Defender II
System: NES
Release Date: July 1988
Developer: Vid Kidz, HAL Laboratory
Publisher: HAL America
Genre: Shoot ‘em Up
Ugh… here we have HAL Laboratory’s first contribution to the US, putting out an old arcade port called Defender II. This is a super simple shoot ‘em up that has you piloting a spaceship and scrolling left or right on a continuous loop. The goal is to clear the level of enemies before they can steal all the humans from the ground.
You’re equipped with an unlimited supply of lasers and five smart bombs. The smart bombs clear the screen of enemies, while the laser shoots horizontally from the ship. As you turn left or right, the screen snaps in that direction, giving a feeling of immense speed. This will lead to many failures, as enemies can spawn right in your path while you’re moving quickly. Clear the level and move to the next wave to earn a high score.
You’ll notice the sounds are mostly lifted from Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!! The game begins with an elongated version of the pre-fight ditty. In between waves is the you lost theme. Shoot the lasers and you get sound effects of stepping. Acceleration from the ship is crowd noise. What were they thinking?
Graphics: 1.0
The graphics are super plain. Sometimes enemy shots can be mistaken for background stars.
Sound: 1.0
Straight up recycled from Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!!
Gameplay: 1.0
Barren gameplay of shoot bad guys on a horizontal plain and use a smart bomb if you can think about it.
Difficulty: 2.0
Trying to avoid running into enemies was the hardest thing for me to do.
Fun Factor: 0.5
This certainly isn’t a fun game and it was many years past its prime when released.
Overall Grade: 1.1
Defender II earns a D. This isn’t a good game for 1988. I’m not sure it was that good of a game for 1981…