Hellfire
System: Genesis
Release Date: November 1990
Developer: NCS
Publisher: Seismic
Genre: Shoot ‘em Up
Take it to some invading aliens and kill them all with Hellfire! Over a thousand years of peace comes to an end with a bang, as an ominous Dark Nebula is engulfing star systems. The deadly Super Mech is controlling the evil. As all hope seems lost, it’s up to Lancer, aircraft carrier captain, to hop into the most powerful fighter and launch a surprise attack. Equipped with the ultimate weapon, Hellfire, you’ve got to take the enemy out over six levels of side scrolling shoot ‘em up action.
I suggest turning on rapid fire in the options. That makes holding the A Button fire without you having to wear it out through rapid pressing. The B Button changes the orientation of your shot. You begin by shooting straight ahead. One press has you shooting behind your ship. Another has you shooting up and down, while a final press has you shooting from all four corners. While you may think the corner shot is the best, it is the weakest. Switching the direction of your shot is the most important thing you can do. It can be a little difficult to not press the button too many times and get yourself in trouble. By the time you make it to the end, you should be a pro at knowing which direction is going to kill your foes.
You power up your ship as you expect from this genre. There are speed up icons that appear after killing certain enemies, as well as weapon powerups. Your gun goes from relatively weak shots to some pretty powerful triple blasts as long as you can stay alive. This is easier said than done, of course. Enemies pop on screen without any warning. You have to hope you figure out a pattern and position yourself properly.
If you can find a glowing shield, you can take a hit of damage before dying. Otherwise, you’re dead if you’re touched. The Seeker powerup is an awesome little guy that runs around the screen and hurts enemies on contact. There are bonus powerups that double the amount of score they give you as you collect them. The last item you can get is a Hellfire blast. A touch of the C Button unleashes a fiery laser. I didn’t use these nearly as much as I probably should have, but they only shoot ahead.
Dying sends you to a checkpoint without your powerups. Losing all your lives forces you to continue and start from the beginning of the level. Easy gives you 20 continues. Hard gives you 10. Levels have both a mid boss and an end boss. These guys have predictable patterns, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to avoid their attacks. Get through all six levels and you’re invited to try again at a harder difficulty. The instruction manual says there are multiple rounds, but I didn’t stick around long enough to see more than the beginning of the second round.
Graphics: 2.5
It’s not the best looking game I’ve seen, but everything is nice looking.
Sound: 3.0
This is some very crunchy Genesis sound that I enjoy.
Gameplay: 2.5
Get used to switching your aim a lot. That’s the game.
Difficulty: 2.0
There’s too much pop in, “You’re dead!” moments, but you have 20 continues, so there’s no reason you can’t memorize every level.
Fun Factor: 2.5
I enjoyed my playthrough, but not enough to keep going through round 2.
Overall Rating: 2.5
Hellfire earns a B-. This is a solid game for fans of the genre, but you will die a lot, so be prepared.