Star Force
System: NES
Release Date: November 1987
Developer: Hudson Soft
Publisher: Tecmo
Genre: Shoot ‘em Up
Ugh… here we go again with another vertical scrolling space shoot ‘em up, it’s Star Force. It’s not any good. Yeah, spoiler and all that. You move around with the d-pad and shoot with both the A and B Buttons. And that’s all. Enemies come from the top of the screen and you need to shoot them before they can shoot you. This is easy to start, as they don’t shoot at you much, but as you move, they start to shoot a lot.
I’d say this is probably the first true precursor to a Bullet Hell style shoot ‘em up. Getting into only the second or third level (of 24) tests your reflexes to those bullets. It’d be a lot more fair if there weren’t obstacles that get in the way of your bullets, but there are a lot of them. Sure, they grant points, but I want to kill the things that are trying to kill me. Panels with H, B, and b on them show up and you shoot them for bonus points. You want points, because you get an extra life for every 50,0000 you collect.
Once in awhile, for reasons I couldn’t figure out, a little orange orb floats left and right. Shoot it to unlock a powerup. This allows you to hold the shoot buttons for a rapid fire shot. It feels like a godsend, then you get hit and blow up, returning as the weaker version of the ship. At the end of each level you need to shoot a target named after the level you are on. They blow up quickly.
I feel like there was a bit of randomness to the levels, as if I died, I’d come back and sometimes face a different combination of enemies. This is novel, but it didn’t make me happy, as I had to be on my toes more than I would like to be. My least favorite enemy was a diamond that would explode into four pieces when shot. I died to that fool too many times.
Graphics: 1.5
There’s some neat background layer scrolling at play here, but all the enemies were this ugly beige, brown, orange mixture.
Sound: 1.5
The music was alright, but the sound effect of your gun gets tired quickly.
Gameplay: 1.0
It’s a bare bones shoot ‘em up. Other than maybe a random placement of enemies, I didn’t get anything special out of it.
Difficulty: 2.0
I’d say this is a difficult game to the point of it will turn the average person away.
Fun Factor: 1.0
I didn’t find much in the way of fun here. I wouldn’t want to give it more than a half hour of my life.
Overall Grade: 1.4
Star Force earns a D+. I remember looking at the box back in the day thinking I wanted to rent it. I’m glad I never did.