven levels stand between you and victory.
Isolated Warrior is a constant scrolling shoot ‘em up, but the play field is skewed something like 15 degrees, which isn’t great. Max shoots his laser with the B Button. Once I realized you can just hold it down for constant fire, I was happy. The laser can either shoot straight ahead (and behind at higher levels), or you can employ a wide shot that spreads. These two modes are switched between with the Select Button and you’ll want to become adept at deciding which firing mode to use. Both lasers are powered up by collecting L or W icons. Every three icons increases the level up to 5. Higher levels increase the power and/or spread of the laser.
The A Button is your jump. You can tap for a short jump and hold for a longer jump. If you press the A Button again while in the air, you drop one of your bombs. The number of bombs you have stored are shown by the meter at the bottom right corner. They can be powered up by collecting B icons to increase their spread. Level 5 is a screen clearing bomb, which drops you back to level 4. Picking up a bullet increases the number of bombs you have in stock. Two important utility pickups are rare, but welcome. These are a life pickup which adds two bars to your life in the bottom left, and a barrier which gives you protection from 5 attacks. You don’t want to miss these.
Levels are typically pretty simple. Shoot everything you can while avoiding enemies and bullets. Switch back and forth between the focused shot and the wide shot when necessary. You really don’t want to die, as your guns lose levels, but powerups are pretty prevalent. The challenge comes from the fact that they switch between L and W somewhat quickly, which can mean you get the wrong pickup. Sometimes you’ll miss them altogether, as you’re not quite on the right lineup. You have to be careful as some floor tiles will zap your health away from you.
The end of each level puts you up against a boss alien. All but one of these were simple enough. Donal, if you’re out there watching, this guy reminds me of zombie you. He was the hardest boss because I was trying to be cute and use the wide shot when I should have stuck with the straight shot. By taking them all out, you can save your planet, but what’s left for you? Another playthrough? No thanks.
Graphics: 2.0
Everything looks alright, but you run into flickering and slowdown quite often.
Sound: 2.0
Music and sounds are also alright, but nothing really enjoyable.
Gameplay: 2.5
Max controls well enough and being able to switch between shot types is a nice wrinkle.
Difficulty: 3.0
Levels aren’t too ridiculous for the most part and you get continues, so finishing shouldn’t be too hard.
Fun Factor: 2.5
I enjoyed myself more than average, but it could have been so much more.
Overall Rating: 2.4
Isolated Warrior earns a C+. I thought I was going to hate this when I started, but I actually ended up enjoying it more than I probably should have.