E-SWAT
System: SMS
Release Date: September 1990
Developer: Sega/Sanritsu
Publisher: Sega
Genre: Action
Fight a never ending wave of thugs as you put an end to a worldwide criminal organization in E-SWAT! Balzar, the Mad Scientist is looking to control the world and it’s up to you to stop him. Give up walking your beat and enter the E-SWAT armor to become a walking tank. Blast through five levels of action to put an end to Balzar’s evil machinations.
Run to the right and start shooting! You jump with Button 2 and shoot with Button 1. You can aim your shot up or diagonally and you can also duck to avoid projectiles or shoot at knees. Enemies run on screen in bunches from the left or right and you want to off them before they can get an attack off on you. They might have throwing knives or guns. They might fly in on hovering jet skis. They might be equipped with swords. They might even try to somersault on top of you head.
At the end of each level is a boss enemy that must be “apprehended” or more likely, murdered. They are all relatively easy, requiring you to avoid a projectile and getting hit by them as they move across the screen. They’re especially easy if you have a special item to use, such as the fire wave. These show up rarely on the stage and can be activated by a simultaneous press of Buttons 1 and 2. You need to be mindful of the number of bullets you have… in theory. The instruction manual says each bullet icon should give you 25 bullets on normal difficulty. I was getting 80 bullets, and wasn’t having a problem with running out.
Health is something to keep an eye on. In the first level, you’re in human form and only have two bars available. These can be drained pretty quickly as you get used to the controls. Once you get the robo suit in level 2, you get six bars of health and as you lose bars, the suit disintegrates away. Losing the suit takes away your ability to use the special item. Luckily, you regain health as you move between screens. The final boss was a pushover. Despite getting my suit destroyed by the original orb guardians, I was able to finish this big boy without any trouble. He didn’t move, but threw projectiles that were easily ducked.
Graphics: 2.5
The Master System is capable of pulling off a nice palette of colors, but the flickering can get pretty bad, obscuring bullets coming your way.
Sound: 2.0
Par for the Master System. Nothing sounds particularly bad or good.
Gameplay: 2.0
Killing enemies is simple, you can pick up extra weapons to kill things more easily.
Difficulty: 3.0
You’ll pick it up and go from dying in the first level to making it through the entire game in a half hour.
Fun Factor: 2.5
It’s a short, mindless action shooter. I enjoyed myself at a level I thought I would.
Overall Rating: 2.4
E-SWAT earns a C+. You know what? This is what Robocop should have been. It’s not too complicated and just mindless murdering action. The ending was pretty anti-climactic, but overall a nice palate cleanser.