Insector X
System: Genesis
Release Date: October 1990
Developer: Hot B
Publisher: Sage’s Creation
Genre: Shoot ‘em Up
Take to the world of mechanical insects in Insector X! Two tribes of micro-men, the Belzers and the Insectors, are at war. You are Kait, and have escaped to the desert where you fell under the protection of a young boy. But now, after wiping out your brethren, the Belzers are on your tail. It’s time to put up or shut up, as Kait decides to take it to his tormentors.
This is standard side scrolling shooter fare. The screen moves slowly to the right and enemies come on screen at you. Button B is the default normal weapon button and can be held down for rapid fire. This is useful, as you can destroy enemies right as they come on screen if your aim is true. The downside is that the most prevalent enemy, the Wellfly, will shoot a projectile upon death. This makes it really difficult to find a safe spot if you aren’t perfect at your positioning.
Killing certain enemies drops an orb. S increases your speed. P is a powerup for your normal gun, increasing its strength and spread. The special weapon powers up your Button C attack. There are four levels of anti-air and anti-ground weapons, each becoming more powerful. The lightning crash damages all enemies on screen. You can cycle among these three weapons with a press of Button A. The levels are pretty short, but require some memorization to get through. The bosses are pretty easy, with the manual giving you safe zones for the first two. Finding their weak point is your first task. They are bullet sponges and require dozens of hits while you avoid their predictable attacks.
The beginning of the final level tested my patience to the extreme. Though the environment wasn’t much trouble up until this point, I found myself getting caught in pillars of honeycomb and dying dozens of times. Death typically zaps you back to default powers, but the question mark allows you to keep all of your powerups if you die. I resorted to save states to get through this one. With only three continues, I would have had to restart from the beginning several times to finish.
Graphics: 3.0
It looks as good as I expect, with enemies having nice detail and the backgrounds being alright.
Sound: 1.5
The shooting sound effect overpowers the decent Genesis music. Those bombs sound like an old dot matrix printer.
Gameplay: 2.5
Typical side scrolling shooter action. Kill what you can, avoid the rest.
Difficulty: 1.5
I’m going to classify this as a bullet hell in certain areas. Though levels are short, one hit deaths are a severe punishment.
Fun Factor: 2.0
You need to be fully powered up to really get enjoyment, but then a death will really bum you out.
Overall Rating: 2.1
Insector X earns a C. Levels are too twitchy, unforgiving, and short for my taste. It doesn’t hit the sweet spot that I like, but it isn’t bad.