Phelios
System: Genesis
Release Date: October 1990
Developer: Namco
Publisher: Namco
Genre: Shoot ‘em Up
Take to the skies on the back of a winged horse during Grecian ancient times in Phelios! Apollo and Artemis are seperated when the Goddess of the Moon is abducted by Typhon. The King of the Beasts wants Artemis for his own, but Apollo isn’t having it for one second. He hops on the back of Pegasus and sets off for 7 stages of action.
This is a very simple vertical scrolling shoot ’em up. Buttons A, B, and C all shoot your beam forward. A tap of the button allows you to shoot rapidly, while holding the button charges a stronger shot. Over the course of your journey, you’ll get a handle on which enemies need a tap and which need a blast.
Golden Eagles can be shot to release a powerup. Most of them will be Speed Ups, which stack a few times. You’ll also frequently see Options, of which you can have two. These shadow your movement and give you that little extra bit of firepower. Even more rarely, you’ll find a life piece, or special weapon. The Homing shot and Across shot are helpful, but I’m not certain if they last for a specific amount of time, until you get hit, or both. (7:30) (38:35) In the final level, you collect letters to spell Phelios and then can shoot massive waves from the shattered sword.
You don’t die from taking one point of damage, but instead have a life meter with four hit points to start. This gives you a little leeway, but you can’t play recklessly, or you’ll be dead faster than you can say Ambrosia. There’s a portion where other winged riders come up from behind you and you have to run them into the stage walls, which was interesting, but quite difficult.
Reaching the end of the level puts you into the boss’s lair. This is a welcome checkpoint and usually comes with a couple speed and option boosts. Learning the pattern of the boss can take a few tries, but you’ll feel good when you do. After beating the boss, you see Artemis tied up and she yearns for your help. You can gain extra lives through points, but you are limited to three continues, unless you enter a code.
Graphics: 2.0
I’m not impressed by the graphics. Sprites are small and not very detailed.
Sound: 1.5
The music is pretty subpar. I didn’t like it very much at all.
Gameplay: 2.0
Shoot and avoid. You don’t get very many powerups, which is not very satisfying.
Difficulty: 1.5
Enemies move too fast for me. You’ll need to try a few times to get through it.
Fun Factor: 1.5
It was run of the mill and didn’t really grab me to a point where I’d like to play it again.
Overall Rating: 1.7
Phelios earns a C-. This is a subpar game in my opinion. Not bad or unplayable, but not really that good. It feels like it was slapped together real quick to port something from the arcade.